Harford county

[rkas1978]

We just moved to the area from West Point New York this past summer. We decided to go against what everyone told us and not move to BelAir. Instead we moved to Havre De Grace. I love this place. It is quiet and beautiful! We live in a an older nice middle class neighborhood. The racial makeup is pretty mixed. I have 4 different races surrounding me and everyone could not be nicer. My kids go to Meadowvale and they just love it. I thought leaving a safe secure place like West Point would be hard, but I find this place really relaxing and beautiful.

[bxt]

I'm also considering relocating to MD from NYC. But I was looking into Aberdeen because I though it would be racially diverse, safe and a good place to start a family. I was open to Bel-Air but it didn't seem like an area that would be in my price range.
Does anyone know how the area near Bristole Cone Cir is? I'm leaning towards a townhouse for my purchase or a decent condo.

[gottogetfishing]

Optomistic
Have you looked into North East, Md? This area is exaclty midpint between Philly and Baltimore and is 2 miles from Rt 95 but has lots of open area, marinas, waterfront locales, eateries and servies in town, quick proximity to Newark, Delaware (tax free shopping) and literally no traffic. It's rural but accessible. May work for you. Good luck!

[poca1313]

I agree with the other posters about Joppatowne. Joppatowne (spelled with an "e") is right in between other towns in Harford County. Its not rich and stuck up like Bel Air, which is very congested. The parents supply their kids with endless amounts of money and not enough supervision which is why it has some of the highest drug rates. But its not Edgewood or Aberdeen with kids who have so little money they resort to crime, resulting in the highest crime rates in the county. Its very much a blue collar working community but with no low income housing.

[nlanier33]

I am planning on moving to harford county really soon and I would like to know where is a good area at??? My boys are still in school but my daughter will be attending college there.

[GreetingsFromAP]

It is a difficult area to move into and get accepted by their peers in public schools, even in Bel Air. Many recent transplants to Harford Co has shared their stories of the difficulty their children have had adjusting. One friend is Puerto Rican. I get the feeling that if you aren't white and Christian, Bel Air isn't the best place to be. Harford county is also very conservative and the population in the better areas are scared to go out. There is no social life so to speak. Horrible if you are single.

It is a hassle to go to Baltimore for entertainment and you are trapped by $8 tolls on both sides of HoCo. I do often take the Boston St exit to get to the canton/fells area, it is before the toll. For going north, the Hatem bridge EZPass for $20 a year lessens that blow. Pretty much everything shuts down by 9. If you like to go out in the evening to enjoy some non alcholoic entertainment, forget about it, it doesn't exist.

Harford county is very unfriendly to business. For instance, HoCo limits the number of businesses one owner can have in the county. I sort of get the point, but it stops a lot of would be positive investment. If you are successful, you can't grow in HoCo, so why bother even trying. HoCo people's taste isn't that refined. Cuisine is getting better, but it is mostly dumbed down for the local crowd. I've heard from people who attended the HoCo meetings where businesses get proposed, they are very quick to shoot down ideas people have to improve the entertainment options in the area.

Havre De Grace is an ok town, but it is bit sleepy, at least the restaurants there are not chains. Although due to the multiple business rules and the fact Bel Air is the population center, major retailers open in Bel Air first. So shopping around HdG is pretty limited. Aberdeen could be home to nice transit village, but the train station is dirty, the surrounding area isn't much better and I see no signs of improvement.

I don't like the tax structure of Maryland, although that isn't HoCo's fault.

I do like outdoor activities like tubing in Monktown, hiking at Rocks or Susquehanna state park, or walking around Gunpowder.

HoCo feels like limbo. This is coming from someone who lived at the New Jersey shore in Monmouth county. It was a vibrant community with many interesting towns, fine dining, good entertainment, access to NYC, and community leaders that aren't afraid of change and welcome new ideas.

HoCo might appeal to some, but not me

[angeleyes111]

Hello would you tell me a little more about the school u mentioned. I am moving soon and we own the crab house on rt 40 right before joppatown so we were thinking of moving close to the business. I hear bad things about the schools in harford county. My son is turning 9 and he is in the most amazing elementary school and the thought of changing schools kills me but we don,t have a choice. Times are hard and we are losing our house so anyhow i saw you said you really like that school and i was just curious if you could expand on that. Thanks for any info. also if anyone else has any info on an area with a good elementary school or even a private school in the area of harford co. Also any info on help with housing for a newly single mom in harford county. Thanks so much

[jchughes05]

I can give you some HdG pointers, as I have both lived and worked here for 7 years. My opinions are my own. I am a police officer in Havre de Grace, and I work in HdG Elementary as an SRO. Havre de Grace is the first city in Harford County to have a police officer in each one of its schools. That being said...

Havre de Grace is a historical city, it has a lot of small businesses. The downtown area has gone through several changes alone in 7 years. There is now a 7-11 downtown (where an old strip mall used to be), and now only one bank (PNC). There is a BB&T that moved closer to the water and Tydings Park. There are two pawn shops downtown, 2 bookstores (one has comics and toys, also), a meeting/wedding place, 2 bars, 2 sports shops, a few small restaurants and a salon. This area is surrounded by older homes, as well. As you get further out of town, you get more "chain" places like BP gas station, Royal Farms, another 7-11, a McD, Waffle House, Subway, Papa Johns...

Housing here is off and on, when I first moved here it was expensive, but it seems more doable now. I live in the outskirts of town, on the "hill" by 95, so housing is a bit more expensive up here. We have an APG base here in HdG and there is also one in Edgewood. We have 4 schools (2 elem, 1 ms, 1 hs). In terms of crimes... it has gone down drastically since 2005. Most of our crimes are property or alcohol-related. We get our share of Destruction of Property, Vandalism, some thefts, very little violent crimes (domestic/non-domestic assaults, murder, etc). Havre de Grace Police is very community-oriented, as in we try to get our residents involved as much as possible with events like National Night Out, Police Open House, having SROs in each school, OPAC meetings, Community meetings, Young At Heart, etc.

In terms of schooling, I can only speak for the Havre de Grace Elementary School, where I am assigned. It is a Title 1 school, which means it gets a lot of donations and funding, but most of the folks who send there kids here live in "poverty", or what the government deems as such. The teachers and staff here are amazing! They give 100% to these kids!

If there is anything I missed or anything I can help with, PM me or ask here.