Why is ellicott City a great place to live? What are your thoughs on Baltimore and DC areas

[ameme234]

Originally Posted by LunaticVillage

Ellicott City is easily one of the most desirable communities in Maryland. It's much safer than the vast majority of towns in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. Ellicott City is even safer than Columbia as a whole. Columbia has too many wannabe thugs who try to keep it gangsta in one of the top five richest suburban counties in America. People hanging around getting drunk in public and being loud and harassing people near the village centers and 16 year old boys glaring at people wearing ski masks all the way up when its 50 degrees outside intimidating pedestrians out of pocket change on bikepaths. Although Columbia's crime rate is well below state and national averages in pretty much every crime category, every so often the older villages in Columbia experience tidbits of urban crime from shootings to armed robberies. Oakland Mills, Long Reach and Harper's Choice are full of wannabe ghetto people who remind me of the characters from Aaron McGruder's hit TV show The Boondocks. After all, Aaron McGruder did live in Oakland Mills most of his childhood.

Ellicott City is extremely laidback, quiet and affluent but lacks the rampant snobbishness and pretentiousness of DC Area suburbs in Montgomery County and Northern Virginia. The only thing about Ellicott City is that it isn't as ethnically and economically diverse as Columbia. But E.C. does have its charms with its easy-going lifelong natives with thick Baltimorese accents, friendly Korean American townies at pool halls, karaoke bars and coffee shops along Route 40. The route 40 strip has improved recently with the addition of the Sonic and the large Goodwill Superstore as well as the array of eating options up and down the strip. The bars in Old Ellicott City o Main Street can be a fun place to drink on certain nights although I haven't been in ages. The backroads of E.C. are what are responsible for the town being called the "most haunted town on the East Coast" and there is an eerie feeling if you drive back there late and night or dare venture into the creepy woods in the area at night. E.C. also has some beautiful scenic drives as well.

Compared to Ellicott City, the Maryland suburbs in the DC Area are full of snooty, rude, entitled, self-involved, workaholic, type A personality people. DC Area suburbs are far from being laidback as the overly competitive work culture and strict status stratification along the lines of race, class and education dictates the whole vibe of the entire region. The first thing these people will ask you is "what do you"? These people tend to be uptight and boring. DC attracts the most boring people from all over the country to work for one of DC's boring "industries" of think tanks, non-profits and gubmint jobs. These people also tend to be horrible aggressive drivers. Other Maryland suburbs also tend to be much more segregated and ethnically homogenous compared to the somewhat more integrated and diverse anomaly communities of Columbia and Silver Spring. Most of PG County is very, very black regardless if its an upper middle class town sprinkled with mcmansions or an unofficial extension of crime ridden SE DC just over the DC/PG borderline. Most of Montgomery County outside of Silver Spring, Gaithersburg and Takoma Park is very, very white and waspy.

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But Anne Arundel County is pretty laidback. Baltimore County, while also laidback, is nice in Towson, Catonsville and many other towns. However, Baltimore County has its sketchy areas like Lansdowne which can be likened to Baltimore's version of Detroit's 8 mile in being a rough dirty white trash ghetto area with a high crime rate immediately outside of Baltimore city.

I would not mind live in Ellicott city because its an easy commute if I need to go out and go somewhere. More importantly its safe.
I've lived in Charles County for awhile and it wasn't too bad and some people working in DC, don't all have boring jobs.

Thanks for your response. If I contiunte living here, I will lean towards Ellicott City. Catonsville is not too bad but I feel like certain parts aren't the best closer to the City and Woodlawn.

[ameme234]

Originally Posted by TheCaliforniaMarylandPers

I could see how a college kid might find Ellicott City and Catonsville boring, they're both family oriented areas. the good thing though, is that you're near Baltimore, so you can go there for nightlife/entertainment. Have you ever heard of Hanover in Anne Arundel County? It's right near the Arundel Mills Mall. They have lots of new apartments and townhomes, and the area looks great for nightlife, entertainment, etc. Also, it's very close to Baltimore and UMBC.

I don't mind if Ellicott City and Catonsville do not have much to do. I don't mind commuting for fun,especially if its not too far. Hanover is nice. I've been there many times before moving closer to the area. I would not mind it there either.