Are there any "quaint" towns? (Towson, Eldersburg: houses, work)

[GetatMD]

Maryland is a VERY rural state with small towns... most towns the average Marylander has never even heard of. Look at a map and take your pick.

[Maxchus]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

There are plenty of quaint towns in Maryland.-----------> or the lower Eastern Shore if you like water.

I'm sort of interested in that area myself. Would you mind telling me about some of the towns on the lower Eastern Shore that you consider to be the best? Because I have no idea, but it sounds intriguing to me.
Or anybody else who can answer,too.

[NYMD67]

Some Mid-Shore towns on the Eastern Shore that are family friendly and still quaint would be; Easton,Centreville,Denton,Chestertown...
On the lower shore you have Salisbury which really isn't quaint, it is pretty much a smaller version of Frederick, minus the nice downtown area....
The Eastern Shore in general is seeing a huge influx of commuters from over the bridge and housing is still much more affordable .

[bboyneko]

If it's in the hunt valley/Towson area that youd have employment, then you could even consider parts of southern PA, more of a commute but much more of the small-town feel. Much more affordable in terms of purchasing a home as well. New Freedom, PA is one town that comes to mind.

I knew lots of people that had very nice, large single-family homes in New Freedom and made the commute to Towson for work. They could affrod a lot more house in PA than in MD.

[midge2914]

Manchester is in Carroll County, and is nestled between Hampstead and Hanover, PA. Manchester has about 5,000 residents, and is close enough to the Malls in Westminster, Owings Mills, and Hanover, PA for a days shopping. The same goes for restaurants. We have lived here for about eight years, and we haven't missed the hustle and bustle of the Severna Park area where we used to live. We love the quietness, the landscapes, and the friendliness, and have never, in our eight years, needed the assistance of a police officer for anything, except to exchange pleasantries on the streets of Manchester. We feel very, very safe. When we moved here, we worried about getting Christmas presents because we always had many malls at our fingertips - Annapolis, Marley Station, Arundel Mills, etc., but we found everything we needed in Westminster. There are also community swimming pools. Try Carroll County/Manchester, I think you'll be glad you did.

[CHIP72]

Working in Towson, I'd definitely limit the search for "quaint towns" to Baltimore County north of I-695 (very few towns in the county - for a very small town Hereford could be a possibility), northern Carroll County (various towns already mentioned could be possibilities), northern Harford County (not many decent-sized towns north/west of Bel Air), southern York County, PA (Red Lion would be a very good choice, and Hanover would be a solid choice IMO), and maybe portions of southeastern Adams County, PA (Gettysburg would actually be a very good choice but may be a bit too far for commuting purposes). If you get on the south side of Baltimore, you'll lose quaintness in general and gain a lot of commute time.

The western portion of Cecil County and perhaps the far southern portion of Lancaster County, PA and the extreme southwestern portion of Chester County, PA could also be possibilities. In general though, I'd stick to Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, and York Counties.

[RFinMD]

Originally Posted by la_Roxana

Hello - I'm moving to the Ft Meade Maryland area soon and I'm house hunting right now. The first thing I need to do is find a nice neighborhood. I'm looking at the Anne Arundel County and I'm not sure where the nice neighborhoods are at. Does anyone have any suggestions? We're looking for a quite area, clean, water near by, low crime, not more than 20 mins away from Ft Meade.

You may want to look at the towns along the Route 32 corridor--Odenton, Severn, and Laurel are right at the gates of Fort Meade, but there are also lots of nice (and newer) neighborhoods in places like Gambrills, Crownsville, Millersville (a little north of Route 32), and Crofton (a little south of Route 32). Nice areas in Anne Arundel County abound, maybe a tad more than 20 minutes away, such as Severna Park (expensive) or Arnold. Even Glen Burnie and Pasadena have quite nice areas. Certain parts of Annapolis are VERY nice but also VERY expensive.

Columbia is also popular for Fort Meade commuters but it's in Howard County (still close) and expensive.

As far as being near water, in Anne Arundel County, the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries are never far away.

NOTE: To stay on topic, with the exception of the historic district in Annapolis, I don't know if the areas above can be considered "quaint."

Anyway, good luck!

[rdlr]

I really love Chesapeake City, MD....and since I live in Delaware, can make that trip rather quickly. It's as "quaint" as one can get, in my opinion! Great restaurants, nice cozy shopping area in town....on the water.....I love it!

[Acts16chick]

Poolesville, Dickerson, Comus, but none have affordable housing.

[Floridabrit]

Originally Posted by midge2914

Manchester is in Carroll County, and is nestled between Hampstead and Hanover, PA. Manchester has about 5,000 residents, and is close enough to the Malls in Westminster, Owings Mills, and Hanover, PA for a days shopping. The same goes for restaurants. We have lived here for about eight years, and we haven't missed the hustle and bustle of the Severna Park area where we used to live. We love the quietness, the landscapes, and the friendliness, and have never, in our eight years, needed the assistance of a police officer for anything, except to exchange pleasantries on the streets of Manchester. We feel very, very safe. When we moved here, we worried about getting Christmas presents because we always had many malls at our fingertips - Annapolis, Marley Station, Arundel Mills, etc., but we found everything we needed in Westminster. There are also community swimming pools. Try Carroll County/Manchester, I think you'll be glad you did.

We will be moving to Hampstead next month and I was very very pleased to read your post. Thank you.