Moving from Eastern Shore to Western Shore (Baltimore, Frederick: real estate market, apartments)

[sfrieson]

Hello everyone. I have been through these forum from beginning to end it seems like but I have not came across the answer to my question, or maybe I just over looked it. But could someone, particularly living on the western shore right now give me some advice on my moving dilemma. Ok here it goes....I am living on the eastern shore right now and in the country at that. I have been living over here all my (young) life. I have small children now and I would like to move to a better place that has more than where I am right now. Meaning more activites and events for my children, closer to shopping and recreation. Better job opportunities wouldn't be bad either. Over here its nothing but fast food chains, a hospital and dollar stores mainly and I want better opportunities for myself and to be able to give my children that. I was looking in the annapolis or severn area but them I came across some nice places in district heights area as well. But to give a little bit about what im looking for is somewhere not isolated, close to shopping areas and/or a marta or something of that sort. Good school districts and family friendly neighborhoods. I am looking for a 2 or 3 bedroom apartment or townhouse, preferably with a gated entrance. My price range is between $1400-$1600. Please dont' get the wrong idea about me or this post as I know some posts tend to start foolishness. I am not looking for something extravagant, my childrens safety means everything to me so thats where the gated entrance came into place. But any information would be strongly appreciated and new girlfriends wouldn't hurt either. Thank you all in advance.

[slowlane]

Anyone will tell you that District Heights and all around there has poorly-rated public schools, very limited cultural opportunities, and mediocre shopping / dining. (You can get data on individual schools all over the USA here http://www.greatschools.org) . Although Bishop McNamara Catholic high school is right there - and the very large community college isn't so far away.

(A bit of trivia: Congressman Steny Hoyer used to live in Berkshire near District Heights for a very long time before moving to Mechanicsville).

What kind of work do you do? Is it something that you can do anywhere? Unless you're self-employed, you might want to line up a guaranteed job first, and then try to move somewhat close to your job provided you can afford housing nearby. Keep in mind that the DC area overall has the second-worst traffic in the USA, according to annual rankings by the AAA for the last several years.

[sfrieson]

Thanks slowlane. This is why I am asking for advice because thats news to me about District Heights. I will scratch that off the list. The kind of work that I do now is registration at the hospital nearby where I live so I could easily get a job at Anne Arundel Medical Center or the other hospitals or offices nearby there. So somewhere near these facilities would be nice.

[donie1]

Where do you live in the Eastern Shore, if I may ask? I just moved to Cambridge and for right now, I, too, work at a hospital. Right now, I work in DC and will be commuting from Cambridge. Hopefully, I'll be able to either find a biller position either on the Shore or in Annapolis. There are tons of things to do over there. If you live close to Easton and Cambridge, there are many things to do.

The Western Shore is hectic, fast paced and expensive. For what you can afford, it will be very hard to find something in that price range. You could look at Cape St Claire, where I'm moving from, to see if you could find a rental home there.

Broadneck High is a very, very good school. The elementary and middle school are also good. Good luck!

[sfrieson]

Thanks donie1. I live in Easton and I work at the hospital there doing patient registration. I've been living on this end for all my life and looking for a change really. I'm not sure I want to stay working at a hospital doing registration forever and I know there different job aspects there that way. The next biggest cities are either Western Shore or Salibury way and not too much over there. Ive came upon Cape St Claire but never researched that area before. My mother used to live in Severn but not anymore.

[NYMD67]

I lived on both the Eastern & Western Shores... lived in Frederick for awhile & then in Easton.
Easton is beautiful, probably one of the best areas to live on the Eastern Shore, however, I can't speak about the schools because we moved before our children started school. (due to job relo).
Frederick County is nice, fairly decent school system.
I can tell you though, your price range, on the Western Shore, is going to be difficult to find something decent. Possibly a townhouse somewhere, but I don't even know about that.
Even though the entire area has taken a huge downturn with the real estate market, it is still difficult to find affordable housing on the Western Shore.

We have friends' that live in Anne Arundel County, they homeschool though because they are not happy with the public schools in their particular area.

[bmorefella]

If you want good schools and good shopping then you don't want district heights Bishop McNamara is very expensive!! For 1,400 a month look at the apartments and town homes in Waugh Chapel, Crofton,MD PG county schools are not good, Anne Arundel county schools are!! And Waugh chapel has a very nice shopping center across the street it's a very nice area!! And the zone schools are Arundel and Old Mill I believe!!

[RichieDC]

I grew up in Easton and too just couldn't wait to leave, I absolutely hated Easton. It was too small, boring, nothing to do, etc. Moved to the Annapolis area, them moved closer to Baltimore, worked downtown for a while and then one day came to the realization that life wasn't much different than at home in Easton. Now today I am back in Easton and am happy about it, I actually like it here now. I am glad that I moved away and got to see what "the other side" was like but in my opinion other than shopping, restaurants, etc. and traffic it wasn't a whole lot different. I am also glad I was able to move back before having kids because after meeting some of the people who went to school in AA Co. and hearing the stories I am glad I went to school in Easton and would never allow my kids to go to school there. If I were in your situation and itching to get out of Easton I would sick with the Broadneck area or Severna Park for the schools, don't cross the Severn River and get into Annapolis schools or any school north of Severna Park, or maybe the Crofton area. However after living there I realized it was not worth the expense or aggravation to live an hour closer to the "amenities" that I though I was going to use more often. Just my opinion.

[heather3]

I would suggest looking in Frederick County or Washington County, which is considered Western Maryland. Washington County just opened a new state of the art hospital and you could probably find a job there, and rent something in a safe area.
I am not aware of any gated communities around these areas, unless you are getting into the city like DC or Baltimore.
I would look at GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community and check out the ratings of schools for your children. Safe areas on Frederick County would be: Middletown, Frederick, , Urbana, certain areas of Frederick City, Myersville. Frederick has a hospital too: Frederick Memorial Health Care Center.
In Washington County, Hagerstown is the main city and there are nice areas there, especially in the north end of the city. Smaller towns include Boonsboro, Smithsburg or if you want to be further out: Wolfsville, which is in Frederick CO, but is on the line b/t that and Washington Co.
Look online at places like Apartments.com | Find Apartments for Rent, Houses, Condos and Townhomes | Rental Listings and see where you can rent for your budget. Then, report back to the Maryland forum and people can tell you if those apartments are in safe areas or not!

[jifrees]

Waugh chapel has a very nice shopping center across the street it's a very nice area!! http://www.depin.info/g.gif (broken link)