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Old 03-05-2013, 08:12 PM
 
Location: Howard County, Maryland
1,539 posts, read 2,303,445 times
Reputation: 2450

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We are moving to MD this summer and are looking to buy in Crofton, Arnold/SP/CSC area, or possibly Ellicott City/Columbia. Our youngest was adopted and she's african american (the rest of us are white) and I'm trying to find where our family would fit in. I'm a stay at home mom, we're a really active family and love the outdoors. Looking for a live and let live area that's not too fast paced or pretentious. I don't care to have the biggest, best of everything. I just want to raise my kids in a safe environment and a welcoming community. I'm leaning towards the peninsula area but noticed that the area isn't too diverse. Are there any racial issues in that area I should know about? Are people generally more laid back on the peninsula vs the DC metro area?
Thanks for reading!!!
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Old 03-05-2013, 08:27 PM
 
Location: Cumberland
6,999 posts, read 11,293,992 times
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Do you mean "peninsula" to be the Eastern Shore of Maryland?

Last edited by westsideboy; 03-05-2013 at 09:19 PM..
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Old 03-05-2013, 08:53 PM
 
Location: Howard County, Maryland
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Sorry, no, I just meant the Broadneck Peninsula... Severna Park, Arnold, Cape St. Claire area. Thanks.
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Old 03-05-2013, 09:12 PM
 
Location: Cumberland
6,999 posts, read 11,293,992 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cjmeck View Post
Sorry, no, I just meant the Broadneck Peninsula... Severna Park, Arnold, Cape St. Claire area. Thanks.
Gotcha, I am the one out the loop here.

Broadneck Peninsula - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Old 03-05-2013, 09:14 PM
 
Location: Ellicott City MD
2,270 posts, read 9,145,316 times
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We looked at both when we moved here and wound up in EC/Columbia more because we couldn't find a house we liked for a reasonable price in Arnold/Severna Park and we were nervous about the commute up Highway 2. But I work with a lot of people with kids who live that area, and I don't think you are going to find a major difference in environment/warmth. (I also wouldn't characterize EC/Columbia as DC metro area. You are going to find commuters to DC and commuters to Baltimore in both areas.) I'm sure your family will be welcomed both places; I know Columbia is very racially diverse. I'd make your decision off something else, like whether you really need to be near water, or whether you want to be around a lot of moms who do triathlons (IronGirl Columbia), where your husband needs to be for his commute, and just what housing stock you find.
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Old 03-05-2013, 09:36 PM
 
81 posts, read 216,869 times
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That's really thoughtful of you to think of your youngest daughter when choosing your neighborhood. If diversity is a real concern to you, I would look more at the Ellicott City/Columbia area. While there are no big issues with racial hostility, your daughter would not see many faces that look like her in Arnold/Severna Park. Both areas have a few snobs here and there, but overall they are 10x more laid back than DC!
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Old 03-06-2013, 06:59 AM
 
Location: Howard County, Maryland
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Thank you for the advice! My husband will be working at Ft. Meade/NSA so Columbia makes perfect sense. We lived in Severn many years ago (before our kids were school age) so I'm familiar with the Kings Contrivance area of Columbia. Is that neigbhorhood still okay? My biggest issue is our budget is $450k and we need a SFH (we have 2 large dogs). I don't need the best schools but I also don't want to be in an area overrun with section 8. I see that kids in this area go to Hammond HS. Its gets average reviews on paper, wondering if there is anything negative about that school or area? Thank you!!
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Old 03-06-2013, 07:21 AM
 
Location: Sneads Ferry, NC
13,368 posts, read 27,015,812 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cjmeck View Post
I'm familiar with the Kings Contrivance area of Columbia. Is that neigbhorhood still okay? My biggest issue is our budget is $450k and we need a SFH (we have 2 large dogs). I don't need the best schools but I also don't want to be in an area overrun with section 8. I see that kids in this area go to Hammond HS. Its gets average reviews on paper, wondering if there is anything negative about that school or area? Thank you!!
I'd suggest doing some searches on King's Contrivance, and maybe re-post your question with a title about Columbia.

The Hammond HS rates a 7 of 10 from Greatscools. There's nothing wrong with the area, it is just more diverse than some of the other areas in Columbia. The greatschools site says 19% of the students are eligible for free or reduced price lunches, versus 35% state average. So, there isn't a huge percentage of low-income students there.

I think you can find a house for under $450K, but it may be older. BTW, housing prices are increasing in Maryland.
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Old 03-06-2013, 09:51 AM
 
Location: Howard County, Maryland
1,539 posts, read 2,303,445 times
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Thank you for your feedback. I'm totally prepared to buy an older house that needs updating. I think the location is more important than the actual house, I can make almost anything work. I think I'll focus my search on the KC area of Columbia so I'll start a new thread. Thanks again!
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Old 03-07-2013, 03:31 PM
 
Location: Canton, Baltimore
92 posts, read 173,427 times
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Hi, I grew up in Severna Park, lived there from ages 5 to 23 and can say that JavaChip3 probably said it best. The SP/Arnold area is a really nice area with great schools and generally friendly people, but there are definitely quite a few "snobs" and while I never saw any direct, awful examples of racism in the area, it is predominantly a white area...I'd say less than 10% of my high school (Severna Park High School) was black. So I guess you can decide if that's something you're comfortable with or not. Like I said, the people in the area overall are very nice.

One red flag I would mention though is a couple years ago, in a geography course I was taking at Towson, we were reading something about a community association in Cape St. Claire that still has some pretty eye-opening "rules" in its community "doctrine" that were left over from decades ago that had never been revised. "Rules" and "doctrine" aren't the word I'm looking for...I can't think of what it is I want to say at the moment but pretty much the neighborhood had some pretty racist things going on that were really shocking to me. Unfortunately I can't provide any more info than that...I don't remember the book or article I read that in but sure enough, it was talking about that specific neighborhood in Anne Arundel County. I remember thinking at the time "surely this must be another Cape St Claire somewhere" but sadly it wasn't.

Anyway, I still stand by the area as being a great one to grow up in and think that you'd be happy with either decision you end up making. You just might want to stay away from Cape St. Claire.

EDIT: My bad cjmeck, didn't notice in your final post that you had already decided to shift your focus to the Columbia area. At least I didn't give you a reason to reconsider the SP/Arnold area
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