Neighborhood Recs -- Anne Arundel County

[Anonymous]

Hi -- not sure if there are moms and dads on here that live in AA County but my husband and I are considering a move from Motgomery County to AA County to be a little closer to the water. I'm not at all familiar with the neighborhoods out that way as we've only lived in Fairfax County and Montgomery County before. We are looking for recommendations of nice neighborhoods that are fairly close to the water that are family friendly and have a nice sense of community (families get together with each other, etc...something we're kind of missing now in our neighborhood). I don't want to limit price since we're so early in the process so any and all suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

Try looking at Cape St. Claire or Eastport. Herald Harbor in Crownsville is pretty cool, too.

[Anonymous]

There are a number of such communities. Depends of course, on price range and where in the county you want to be. The best schools in the county (and in the state) are in Severna Park. Recently published scores showed that elem. school kids from SP elementary outscored a number of the top schools in MoCo.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/19/AR2008081903378_pf.html

Some communities in Severna Park are water priviledged. You do want to steer clear of neighborhoods which feed into Old Mill versus Severna Park high school if public schools are important to you -- you didn't mention it. There are a few great private options also -- the Severn School, Key School, Indian Creek.

I have some friends that recently moved to Cape St. Claire and LOVE it. The homes are pretty modest. They have great neighbors and walk to the water from their house. Broadneck school district is also quite good and considered desirable by folks in the county.

I'm sure there are others who know more than I about this. Good luck. I'm jealous!!

[Anonymous]

I live in Severna Park and agree with the PP. There are many water-priveleged communities here and the schools are good. Come out and drive around and get a feel of it. Let me know if you want more info. For example, do you want a water-priveleged community, or just to be "near" the water?

[Anonymous]

Where do you work? Given where you used to live, I'm guessing it's DC.

Do the commute on Rt 50 one day during rush hour. Or take the bus to New Carrolton and metro and transfer. We used to live in AA. It's lovely, but hours of my day were sucked away by commuting. WE're in MoCo now and the lifestyle difference is unbelievable. I used to think it was silly when my friends didn't want to drive "so far" to see me, but now it seems far to me too.

Lots of people do that commute, but if you're already living in MoCo, I would go into it with your eyes wide open.

[Anonymous]

OP here -- Thanks so much for the responses so far. My husband would love to live right on the water but given that might be prohibitively expensive, at this point, I'd be willing to look at on the water, pretty close to the water and water privileged. I'd love some additional neighborhood names if anyone loves their or their friend's family's neighborhood. I work in Silver Spring and my husband works in DC. The commute time is what is stopping us from making the move right away. I've definitely heard it can be long during the peak times. My husband typically gets to work very early and stays kind of late so he'd probably be OK. It currently takes him almost an hour door to door from where we live in Montgomery County. It's really me that is the concern since I take my son with me to the daycare at my office and I'm on the roads at 8/8:30 when the rest of the world is too. So, it's early in the game and we need to figure out some logistical things but for now, I'd just love to get more neighborhood names if anyone has them to offer.

[Anonymous]

Check out Bay Ridge and Thomas Point in Annapolis - 655 has probably helped a little bit. I really would think of what the previous poster said about commute time. In actuality, will you really be spending all of your time and energy on the road and none on the water???

but that wasn't your original question!

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Bay Hills (on the Broadneck Peninsula, feeds to Broadneck ES and HS) - it's a very family oriented neighborhood with a range of home sizes. Across the street from Bay Hills is Ulmstead - same schools but waterfront/privileged community. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I live in Annapolis and commute into DC everyday via Rt. 50. It takes us just about 45 mins to an hour. Areas to consider looking in could be Riva, Hillsmere, Bay Ridge, Arundel on the Bay, Eastport and closer in areas such as Crofton/Gambrills areas. I think you should ride down to Annapolis this spring when it's warm and just ride around and maybe contact a realtor for some help on areas and typicals house styles and prices. And maybe one Sunday nite, come stay in Annapolis and get up and commute in on Monday morning and see if its doable for your situation. For us its doable at this point but as my dd3 gets older and hits real school, it might be much harder, and my husband and I commute together every day and bring our dd to daycare in our building so it works out very well.