Commute Questions (Baltimore, Towson, Westminster: house, construction, taxes)

[Arithian]

Hey guys, posted awhile ago asking for suggestions of areas around Baltimore that would work well with my family and I. After driving around for a few days we have decided to look further outside of the surrounding area of Baltimore (up to about an hour commute) for price reasons.

The areas we are currently looking at are:

Westminster Area
Shrewsbury/New Freedom PA Area
Perryville/North East Area


They are all roughly the same distance via MapQuest but they all take completely different routes into Baltimore. Hearing things like "Baltimore has some of the worst traffic in the country" makes me think that these areas might differ greatly for commuting purposes.

I will be working all over Baltimore City and not in one particular area but I guess downtown Baltimore would be the best place to use as a destination. My work shift would be from 8:30 to 4:30 pm with a rotating schedule to 4:30 to 12:30pm the other half of the month.

How do the commuting conditions for these areas differ? If they do differ that is. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[jifie]

With 95 being the only one I have driven, I can say that the commute from there is ridiculous, especially with all of the construction going on the now.

I can imagine your best bet would be Westminster since you would be mostly not be on highways. I think out of the three of them, Westminster has the nicest vibe to it. I also don't think of Westminster as having a lot of commuters, but once you get in towards owings mill on the highway itll back up.

PA would be a lot better for you if you are looking for something cheaper. The overall cost of living and housing market is better in PA, though I am not sure of that exact area. You would have to contend with 83 on your drives in, which would start backing up as soon as you got to timonium or Towson.

Either way you look though, just because it shows an hour on map quest, it'll be well over that once you hit the traffic of the northern suburbs. But for my opinion the easiest commute would be Westminster.

[GunsMass]

PA is probably the worst option since not only is there a mass exodus in/out everyday, there aren't any real backroads heading straight north. While Cecil County might open up the option of back-road alternatives to 95, these will definitely add up in terms of time. Also, the East side of 695/City is always chaotic and more dense than the west side. I commuted from Westminster a few years back and while 140 starts getting dense pretty early, there are numerous options in terms of country roads that head straight to the city, e.g., you could take Greenspring right to I-83S below the beltway and avoid that entirely. Of course, getting downtown from there will be the same mess regardless of which direction you arrive from.

[Arithian]

Thanks guys, yea I have heard nightmare stories of the 95 commute and from what we are looking at Westminster looks real nice as well. While you can get more house in PA, the taxes are generally a lot less, from what we have seen, in Westminster.

Thanks a lot for the advice, going to go take a look at that area in person soon. Much appreciated!

[davecj]

I would generally try to avoid anything that would have me taking 83 everyday or most of 695. The drive on 295 into the city seems to be the least worst of what is available.