What is the area like near the Columbia Mall? (Ellicott City: apartments, crime)

[Nancy in Nokomis]

We might move to the area and saw some nice older homes but it concerns me that they are so close to the mall - the mall seemed a little "rough" when we visited it today - very crowded and young people looking very "urban" - and I dont mean non-white - I mean gangish - not very wholesome - hard to describe what I mean
How is the crime there?
Are the schools in the area good?
I am looking for an affordable area that has the highest rated schools.
I just dont think living next to a mall or office complex is a good idea. I grew up in a neighborhood that was just homes - no commerical area too close. The home I saw there was very nice with a lake and walking trails - but not sure I would walk those trails at night.

[TrippingJay]

My aunt and uncle reside in the Village of Hickory Ridge, which overall is a nice place with little crime. For the most part they like it and my cousin is currently enrolled in Wilde Lake High School, which is above average for Howard County Schools, but I believe River Hill and Althoten High are higher rated.

The thing with Columbia is that is a planned but integrated community, so you have people of different incomes living in relatively close proximity. Most of the crime is limited to some of lower income apartment communities and like any areas there is some petty crime like theft from vehicles.

I'm assuming from you're screen name that you're from Fairfax, VA? Columbia is very much like Reston or maybe West Springfield with the nicer areas north of Route 29.

You may also want to consider Ellicott City or Clarksburg in addition.

[SmokeyLisa]

If you look at the crime statistics a lot of the crime occurs near the mall. I'm not sure if that is just because the mall is there and lots of people or if it is within walking distance of a lot of the apartments. For the most part you will not have any problems in columbia. Keep in mind that there is a potential expansion to Town Center that may happen. Not sure what that would do to the surrounding areas. The plans look nice which could potentially make the neighborhoods that are walkable to it more valuable but it will definitely make the are more dense to retail/commercial then it is now so I would keep that in mind.

Not sure what your price range is but in Columbia for the most part you should not have many problems with crime in Single Family neighborhoods. The most crime is near the apartments and the mall. In the daytime you should not have any trouble at the mall or on the walking paths. Columbia has very nice walking paths but they are not lit so for the most part I would not walk on any of them at night time but that does not mean that they are not safe. As for as sections in Columbia for SF homes, the order in which I would try to get in a village River Hill, Hickory Ridge, Dorsey Search, Kings Contrivance, Harper's Choice, Oakland Mills, Wild Lake, Owen Brown and Long Reach. Not sure about the last few villages but I have not heard many good things about Long Reach although their high school seems to be just as good as other ones.

Also there is ~90k people in Columbia so you are going to get some crime, there a thugs everywhere unfortunately. Some people will say that Columbia is not safe but I have not found that. There is also a lot of planned economic diversity which creates a lot of racial diversity. So if you are fearful of seeing youth of different colors hanging out at the mall or the village center then it is probably not the place for you.

If schools is your number one concern then River Hill (pretty expensive) and Ellicott City might be your best bet. They have some of the best schools in the state. Also, do not forget that the schools are Howard Couny which means that you could live in Columbia and feed into Clarksville or E.C. schools and vice a versa so definitely check the hcpss.org site to see where you specific house will feed do not trust the listing information. Also, there is a proposed redistricting on the table now so be happy with the area because the schools can change and they redistrict ~ every 5 years or so.

Good Luck

[Nancy in Nokomis]

Thank you all for such great help. Diversity is fine since my family is of mixed race. I think I will avoid the mall area.

[bonnielisabeth]

I find that a lot of younger folks of all races in the dc suburbs of MD tend to dress in the "urban thug" manner. Scared the mess out of me when I first moved here, as this was not really the trend other places I have lived--including VA. The style has a much harder edge. Have slowly started to get used to it ...

[SmokeyLisa]

Not sure what races your family is mixed with but there was recently a documentary about mixed races and they interviewed several families from Columbia because it has a large mixed race population. I think you will feel comfortable here more so then other places as people are very used to seeing mixed raced families.

Good Luck.