from fairfax county to anne arundel

[Anonymous]

so most of ffx county schools are great; however, ours is not and we are considering moving within the year before our daughter starts kindergarten. one area we are really considering is severna park. we're drawn to the area bc we love the water, but also for the great schools. just wondering if anyone has moved from the dc area over to the annapolis area. if so, are you glad you did??

[Anonymous]

I moved from Rosslyn to greater Annapolis for the water life, then came the kids and... other than the commute (60 miles round trip daily with no public transportation options), no regrets. For sure you will not miss the traffic Severna Park is a very popular/touted option, but you may also want to consider the neighborhoods that feed into Davidsonville and Central Elementaries, which will put you on the path to great middle and HSs (certainly comparable to Fairfax in terms of the school infrastructure and performance), although I must admit you will miss the diversity of the student population in NoVa in gral.

[Anonymous]

PP here - forgot to add this about Severna Park: when we chose our location we considered ease of commute into DC & Bmore as a priority, in addition to schools. Early on we decided to stay in the area off of Rt 50 BEFORE the Bestgate Rd exit, and WAY before the Severn River bridge. In the summer and pretty much every Friday year round, traffic on Rt 50 eastbound after the 665 exit is a nightmare (although a mild mightmare compared to any of the NoVa roads), and Rt 2 north through Severna is bumper to bumper every afternoon and most of the weekend. Also, staying to the west of the Annapolis penninsula allows for route alternatives into DC and onto 97 in the rare instances that Rt 50 is a snafu (450 & 214).
Something else we considered was water routes and congestion - we stayed on the South River because it has the mildest boat traffic and easy/quick acces to the Bay chanel; also, we didnt have to wait a decade to get a slip in the community marina.
Hope this helps, and good luck with your search!

[Anonymous]

We moved from northwest DC to Annapolis for a few reasons - to be closer to work, good schools - especially middle/high schools, and to be on the water. While we miss the city life, it was a good decision based on all of these factors. We really enjoy the quality of life here and love having such a great little town nearby. We trek into Annapolis 2-3x/week for various events, and still make it into either DC or Baltimore for more urban pursuits at least twice a month. The summers on the water here are great and for the price of a modest DC rowhome, you can find a waterview or waterfront house with a boatslip, etc. It's a trade-off for sure and we definitely miss walking around in the city and good restaurants (annapolis is really lacking in this area) but the fun things on the water make up for some of this. hope this helps and good luck!

[Anonymous]

We moved from Chevy Chase, DC to Davidsonville this summer. We did it to get a bigger (much bigger) house, more land, easier lifestyle and better public schools. So far, I feel like we have gotten all of that, although I do miss DC and I miss walking to our old public school. The summer was great as I felt like I was on vacation the whole time having the big yard and deck and easy access to the water on the weekends and on week nights after work. We will see how things go as we move into the fall!