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I'm posting this for the benefit of a friend to be able to see this blog and also my research of some cute homes in the area. (links are clickable here! )
Just click on this, go to MD, then select Frederick County from the dropdown map, then enter search criteria like pricing.
- Property Finder - Gil Clark (http://www.homedatabase.com/midatlantic/propertysearch.shtml - broken link)
Having spent my entire life in the Frederick area, 6 in Frederick, 14 in Myersville (west of Middletown) and 4 in brunswick, I would say Middletown is more of a "snobby" community, and the town doesn't provide anything more than Brunswick does, for quite a bit more money... infact, they probably provide even less, unless you love golf. I went to Middletown Middle and High School for 7 years, which is the top rival school of where I live now (Brunswick), so i'm biased in both directions =P
I moved to Brunswick 4 years or so ago from Myersville. Brunswick used to be a blue collar and what we Middletonians often refered to as a redneck town. I never entertained Brunswick as a remote possibility to move to when I was younger. The town has changed a lot in the past couple years. Brunswick has it's own police force, which at some times can be obnoxious, but we have a pool, tons of community events, movie night when the weather is nice in the park. I also find the people of Brunswick to generally be more friendly. They walk around with their heads in the air, not down at the ground so they don't make eye contact (DC mentality). My parents built a home in Myersville 18 years ago, and the thing I noticed most about Middletown, was that people that newly moved in, want to shut off the borders to other people... How do they think they got there? You won't be buying any beer or liquor in Middletown... it's dry and will have to drive down either 40 or 40-A to hit the liquor store.
Middletown:
Pros:
Golf Courses
Safeway
James Gang
Decent school/sports teams
Cons:
Higher class of people
New housing is very crowded together
Higher cost for housing
Crappy access to Interstate 70
Brunswick:
Pros
Chinese, pizza, wings, coffee shops
C&O Canal
Railroad Days
Decent School/sports teams
Pool
More community based events
Police department
Can buy alchohol locally
Great access for jobs in Northern Virginia and I-270 corridor (Can go 70 or MD-28 to 270 corridor)
Marc train to DC/rockville/Frederick
I think taxes are still lower in Brunswick and we have to support a police dept.
Potomac River
Access to West Virginia
Cons
Police department
Houses are still close, but not as close as Middletown for new construction
Trip from Brunswick to Frederick takes two minutes than Middletown to Frederick
All in all, i'm very happy to be living in Brunswick. Middletown wasn't really an option I wanted to explore since I lived in that area and Brunswick offered a lot more of what I wanted. Both are nice and safe communities to live in if you have children and I thoroughly enjoyed living in both places.
It disturbs me to see Middletown given such a bad rap. We moved here from New York almost 2 years ago and could not be happier. The area is beautiful, the schools are great and the people are warm and welcoming. I'm not sure what "snobs" people are referring to, but we have yet to meet them. Yes, the newer homes are crowded together, but u can choose to live in an older development on a much larger property, as we did. The downtown is in need of some revitalizing, but there are some nice shops lining the streets - The Main Cup, Dempsey's Grill, Elisa's Salon and Pioma Pilates. Love. love. love Middletown. Try living here - you'll love it too.
I think Middletown is a fun little town. And in many ways it's a similiar make up (small downtown, grocery store, a few restaurants) as Brunswick. I would say, however, there is a HUGE jump in housing prices in Middletown vs Brunswick, which is a reason we chose Brunswick.
i live outside of middletown. 10 years ago (when i was in school there) it was still okay. now, the snobs of gaithersburg, rockville, and dc have moved in. housing is OUTRAGEOUS and most of the people just want to "out-do" their neighbors. middletown does have community activities, such as Heritage Days and various "park" events (marble tournaments, movie showings, etc).
brunswick (in my opinion) used to be considered a trashy place to live. now it's actually cleaned up. i have also biked/hiked the C&O canal and walked into Harpers Ferry and i miss that! their housing is alot more affordable and it still has that small-town charm. and you can jump right on 340 to run into frederick (and larger towns). as for community things, not real sure but they have Brunswick Days and have lots of Railroad productions. The history is very interesting.
BTW, i'm moving 4 hours south into West Virginia (this weekend) because the prices on houses is impossible and the coast/big cities just keeps pushing west. i wish you luck with your house hunting and if it were my decision, i'd go with Brunswick! (SORRY MIDDLETOWN but you've lost everything that ever appealled to me!)
I live in M'town and find the first paragraph above to be untrue. Unlike some posters in other forums, he is leaving to find whatever he is seeking instead of sitting here complaining. WV is cheaper in housing that's for sure.
To the original poster: You will find a very close knit community that enjoys history, the outdoors and many other activities here in M'town. There are numerous town events you can participate in like the poster said above, but no one here is trying to outdo their neighbor.
Comparing M'Town to Brunswick: M'town schools are better, we are very close to I70, I270, Rt. 40 and 340. Brunswick is right off 340 and Rt. 17 so you'd have to travel a bit to get to one of the other interstates. B'wick is steeped in RR history (they are the Brunswick High School Railroaders and their "sport" is baseball. M'town are the Knights and our sports are basketball and football. We are very heavy into academics, too).
B'wick has numerous bike paths and is very close to WV and Harpers Ferry...Mtown not so many bike paths but you'll see many people out riding or jogging around the area. M'town has holiday parades (maybe B'wick does too but I'm not sure), family movie nights in the park during the summer, a few golf courses with evening entertainment at the club houses. Library wise, B'wick has a nicer, newer, larger one than M'towns small one but you can visit anyone you like.
We are relocating to Massachussets in the spring and just got our house appraised...and we'll start the for sale price around $300-$310K...it's a 2100 sq ft home (with about 300sq ft of basement finished), 1 carport, 3-4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1/2 acre, fenced and is 40 years old. These kinds of homes will go anywhere from $225-$325. If you want one of the newer Ryan Homes (no older than 10 years) with the 4 br, large eat in kitchen etc then you'll be paying in the upper $400s.We have townhomes also...some older ones built in the 1960s and newer ones built in the past few years. Brunswick has a very nice new planned development going in that is supposed to have a pool in like 10 years, but it's still in the early building stages.
I find the people in Brunswick to be a bit more country. Many like to hunt, work on farms...they just have a more country feel. In Middletown it's a bit more like small city feel, despite the farmland around you. Many people here drive to VA or DC to work and seem a bit more professional. However, the new neighborhood(s) in B'wick may be switching my older view of "country"...but I haven't spent much time there recently. These are just my "feelings".
By the way I lived in Salisbury for 4 years and it has more of a Frederick, MD feel which is at least 4 miles from Middletown (depending on where you go in the city) and B'wick is about 10-12 miles from Frederick (on the other end where M'town meets it).
Having spent my entire life in the Frederick area, 6 in Frederick, 14 in Myersville (west of Middletown) and 4 in brunswick, I would say Middletown is more of a "snobby" community, and the town doesn't provide anything more than Brunswick does, for quite a bit more money... infact, they probably provide even less, unless you love golf. I went to Middletown Middle and High School for 7 years, which is the top rival school of where I live now (Brunswick), so i'm biased in both directions =P
I moved to Brunswick 4 years or so ago from Myersville. Brunswick used to be a blue collar and what we Middletonians often refered to as a redneck town. I never entertained Brunswick as a remote possibility to move to when I was younger. The town has changed a lot in the past couple years. Brunswick has it's own police force, which at some times can be obnoxious, but we have a pool, tons of community events, movie night when the weather is nice in the park. I also find the people of Brunswick to generally be more friendly. They walk around with their heads in the air, not down at the ground so they don't make eye contact (DC mentality). My parents built a home in Myersville 18 years ago, and the thing I noticed most about Middletown, was that people that newly moved in, want to shut off the borders to other people... How do they think they got there? You won't be buying any beer or liquor in Middletown... it's dry and will have to drive down either 40 or 40-A to hit the liquor store.
Middletown:
Pros:
Golf Courses
Safeway
James Gang
Decent school/sports teams
Cons:
Higher class of people
New housing is very crowded together
Higher cost for housing
Crappy access to Interstate 70
Brunswick:
Pros
Chinese, pizza, wings, coffee shops
C&O Canal
Railroad Days
Decent School/sports teams
Pool
More community based events
Police department
Can buy alchohol locally
Great access for jobs in Northern Virginia and I-270 corridor (Can go 70 or MD-28 to 270 corridor)
Marc train to DC/rockville/Frederick
I think taxes are still lower in Brunswick and we have to support a police dept.
Potomac River
Access to West Virginia
Cons
Police department
Houses are still close, but not as close as Middletown for new construction
Trip from Brunswick to Frederick takes two minutes than Middletown to Frederick
All in all, i'm very happy to be living in Brunswick. Middletown wasn't really an option I wanted to explore since I lived in that area and Brunswick offered a lot more of what I wanted. Both are nice and safe communities to live in if you have children and I thoroughly enjoyed living in both places.
M'town is a dry town? I don't think it is as you can buy alcohol in restaurants in the area. And, yes, I agree, MHS was known as the "snobby rich school" when I went there. I think that since many people here are a 2 income family (there are stay at home parents however & mom's groups) you just don't see your neighbors as much. I am the only PT worker on my street and was the only SAHM forever. We also have great access to I70, well, unless you are going west then you do have to drive through Myersville (about 7 miles) to get to it. B'wick does have a community pool and we've used it but it's very basic, but will serve your needs if you have children! M'town is getting an Asian restaurant which will bring us to: Subway, The Main Cup, James Gang, Dominoes, The Dempsey Diner, The Valley Grill, Jaley's Ice Cream and Burger and right over the "mountain" on the Frederick line is The Silver Maple. I would suggest taking a day trip out here and going to each. Have lunch somewhere in B'wick and then have dinner somewhere in M'town. Drive around the school campuses if you have kids, go to the parks and see if it has what you'd use.
Activities for children no matter if you live in B'wick or M'town: The Frederick County Parks and Rec dept have numerous activities at different areas around the county. In b/t our two towns, in Jefferson, MD is The Catoctin Nature Center that just opened and they have kids programs.
M'town has sports for kids as young as 4 where you can learn the game of soccer or play tball. We have Sunflower Studio (pottery), numerous activities at the county libraries, a mom's group is in M'town (not sure if B'wick has one or not), parks, a lake to fish in, marble rings, frisbee golf, different clubs at the elementary level during and after school (putting together a chess club now, there's a reading club, math club etc). In both towns there are Brownies (and M'town has Daisy's for K and 1st grade girls), and Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. Coming up next week is M'town Scarecrow Walk so if you are thinking of coming here, come around Halloween and walk through the town. There will be about 50 scarecrows decorated by families and businesses displayed along Alt. 40 for you to view and enjoy!
Best of luck!
Last edited by heather3; 10-13-2011 at 05:58 PM..
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