Villages of Urbana (Baltimore, Columbia, Silver Spring: apartment complex, violent crime, townhomes)

[kcmo]

This community sounds great. Does anybody have any thoughts on it?

http://www.villagesofurbana.com/

We are relocating from suburban Kansas City, MO. I will be working in Silver Spring and my wife may be working in Frederick or north of Frederick so we are trying to find someplace in the midlde.

I want to be able to use MARC commuter rail, I think there is a station nearby and she shouldn't have much traffic going north.

Also, I am very open to the idea of living in a townhome, but I need a big one with 4 beds, den, 2 car garage, we have a large dog, etc. Should I forget about that and go SFH? You can get a very nice TH in this area for what we would spend on a SFH.

Any info would be great.

Thanks.

[tonyc]

Nice area, good middle point and decent schools.

Homes have dropped some in that area and maybe you should try for a SFH.

edit: a few years ago I heard they had Major problems in some of the TH developments. Have no idea if they ever got it sorted out though.

[westsideboy]

Urbana is a large planned community that arose from the farmland of southern Frederick County in the last 7 years or so. It has easy access to I-270 for commuting south and most of the people live there because they can by "more house" than if they lived closer to where they work. The schools in the area are new and very good.

The only drawback is that it is a new planned community with no history, community heritage, most people have no roots in the area. Pretty typical suburb in those ways. If suburbs are your thing, Urbana is a good choice.

[tonyc]

Originally Posted by tonyc

Nice area, good middle point and decent schools.

Homes have dropped some in that area and maybe you should try for a SFH.

edit: a few years ago I heard they had Major problems in some of the TH developments. Have no idea if they ever got it sorted out though.

I meant Major parking problems.

[soymabelen]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Urbana is a large planned community that arose from the farmland of southern Frederick County in the last 7 years or so. It has easy access to I-270 for commuting south and most of the people live there because they can by "more house" than if they lived closer to where they work. The schools in the area are new and very good.

The only drawback is that it is a new planned community with no history, community heritage, most people have no roots in the area. Pretty typical suburb in those ways. If suburbs are your thing, Urbana is a good choice.

Good summary. The easy acces to 270 is true, but also think major traffic at rush hour.

[kcmo]

Thanks for the replies. I actually do not want to live in new suburbia. That's one reason I thought this community might be ok. I thought it was in a more built up area.

It really depends on where my wife ends up. We are trying very hard to get into the Rockville area. That is MUCH more my style.

[westsideboy]

Urbana is new surburbia or an "exurb" if you prefer that term. It is not a built up area in the way Rockville, Gaithersburg, or even Frederick is. It is more a planned community with about 10 miles of farm and open land buffer in all directions. These buffers (Monacocy National Battlfield to the north, and the restricted development area of Montgomery County to the South) are the reason Urbana is what it is. The community was designed to be somewhat walkable and tries to mix recreation, residential, and commercial uses together like an old fashioned town would.

[tea994]

I am also looking for info on the Villages of Urbana. I have two small children and am wondering how child friendly it is. Anyone with recent info?

[DeezNuts1971]

I know this is probably a little late, but I'll post anyway. In fact, I'll just re-post what I said elsewhere on a similar thread:

"We've lived here for a year now. Great for families- good schools, and very safe. Close to Frederick and all it offers, not to mention proximity to Baltimore, Columbia and D.C. The area is growing at a good pace, but Natelli Homes (and the HOA) have done a great job at planning. A new Starbucks is on the way, along with some other restaurants and convenience stores. We would love to see the "Market District" continue to come along and see something like a Panera Bread come in. We love it here!"

[DeezNuts1971]

Just an update, we've been here almost 5 years now, and still love it! GREAT schools (starting to get a bit crowded, but a new Elementary School is being built). Traffic has increased, but generally isn't too bad, with the exception of 270, especially southbound to the D.C. area. But it's never been great. However, our awesome Governor Hogan recently announced a $100 million plan to improve 270, so there's hope. New restaurants have come, including the Starbucks mentioned before, a Greene Turtle, Manhattan Pizza, Surf House, and convenience stores like Royal Farms (great fried chicken) and a Dash-In. Other restaurants are coming such as a Mexican and Indian restaurant, but nothing else has been announced yet. A Panera and Chiptotle are rumored to be coming next year. A modern apartment complex (Urban Greens) is in with more commercial/retail space coming, and more live-work units coming to Worthington Blvd in the Market District. More townhomes have in-filled, and a new Village is being built. The bike paths are a big plus, it's beautifully landscaped, there are TWO great parks (Urbana Community and Urbana District), lots of green space, and a really nice library. I'm sure I'm missing other things. The grocery store (Giant) is meh, but there is land slated for another one, though nothing has been announced. It is a safe neighborhood- I don't worry about my teens walking to friends or to a restaurant. Violent crime is very rare, but we do have the occasional string thefts from autos or minor vandalism. That's to be expected given the population is about 10,000 people. A big plus is the proximity to Frederick with a fantastic and beautiful downtown, restaurants galore, a Costco, Target and mall all within 7-10 minutes, and Outlet shopping 2 exits down, means LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! We had talked of moving to the Carolinas in a few years, but that timeline is being less clear because we love it here.