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Birney30 if you are still checking this post then let me tell you brother man to follow these three rules to keep you and your family happy. 1. STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM SALISBURY & THE EASTERN SHORE. 2. STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM SALISBURY & THE EASTERN SHORE. 3. STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM SALISBURY & THE EASTERN SHORE, GOT IT? I really do not want to see or hear you regretting moving into this area, there is a little bit of charm here but its not enough to substain a family man (assuming ) of your caliber, this place is against outsiders, none of the young folks who are born and raised here want to stay here, and the economey overall sucks, I'm begging you do not put yourself in an unnecessary bind, dont make your family hate you for bringing them here. (LOL) I know this sound s a bit extreeme but this is the best way for me to express it. Unless you like small town, no culture having, backwards simple living no problem. This is a great place to raise kids or to retire provided you do not have to look for work. If you can bring your own job with you then mabye I can see you giving it a shot here but if you have no contacts, and you and your wife have to start from scratch you better be very careful how you go about intergrating yourself here. I'm from New Orleans, been here since November of '05, I no longer hate it here I just tolerate it, ignore it, keep to myself and just make do for the time being. Financially and job wise my life has come to a virtual stand still since I've been in this suck-ass place, so you better think long and hard before you put yourself, and family in this environment. Ok I know I was redundant but I just wanted to drive a serious point home to ya. May God bless you in whatever decision you make, who knows this may be the place for you. Peace.
Kevin.
I'm not sure if you're still looking, but here are answers to your questions from the perspective of someone who's lived in the area for fifteen years. (note, though, that I'm 20, so this is definitely a young person's perspective, and the only reason that I live here is because my parents do)
1.) How do you feel about the public school systems in Salisbury and surrounding areas?
Well, they're honestly not great. Not horrible, but certainly nothing exceptional. When I went through high school, we had something called the GATE program that offered accelerated courses. With the resources that the schools had, they faired reasonably well, and I had some genuinely good teachers, but the school systems here can't begin to offer the quality of facilities and resources that you'd find in the Montgomery county school system, for example.
2.) Most of my time has been spent mostly on Salisbury and Ocean City. How are towns like Snow Hill?
Much like small towns anywhere in rural America. Very few jobs, limited primarily to various kinds of waitressing and hourly shift work at retail. Very little to do beyond go to church, attend auctions, and play computer games. If you like to hike we have a small state forest nearby, and if you enjoy fishing this area is very good, but it gets difficult to sustain years of interest in such activities.
3.) Is Cambridge as bad as I'm told? I have never been to that area. Can't be any worse then NJ?
Cambridge is poor and not especially pleasant in any regard. By the way, though I never attended, I've heard through the high school grapevine that the Dorchester county schools (particularly North Dorchester, which doesn't include Cambridge) are very bad and fairly rough.
It doesn't have the crime of a Camden NJ, but it's certainly not a bed of roses. The coming of the Hyatt made available a few hundred more hourly wage jobs in the area, but that's about it.
4.) How are the property taxes down in Slaisbury and surrounding areas?
Higher than you'd think in a relative sense. Absolutely speaking, they're not as high as on the western shore of the bay. Considering the poor services locally and the almost non-existant zoning and planning, whatever taxes you pay here appear to be wasted. They'll seem cheap to someone from NJ, but in this case, you (don't) get what you (don't) pay for.
LOL!!! I used to have romantic notions of becoming a country squire on the Eastern Shore until I went into a mom & pop convenience store to buy a local paper. The store clerk appeared startled, as if I were from Mars. Anyway, I mentioned to my brother who hangs out from time-to-time on the Eastern Shore. He just laughed and said it'll take 100 years for those people to get used to you living among them. The problem is I'll most likely be long gone before my 100th anniversary comes around.
I spent a week on the Eastern Shore for a pharmacy school rotation in Salisbury and lived in Cambridge over that week, actually more like 10 days and it was an incredible experience. Health care jobs at least are plentiful there as in other rural parts of Maryland (Carroll County, Western Maryland, even around Elkton which really isn't that rural) and if I was not single, I would definitely settle down there after school in a heartbeat.
I don't know about the buying a newspaper and being looked at thing. I am 23, male and Asian American, from Montgomery County though I've lived in College Park and now live in Baltimore for school. People there are the nicest, friendliest most down to Earth folks I've met anywhere in the world with the possible exception of Idaho/Wyoming. The second friendliest place I've experieced in Maryland, the Baltimore suburb of Dundalk, already is a huge diff. from Cambridge and Salisbury. The area is very beautiful and my commute took me through wetlands, farm country, and woods....try comparing that with the same 45 minutes stuck in traffic in New Jersey, or the same 45 minutes waiting for the bus tranferring to the subway and taking another bus to your office.
With my experience, people are not hostile to all outsiders, only outsiders who go there and try to tell them how to do things, try to change the way of the life of the region, bring their baggage with them...you know the ones like "back in Jersey, things were much better" "back in Jersey stuff ran more efficiently" or "back in Jersey people did not talk about church at work." People there were very welcoming toward me and actually told me it was refreshing to meet someone like me cause a lot of other students there in the past have complained about the towns being boring or made comments like they will never live there or there are hicks blah blah blah. But one thing about me is that I am conservative, am religious, prefer a slower more laid back way of life, think that family adn community is more important than money/career, have the right priorities IMHO that is, and even like country music and homestyle cooking.
There is nothing wrong with living on the Shore if you are married or have a girl who will move there with you, someone who doesn't have a lot of false misconceptions. yes, the towns are smaller than Baltimroe or even Annapolis but Ocean City in the summer is the state's 2nd largest city. Salisbury is a perfectly sized city that's big enough to have a diverse selection of attractions, nightlife, shopping and restaurants and a college scene as well at Salisbury University which has good nursing and teaching programs. There is less snow compared to western parts of the state in the winter. I'll be going back to the Eastern Shore again in March for a school thing this time in Easton and hopefully I'll get to live in Cambridge again. I have a good impression of Cambridge and experienced some really nice local restaurants like the Cambridge Diner and Portside Restaurant (best crabcakes anywhere better than Faidleys or Phillips in Baltimore or Harris's at Kent Narrows). Cambridge is a mix of new commercial and residential development along Route 50 plus a very charming historic downtown area. The waterfront setting is very breathtaking and people have chosen to retire there from the Baltimore metro area. There is a lot of rich history in the area....Harriet Tubman was born near Cambridge (Route 50 from there to I think Vienna is dedicated to her and her birthplace is a historic site) and Frederick Douglass is from Easton. There is a historic charm here that you can't find in the plastic developments of Arundel Mills or White Marsh or in the crumbling row houses of Baltimore. Again I just spent 10 days there (looking forward to 7-10 more in March) but that's just my personal perspective if any locals wish to correct me please take their word over mine.
Anyone who say Salisbury or Cambridge has a lot of crime or are "ghetto" must have never been to Baltimore City, Washington, D.C., Prince George's County, or even many parts of Montgomery or Baltimore Counties.
I, too had the same gleaming perception you did after a few summer visits. If you move here and love it, congrats, but a 10 day visit isnt long enough to make any kind of real factual opinion. My perception changed after about 1 1/2 years of living here. But I prefer having a satisfying job, numerous things to do and a roof over my head to having a good community or fitting in. Different strokes.
lot of people talking bad about the eastern shore...thats fine...im a lifetime resident born and raised and i love it...those who dont like it we dont want you here anyway
I, too had the same gleaming perception you did after a few summer visits. If you move here and love it, congrats, but a 10 day visit isnt long enough to make any kind of real factual opinion. My perception changed after about 1 1/2 years of living here. But I prefer having a satisfying job, numerous things to do and a roof over my head to having a good community or fitting in. Different strokes.
If you are in a health profession like I am the job prospects are great. The state government is even considering loan payment for people willing to work for a few years in the Eastern Shore or Western Maryland (Carroll County not anymore since its becoming swallowed into the Baltimore area). I really jsut migth move and the only thing that might keep me is being single and being able to meet someone on the Shore since so many girls seem to get married early. I want that small town lifestyle for my children, where the simple, more important things in life come first. I grew up in a very snotty, shallow materialistic area in Montgomery County and know for certain that is NOT what I want. Might as well give the Shore a try.
Hi everyone. My name is Jack. I'm 32 years old, married, with two kids ages 2 & 1 years old. My wife and I are seriously thinking of moving us and our 2 kids to the Eastern Shore area of MD over the next few months to the next year. We currently live in Rahway, NJ and just want a change hopefully for the better for our kids and we cannot and do not want that to happen in NJ.
I have loved the Eastern Shore area when I was a kid and we have taken our vacations over the past two years to Ocean City, MD and we always make the point to spend time in Salisbury and try to go into other towns that we might not have been in the past to see what we might like and we just hate to leave.
I am a warehouse manager and over the past several months have been looking around and have found very few companies in that area of MD and found very few places that are hiring although I did find a couple places that could possiably start me off at the same amount of money that I make here in NJ and if not maybe more if I get real lucky lol. Right now anything has to be better then where I am right now. With the owner of my company leaving full control in the wrong hands and that person who he thought he could trust the company is now in severe financial distress and it's only a matter of time before they shut it's doors. I can walk away knowing that I made things better for the company over the years while I was there in trying to help repair the situation. I can not make the move right away but I would love to make it happen in the next 6 months to 1 year. If I can make it happen less then 6 months that would be awesome. I did submit my resume to put out some feelers and one company told me when I am moved down to MD or when I know when I will be relocating to contact them as they would like to meet with me about possiable employment. Right now I have no clue what they pay but there is one choice possiably. I'm just nervous if the company ever goes under then I am screwed with little to no choices as trucking and warehousing work is all I have ever done. If I could go in to a different line of work knowing I can support my wife and kids then that would be another option. I am willing to try anything and learn anything new and I think I'm one of the hardest workers and any company would be lucky and benefit by having me as an loyal employee.
My wife stays home right now to take care've the kids cause I figure why should she goto work for her pay to only goto a day care or preschool. Day care here in NJ costs about $500.00 to $1000.00 a week. One guy I work with pays $800.00 a week for his kid to go to all day day care. Besides my kids are learning alot more from my wife and are on track ahead of schedule then they ever would be at a daycare being raised by strangers.
I was born and raised in NJ but I want out. My wife was born and raised in the Philippines and has a degree in accounting and has tons of experience in customer service work so I know she will be able to find work hopefully at a decent pay rate when she's ready. If I have to I'm willing to work the afternoon or night shift if she had to go to or wanted to go to work. My family is non existent in my life so that isn't a factor or help and my wife's closest family is CA and the Philippines so that's why she is willing to relocate. We have two kids so it's not like nightlife is important to us. My wife will adjust to the move just fine and even though I grew up in city life I know I can make the change.
When we're down in MD we are like different people. My wife says it about me especially and I notice it about her too. She says I am so calm and laid back and it's true because I am just so relaxed and calm down in MD. It's like a different way of living down in MD. We have had nothing but very nice times and the people are so much nicer. Noone is fighting and angry, cutting one another off on the road and constantly living with their hand on the horn, if you bump in to someone they aren't so jumpy and ready to threaten you or pull a gun on you. In NJ it's like people are so afraid you're beating them to something or taking something away from them. People wanna try an be the boss of one another and the racism is so out of control between all nationalities.
I have been spending alot of time online looking at the job market and searching for job sites for anything new. I have been also recently been paying attention to the real estate market down that way as we would probably rent in the beginning for a year or two until we decide what area to buy in. I have been checking what the rents are in different towns and I feel there fair in price and to buy I feel their alot better then what NJ has to offer.
I tell my wife I feel the kids will get a way better education then they ever will in NJ. See the one town we were watching very much here in NJ to buy a house is just getting so bad. I'm told the school system is almost $70 million dollars in debt. The classrooms are way over filled with 30 -35 students per classroom. Teachers are underpaid and don't have enough experience so they really don't care so the students that are struggling with their school work are left behind cause the teacher cannot spend time with the students one on one or care to for that matter.
The town council is supposedly thinking about making the town have a volunteer fire dept instead of a paid dept to cut back on costs. That is just unheard of in this part of NJ but yet city employees get paid 2 or 3 different salaries if they hold more then one position. The city gets the mayor and the council president new cadillacs every year. People are going to council meetings and saying with the town so far in debt that the town shouldn't have hired 6 new police officers and 6 new firemen for the departments but yet if the town was to cut police or fire funding everyone would be crying that the city doesn't care and on top of that the next town over wants to do away with their fire department and let our town control it but yet that town doesn't want to pay our town for the services. For the town we once wanted to live in the property taxes have skyrocketed. The cheapest property tax is about $6,600.00 a year but that's in the bad section of town. Where we wanted to buy the house the property taxes are $8,000.00 to $10,000.00 a year and that's with if you're lucky .25 of an acre of land. That town just isn't worth any more for those prices.
I know I'm kinda all over the place here but I'm only in the early stages of planning everything over the past few months but our feelings are growing stronger and stronger everyday about moving out of NJ. We wouldn't really have a whole lot to do but just alot of minor loose ends to tie up here in NJ and take care've down in MD to start our life.
Here are a few questions and I'm sure I'll have many questions in the future.
1.) How do you feel about the public school systems in Salisbury and surrounding areas?
2.) Most of my time has been spent mostly on Salisbury and Ocean City. How are towns like Snow Hill?
3.) Is Cambridge as bad as I'm told? I have never been to that area. Can't be any worse then NJ?
4.) How are the property taxes down in Slaisbury and surrounding areas?
Anyone who answers Thanks for your time and please feel free to tell me what you think even if it's bad and tell me anything that you might be good knowledge for me to know.
My brother went to Salisbury University. That was over 26 years ago. He still lives in Hebron with his family and they love their life there
Hi, I don't recommend Salisbury! I have a house there that I am renting. The locals are not friendly of newcomers, they are really nasty! School systems are not good, high crime rate, no job industry, lots of illegal immigrants and the city lets them get away with illegal dealings. There are 30 illegal immigrants living in the house right next to mine against city code.
Born and raised on the Eastern Shore, I chose to remain here, but work in the DC metro area. As a local I consider myself to be very friendly and accepting of new residents. Throughout my travels I find every city or town to have those who show hospitality and those who don't...It's just part of life. It's not fair, but it's everywhere. If you are looking for a quiet place to raise a family I would recommend moving here.
The housing market on the Shore is great, especially right now, and you definitely get more for your money, specifically in Dorchester, Caroline, and Wicomico County. Compared to homes in the Annapolis or DC metro area, on the Eastern Shore, you can now get a 4-5 bedroom house for half the price (around $300K or less), with property for your children to play in. It's definitely a good time to buy a house anywhere right now, especially here. Talbot County has the least expensive property taxes on the Eastern Shore, but the cost of living is also one of the highest. You would probably pay 3X's more in the other counties, but its still not high when you consider the taxes in other parts of maryland and surrounding states. I pay about 3,000 a year, compared to my friends in the Annapolis, DC metro areas who pay $5-8,000K a year.
And Cambridge is not as bad as you may have heard. All towns have crime and lower economic neighborhoods, but in my opinion the crime rates still can't be compared to other cities (NJ). With the new Hyatt in Cambridge, there also came many new communities with spacious single family homes and townhomes at very good prices. The only times I go to Salisbury are when I'm eating out or shopping, but frequenting this area while I was in college several years back I don't think the crime was that bad. Your car insurance will be higher, but Salisbury is much more populated than other areas on the Shore (one of the 2 largest cities on the Shore), so of course they have more crime than other small towns on the Shore.
Being a local I've heard the school districts in Talbot and Queen Anne's County are rated better than those in Dorchester and Wicomico. But in my opinion if your children are focused on school and if you establish a relationship with their teachers I think you children will be fine no matter where they attend. I know many people who attended Wicomico and Dorchester County schools and went off to college with scholarships.
The jobs in this area, in my opinion are limited, with the exception of those in healthcare or the school system. If you're willing to commute (45 min-2 hours), like I and many others on the Eastern Shore a job won't be a problem. There are many people who work in the DC metro area, but are looking to move the E-Shore for a change in atmosphere.
During the summer months the traffic is heavier, especially during the summer months on Fridays with the beach traffic, but I can't ever imagine relocating from the Eastern Shore. I have thought about it (for 1 second), but never will.
The Eastern Shore its quiet, the schools have smaller class sizes, in many communities you know many of your neighbors who keep an eye on your house and children, and the seafood and sweet corn is excellent!
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Highly Recommend Living on the Eastern Shore
