Town between Baltimore & Rockville, MD (Ellicott City, Catonsville: real estate, renting, condo)

[staywarm2]

Our one daughter lives in Rockville, MD. The other one is considering a job offer in Timonium, near Baltimore. We are retiring soon and would possibly move up there to be near the two of them.

Can anyone suggest a good city/town to live in that would be between the two of them but that wouldn't have such high real estate and cost of living? We don't want to be in a rural setting.

Thanks!

[craig416]

Check out the following areas.......Arbutus/Halethorpe, Catonsville, Elkridge, and Linthicum. I could make a larger list of areas to avoid; a halfway point between the two areas is going to be near Baltimore City. The crime rate for all of the places listed above are average for suburbs surrounding a city; but any of them will provide quick, easy access to the highways that you would need to use to get to either of the locations you have listed.
Hope that helps!

[SVTLightning]

Laurel isnt bad in most areas, plus it has everything you need close by!

[trickymost]

Originally Posted by staywarm2

Our one daughter lives in Rockville, MD. The other one is considering a job offer in Timonium, near Baltimore. We are retiring soon and would possibly move up there to be near the two of them.

Can anyone suggest a good city/town to live in that would be between the two of them but that wouldn't have such high real estate and cost of living? We don't want to be in a rural setting.

Thanks!

Good luck to you...I don't believe there is an afforable, non-rural, low-crime area between those two which doesn't have traffic that can make grown men cry.

If you provide some more details perhaps some better options can be put forth...specifically, are you looking for a SFH, townhome, or a condo? Likewise, what would you consider your budget to be? Buying or renting?

I would advise looking in the Takoma Park area of Montgomery County in Maryland. It's located on the top of 495, and is closer in miles to Rockville but can be as long or a longer drive to there as it would be to Timonium, depending on traffic. You are right near 95, and when it's not rush hour, you can be in the Timonium area in 40-60 minutes. It's also near the metro, and probably a 20-30 minute drive to Rockville accounting for non rush hour traffic in DC.

As another poster mentioned, Catonsville/Ellicott City is a nice area, and probably slightly more affordable than Takoma Park.

If you want your kids to visit you more than you need to visit them, you can also look out towards Anne Arundel in places like Severna Park which are near the water and are equidistant from both Rockville and Timonium when there isn't traffic.

[staywarm2]

Sticker Shock!

We were hoping to buy a SFH in the neighborhood of $300,000-350,000, at least 1,800 sq. ft. I looked at realtor.com for all the cities listed in the posts above. It doesn't look too easy! Atlanta prices are very low compared to much of the country, so it's quite a shock to see the difference.

When I say we don't want rural, I mean out in the country with farms. We don't mind living out a bit as long as there are grocery and drugstores, etc. and other necessities in a town close by.

We wanted to be between the two cities of Rockville and Baltimore so we would have the option of visiting either daughter (and most importantly, grandkids). I don't know how often either family of 2 working people with 2 kids in school would have time to come to see us. They are career oriented and very short on time. That's why we'd like to be close enough to go see them. I know the traffic up there is horrendous (maybe even worse than Atlanta!).

I looked up the cities mentioned above and realize that we will have to make major adjustments as far as space and $$$'s spent if we want to be in that area. We have rehabbed several homes and would consider it again, so maybe that would help us some. But we don't want to be in a gentrification area. Since we're in our 60's, we don't have the time to wait for the neighborhood to catch up!

Many thanks for any help.