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York City is a hole, but there are many small towns(Dead Lion, Dullestown, Snoozebury, etc.) that provide plenty of small-town peace and quiet.
This place is ripe for the plucking, as transplants from Maryland fill up the housing, more businesses move in(lots of nice new retail space!), won't be long before it'll be transformed into a suburban small city, like Baltimore County.
Everything that Baltimore County has, is here in PA, and all brand new.
Of course, you have to put up with the local rubes, but they won't last forever!
The building boom here may stop, as farming corn becomes a paying proposition again.
I lived in Baltimore for thirty years, and wish I could go back, but I fear you're right, the mis-rule has made it very difficult to stomach Maryland.
(Pennsylvania is a two party state, that helps keep things a little honest-too many years of single party rule has left Maryland utterly tangled in corruption!)
Other than that, it has just never felt like home for me. Decided to move out to the Pacific northwest to be near family (who are scattered). Though I'm friendly and outgoing, it has been very difficult to make friends, (folks seems to have an "entitlement" attitude and I'm not sure why), traffic has become increasingly worse in the last 3 years. Have a nice home, just not in a location with a sense of community.
Other than that, it has just never felt like home for me. Decided to move out to the Pacific northwest to be near family (who are scattered). Though I'm friendly and outgoing, it has been very difficult to make friends, (folks seems to have an "entitlement" attitude and I'm not sure why), traffic has become increasingly worse in the last 3 years. Have a nice home, just not in a location with a sense of community.
Lola
...my wife and I recently left Maryland after living there 3 years. It never really felt like home to us either. In addition, the high cost of housing did not make things any better. This was our experience....we know that there are some who love Maryland....different strokes for different folks!
Been here for 28 years and I'll tell you can't wait till I leave !S.Maryland is pretty bad,all the crap from P.G county moving in and the schools are terrible.They call Westlake high in Waldorf.."South Central High".Taxes are high and there aren't any jobs,mass transit alsmost doesn't exsist.
I have been living in Maryland for nine years and I am about to move to Austin, Tx (as soon as I sell my house!). I have loved living here.......the only compaint I have is the traffic. I commuted to Nor Va and that sucked big time. However, as far as the area goes, I think it is great. Its a little congested and some people could use some lessons in courtesy. But thats everywhere these days. This area has a good mix of "city" feel and also gives you good opportunity to enjoy nature, with the Bay and all the parks. I will miss that.........but I won't miss the traffic on the beltway!
I'll tell you why I would never ever reside in the state of Maryland, but I’m not looking to write a novel that would rival War and Peace.
The top reasons why I would leave Maryland
1. Racism. I have never experienced or seen so much racism in one state in my life and to validate this experience i have lived all over the US. Maryland is a whole racist state on to itself. I would rate whites as the biggest racist in the state, but black are definitely a close second. It is just plain sickening the level of racism in this state.
2. Militant Blacks - If you're a normal black person (not the stereotype depicted by the white liberal media and militant blacks) you have no chance of hell of surviving in certain areas in Maryland. These people will seek you out and destroy you! God forbid you are a black that thinks for themselves and does not buy into this black power bs. This group while not necessarily destructive to whites (although they cause a lot of race tension between the groups) is wholly destructive to young black males.
3. Poor whites and middle class whites (militant ones)- The level of hate and bigotry amongst this group rivals that of the militant black groups and they contribute too as much divisiveness to both blacks, jews, and any other non white group. The only thing i do like about this group is they are not remotely PC about anything, so if they do not like you they have no problem of telling you why.
4. Pseudo Snobby elite. Maryland is full of barely upper middle class people that think they're wealthy or rich, but I’m not even going to give them the dignity of saying noveu riche. These are the people that make 100,000 to 250,000 and act like they're Bill Gates. They have no wealth whatsoever, but have these attitudes like they are so much wealthier than they really are. They live in Darnestown and call it North Potomac lol you know the types. They grew up economically lower middle or middle and toward the end their childhood their parents finally got that promotion that propelled them into the upper middle class economically, so they just expose racist and extremely classist views on everything. People do not confuse this group with the wealthy of Maryland, because they are not part of that group.
5. Stereotypes generated by and controlled by the black militant groups and the white lower and middle class. I have never seen or heard anything to this level in any other state. Granted I have lived in the northeast, Midwest, and south and the stereotypes that exist for groups in Maryland is much worse than in other places.
6. Crime!
7. Cost of living for what you get in most areas
8. Traffic and overpopulation in the metro areas
These are just my main reason I would never live in this area ever or reside in this state ever!!!
T tried to give you rep points but it won't let me.I agree with everything you said .I responded to a post that named four towns in Maryland all in P.G county and said they are not crime ridden when I disputed it I recieved a warning so if I'm banned ....all please take care .
Last edited by 7th generation; 06-02-2008 at 04:48 PM..
I found Maryland to be too schizophrenic and transient.
I lived 12 years in Anne Arundel County. Left in 2007, 6 weeks after I retired. Too much of suburban Maryland lays down and dies for DC activities. I think maybe they think they can't compete with the size and scope of DC events, so why try? But, I'm not a city person. I couldn't even stand visiting Montgomery County. I like town parades and fairs and events. But I also didn't like two sets of TV news: Baltimore and Maryland or events called DC events that were clearly held in MD.
I also didn't like how transient it was in Anne Arundel County. People live there briefly on their way to someplace else. I sensed not a lot of "community spirit." Because DC is headquarters for many government agencies, people tend to come there toward the end of their careers and then leave (like me). But what I really didn't like about it was those same lifelong feds, took off for other states during the holidays. Now I'm thinking it's because of their length of service, that many have use or lose around Christmas time and "go home" for two or three weeks. But unless I walked inside of a mall at Christmas time (and I hate shopping), I never had the feeling of the holiday when I lived there.
Also, suburban MD is not conducive to retirement, in my opinion. It's not just the cost but that is also a factor. I lived in MD for 12 years. Before I retired, I looked around my town and surrounding area and thought there's nothing here for me to do in the daytime. It's very much a working person's place to live. There are things going on, on the weekend but that's about it. Now, there is nothing wrong with that, when you are working, but in retirement I needed more stimulation daily and a better sense of community.
My town in Tennessee is fairly close in size (27,500) to my suburban Maryland town (22,000) although the TN town sits on a lot more land. I take classes in a retiree program at the local college around the corner from where I live - five classes per semester, three semesters per year, for $90 total that you pay once a year. They aren't fou-fou retiree classes, either. Trips are offered and extra but at least 5 per semester are offered. I belong to a Camera Club in my town and a book discussion group that meets in the daytime and goes out to lunch afterwards. My town has an annual two-day festival that includes free bus tours of historic government sites and a WWII re-enactment, in addition to the usual festival fare of food, entertainment, booths and arts and crafts. My town has an indoor and outdoor pool, an arboretum, a lake, a fishing pier, college rowing team regattas, a science museum, an art center, a symphony orchestra, a community band that gives concerts once a month including outdoors ones in the summer, a playhouse. a multiplex movie theater and greenways for people who like to walk or run or bicycle. Earth Day is celebrated in the park like a fair. We also have a street painting fair, turtle races for charity, cardboard boat races and running races/marathons. There are numerous organizations/clubs that retirees can belong to. At Christmas time, we have a Christmas Parade (all local hometown floats) and the community band holds a Christmas Carol sing-along. Flags go up around town streets (not including private homes) from Memorial Day (we have an outdoor concert, too) to July 4. We have fireworks on July 4. And those are just some of the things to do IN my town. If I extended it to surrounding suburban towns there would be a lot more I could add. My town doesn't lay down and die because downtown Knoxville is 25 miles away with bigger, splashier events.
P.S. -- My friend has more of that kind of neighborhood spirit in Glen Burnie, MD but I find that town to be also better for families where the spouses are still in the workforce than for retirees who are looking for something to do during the daytime.
The decrease in my rent was almost $400 for a two-bedroom, two bathroom, two times as big, brand new apartment in a brand new complex. My rent went up $10 at my second lease signing. My rent used to go up $50 every time I signed a lease in MD. Do you know how long it will take for me to be just paying what I did in Maryland 2006 - 2007 at that increase rate? My electric bill this month was $44. I kept the same car insurance company, same car and my insurance (car and renters) was also cheaper than in Maryland. Yesterday, the Shell station in the neighborhood was selling gas for $3.79. Considering I don't need to go far to have things to do, I'm not hurting. We have no state income tax but a high sales tax but it does not come close to what you pay for all of your taxes in Maryland.
Lastly, it is a thrill for me to not have to deal with the obnoxious rude drivers on Route 50, anymore. Oh yeah, in Tennessee men hold the door open for you before they walk through it.
Always good to hear folks who have relocated and are happy with their decision. I've been traveling and looking at various cities; some mentioned in this thread (Raleigh, Charlotte--too bible belty for my taste) also Jacksonville, Scottsdale, San Diego, Atlanta, Austin...the list goes on. Although I am fed up with the high cost of living in MD, the insane traffic, and WINTER, I'm hard pressed to find any place that compares! Small towns like Raleigh and Jacksonville are too quiet for me, Atlanta has worse traffic than baltimore; San Diego-love it but its prohibitively expensive, Scottsdale--way too much "who has how much money" attitude, Austin (well, i still love Austin) but not sure yet if it beats MD. My point is, every city has its positives and negatives. I think I'm looking for a hip and happening Mayberry where everybody knows each other, gets along, is laid back but--that has the French Quarter a half hour away when I need a good bar and live music! And although I'm no huge fan of Baltimore City, in comparison to most cities of a similar size, it's got a lot going for it. Still I love living in the country and would like to find a rural existence somewhere with great weather and a decent city within a 40 minute drive. Does that exist in the good ole
U.S. Of A? Can't relocate to Central America for another 7-8 years so, would like to find a great new location now.
Try Asheville, NC, if you don't mind hippies. I think "Mayberry with a twist" is a pretty good description of it. Has some weird aspects to it too, though -- I read an article a little while ago about it being somewhat of a mecca for recovering meth heads lately. But whatever, people seem to like it.
I agree that Raleigh isn't what you want, and if a giant hole opened in the Earth and swallowed the entire city of Charlotte and all of its suburbs it would be a happy day. But Apex, right next to Cary (which is right next to Raleigh), or maybe Chapel Hill (college town, same general area) might be a little better for you than Raleigh proper.
This is the time when I need to step in and point out that not every part of Maryland is populated by transplants, transiants, yuppies, and other suburban types. This is the Maryland people know best, but if you go off of the beaten path you find something different. Western Maryland, the Eastern Shore, and parts of Southern Maryland and most of the small towns along the Mason-Dixon, are populated by native born sons and daughters and long time residents. These are places where multi-generational families still in live in the same small towns, where people live, work, worship, and play in the communities they live in, and where courtesy and neighborly values still exist. Head out to some of these places before you give up on Maryland entirely.
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Leaving after 8 years
Taxes are high and there aren't any jobs,mass transit alsmost doesn't exsist.
