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This is mostly a question for westsideboy, or for anyone else familiar with the area. Thank you in advance for your help. First, background is that we are an older couple, mid 50's, with an adopted 12 year old. My husband is disabled, so we are looking to be near doctors, the Y so that he can take some exercise classes, and just conveniences. WE had almost put an offer on a house in Westernport until we read some disturbing posts on facebook about the youth of that area and the fact that they are looking to hire police to help patrol and control. WE need to be somewhere safe , but neighborly if possible. We are looking at houses tomorrow, and wondered if anyone could weigh in on the addresses, please. Thank you so much. These addresses are in Cumberland----St. Mary's Avenue, Young Street, Winifred Road, Church Street, Oldtown Road. The other address is Park Avenue in LaVale. Again, we are just looking for safety, access to conveniences and a good place to raise a pre-teen.
St. Mary's Ave is a nice, pretty quiet street. That's in my neighborhood. We have is the occasional break-in and a few houses are rentals of dubious quality. I think the neighborhood is a friendly one, and you are a low traffic street.
Winifred Rd. is a good location too. You would be on the edge of the city, but again, it is a low crime location. Oldtown Rd. is a pretty busy street with commercial businesses. The parts of streets that are adjacent to about Virginia Ave. west to PA. Ave are a bit dicey. West of there, the commercial nature of the street makes it a bit more busy, but not what I would call an unsafe neighborhood.
All of these places are in the Fort Hill school district. I'll be straight and say I am a big advocate for our Catholic school, Bishop Walsh, but none of the three public high schools are horrible. That said, none are great either, and Fort Hill has the worst social/academic reputation.............but by far the best football team and a ton of school spirit, so it is what you make it. I can't recommend either of the two public middle schools that serve Cumberland, but other people send their kids there and they turn out OK.
Park St. in LaVale would also be a good choice. LaVale is more suburban in population and character than Cumberland. I don't think you would have any random crime issues to speak of there beyond the background level that is sadly present in many rural towns these days, and you would be in Allegany High district, which is going to open a new high school next year. The other streets don't ring a bell off the top of my head, I will try to find them later.
Big Picture Stuff: Where are you moving from? Do you have any ties to the area? What is your price range?
Hmm....can't find Young St. Church St. runs behind commercial centers on Industrial Blvd.. I don't know a ton about that area, but would have no personal hesitation living there on its face, although it may or may not be the prettiest view in town
St. Mary's Ave is a nice, pretty quiet street. That's in my neighborhood. We have is the occasional break-in and a few houses are rentals of dubious quality. I think the neighborhood is a friendly one, and you are a low traffic street.
Winifred Rd. is a good location too. You would be on the edge of the city, but again, it is a low crime location. Oldtown Rd. is a pretty busy street with commercial businesses. The parts of streets that are adjacent to about Virginia Ave. west to PA. Ave are a bit dicey. West of there, the commercial nature of the street makes it a bit more busy, but not what I would call an unsafe neighborhood.
All of these places are in the Fort Hill school district. I'll be straight and say I am a big advocate for our Catholic school, Bishop Walsh, but none of the three public high schools are horrible. That said, none are great either, and Fort Hill has the worst social/academic reputation.............but by far the best football team and a ton of school spirit, so it is what you make it. I can't recommend either of the two public middle schools that serve Cumberland, but other people send their kids there and they turn out OK.
Park St. in LaVale would also be a good choice. LaVale is more suburban in population and character than Cumberland. I don't think you would have any random crime issues to speak of there beyond the background level that is sadly present in many rural towns these days, and you would be in Allegany High district, which is going to open a new high school next year. The other streets don't ring a bell off the top of my head, I will try to find them later.
Big Picture Stuff: Where are you moving from? Do you have any ties to the area? What is your price range?
Westside Boy, Thank you for your responses. We have continued to look and do really have a house that we are interested in making an offer. WE have been looking for a while and since we come from Frederick originally, we are looking for a nice walkable neighborhood. WE live in Garrett County right now, and we live on a street where there are absolutely no neighbors, only vacation rentals. It is very isolating since my husband is disabled, especially. The house that we are interested in is on Ridgewood Avenue in Cumberland. The neighborhood seems like an older neighborhood where people take care of their homes. We drove around and it seemed very walkable. WE have two dogs and love to walk them. We have a young daughter , too, so we are looking for a safe area to live with her. Thank you again so much for answering me. I am sorry that I did not respond sooner, I did not see your responses on here until I clicked in for information on that neighborhood. COuld you please let us know your opinion of that area? Thanks. WE are trying hard to be careful and the real estate agent is trying to guide us in respect to the best areas to raise a family.
Westside Boy, Thank you for your responses. We have continued to look and do really have a house that we are interested in making an offer. WE have been looking for a while and since we come from Frederick originally, we are looking for a nice walkable neighborhood. WE live in Garrett County right now, and we live on a street where there are absolutely no neighbors, only vacation rentals. It is very isolating since my husband is disabled, especially. The house that we are interested in is on Ridgewood Avenue in Cumberland. The neighborhood seems like an older neighborhood where people take care of their homes. We drove around and it seemed very walkable. WE have two dogs and love to walk them. We have a young daughter , too, so we are looking for a safe area to live with her. Thank you again so much for answering me. I am sorry that I did not respond sooner, I did not see your responses on here until I clicked in for information on that neighborhood. COuld you please let us know your opinion of that area? Thanks. WE are trying hard to be careful and the real estate agent is trying to guide us in respect to the best areas to raise a family.
Ridgewood St. is in my neighborhood. It is a good choice and your eyeball test is accurate, it is a well maintained street of mostly homeowners that is walkable.
The neighborhood is a safe location overall. Cumberland suffers from some drug crime, so break-ins can occur in all neighborhoods of the city. Make sure your doors and windows are locked, and you likely won't have any issues since most are crimes of opportunity.
Are schools important? I ask because I am pretty sure Ridgewood would feed into South Penn Elem., Washington Middle, and Fort Hill High. I would do your homework on the cluster since my knowledge on them is limited since I am a private school grad and father. If are interested in private school, I know about those and would be glad to answer any questions you have.
Westside Boy, Thank you for your responses. We have continued to look and do really have a house that we are interested in making an offer. WE have been looking for a while and since we come from Frederick originally, we are looking for a nice walkable neighborhood. WE live in Garrett County right now, and we live on a street where there are absolutely no neighbors, only vacation rentals. It is very isolating since my husband is disabled, especially. The house that we are interested in is on Ridgewood Avenue in Cumberland. The neighborhood seems like an older neighborhood where people take care of their homes. We drove around and it seemed very walkable. WE have two dogs and love to walk them. We have a young daughter , too, so we are looking for a safe area to live with her. Thank you again so much for answering me. I am sorry that I did not respond sooner, I did not see your responses on here until I clicked in for information on that neighborhood. COuld you please let us know your opinion of that area? Thanks. WE are trying hard to be careful and the real estate agent is trying to guide us in respect to the best areas to raise a family. Our range is under $125,000 and we are coming from Frederick County , Md. but have also lived in Washington County, Md. as well as Georgia in the last 35 years.
Ridgewood St. is in my neighborhood. It is a good choice and your eyeball test is accurate, it is a well maintained street of mostly homeowners that is walkable.
The neighborhood is a safe location overall. Cumberland suffers from some drug crime, so break-ins can occur in all neighborhoods of the city. Make sure your doors and windows are locked, and you likely won't have any issues since most are crimes of opportunity.
Are schools important? I ask because I am pretty sure Ridgewood would feed into South Penn Elem., Washington Middle, and Fort Hill High. I would do your homework on the cluster since my knowledge on them is limited since I am a private school grad and father. If are interested in private school, I know about those and would be glad to answer any questions you have.
Thank you so much. I had not seen your response before I wrote to you again. Thanks for your responses. We are putting an offer in tomorrow but wanted to double check what we had seen and felt. I love the older neighborhood and the sidewalks and overhanging trees. It seems like a lovely place from the two or three times that we have driven through. Looked at old pictures of the neighborhood on trulia, that hospital was huge!!! Right now we love the view out the front door of the home and the chance to run our lab in the huge field where the hospital used to be. Our agent did some checking and found that the city is trying to sell the property, but it is too much ,so it sits empty. do you have any inside information on that lovely grass area becoming apartment buildings or something else like that? I am not averse to progress, just wondered if it would be something that would increase traffic by a lot. Also, we homeschool, so I will be on the hunt for a group or co-op for next fall, but also, would not mind checking out the private school option, depending on the cost factor. I am a 12 year graduate of the Catholic school system, and I loved my educational opportunities. Thank you again for your frank reviews and your willingness to help us make a huge decision
Thank you so much. I had not seen your response before I wrote to you again. Thanks for your responses. We are putting an offer in tomorrow but wanted to double check what we had seen and felt. I love the older neighborhood and the sidewalks and overhanging trees. It seems like a lovely place from the two or three times that we have driven through. Looked at old pictures of the neighborhood on trulia, that hospital was huge!!! Right now we love the view out the front door of the home and the chance to run our lab in the huge field where the hospital used to be. Our agent did some checking and found that the city is trying to sell the property, but it is too much ,so it sits empty. do you have any inside information on that lovely grass area becoming apartment buildings or something else like that? I am not averse to progress, just wondered if it would be something that would increase traffic by a lot. Also, we homeschool, so I will be on the hunt for a group or co-op for next fall, but also, would not mind checking out the private school option, depending on the cost factor. I am a 12 year graduate of the Catholic school system, and I loved my educational opportunities. Thank you again for your frank reviews and your willingness to help us make a huge decision
The city has been unsuccessfully trying to sell the Memorial Hospital lot since it closed about 8 years ago. Demolition was the final choice since the overhead of trying to keep the old building intact was too much for the city to bear.
I haven't heard of any plans to develop it, or any interested buyers. I really hope it is developed as the city desperately needs new middle class priced housing, but for now it sits as a dog walking and sled riding hill. If it is developed, I don't see anything being put there that is out of character for the neighborhood........and certainly nothing would cause more traffic than when there was a hospital and medical offices up there, which wasn't very heavy anyway.
Check it out. Tuition is cheap for a Catholic school, and they have programs for homeschool kids who only want to take a few classes and/or participate in extracurricular activities that would otherwise be impossible as a homeschooled kid in MD.
The city has been unsuccessfully trying to sell the Memorial Hospital lot since it closed about 8 years ago. Demolition was the final choice since the overhead of trying to keep the old building intact was too much for the city to bear.
I haven't heard of any plans to develop it, or any interested buyers. I really hope it is developed as the city desperately needs new middle class priced housing, but for now it sits as a dog walking and sled riding hill. If it is developed, I don't see anything being put there that is out of character for the neighborhood........and certainly nothing would cause more traffic than when there was a hospital and medical offices up there, which wasn't very heavy anyway.
Check it out. Tuition is cheap for a Catholic school, and they have programs for homeschool kids who only want to take a few classes and/or participate in extracurricular activities that would otherwise be impossible as a homeschooled kid in MD.
Wow, that is amazing about the school allowing programs for homeschoolers. Perfect! THank you, I will definitely check into that . Love the extracurricular opportunities after living where we are now where there is absolutely nothing going on in the way of extracurricular activities. WE had those opportunities where we lived before and really miss them where we are now. I think that another neighborhood across the street would be a great addition to that lovely area, and it would be wonderful if the city had more affordable housing. It was really hard for us to find a house under $125,000, so that would make it possible for more families to have a safe place to live. I was only worried about them selling it to a large business or something like that , but definitely would love to see more families Miss being around people at our current house.
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want to check address before offering on a house
