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What's it like to live in Columbia, MD?
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Anonymous
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if you work in NOVA or DC it is far as shit.
I once drove there for work and it took forever |
Anonymous
To add, the houses are cheap so thats a plus, it was rated as CNN's top places to live a few years back. |
Anonymous
River Hill is in Columbia. It's the last village. |
Anonymous
| It is both true that River Hill is the last of the Columbia villages (it's a planned community) and that it is technically in Clarksville, if you can get your head around that. |
Anonymous
| If you are working at Wegmans, try the 21046 zip code. This zip code has a lot of pockets of feds and well educated parents. The schools may not be the top ones but that is something you have to decide. Are you ok with decent schools or want only the very best? Columbia is definitely suburban and watch which shopping areas you have to go to for most of your needs since some of them are just bad getting in and out. Some of the places in 21046 are very close to 32/95. If you want suburban living, decent schools, close to 32/95, lots of trails and parks, take a look at this area. |
Anonymous
Have people on this forum forgotten that HoCo has the best schools in MD? It beat MoCo a years ago. Plus, the county executive is great. |
Anonymous
| You certainly get more house for your money in Howard County than the close-in MoCo suburbs, but there's a simple reason - not that many people want to commute 90 minutes each way and live in a place where the mall is the main life activity. You could try looking a little further north on 29 (in the ICC areas)...commute to CP from TP or Silver Spring is simple, and downtown is max 30 minutes from the beltway in either town. Yes, housing is older, but schools are pretty much a wash with Howard County, and IMO quality of life is significantly better. But some people love the suburban cul-de-sac lifestyle with large 1980's vintage designed houses, and HoCo is great for that. |
Anonymous
| OK, so one person will be working in Columbia and the other in College Park? Then I see no reason Columbia won't work for you. I have family who have lived there for many years and they are quite happy. I wouldn't live there if someone actually had to commute to downtown, but 2 people working in MD should absolutely live in MD. |
Anonymous
We live in Columbia and love it. The schools can be hit or miss, based on my research (my children are not school-aged yet), but there are some really great schools. Peruse the county's website and you can read about each of the schools and see the numbers and which will be the best fit for your kids. For me, I decided Thunder Hill ES and Clemens Crossing ES were the best in my opinion. We have done some programs with our 2 year old through the County parks and rec department and been happy. The pools are great-you join Columbia Association and pay like $300 for the entire summer, and have access to 20-something different pools, so if you get bored of the one in your neighborhood, you just visit another one. We like taking walks around the lakes (Elkhorn/Wilde Lake/Centennial) and the Centennial park has a great playground...but all of the neighborhoods have playgrounds throughout and walking trails everywhere. |
It's a wonderful supermarket. I really hope everyone will enjoy it!
Anonymous
| what about laurel? It doesn't get mentionned a lot, but I just did a quick search here and there are definitely good parts of town that would be family friendly. It seems like it would be a good in-between point for you. |
Anonymous
| Laurel encompasses 3 counties (PG, Anne Arundel, and Howard.) The schools for the first 2 suck (I know, I am in one of them) but there are some really nice developments in the Howard part of Laurel. But really, they are no closer than the southern parts of Columbia (Maple Lawn/Hammond Hills.) |
Anonymous
Mostly agree (I also live in the PG part of Laurel). There is one good ES and that is Bond Mill ES, which is the in area right around exit 33 of I-95 (MD-198). Bond Mill ES is a very good ES school. Likewise that area is 10 minutes to the Columbia Wegman's and 15 minutes to CP. I unfortunately live just about 0.5 mile outside the Bond Mill region...in fact, the western portion of my neighborhood (which I do not live in) does go to Bond Mill. Oh, there is also the Chesapeake Math and IT public charter here in Laurel for grades 6-7. That's also supposed to be quite good. However, not much beyond that. |
Anonymous
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Emerson in Laurel - http://www.emersoncommunity.com/
You can still get a new SFH for under 600k if you buy one of the Williamsburgs. And its Howard County schools - half of Emerson is Atholton which is one of the better HS. |
Anonymous
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I have lived in Columbia 30 yrs. It's extremely diverse, but that is why this city was founded. A great article written in 2009, gives you a good idea of what Columbia is all about! http://bit.ly/1POvUL1
It's definitely family oriented. GREAT for raising kids! my children grew up color-blind which is the greatest gift I could give them. Unfortunately the rest of the world isn't, so as young adults, there were some adjustments. Be careful out there kids, the world isn't "Columbia"! HO. Co. public school system is #1 in the state. All the high schools are in the top 50 of 425 public high schools in the state. Some are more diverse than others, but that's what the "real world" is in this day and age. Some get a bad rap by those who ARE NOT familiar with them. Check out www.niche.com for a true rating of all schools nationally. My kids all went to Wilde Lake HS, which is the original HS in the first "village". Their education was top-notch. They redistrict every 4 years, so it really doesn't matter. Columbia has Trader Joes, Whole Foods, 23 pools, 5 health clubs, biking trails, 4 Lakes, a world class mall, lots of chain restaurants and lots of individually owned restaurants. Not sure why people say there isn't many independents ~ majority of the village centers have local resturants, mine has 4. There isn't much traffic; remember it is a "planned community"! I commuted to Northern Va. for 20 years, and my commute was probably the same as any in Montgomery County. 1/2 of Colombians consider themselves Washingtonians and the other half consider themselves Baltimoreans....... just look at the split in the sports team's fan base. I am clueless as to why people write that everything revolves around the mall. Only thing I can think of is that it is located "Downtown" Columbia, across from Lake KITTAMAQUNDI , which is really the "Towns Center", where much of the cities activities are held. It's definitely easier to pronounce! When Rouse Co. bulldozers carved out Wilde Lake in Columbia, Md., James W. Rouse had an idealistic plan in mind for his community. “Simply stated, we are ‘color-blind,’ ” the late city planner wrote in a 1967 memo to Columbia developers. “This means that every person or family coming to Columbia to seek a lot, an apartment, a house; to start a business; to play golf, tennis, ride horseback, sail, swim, or use any other facility open to the public will be treated alike regardless of whether the color of his skin is white, black, brown or yellow.” |
Anonymous
| My brother lives there and works in College Park. Wonderful place to raise kids, friendly planned communities, great public schools but do your research because some elementaries are not so great. I'm a bit of a foodie and there are great ethnic restaurants there. Lots of parkland and greenery, sidewalks and bike paths. |