Thoughts on Columbia, MD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Baltimore and Columbia was never on anyone's radar. We never went to Columbia for the shopping or the mall (that would have been Towson or Owings Mills or even White Marsh). No one talked about Columbia. You occasionally met people who lived in Columbia but it was "out there" in a different land, quite unlike Cockeysville or Hunt Valley which were much more integrated with Baltimore itself. The other Baltimore suburbs in Baltimore County and even Anne Arundel and Harford Counties were always much more part of the metro area than Columbia. Even Ellicott City is somewhat accepted as a Baltimore suburb more than Columbia.

Part of the problem may have to do with the geographic isolation of Columbia. There's no direct road from Columbia to Baltimore (unlike I83 connecting the northern suburbs to downtown) and the Patapsco Valley State Park also buffers Howard County from Baltimore County with minimal linkage between the two. That helps fuel the sense that Columbia wasn't a proper part of Baltimore. Columbia, being a new master planned community, didn't attract many Baltimore families so few people in Baltimore had relatives or cousins who moved out to Columbia (unlike Towson, for example).

I-95 is a straight shot from Columbia into Baltimore. That is how we sneak in without you noticing we are there.

You have to get on 32 first before getting on 95 IIRC.

Both 32 and 175 intersect 95 in Columbia. It's a short drive. What's your point?

My point was it's not a straight-shot. I agree with the originally quoted PP re the disconnect between Baltimore and Columbia. I did k-12 in Columbia and it felt to me like a bubble in the middle of nowhere. We got both the Sun and the Post. YMMV.

[Anonymous]

95 runs through both Columbia and Baltimore. That's a straight shot. I'm sorry you felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. It's not. It's in the middle of Maryland and it is far more developed than it was 15-20 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools are not good. Look at Baltimore privates.

Seriously? I'm a product of public schools in Columbia. I thought they were great and I didn't even go to the fancier ones. I have three Ivy League degrees. Worked for me.

In what year did you graduate from high school? That is relevant to the discussion.

Oh please! All of the Howard County High Schools annually produce many graduates who attend Ivy League schools. This is not a rare or old situation. They are high quality schools where the vast majority move on to 4-year universities.

+1000 Great schools and great teachers.

Absolutely agree, including even the economically diverse "lower tier" schools.

[Anonymous]

Oh for heaven's sake. Does this solve the debate?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_metropolitan_area

"The Baltimore–Columbia–Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as Central Maryland, is a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in Maryland as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB)."

Howard, Baltimore, and Anne Arundel counties are grouped into the Baltimore area. Montgomery and PG counties are grouped into the Washington area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few years ago we moved to Columbia to be closer to my husband's job.
I hated it. Thankfully we were only renting. We broke the lease after being there for 40 days. (Had to pay $$$$ for breaking lease) and then we moved back to Chevy Chase/Bethesda area.

What was the problem? Columbia has many different areas with different flavors. It sounds like you didn't even give it a chance.

Yeah, either PP moved without doing any research and ended up in an apartment in Steven's Forest, or they're just a snob, which is probably the case if they bailed for their beloved Chevy Chase after a month.

NP here. I currently live in PG County (and love where I live), so you can't accuse me of being a snob or a racist. I really don't like Columbia. I hate the layout. I hate the traffic patterns. For a planned community, it isn't designed well as far as traffic flow.

As one PP noted, it's hard to find a house within walking distance of a grocery store. I live in the suburbs, so I'm not talking about urban walkability. I'm just talking about not feeling like the residential areas are separated from the shopping areas by highways. In my PG house, if needed, I can still walk to a grocery store, to a post office, to a few other shops and establishments. It's not urban walkable.

Don't assume that the PP just hates Columbia because it is diverse.

And speaking of diverse, it seems to me that it's really the townhome communities that are diverse. The SFH neighborhoods don't seem that diverse. Just my opinion.

Fine, then the PP is just a dumbass to move and sign a lease without googling where the grocery store was or the town she would be living in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh for heaven's sake. Does this solve the debate?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_metropolitan_area

"The Baltimore–Columbia–Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as Central Maryland, is a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in Maryland as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB)."

Howard, Baltimore, and Anne Arundel counties are grouped into the Baltimore area. Montgomery and PG counties are grouped into the Washington area.

I'm the PP who originally said Columbia was a suburb of Baltimore. Idk why ppl keep claiming it isn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh for heaven's sake. Does this solve the debate?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_metropolitan_area

"The Baltimore–Columbia–Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as Central Maryland, is a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in Maryland as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB)."

Howard, Baltimore, and Anne Arundel counties are grouped into the Baltimore area. Montgomery and PG counties are grouped into the Washington area.

I'm the PP who originally said Columbia was a suburb of Baltimore. Idk why ppl keep claiming it isn't.

Because no one who actually lives in Baltimore considers Columbia a suburb of Baltimore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Baltimore and Columbia was never on anyone's radar. We never went to Columbia for the shopping or the mall (that would have been Towson or Owings Mills or even White Marsh). No one talked about Columbia. You occasionally met people who lived in Columbia but it was "out there" in a different land, quite unlike Cockeysville or Hunt Valley which were much more integrated with Baltimore itself. The other Baltimore suburbs in Baltimore County and even Anne Arundel and Harford Counties were always much more part of the metro area than Columbia. Even Ellicott City is somewhat accepted as a Baltimore suburb more than Columbia.

Part of the problem may have to do with the geographic isolation of Columbia. There's no direct road from Columbia to Baltimore (unlike I83 connecting the northern suburbs to downtown) and the Patapsco Valley State Park also buffers Howard County from Baltimore County with minimal linkage between the two. That helps fuel the sense that Columbia wasn't a proper part of Baltimore. Columbia, being a new master planned community, didn't attract many Baltimore families so few people in Baltimore had relatives or cousins who moved out to Columbia (unlike Towson, for example).

I-95 is a straight shot from Columbia into Baltimore. That is how we sneak in without you noticing we are there.

You have to get on 32 first before getting on 95 IIRC.

Yes, the interstate does not take me to my front door. I drive 3 minutes to get onto route 32 and then another 4 to get to I-95. It's another 10 to get to Baltimore.

You drive 20 miles in 13 minutes on the parking lot that is 95 during rush hour not to mention the city rush hour traffic. Cool story. Seems to take most othe people an hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh for heaven's sake. Does this solve the debate?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_metropolitan_area

"The Baltimore–Columbia–Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as Central Maryland, is a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in Maryland as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB)."

Howard, Baltimore, and Anne Arundel counties are grouped into the Baltimore area. Montgomery and PG counties are grouped into the Washington area.

I'm the PP who originally said Columbia was a suburb of Baltimore. Idk why ppl keep claiming it isn't.

Because no one who actually lives in Baltimore considers Columbia a suburb of Baltimore.

You can't argue facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few years ago we moved to Columbia to be closer to my husband's job.
I hated it. Thankfully we were only renting. We broke the lease after being there for 40 days. (Had to pay $$$$ for breaking lease) and then we moved back to Chevy Chase/Bethesda area.

What was the problem? Columbia has many different areas with different flavors. It sounds like you didn't even give it a chance.

Yeah, either PP moved without doing any research and ended up in an apartment in Steven's Forest, or they're just a snob, which is probably the case if they bailed for their beloved Chevy Chase after a month.

I spent a few good years of my youth in an apartment in Steven's Forest (went to Steven's forest elementary). We used to walk to the shopping center and go to the Giant. Then we moved to Owen Brown. I loved it!

Umm...that was a looooooooong time ago, sweetheart. Wouldn't consider those two places now AT ALL. RUN.

[Anonymous]

I-95 doesn't run through Columbia, doesn't it?

Most of Columbia is west of Route 29 and you have to take various connector roads to reach I-95.

Anonymous wrote:95 runs through both Columbia and Baltimore. That's a straight shot. I'm sorry you felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. It's not. It's in the middle of Maryland and it is far more developed than it was 15-20 years ago.

[Anonymous]

There are no facts, only interpretations. Columbia also falls in the Baltimore Washington metropolitan statistical area. Columbia has many residents who commute to the Washington area for work. When you combine the Washington workers with the Howard County / Fort Meade workers, the percentage who commute to Baltimore is a minority. So who's right? I don't think anyone is but that everyone probably has a valid point.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh for heaven's sake. Does this solve the debate?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_metropolitan_area

"The Baltimore–Columbia–Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as Central Maryland, is a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in Maryland as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB)."

Howard, Baltimore, and Anne Arundel counties are grouped into the Baltimore area. Montgomery and PG counties are grouped into the Washington area.

I'm the PP who originally said Columbia was a suburb of Baltimore. Idk why ppl keep claiming it isn't.

Because no one who actually lives in Baltimore considers Columbia a suburb of Baltimore.

You can't argue facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools are not good. Look at Baltimore privates.

Now you are just making shit up.

Greatschools.org and Schooldigger confirm that majority of the best schools in Howard county are NOT in Columbia. Try a search on elementary schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are no facts, only interpretations. Columbia also falls in the Baltimore Washington metropolitan statistical area. Columbia has many residents who commute to the Washington area for work. When you combine the Washington workers with the Howard County / Fort Meade workers, the percentage who commute to Baltimore is a minority. So who's right? I don't think anyone is but that everyone probably has a valid point.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh for heaven's sake. Does this solve the debate?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_metropolitan_area

"The Baltimore–Columbia–Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as Central Maryland, is a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in Maryland as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB)."

Howard, Baltimore, and Anne Arundel counties are grouped into the Baltimore area. Montgomery and PG counties are grouped into the Washington area.

I'm the PP who originally said Columbia was a suburb of Baltimore. Idk why ppl keep claiming it isn't.

Because no one who actually lives in Baltimore considers Columbia a suburb of Baltimore.

You can't argue facts.

You must be so bored. None of this helps the OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh for heaven's sake. Does this solve the debate?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_metropolitan_area

"The Baltimore–Columbia–Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as Central Maryland, is a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in Maryland as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB)."

Howard, Baltimore, and Anne Arundel counties are grouped into the Baltimore area. Montgomery and PG counties are grouped into the Washington area.

I'm the PP who originally said Columbia was a suburb of Baltimore. Idk why ppl keep claiming it isn't.

Because no one who actually lives in Baltimore considers Columbia a suburb of Baltimore.

The residents of Baltimore do not get to make that determination.