Best rural family places to live with 40-40 min commute to Baltimore (Bethesda: how much)

[eastcoast3]

My husband may be getting a job in Baltimore and we would need to relocate our family...3 small children. We are looking for a safe, family community to live in. Affordable houses in developments or subdivisions is a priority also. My husband is use to a 40-45 minute commute now so that would be a reasonable travel distance upon relocation. Any suggestions of towns that fit this criteria?
Thanks!

[DDJJ]

Harford County is about 35 minutes to Baltimore. You have all kinds of communities to choose from.

[kevin1984]

Nobody ever mentions how much money theyre working with . that is by far the most important factor here. My dad lives in Stewartstown PA its about 45 min away. Its extremely affordable and safe. I used to live in Harford county, its pricier, but its closer, and its not all inbreds like Stewartstown. If you can shell out about 300k, do Bel Air MD. its about 30 minutes to downtown, you could get a pretty nice house for that, the schools are great, no crime, its a perfect family suburban area. trust me i know everything. ive lived in both places too.

[mamaecho]

I will agree with Kevin.. it REALLY depends on what you can pay..

[RogueMom]

I lived in Pasadena, Maryland in Anne Arundel County, close to Baltimore, and more inexpensive then some areas around there (well, maybe not anymore), it was nice but then again that was a decade ago. But I wouldn't call it RURAL. There aren't many rural areas anywhere around the Baltimore/Washington metro area.

[janetvj]

And you really need to check out the commute during rush hours if those are the hours your husband wil be traveling. That 35 minutes from Harford County or 45 minutes from Stewartstown can easily double during the height of rush hour. For over 30 years I commuted from the Essex-Middle River area to downtown - about a 10 mile trip - and the commute time went from 25 or 30 minutes early in my career to often over an hour by the time I retired last year. Traffic has gotten terrible since the development and housing have increased in White Marsh, Perry Hall, and Harford County (the new HOV toll lanes on I-95 that will be opening soon may help some).

And friends of mine who live near the Pennsylvania line tell me the same thing about the commute down I-83.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by montanamom

I lived in Pasadena, Maryland in Anne Arundel County, close to Baltimore, and more inexpensive then some areas around there (well, maybe not anymore), it was nice but then again that was a decade ago. But I wouldn't call it RURAL. There aren't many rural areas anywhere around the Baltimore/Washington metro area.

Not sure I would call it rural compared to the rural midwest, but there are a lot of areas around the region that are more rural. Anne Arundel County has many sparsely developed areas between Annapolis and Baltimore or DC along 97 and 50. The problem I see with much of those areas (Edgewater, Davidsonville, Crofton, Arnold etc) is that if you want something more rural, you get a tiny shack or a newer home that will cost at least 700k.

I have found Anne Arundel County to be sort of the best kept secret in the area. Commutes into DC and Baltimore are not bad at all, the only bad commute from Anne Arundel County would probably be Virginia or maybe Bethesda, Rockville etc or the other side of Baltimore (Towson etc).

The area is more spread out and has some more rural areas, but it's a much nicer rural than say Frederick County or something like that in my opinion which takes on a more agricultural feel vs the more wooded feel of Anne Arundel County.

Anne Arundel County has Annapolis too, which I like. So that's where I would look if you want to stay close to everything but try to find something more rural. That is if you can afford it.