sykesville, md (Columbia, Ellicott City, Frederick: renting, sex offenders, crime rate) - Maryland (MD) - City-Data Forum

Jmandl · 02-03-2009, 06:15 PM

Does anyone have any info on sykesville. I did some research and it looks like a nice place but maybe too boring for kids. We are moving this summer from NJ and I have a list of things that I would like to have in our new town. Sykesville seems to be good but it doesn't seem to have community activities like swimming pools and etc.

also, I am a little confused re zoning for schools. for ex: part of sykesville is in HoCo. Coming from NJ, it is a little strange for me since all of the town is usually in one county and the school that you attend is the town's school (that's why the high taxes in NJ). People from a neighboring town cannot attend your town's school.

From the search that I have done, I see that differnt parts of sykesville is zoned for diff HS. Can we pick and choose which HS we want the kids to attend or is there some kind of zoning that is very diff from NJ.

Any help in clarifying on both questions would be great. Also, if someone has a suggestion about any other town that is safe, family oriented, good-school, affordable, near Woodlawn, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks..

trying2moveup · 02-03-2009, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jmandl

Does anyone have any info on sykesville. I did some research and it looks like a nice place but maybe too boring for kids. We are moving this summer from NJ and I have a list of things that I would like to have in our new town. Sykesville seems to be good but it doesn't seem to have community activities like swimming pools and etc.

also, I am a little confused re zoning for schools. for ex: part of sykesville is in HoCo. Coming from NJ, it is a little strange for me since all of the town is usually in one county and the school that you attend is the town's school (that's why the high taxes in NJ). People from a neighboring town cannot attend your town's school.

From the search that I have done, I see that differnt parts of sykesville is zoned for diff HS. Can we pick and choose which HS we want the kids to attend or is there some kind of zoning that is very diff from NJ.

Any help in clarifying on both questions would be great. Also, if someone has a suggestion about any other town that is safe, family oriented, good-school, affordable, near Woodlawn, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks..

I don't know anything about Sykesville other than its in Carroll County and its very near/next to Eldersburg, where a former team member of mine lived while we taught together. I know it is considered more "rural" and I don't know how racially integrated it is - some people would call that "diverse" but basically I don't know what the mix of white, black, latino, and others is up there.

Schools in Maryland are grouped by county -you are then assigned a school based on address boundaries. . .and these can change when the Board of Ed decides to change them for various reasons. you cannot live in one boundary area and send your kid to a school in another without good reason and you will have to petition the school system for approval. If they grant approval, you will be responsible for getting your kid(s) to and from school (no bus service cross-boundaries). When school is closed for inclement weather all the schools are closed in that county - different from when you have districts in PA or NJ, for example.

kinkytoes · 02-04-2009, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jmandl

Does anyone have any info on sykesville. I did some research and it looks like a nice place but maybe too boring for kids. We are moving this summer from NJ and I have a list of things that I would like to have in our new town. Sykesville seems to be good but it doesn't seem to have community activities like swimming pools and etc.

also, I am a little confused re zoning for schools. for ex: part of sykesville is in HoCo. Coming from NJ, it is a little strange for me since all of the town is usually in one county and the school that you attend is the town's school (that's why the high taxes in NJ). People from a neighboring town cannot attend your town's school.

From the search that I have done, I see that differnt parts of sykesville is zoned for diff HS. Can we pick and choose which HS we want the kids to attend or is there some kind of zoning that is very diff from NJ.

Any help in clarifying on both questions would be great. Also, if someone has a suggestion about any other town that is safe, family oriented, good-school, affordable, near Woodlawn, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks..

I recommend you avoid Woodlawn if your kids would have to attend the HS there. Avoid it. Sykesville seems very nice. We drove through on the way to Frederick and I really liked the area. Lots of different people, and very peaceful, friendly and safe.

BTW, are you planning to buy a house in MD or rent?

Also, do you have to sell a house in NJ?

Jmandl · 02-05-2009, 03:16 PM

Currently, we are thinking about renting and then buying because we are not going to have a lot of time to look for houses and I don't want to buy the first thing I see.

Also, the type of house we will buy will depend on how much we sell our house in NJ for. right now, the market has hit NJ pretty bad. our area is usually very desirable and the houses around us are not selling.

We are also thinking about Columbia Ellicott City, or Eldersburg because of their communkity feel. However, I want to be sure to be in a safe neighborhood and our price range is not high (350,000)

cutgarden · 02-08-2009, 06:53 AM

Jmandl, in your price range I think you'll get a much nicer house in Sykesville/Eldersburg area than in Columbia. You might find more of a community or neighborhood feel there as well. Overall, I think Carroll school system has a decent reputation, but I don't have kids so don't pay that much attention. Other areas you might like would be Mt. Airy or Westminster. Frederick County also has much to offer IMO. Good luck!

kinkytoes · 02-08-2009, 11:32 AM

Make sure you try driving from Westmister or Mt. Airy during rush hour to get a feel for traffic.

Jmandl · 02-08-2009, 02:04 PM

I looked up Westminster and noticed that the county jail is there. Does that fact impact on the safety of the neighborhood? I also noticed that a lot of sex offenders were registered there.

On the other side, it seems to have all of the community things that I like. For ex. it has a town pool. Are there other towns in carroll county that have the community activities and yet affordable and have good schools. We need to be relatively close to Woodlawn.

Thanks so much for all of the responses!!

cutgarden · 02-08-2009, 09:06 PM

The jail doesn't affect the crime rate IMO; anyone that's "hard core" ends up in Jessup or something, far as I know. I don't get why there's so many sex offenders either; I had no idea till someone else told me. Like I said, having no kids makes me less attentive to some things.

Kinkytoes is right though; try the drive at rush hour, both ways before you buy.

NYMD67 · 02-09-2009, 11:38 AM

I lived in Westminster for some time and the jail does not affect the crime rate or the safety in the area. Westminster has normal surburban crimes but you aren't going to find gangs or murders happening on a daily basis at all.
Carroll County is considered to be one of the more safer counties to live in.
Beautiful area....

cmjjs · 02-16-2009, 07:45 AM

My family has been looking at homes in the Carroll County area for a while now. We initially looked at Sykesville, but after a visit to the community for a few drive-by viewings and open houses, we decided the community was too rural for us. Plus, we found that home prices in Sykesville/Eldersburg were very similar to home prices in Howard County, which are out of range for us. For a short time after that visit, we had counted Carroll County out of our home search. Then, we visited a friend's home in Westminster. I was actually quite suprised by how much is going on there. Talking with everyone at the party, we learned that Westminster has as much or more going on than the community we are currently renting in close to Annapolis. After a quick check of the schools, we focused our search on Westminster and found the perfect home for us. We checked the sex offender registry and found that there were none very close to where we were looking. We're very pleased with our choice and can't wait to move!

Since everybody's preferences are different, I would recommend visiting the area before your move to determine the right area for you -- even if you are only renting at first. Take it from someone who has moved states more than 10 times in the last 15 years -- the only person who can determine if an area is right for you is you.