Cities near Ft. Meade with good elementary schools... (Baltimore, Columbia: apartment complex, rentals)

[NEOhioBound]

May possibily moving to Ft. Meade this summer and getting anxious about the move as we will not know for sure until at least end of May-mid June. Having a son who will be entering 1st grade this fall, this is not boding well on me, with the late notice we will get, since we have to consider schools for him.

He currently attends a very small private Christian school. We came about it by sheer luck as private schools here are expensive, but this one happened to be half of what we were paying for childcare. If possible, we would love to keep our son in the private school system if unable to find an excellent public school (one who truly cares about education of kids and less about the political factor of just having students make roll-call for funding, parents are involved and all that)

A town where we aren't smack dab in the middle of the city, but not too far from an area where there is a library, park, places to grab a bite to eat.

What cities around Meade would you suggest? A 30 minute commute is doable.

Thank you

[EducatedBro82]

Odenton has good elementary schools I heard Seven Oaks is a good school Odenton is also right next to Ft Meade. Also Laurel has good schools as well. The Anne Arundel County side has a great homes and good elementary schools. Brock Bridge is a good school and has an 8 on the great schools website.

[macroy]

I can't really provide too much on specific private schools. But do keep in mind that MD has one of the better (if not THE best) school systems in the nation. So sans any specific requirements, it may be worth while to not rule out public schools.

What may be helpful is if you can provide a general home price range that you are targeting. This can narrow things down a bit on which areas would be best suited. MD's school systems are based on counties. Ft Mead is in Ann Arundel, but is also very close to Howard and PG County. Some of the larger "towns" around there include Columbia, Ellicott City, Laurel, Odenton, Bowie, Crofton, and obviously many others.

Again, your budget would dictate which areas would provide the most value.

[bande1102]

Crofton. Do a search on the forum for more info, but there are several wonderful schools including Nantucket Elementary (just opened within the past couple of years) and Crofton Woods. There are also several private schools nearby. Lots of shopping at the Waugh Chapel Centers I & II. Great location between DC/Baltimore/Annapolis.

[NEOhioBound]

Thank you for all the suggestions thus far. When we moved to Massachusetts, we were told that the schools here were rated among the best in the nation, but the town we ended up in due to husbands job, only has graduation rate of 76%! It is pathetic.

We would like to keep monthly rent to no more than 1800/mth, not including utilities and hoping we can get at least 1500sq feet. Would possibly go up to 1900/mth for the right place. We are not looking to buy as it is just a 2 year mover before he retires. Of course a home to rent would be the best, if not a duplex rather than large apartment complex, but would be ok with it if has enough space plus allows 2 car parking. We saw that the post offers rentals, but we haven't lived on a military post in over 12 years so going back to it would be rather strange.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by NEOhioBound

We would like to keep monthly rent to no more than 1800/mth, not including utilities and hoping we can get at least 1500sq feet. Would possibly go up to 1900/mth for the right place.

That price range will get you a townhouse or 2-3 bedroom apartment. Most of those places will have outdoor parking.

I think you would have to spend $2200-2400 to get a detached house. Prices in Crofton are similar. The BRAC relocation is creating a demand for housing, which is, naturally, pushing prices upward.

[NEOhioBound]

Egads! Looking at Craigslist and other rental sites for cities and our BAH will barely cover rent for any of those places. 1000sq feet for 2100+ mth!! o_O

[NEOhioBound]

Originally Posted by goldenage1

That price range will get you a townhouse or 2-3 bedroom apartment. Most of those places will have outdoor parking.

I think you would have to spend $2200-2400 to get a detached house. Prices in Crofton are similar. The BRAC relocation is creating a demand for housing, which is, naturally, pushing prices upward.

If rentals are getting so expensive, not sure why BAH is not matching up. It is a tad cheaper to live where I am at, but BAH is about the same cost as it is near Meade, which is looking MUCH more expensive

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by NEOhioBound

Egads! Looking at Craigslist and other rental sites for cities and our BAH will barely cover rent for any of those places. 1000sq feet for 2100+ mth!! o_O

Is the base housing looking more attractive now?

[NEOhioBound]

lol.. no, they really are not much better. Unless I am finding out wrong sites, they are still 2k+ plus a month. I just don't get it... *sigh* really don't want to move now