Which Town/City Would You Choose? (Ellicott City, Bethesda: to rent, movers, homes)

[mwj119]

Hi All- Native of Greater Boston/Chicagoland here. We just moved back to Chicagoland to be close to my MIL, but will likely only stay through the winter.

I work in cyber, and am considering an offer/role with a heavy focus on Fed bids. So, in the nearer term, I will be asked to live in the DC orbit. It would be advantageous for me to live within striking distance of DC, maybe ~30 miles out, but the daily commute won't be necessary. I'm guessing a few times a month, so I can extend the distance for the right community.

Because we are serial movers, we will likely look to rent before we purchase. As such, like many others on C-D, I'm looking for three or four town recommendations to hyper-focus on. Loose criteria/tid bits of information:

-Rental budget should be a none issue, ultimate budget for purchase will be max $1.2
-Looking for single family, 4 bedrooms, lots 10k sqft are perfect
-We prefer denser suburbs with some walkability
-We really like a town/village/city with a nice core or main street with shops, restaurants, a few local watering holes, some green space
-Preference is for older more established neighborhoods/homes if possible
-Tier 1/Tier 2 schools.. Doesn't need to be a Harvard plug, but would like the kids to go through a district where the vast majority of graduates aspire to 4-year schools
-Kids like athletics- baseball/hockey- so any inside detail about the town you recommend would be nice

I have always loved DC when traveling for work/pleasure. Great area to explore. That said, we have spent the majority of our time in DC itself or in Bethesda (family). Chevy Chase and Bethesda are obviously very nice, but a bit cost prohibitive, and I wouldn't mind being a bit further out. Don't really care to live in the same town as family, either.

I posted this in the Northern VA forum as well. Hoping to get down to one or two towns within MD and VA, and then feel them out. I could be way off, but both areas seem to offer relatively low property tax, so it doesn't seem like that will be much of a consideration.

Thank you for the help!

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by mwj119

Hi All- Native of Greater Boston...
I have always loved DC when ...
Hoping to get down to one or two towns within MD...

Counties and Neighborhoods (ie school districts) within those Counties. Not towns.

As flush as you imply yourselves to be... start with the private schools you can get your kids into. LINK
It shouldn't be too hard to spend $1.2M near any of them and probably to like what you can get too.

[The Very Man Himself]

Frederick and Westminster to the NW both have ye olde downtown core. Likewise Annapolis to the east. Annapolis the closest is about 30 mins to DC. Westminster maybe an hour (country roads). Three different school systems. At a guess, I say Annapolis has the best.

[skeddy]

Reston Va.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by The Very Man Himself

Frederick and Westminster to the NW both have ye olde downtown core. Likewise Annapolis to the east. Annapolis the closest is about 30 mins to DC. Westminster maybe an hour (country roads). Three different school systems. At a guess, I say Annapolis has the best.

Don't guess. Annapolis schools are at the bottom for Anne Arundel County. Annapolis High School is somewhat saved by the AP/IB programs but the elementary and middle school feeders to it are less than optimal.

The Broadneck attendance cluster is considered the best one in Anne Arundel.

[bufflove]

Originally Posted by skeddy

Reston Va.

Do you hate OP, or something?

[bufflove]

Takoma Park for MoCo. Ellicott City for HoCo.