Looking to move to the mid-Atlantic region (Baltimore, Frederick: homes, employment)

[Sleddog905]

I posted this in the general US forum, but haven't received too many responses yet. I figured I'd try to post in a few more places to get more responses.


My husband and I are originally from southern New England, but have lived in CO for the last 9 years. We're strongly considering moving back to the east coast to be closer to family. We still really like CO, and aren't totally sold on moving, but we have a 4 year old who we'd like to be able to see his grandparents more than twice a year. Plus, my husband is getting sick of snow. I love snow, so I think we're looking to compromise by moving to an area that still see's some snow, but isn't horribly hot for months on end.

Here's the type of area we're looking for:

We'd like to be within an hour of a large city, particularly one with a decent airport. We like being able to take our son to museums, aquariums, zoo's, etc.
Lots of parks with good hiking area's (hills would be nice)
We don't want to live in the suburbs, since we want a home on a few acres. We can compromise a bit here, but we won't settle for a tiny lot (1 acre is probably minimum)
Nice homes on land for less than 500k
Community feel
Good schools
Decent amount of amenities and restaurants
Preferably a place that isn't completely overcast all winter, but we're willing to compromise, since we know that's common (at least it was in New England)
A fairly progressive place. We try to eat mostly organic, so either farmer's markets,Whole Foods or some other organic store would be nice.
As for jobs, I work in sports medicine (athletic trainer) and my husband can work in several fields (IT, design, automotive, personal training)

We're taking a road trip this summer, so we'd like to have a few area's to check out. We looked at NC last summer (Raleigh and Charlotte), but I'm not sure we were in love with either place. I liked Raleigh more than I liked Charlotte, since it just seemed more progressive to me. But, it gets a bit too hot down there (for too long) for my liking!

Where we live now:

We're in a fairly rural area, and most things are pretty far from us. The supermarkets are "close" at 20 min away. Most other amenities are 50 min away, the city is about an hr away, and the airport is about an hr and 15 min away. We'd love to live closer to a decent sized town with amenities, but have no problem traveling a distance to get to museums and zoo's.

We live in the foothills outside of Denver, so we have lots of access to outdoor activities. We haven't been able to do as much with a kiddo in tow, but he'll be able to start doing more in the next year or two.

We're used to lots of blue skies, low humidity, and practically no bugs, so it's going to take some time to get used to the east coast weather and bugs again!

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[westsideboy]

I think Maryland would work for you. Frederick County is what jumps to my mind:

- about an hour (non-rush hour) from D.C. and Baltimore
- Rolling hills and forested small mountains for outdoor rec.
- Price point is about right for a SFH
- You would get some snow, a few months of brutal Mid-Atlantic humidity, but neither is too extreme
- decent schools

Skies are gray though in the winter and "progressive" is a bit subjective. Some parts of Frederick County are populated by mostly the commuting set, other places by long time natives. The county as a whole is red, but will most likely be purple, then blue in the next 2 decades or so because of population growth from the more inner D.C. suburbs.

[wisvishr0]

Yes, I agree. Frederick gets about as much snow as Philly gets, so I assume that's not too much compared to New England. If you're a democrat, I wouldn't worry about the politics there because most areas in the Frederick urban core are liberal (it's only the suburbs and rural areas that are "red"). If you're a Republican, you're in a good place because you're surrounded by like-minded people outside of the core. If you're a mixture/undefined, you should still like it for its semi-conservative and semi-liberal nature. You're still within spitting distance of the Northeast Megalopolis (DC and Baltimore) in case you want to sightsee or be entertained, although Frederick has movie theatres and malls and stuff itself. In conclusion, Frederick's probably the place to be. You're also 45 minutes from Dulles International Airport in the DC suburbs (though Reagan might be a bit far). BWI is also within reach, about an hour away.

[Sleddog905]

Thanks! Frederick County definitely sounds like a good place to explore. Are the schools generally rated well there, or are they just decent?

[westsideboy]

The schools are well rated, although a few in the urban core would be worth investigating further before committing. It is just my preference for private school that caused me to use "decent." Sorry about that, a bit of personal bias coming through

[MidValleyDad]

I'll even be a little more specific Look in the Middletown area of Frederick County. Frederick County Schools in general are very good to excellent and Middletown is one of the better districts in the county.. From Denver just get on I-70 and head east :-)

[slowlane3]

I agree with Frederick, MD.

Is employment a consideration? Do you work from home, or do you have a profession that's in high demand everywhere?

[Sleddog905]

We have no problem using private schools if they're good and moderately affordable (if the public schools aren't good enough). Our son was in a private school for the last year and a half, but we just had to pull him due to issues with the teacher, and frankly, the school itself. So, our private school image has been tainted a bit!

As for employment, I can work anywhere if there's a job opening. I'm an athletic trainer at a high school, which is a sports medicine field. My husband has a variety of skills (IT, design, automotive, and personal training), so he can find work most places.

[reiflame]

Originally Posted by Sleddog905

As for employment, I can work anywhere if there's a job opening. I'm an athletic trainer at a high school, which is a sports medicine field.

Montgomery and Frederick county schools are very competitive when it comes to employment due to their relatively high pay and low teacher turnover. Just something to keep in mind.

[newhart]

I'd also suggest looking in Carroll County. It's a great family area. It's becoming more suburban but there are still some rural areas, and the older suburban homes are often on large lots. It's still a little cheaper than some neighboring counties and the schools are very good. You could probably get to the Whole Foods in Baltimore in about 30 minutes, which is probably about as short of a distance as you'll find to any of the WFs with your criteria.