Relocating...Annapolis vs edge water, arnold (Glen Burnie, Severn: home, transferring to, neighborhood)

[nnardozi]

We're relocating from California to the Annapolis area and I'm looking for some suggestions as to where to live. We've got 3 kids, so good schools are important. But I'd also like to live where there is a town. Some place close by where we can eat, get coffee, shop, run into people......I'm thinking Annapolis might be the place for us. However I hear the schools aren't great. Are there towns nearby that we can easily get to Annapolis? My husband and I like to go out and enjoy dining and the arts. I wouldn't be too keen on having to drive more than 10-15 mins to get somewhere especially since I don't want to be too far from the kids if we go out. Someone suggested edge water to us....does it have a "town" at all? Thanks!

[Richard Martin]

Edgewater (one word) does have a town although it's not incorporated. It can be kind of confusing to an outsider. Technically, Edgewater is on the north side of the South River. But the Edgewater that everybody goes to is on the south side of the river and encompasses a large area. From Brookman's saw mill on Central Ave all of the way to Muddy Creek Rd would be the east and west boundaries. From the South River bridge to past South River Colony on MD Rt 2 would be the north and south boundaries.

There is also Mayo which has a better elementary school than Edgewater. But for your children to attend that school you almost have to be in the technical part of Mayo which is about 4 miles east of Edgewater on Central Ave.

I wouldn't wory too much about how long it takes to get to a school in Annapolis. Traffic can and does often lockup the entire city and can make moving in a vehicle impossible. Just because a school may be 10 or 15 minutes away on a good day doesn't mean you be able to reach it in an hour on a bad day.

[cpzilliacus]

Edgewater (Zip Code 21037) would probably serve you well. Home prices are not outrageous, and the public schools (at least the middle school (Central) and high school (South River) are first-rate.

[iSki]

I go to Annapolis and Arnold quite often and I honestly think while Edgewater is a pretty good community, I believe that Arnold would probably be the best for your kids out of all three. My friend's kid (11 years old) is very active with the kids in his community and the parents have a wonderful relationship with other parents. Now I must admit there are snobs all over Annapolis, Arnold, Edgewater but it seems that will ease up once you start meeting and getting to know each other - esp the parents.

PS. Whats wrong with California by the way? If you lived in San Diego, could you tell me whats wrong with it? My job asked me 3 weeks ago if I would consider transferring to SD in Sept :-?

[kksand]

Originally Posted by iSki

I go to Annapolis and Arnold quite often and I honestly think while Edgewater is a pretty good community, I believe that Arnold would probably be the best for your kids out of all three. My friend's kid (11 years old) is very active with the kids in his community and the parents have a wonderful relationship with other parents. Now I must admit there are snobs all over Annapolis, Arnold, Edgewater but it seems that will ease up once you start meeting and getting to know each other - esp the parents.

PS. Whats wrong with California by the way? If you lived in San Diego, could you tell me whats wrong with it? My job asked me 3 weeks ago if I would consider transferring to SD in Sept :-?

Just came across this post and had to reply to iSki....we are in San Diego and LOVE it. We actually are considering a move to Annapolis due to a career opportunity and the need to be closer to family. I would stay here forever if we could... Perfect weather, people are great, and so much to do. I could go on and on about San Diego!

[(-)]

Originally Posted by kksand

Just came across this post and had to reply to iSki....we are in San Diego and LOVE it. We actually are considering a move to Annapolis due to a career opportunity and the need to be closer to family. I would stay here forever if we could... Perfect weather, people are great, and so much to do. I could go on and on about San Diego!

san diego is great if you are married. not so hot if you're single and looking to excel in your career. i spent some time out there as a younger military guy. for a city of it's size it just seems a little too laid back/sleepy for me and my east coast preferences. can't beat the weather though. also the city really isn't all that diverse. as a young black guy i often felt like the invisible man. thank god for my military family. annapolis on the other hand is a pretty cool area. it's a small town compared to san diego but it has a unique east coast coastal town vibe that i like. the weather is typical mid atlantic weather, muggy summers and cold winters. the area is very affluent. annapolis also does a good job of hiding it's urban core. you'd really have to go searching for a bad neighborhood in annapolis in order to find trouble as most of the lower income neighbhorhoods are located in areas where there's only 1 way in and 1 way out and they are often located on the outskirts of the city core. edgewater is nice, just a little too country for my taste. used to have a reputation for being home to a bunch of good ol' boys. now it's known for having more strip malls and mcmansions and pretty good schools. again, a great place to go if you have a family and you don't really care about things like nightlife or cultural activities.

[nnardozi]

Thanks everyone. I am looking for culture for sure, especially coming from Cali. We lived right outside of San Fran for 11 years before moving down to orange county for my husbands job. Talk about culture shock. Don't get me wrong, I love what the OC has to offer...wonderful weather, beautiful beaches etc. But am definitely looking for an area to move our family that isn't all wrapped up in itself which I find with a lot of the burbs. But I also want my kids to have a yard and space to run since I have 3 active little boys. So if my husband will be working in Glen Burnie, what kind of commutes would he be looking at from Annapolis, Arnold & Edgewater? Oh and iSki, I never lived in San Diego, but I always hear nice things about it, especially the weather.

[Richard Martin]

Originally Posted by nnardozi

So if my husband will be working in Glen Burnie, what kind of commutes would he be looking at from Annapolis, Arnold & Edgewater?

You'd definitely be better off in Arnold. The big problem with that entire area centers around traffic. It is heavy at best and gridlocked at worst. And if it snows then you can count of spending multiple hours just going 5 miles. The problem is all of the rivers that criss-cross the area. Everybody is forced to have to cross a bridge to get anywhere. You have a lot of people driving on a lot of surface streets. All of those people are funneled across a very limited number of bridges and it really slows things down.

You could take I-97 to bypass the bridges but if there's an accident that locks up one of the bridges then everybody jumps on I-97 to bypass the delays. Before you know it there's an accident on I-97 and then that's locked up. This actually happens so often that no one thinks anything about it.

The closer to home that you can work will mean less time spent commuting and aggravation with locked up, bumper to bumper traffic.

[Enzo_Guy]

I know this is a bit of a dead thread, but I live just south of Edgewater so I'll give my opinion here.

The commute to Glen Burnie won't be too bad, but both ends of R.t 2 are traffic-light-infested nightmares at all times. The people of Edgewater will also likely make you want to bang your head on the wall. Our local group of rednecks sits in the Kmart parking lot and drink beer 7 days a week, and because of the good ol' boy network the police do nothing about it. Edgewater wasn't always bad, but in the last 10 years it has turned into a role model for terrible sprawl. It has no real community feel and has an enormous drug scene, and while most areas in Maryland do, Edgewater is one of the worst but they hide it well.

If you can afford Arnold or Severna Park, those would be better choices and closer to Glen Burnie. Severna Park High School is better than South River. South River may have some national blue ribbon crap, but most of those kids go nowhere except hang out in local parking lots drinking beer until 2AM on weeknights.

You won't find culture in this area. If you try to talk to someone you don't know they will think you are creepy then tell all their friends to not talk to you. Edgewater is dominated by rednecks and a prevailing drug scene. Arnold and Severna Park are full of rich conservatives (they keep electing Don Dwyer) that don't want to talk to you, ever. The people I know from Cali have said this is a total culture shock and they all hate it. They say people are rude, traffic is worse than LA, and you can live next door to someone for 10 years and never even know their name.

My friend Jeff from Los Angeles put it best. His theory was that the traffic here is so bad and people spend so much time gridlocked and screaming in road rage at everyone else, when they get home they don't want to talk to anyone. The traffic here makes everyone incredibly unfriendly. I think he's right, when I have visited other parts of the country I notice I drive like a maniac compared to them and I can strike up a conversation with with someone at the grocery store and it's not considered weird.

[ardita]

Originally Posted by Enzo_Guy

I know this is a bit of a dead thread, but I live just south of Edgewater so I'll give my opinion here.

The commute to Glen Burnie won't be too bad, but both ends of R.t 2 are traffic-light-infested nightmares at all times. The people of Edgewater will also likely make you want to bang your head on the wall. Our local group of rednecks sits in the Kmart parking lot and drink beer 7 days a week, and because of the good ol' boy network the police do nothing about it. Edgewater wasn't always bad, but in the last 10 years it has turned into a role model for terrible sprawl. It has no real community feel and has an enormous drug scene, and while most areas in Maryland do, Edgewater is one of the worst but they hide it well.

If you can afford Arnold or Severna Park, those would be better choices and closer to Glen Burnie. Severna Park High School is better than South River. South River may have some national blue ribbon crap, but most of those kids go nowhere except hang out in local parking lots drinking beer until 2AM on weeknights.

You won't find culture in this area. If you try to talk to someone you don't know they will think you are creepy then tell all their friends to not talk to you. Edgewater is dominated by rednecks and a prevailing drug scene. Arnold and Severna Park are full of rich conservatives (they keep electing Don Dwyer) that don't want to talk to you, ever. The people I know from Cali have said this is a total culture shock and they all hate it. They say people are rude, traffic is worse than LA, and you can live next door to someone for 10 years and never even know their name.

My friend Jeff from Los Angeles put it best. His theory was that the traffic here is so bad and people spend so much time gridlocked and screaming in road rage at everyone else, when they get home they don't want to talk to anyone. The traffic here makes everyone incredibly unfriendly. I think he's right, when I have visited other parts of the country I notice I drive like a maniac compared to them and I can strike up a conversation with with someone at the grocery store and it's not considered weird.

This is helpful but not what I would like to hear. We are also consideing a move to the Annapolis area; we are landlocked in Raleigh and hate the closed culture. Where oh where should we go....?