Middletown or Brunswick, MD (Frederick, Gaithersburg: transplants, condos, townhouses)

[leap1]

My family is considering a move to this area to be closer to family & the mountains. Can anyone tell me about these communities- are people friendly? Are they close knit communities? We currently live in Salisbury & feel no sense of community whatsover. We have two small children so schools, recreation and activities for kids is very important also.

[chinacatsnflwr]

Brunswick and Middletown are two rather different communities. Middletown has a lot of community activities, but is more expensive housing-wise. Brunswick is a very friendly community, but a very different sort of makeup. Either community is going to be what you make of it...if you are outgoing, attend community events and get to know your neighbors you'll find yourself to be accepted.

[Mike from back east]

Have spent many hours in Brunswick, chasing trains, riding bicycles along the C&O Canal towpath and visiting the railroad museum.

Brunswick is an old RR town, on the former B&O RR, now CSX. There is a huge parking lot at the train station, as MARC commuter trains stop here on their way to/from DC Union Station. If you work in DC, Rockville, Gaithersburg, etc, you can commute via train on weekdays.

The housing stock in-town is very old, many over 100 years, some very large old houses and some rather small ones too. Some folks like that sort of thing, me I like the new stuff. Many people who take the train into DC live on the VA side of the river in the Lovettsville area, or up in the newer areas of Brunswick along Rte 340 or 17.

The MARC parking lot is wide open and weekenders use it to unload horses and ride the towpath, as do hikers and bicyclers. Across the tracks at the river is a free public boat ramp, one of several in the area. The Potomac is a lovely river, but deadly during high water. Upriver about 8 miles there is a thriving summer business of tubing trips in the river, just north of Harper's Ferry, WV. Mosquito's are awful along the water and in the densely wooded towpath areas.

s/Mike

[mudnrox]

i live outside of middletown. 10 years ago (when i was in school there) it was still okay. now, the snobs of gaithersburg, rockville, and dc have moved in. housing is OUTRAGEOUS and most of the people just want to "out-do" their neighbors. middletown does have community activities, such as Heritage Days and various "park" events (marble tournaments, movie showings, etc).

brunswick (in my opinion) used to be considered a trashy place to live. now it's actually cleaned up. i have also biked/hiked the C&O canal and walked into Harpers Ferry and i miss that! their housing is alot more affordable and it still has that small-town charm. and you can jump right on 340 to run into frederick (and larger towns). as for community things, not real sure but they have Brunswick Days and have lots of Railroad productions. The history is very interesting.

BTW, i'm moving 4 hours south into West Virginia (this weekend) because the prices on houses is impossible and the coast/big cities just keeps pushing west. i wish you luck with your house hunting and if it were my decision, i'd go with Brunswick! (SORRY MIDDLETOWN but you've lost everything that ever appealled to me!)

[deltaiam]

There is a strong possibility that my husband may be getting a job in Brunswick, MD; we should hear something by the end of the week. He works for the railroad and loves trains. If he does get the job, we will need to move there from Philadelphia. In your opinion, would Brunswick be open to interracial couples? If not, could you suggest a neighboring community that might be? Thanks!

[westsideboy]

Well just by the numbers, Brunswick is 92% white, 5% black, and 1.5% two or more races. Middletown is 97% white, 1.5% black and .25% two or more races. I don't know either town well enough to tell you how the locals would react, but if you live closer to Frederick you would find a more diverse area.

[beachboundgirl]

Brunswick by all means!! We lived in Brunswick for 11 years. Moved there from Frederick in '89. I moved to Middletown w/parents when I was 15. Middletown was the worst (snobs), Frederick was overcrowded but Brunswick was a great commute down Route 340 14 minutes past cows! My kids loved it in Brunswick and on the street I lived on everyone looked out for each others kids (they couldn't get away with much with all the eyes looking!) I live in Knoxville now about 3 more miles up 340 (more country). Also look in Pleasant Valley, Route 67 off 340. Very nice. Good luck, I'm off to SC my next move. See ya MD!! )) We just can't make it here anymore.

[melodipasquale]

Hello,

I happened apon this web site while looking up the hours of the local pool here in Brunswick and read some of the questions and comments. I felt compelled to reply. I have lived in Brunswick for 8 years now. I came from Montgomery County ( south of here with a much higher median income).

Initially there was quite a culture shock but I have come to love this town. Eight years ago there were few to no Montgomery Co. transplants like my family. You could also pick up a great old Victorian for under 100k! I think we were ahead of the curve. We had to wait a few years for more people like us to move here to feel really comfortable but I'm really glad. It forced us to get to know the locals are really wonderful people. Most have been here for generations and come from hard working people who either farmed the land or worked for the railroad. This town has wonderful history.

As for the question of mixed race couple tolerence, I am happy to report that Brunswick has a longstanding tradition of acceptance and tolerence for all people. A wonderful gentleman, white, aged 86 and a former City Council member, once told me a story that took place back in the 40's or 50's. It was that one day, a black man came running into the "colored" bar in town with news that 100 or so Black men were marching this way from the South on a mission to gather their forces in protest for their unfair treatment. The men in the bar discussed the happening and chose one among them to meet the group at the far end of the bridge which leads into town to tell the demonstraters that while they respected what they were doing, they were not welecome in Brunswick. They were told that this small community has no problems with unrest between the races. Everyone here lives together in peace. The marchers continued without further incident.

I have to rush off to take the kids to the pool but one last few words. Brunswick is a great place to live. It's so good, I almost don't want that many more people to know about it. Great schools, closley knit, great history, near to so many great things. I can't say enough.

[27pearls]

We moved to Brunswick fours years ago after an unexpected series of life events. We knew little about Maryland and nothing about Frederick County and I must say Brunswick has been a truely wonderful surprise. Yes it had somewhat of a redneck reputation- not sure if that still holds. The foundation of the community is working class, built around the railroad industry. Many of the long time Brunswick residents I've met just seem like solid, decent, down to earth family types. There is also a progressive, liberal aspect to the town as well. If you get involved in any of the town activities you will meet some wonderful folks. They have been very welcoming to us.

There is one new (Ryan Homes) housing development, Galyn Manor. Tons of kids here and I do see black and white kids of all ages playing together. I know of two interacial families and at least on a superficial level they seem pretty comfortable and friendly. Townhouses start at around $270 and single family homes around $400. We love our townhouse and are delighted with the the area. Wish you the best!

[Lady Scarlet]

The plan right now is to move to Brunswick from Gaithersburg (Montgomery County) within the next 2 months.

I had a lot of misgivings about moving there until I did research and went there - it is a very nice small town!

I came from a small town in PA and worked my tail off to get out of there - and the idea of going back to a small town was really hard to wrap my mind around.

Brunswick is planning for growth-- there is a new developemnt (a PUD) in the planning stages that will have a new retail area, SFD, townhouses, condos and apts. Brunswick is also 14 miles to Frederick, 14 miles to Leesburg and 14 miles to Charles Town --- the city wants to double the population with about 10 years (which means a demand for property). Brunswick Meatts has soft serve ice cream all year long (and a great italian sub). Potomac Street is being promoted for new businesses - Beans in the Belfry is there (no Starbucks needed)

Gayln Manor has both Ryan and Pulte homes (price range 435K to 585K) and these are BIG homes (the one I looked at was 5569 sg ft on 3 levels and a McMansion) for $525K.

Other Brunswick homes are 200-400K roughly... watch where the home is located (flooding or water runoff)