Where would you live for 1M

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some people on this board with real chips on their shoulders about SP. I think it’s a bit irrational. As a PP pointed out, snobbery and elitism is common in MANY corners of the DMV. Anyway I live on the waterfront in AACo (not SP) and I’d do it again every time. I’m still shocked that we could afford water views for less than people pay to live in outer ring NOVA.

Anne Arundel County has a lot of untapped potential. If the schools were as strong as HoCo’s and there were more Asian grocery stores and ethnic restaurants, nobody would choose Howard County over Anne Arundel County. Location wise, they’re similarly far from DC, and in fact, some parts of Anne Arundel like Davidsonville, Crofton, Odenton, and Gambrills have even better commutes to DC than Columbia and Ellicott City.

Yep I live in one of these and my commute is very similar to the commute when we lived in NOVA. And now with a hybrid schedule it’s the best of all worlds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some people on this board with real chips on their shoulders about SP. I think it’s a bit irrational. As a PP pointed out, snobbery and elitism is common in MANY corners of the DMV. Anyway I live on the waterfront in AACo (not SP) and I’d do it again every time. I’m still shocked that we could afford water views for less than people pay to live in outer ring NOVA.

Anne Arundel County has a lot of untapped potential. If the schools were as strong as HoCo’s and there were more Asian grocery stores and ethnic restaurants, nobody would choose Howard County over Anne Arundel County. Location wise, they’re similarly far from DC, and in fact, some parts of Anne Arundel like Davidsonville, Crofton, Odenton, and Gambrills have even better commutes to DC than Columbia and Ellicott City.

Yep I live in one of these and my commute is very similar to the commute when we lived in NOVA. And now with a hybrid schedule it’s the best of all worlds.

It’s frustrating though. Anne Arundel will never realize its full potential as long as politicians like Nathan Volke, Jessica Haire, and their camp have power. They want to cut money from schools and county amenities. I hope that one day politicians like them are a thing of the past in Anne Arundel and that new politicians who want to move Anne Arundel forward and blow Howard County out of the water in schools & amenities come forward. Make sure to go out and vote this November, and vote for the people who want to improve Anne Arundel schools and amenities!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some people on this board with real chips on their shoulders about SP. I think it’s a bit irrational. As a PP pointed out, snobbery and elitism is common in MANY corners of the DMV. Anyway I live on the waterfront in AACo (not SP) and I’d do it again every time. I’m still shocked that we could afford water views for less than people pay to live in outer ring NOVA.

Anne Arundel County has a lot of untapped potential. If the schools were as strong as HoCo’s and there were more Asian grocery stores and ethnic restaurants, nobody would choose Howard County over Anne Arundel County. Location wise, they’re similarly far from DC, and in fact, some parts of Anne Arundel like Davidsonville, Crofton, Odenton, and Gambrills have even better commutes to DC than Columbia and Ellicott City.

Yep I live in one of these and my commute is very similar to the commute when we lived in NOVA. And now with a hybrid schedule it’s the best of all worlds.

It’s frustrating though. Anne Arundel will never realize its full potential as long as politicians like Nathan Volke, Jessica Haire, and their camp have power. They want to cut money from schools and county amenities. I hope that one day politicians like them are a thing of the past in Anne Arundel and that new politicians who want to move Anne Arundel forward and blow Howard County out of the water in schools & amenities come forward. Make sure to go out and vote this November, and vote for the people who want to improve Anne Arundel schools and amenities!

I'm similarly worried about Republicans taking back positions like the County Executive as well as State Senate and Delegate positions. It's all about turnout as when I last checked SP is 38% Republican, 38% Democrat and the remainder unaffiliated/independent. I think that's some of the reason I get frustrated about some of the SP debate in the Real Estate forum. Yes, there's some very disturbing history here I think is important to recognize, but all the trends point towards Anne Arundel becoming increasingly diverse, including communities on the water like SP. As a new resident I am both taken aback by having super conservative neighbors but I've also realize there are Democrats in equal and growing numbers. The elections in AACO are all very close...so to be honest, my vote counts more now than ever. When I lived in DC my neighborhood voted 95% for whover the Democratic presidential candidate was and I had no representatives in Congress. Now I have an opportunity to make a real difference and am committed to doing so.

The other important factor this thread points out is that if you have a growing family and want good schools and a house sized to your family (over the 1500-1800 sq ft typical of DC rowhouses) you are already well priced out of the best schools in DC or inside the beltway. $850k to $1M now will get you a renovated rowhouse in neighborhoods like Petworth, Brightwood and other up and coming areas, but the quality of the schools is lagging behind. I do think the neighborhood schools all over the city are improving, but schools are a key driver of families moving to the suburbs. I'm 50 with kids in elementary school and most of my friends with kids around the same age end up leaving at some point in elementary school...20 years earlier most wouldn't even want to start in the DC school system if they had a choice. The potential for working remotely really opens up the radius of areas you can consider.

I know the area where I grew up (Atlanta GA suburbs) has changed drastically since I was a kid. To be honest I think it was very similar to Severna Park High School (leaning conservative, super achieving on academics and sports obsessed) then but it has changed in a big way and for the better. When I grew up it was black/white have/have not and very little diversity in terms of people that grew up outside Georgia (my family is from Pennsylvania). Now that area is full of transplants from all over the midwest and northeast and has significant immigrant population...very new South instead of old South. Let's not bet on Severna Park always mirroring the past. I do love it here!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some people on this board with real chips on their shoulders about SP. I think it’s a bit irrational. As a PP pointed out, snobbery and elitism is common in MANY corners of the DMV. Anyway I live on the waterfront in AACo (not SP) and I’d do it again every time. I’m still shocked that we could afford water views for less than people pay to live in outer ring NOVA.

Anne Arundel County has a lot of untapped potential. If the schools were as strong as HoCo’s and there were more Asian grocery stores and ethnic restaurants, nobody would choose Howard County over Anne Arundel County. Location wise, they’re similarly far from DC, and in fact, some parts of Anne Arundel like Davidsonville, Crofton, Odenton, and Gambrills have even better commutes to DC than Columbia and Ellicott City.

Yep I live in one of these and my commute is very similar to the commute when we lived in NOVA. And now with a hybrid schedule it’s the best of all worlds.

+1, I live in Howard County and are very happy but we almost went with AA for the commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some people on this board with real chips on their shoulders about SP. I think it’s a bit irrational. As a PP pointed out, snobbery and elitism is common in MANY corners of the DMV. Anyway I live on the waterfront in AACo (not SP) and I’d do it again every time. I’m still shocked that we could afford water views for less than people pay to live in outer ring NOVA.

Anne Arundel County has a lot of untapped potential. If the schools were as strong as HoCo’s and there were more Asian grocery stores and ethnic restaurants, nobody would choose Howard County over Anne Arundel County. Location wise, they’re similarly far from DC, and in fact, some parts of Anne Arundel like Davidsonville, Crofton, Odenton, and Gambrills have even better commutes to DC than Columbia and Ellicott City.

Yep I live in one of these and my commute is very similar to the commute when we lived in NOVA. And now with a hybrid schedule it’s the best of all worlds.

It’s frustrating though. Anne Arundel will never realize its full potential as long as politicians like Nathan Volke, Jessica Haire, and their camp have power. They want to cut money from schools and county amenities. I hope that one day politicians like them are a thing of the past in Anne Arundel and that new politicians who want to move Anne Arundel forward and blow Howard County out of the water in schools & amenities come forward. Make sure to go out and vote this November, and vote for the people who want to improve Anne Arundel schools and amenities!

Haha just revisited this post from earlier this year - happy to report that Jessica Haire was defeated and Democrat Steuart Pittman is back for a second term as County Executive in Anne Arundel. Sid Saab is also out as a State Senator and will be replaced by Democrat Dawn Gile (I'm in Severna Park). Sarah Elfreth won re-election by a wide margin in Annapolis. It's not dark blue here but appearing more and more solidly light blue and that's a good thing.

[Anonymous]

A tear down near downtown Bethesda. want to be close to amenities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A tear down near downtown Bethesda. want to be close to amenities.

What amenities require living in Bethesda…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have a budget of 1M and you need:

--- a Single Family Home
---- at least 4 bedrooms
---- Good to Great Schools
---- Willing to renovate, but not a total gut
--- Tolerable 1 day a week commute to DC

Where do you buy? and why?

Western loudoun county.

Beautiful that’s why.

+1

I would do this. But for a million, either give me acres of land or a big house. I don’t want a cookie cutter house for a million bucks like the ones in the metro dmv.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Close-in Silver Spring, 20910.

+1

Woodside Park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A tear down near downtown Bethesda. want to be close to amenities.

What amenities require living in Bethesda…

Why are there so many miserable people on this board? 🙄

[Anonymous]

Kentlands area is more than doable once a week (drive in off hours or drive to Shady Grove and ride metro). I have found it’s not much more than when we lived in a not walking distance to metro area of Bethesda and much more walkable when you’re not going into office (easy to walk to get coffee in morning or on lunch break).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kentlands area is more than doable once a week (drive in off hours or drive to Shady Grove and ride metro). I have found it’s not much more than when we lived in a not walking distance to metro area of Bethesda and much more walkable when you’re not going into office (easy to walk to get coffee in morning or on lunch break). [/quote

Another vote for the Kentlands. It's great for families and is very walkable. $1 million would get you a house in good shape. Not the biggest house in the neighborhood, but certainly more.than adequate for a family.

[Anonymous]

Maybe also consider looking into these zip codes 20895, 22207,22066,22101,22102,20854,20817,20818,20816,22180 or 22181 and 22046. All great schools, but still close enough to D.C.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A tear down near downtown Bethesda. want to be close to amenities.

What amenities require living in Bethesda…

Why are there so many miserable people on this board? 🙄

There’s nothing wrong with living in Bethesda. But there’s nothing so great you can’t find in HoCo and AA in a gorgeous house and lovely diverse neighborhood. No way in hell I’d pick a Bethesda tear down for a ONE DAY A WEEK commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have a budget of 1M and you need:

--- a Single Family Home
---- at least 4 bedrooms
---- Good to Great Schools
---- Willing to renovate, but not a total gut
--- Tolerable 1 day a week commute to DC

Where do you buy? and why?

I would buy in DC and send kids to private schools.