Howard County, please tell the pros and cons.

[Anonymous]

We might have to move there for commuting reasons. We don't really want to leave Mont. Co.
Can someone enlighten me, do folks like it? Has anyone moved there and regretted it?

[Anonymous]

Which part? West (as in Glenelg, Fulton, Clarksville) or East (Columbia, Elkrige, parts of Laurel)

[Anonymous]

Born and raised there. Now living in MoCo. I would move back to Howard County any day.

Pros: Cheaper, more variation in "affordable" housing. Schools are more uniform in their quality. There are still good and bad schools, but nowhere near the variation as seen in MoCo. Day care is just as high quality but for my 2 year old, would be $600 a month cheaper in Howard County. It's just overall cheaper to live there. I guess you lose a certain degree of that advantage due to longer commute times and costs, however, if you are going to DC. Traffic is bad, but better than 270.

Cons: Libraries are good, but MoCo's are better. Public transportation is good, but MoCo's is better.

[Anonymous]

We are looking at a community called Maple Lawn. I am afraid of the social things like lots of activities for my kids, and local services that we get in MC.

[Anonymous]

What age group?

They have local boys and girls-type clubs for sports. Their department of parks and recreation offer other types of classes year-round. They have a farm called Clarks Farm on 108, that's similar to Butler's Orchard and has hayrides most of the year. The Columbia pools have classes and swim teams. Not sure about Maple Lawn, since it's not part of Columbia. The Columbia Horse Center is about 2 miles from Maple Lawn if you want to take riding lessons. There are excellent parks and bike trails. It's a very quick trip to the Baltimore Aquarium.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at a community called Maple Lawn. I am afraid of the social things like lots of activities for my kids, and local services that we get in MC.

Maple Lawn is in Fulton - Western part. It is similar to the Kentlands in Mo Co. b/c it includes all of the amenities. . . ain't cheap! A friend purchased her home for close to $900,000 about 3 years ago. Prices have since dropped b/c of the economy but not by much.

I believe the high school is Reservoir (http://www2.hcpss.org/reservoir/). On this page - http://www.hcpss.org/schools/schools_high.shtml - scroll down to find the school's profile. You'll get statistics. majority white with Asians coming in second - If diversity is important to you, then this high school may not be your number 1 choice.

Maple Lawn is surrounded by old farms - used to be very agricultural way back in the day. So you tend to have a mix of the haves/have nots.

http://www.co.ho.md.us/Rap/
Ho Co Gov't site - will give you a sense of what's offered for kids

I love Howard County. I did my student teaching there and wanted to stay, but b/c at the time, jobs were scarce, I ended up in Montgomery County. The school system is excellent, for the most part. And b/c it's a much smaller system, there is more control over the curriculum and the quality of programs is better. The schools in the Western section are not as diverse and tend to have a "better reputation" b/c of the money factor. (same is true for Mo Co - the idea that schools in wealthy areas are "better") I don't tend to agree with that statement, but that's another story!