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[quote=Anonymous]Severna Park resident here who previously lived in DC for many years. Real estate is significantly more affordable and you can get a waterfront house here for $1.5-2M and up. Renovated or new 3000+ sq ft houses in water-privileged neighborhoods are about $800,000 to $1.2M. Smaller houses or fixer uppers are in the $600k to 800k range.

The community feel is strong but different from Bethesda. Most homes are in neighborhoods built between the 1960s and 1990s with pool clubs, boat docks, some beaches and other community amenities. Severna Park is entirely centered around families with children...any young, single adults here are likely still living with their parents. Socializing centers around boating, pool clubs and sports. The lifestyle is like a throwback to my 80s childhood, but on the water. My kids have a lot of freedom, biking to friends' houses and the pool. My kids have their boating licenses and their own modest boat...what a way to grow up. The public schools are great and well-run and we've been very happy in terms of both academics and how well our kids have adjusted.

Housing is almost entirely single family homes. The only apartments I'm aware of are for seniors. As a result there's very little economic diversity. There's not much racial diversity either although there are more families moving here from other parts of the DMV...so schools are maybe 85% white instead of 95% maybe 10 yrs ago.

Most people are very well educated but Bethesda I'm sure has a much higher rate of people with advanced degrees. I can think of one person in my neighborhood with a PhD. I have a fair number of neighbors that didn't go to college and either have had military careers , work in law enforcement or are blue collar business owners. There are many Feds here, split between those at Ft Meade (NSA or military) and those at a wide variety of agencies in DC. The commute to DC is pretty brutal and there's no public transit there except for a commuter bus.

The area is also more politically conservative than DC but leans lightly blue and is trending more blue over time (every precinct here voted for Harris in the last election by 5-20pts; local elected offices like the County Executive and some state representatives that were Republican-held for decades are now held by Democrats.). Nearby areas like Pasadena are super red, while Annapolis is more strongly blue. People that have been here for multiple generations are much more conservative than newcomers, which tend to move here from DC, Baltimore, Philly or all over the country or internationally with the military or foreign service.

There are a lot of locally owned businesses here and a few good restaurants and crab houses, but for the most part, I head back to the DC area for a great meal or interesting shopping. I like being close to DC (but not having to commute there); we go once a month or so to see friends or take the kids to museums, etc. We're also 30 minutes to the Baltimore Inner Harbor or Camden Yards and are 5 miles from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I'm far more likely to go under the bridge in a boat than drive over it in a car.[/quote]

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