Clarksburg, Gaithersburg or Urbana, MD

[Anonymous]

I'd choose Clarksburg -- tons of young families, newer homes, good schools. The people I know who live in Clarksburg are very happy.

[Anonymous]

I'd choose Gaithersburg, because traffic gets worse and worse every day it seems. My friends in Clarksburg have experienced a TON of "growing pains" as more and more houses are built and the roads haven't kept up. And the people I know don't commute into DC, but just into Rockville/Gaithersburg/Germantown.

[Anonymous]

Our qualm with Clarksburg is that the new outlets are being built there and its going to yield a lot more incoming traffic to the area. It's a great community for sure, we loved what we saw, but given that there is just not enough road expansion and school expansion for what's being built in within the next 5-10 years, it's going to get overcrowded quickly. I know it's appealing because it's cheaper than other places like Rockville and Potomac, but it just doesn't compare when it comes to location and ease of travel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Diamond ES district of Gaithersburg is good. Rachel Carson ES (Kentlands) is very overcrowded.

Check out the neighborhoods in Germantown/Boyds that feed into Matunaga ES and McNair ES. Both are located in good pyramids (Kingsview MS and Northwest HS) and are filled with safe, friendly neighborhoods with an abundance of options for kids. Being located right next to the Soccerplex and a 10 minute drive from numerous parks, Downtown Crown, Old Town Gaithersburg, and Kentlands is also a perk.

If you like malls, Lake Forest is OK. It has a bad reputation for crime, but I have never encountered any issues and bring my small children there fairly often in the winter for Chinese New Year shows, Christmas, and the indoor skating rink. Certainly feels less claustrophobic than Montgomery.

I don't personally like the packed in streets of Clarksburg, but we love camping and hiking at Little Bennett.

There is currently a plan to deal with this overcrowding by sending some kids to Dufief ES. Not sure how soon that will happen though.