Please tell me everything you know about Severna Park!

[Anonymous]

We are moving to the area and are looking into Severna Park. Our price range is around $450K. I like the listings that I've seen so far. And we kayak, so being close to the water is a huge plus!

I've heard the schools are really good, but are there any that should be avoided? Our kids are in ES and MS.

Is there a downtwon/core where people can hang out, shop, go to dinner? Are the people down to earth? friendly? Generally liberal or conservative?

I SAH, and DH will be commuting to Federal Triangle. I know that's got to be a pretty bad commute, but he will be doing some telework, so would only make the commute 3-4 days per week.

We will be in the area next week, and I hope to scope out Severna Park. but I won't have a car. Is it possible to get there by public transit? If so, how should I spend my day? We aren't ready to actually look at houses, but I just want to get a general feel for the area.

Our second choice is Silver Spring, but I saw the recent post with lots of info, and the OP had very similar needs, so I feel like I'm covered there. but if anyone would like to draw comparisons between the two towns, I would love to hear that too.

thanks!

[Anonymous]

I thi the commute would be absolutely brutal. I can't speak from experience but I am thinking over 2 hours/day. For 4 days thats 8 hours/week...I would think long and hard about that commute.

[Anonymous]

Sorry pp here, I used to commute an hour each direction and I dreaded it, it ultimately led to us moving closer to our jobs.

[Anonymous]

Severna Park isn't easy to get to by any means but car and certainly, once you're there, you'd need a car to get to the residential areas. It will be a long haul into the city for your husband and probably entail multiple modes of transit (i.e. drive to metro and then take the subway in). I think Silver Spring is a great option and, at your price point, I'd also look out in Rockville and Gaithersburg. Montgomery County parks are really nice and I'd imagine you can totally kayak on Lake Needwood, Seneca Creek Park, etc. Incidentally, think about a weekend trip over to the eastern shore sometime where there are a couple state parks that rent cabins and have "water trails" for kayakers and canoes.

I currently commute out to Annapolis one evening a week and my general assessment is that it's not as bad as the Northern Virginia commutes but that it'd be pretty tough to do every day. And also, once you figure in gas, transit, etc, pretty expensive.

[Anonymous]

Oh, I'd totally consider renting a car, were I you, and driving out to some of these spots, at rush hour, while you're here. It's totally worth the car cost and that of hotel parking in order to find out whether it's actually a viable commute. Rush hour traffic is awful in Washington and has a big quality of life impact making some drives better but most worse than the total mileage driven.

[Anonymous]

I'm in Arnold, and do much of our shopping in Severna Park. I don't think there's any chance of depending on public transportation.

[Anonymous]

So different. Like night and day. I love Severna Park, but it is really more associated with Baltimore. You won't find many people commuting to DC.

[Anonymous]

What about Crofton? I think the schools are good and you could drive and park at the new carollton metro station to get to federal triangle. And could get to kayaking with a short drive.

Severna Park does not feel at all like a town and is not walkable. Most of the shopping is in the form of strip malls lining Ritchie Highway. Definitely need to drive everywhere.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Ok, I'm glad I asked. This does not sound like a great option afterall. I don't know anything about Crofton, but will look into it. Is it a nice town?

[Anonymous]

OP again. Quickly looked up Crofton and first thing I saw was that it was named one of the best towns to live in. How far would it be to the New Carrollton station? Are there buses from Crofton to NC Metro?

[Anonymous]

My cousin lives in Crofton and her husband commutes to the Pentagon (Arlington) daily - but he goes in very, very early and leaves early each day. When they moved there I told him he was insane b/c of the commute, but he swears it is not so bad. My cousin stays home with the 3 kids (1 in Kindergarten at Crofton Elementatry, one in preschool and the other is a toddler). She loves it there!

[Anonymous]

http://www.wmata.com/bus/timetables/md/b29-31.pdf

Above is the link to the bus route.

[Anonymous]

I live in Severna Park, and agree it would be a long commute into DC, unless you can take the MARC train and work near Union Station. That said, a fair number of people do it. If you didn't have to do it every day, and had flexibility with your hours, I don't think it would be too bad. I disagree that it's not a town though. It does have a small downtownish area and if you live near there, it is reasonably walkable. I just don't think there are many true "town" in this area. Crofton is just ok, but I'd be a little wary of the schools and the crime. Parts of Silver Spring (particularly near Takoma Park) might be a good option for you.

[Anonymous]

I know you SAHM now, but will you always? If not, someplace with better transit MoCo ,possibly, but, anyhow, not Howard or Anne Arundel may be better.

[Anonymous]

Kingman park dc. Charter school. Short commute via metro. Tons of kids. Spend money saved on schools on middle schooler.