Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All Howard County has going for it is significantly less poverty than other areas. If you want to keep your kids in an affluent bubble where they won’t have to come into contact with the poors, Howard Country is for you.

You could have fooled me. There are lots of Section 8 apartments and townhomes scattered in Columbia that attract people fleeing from Baltimore City. Also, there is some rural poverty in Western Howard County and along Route 1 in places like Jessup. Poverty levels don't stick out because Howard County is committed with integrating upper middle class communities with lower socioeconomic class communities. There are no poverty islands that you have in Montgomery County. My UMC children attend schools with working class and in some cases impoverished students.

I volunteer with food pantries and other community programs in Howard County. So, I am quite aware about the level of poverty that exist here. There are many programs from job placement, housing, etc. that help impoverished families here.

Now to the OP, the grass is always greener on the other side. Howard County Public Schools has a major problem with overcrowding. We are short like 6 elementary schools, 4 middle schools, and 3 high schools. Actually, I wish the county would cease building homes until we catch up on building more schools. We do not have a enough schools right now for the population that is here. Most of our schools have trailers or big class sizes. Unless they begin building 3-5 schools within the next year (which is not going to happen) don't move here if you want to escape overcrowding. Redistricting happens quite often ever time new homes get built, but they just shift overcrowding at one particular school towards another. One of my biggest pet peeves with Howard County is overcrowded schools and old schools that need lots of maintenance.

Now the academics and programs are the positives about Howard County. I think it has some of the best educators in this area. Programs from music theater, STEM, humanities sports, etc. are all phenomenal.

Agreed. Howard County does not have schools comprised entirely of low income housing students. The redistricting that creates a headache every 2-5 years is designed to rebalance the lower SE neighborhoods with the middle class and wealthy neighborhoods so that the poor are more evenly distributed across the schools. Each time they redistrict, one of the primary goals is to reduce the FARMS and low income levels at high FARMS schools and distribute those kids to schools with higher average income and lower FARMS rates. Whether you like it or not, they achieve the goal of balancing the income levels across the schools.

So, the county is not lower poverty level, it's just more balanced across the school district.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All Howard County has going for it is significantly less poverty than other areas. If you want to keep your kids in an affluent bubble where they won’t have to come into contact with the poors, Howard Country is for you.

You could have fooled me. There are lots of Section 8 apartments and townhomes scattered in Columbia that attract people fleeing from Baltimore City. Also, there is some rural poverty in Western Howard County and along Route 1 in places like Jessup. Poverty levels don't stick out because Howard County is committed with integrating upper middle class communities with lower socioeconomic class communities. There are no poverty islands that you have in Montgomery County. My UMC children attend schools with working class and in some cases impoverished students.

I volunteer with food pantries and other community programs in Howard County. So, I am quite aware about the level of poverty that exist here. There are many programs from job placement, housing, etc. that help impoverished families here.

Now to the OP, the grass is always greener on the other side. Howard County Public Schools has a major problem with overcrowding. We are short like 6 elementary schools, 4 middle schools, and 3 high schools. Actually, I wish the county would cease building homes until we catch up on building more schools. We do not have a enough schools right now for the population that is here. Most of our schools have trailers or big class sizes. Unless they begin building 3-5 schools within the next year (which is not going to happen) don't move here if you want to escape overcrowding. Redistricting happens quite often ever time new homes get built, but they just shift overcrowding at one particular school towards another. One of my biggest pet peeves with Howard County is overcrowded schools and old schools that need lots of maintenance.

Now the academics and programs are the positives about Howard County. I think it has some of the best educators in this area. Programs from music theater, STEM, humanities sports, etc. are all phenomenal.

Anonymous wrote:All Howard County has going for it is significantly less poverty than other areas. If you want to keep your kids in an affluent bubble where they won’t have to come into contact with the poors, Howard Country is for you.

Anonymous wrote:You don’t hear complaint here because hardly anyone from that far out posts here.

Anonymous wrote:All Howard County has going for it is significantly less poverty than other areas. If you want to keep your kids in an affluent bubble where they won’t have to come into contact with the poors, Howard Country is for you.

Anonymous wrote:You don’t hear complaint here because hardly anyone from that far out posts here.

Anonymous wrote:You don’t hear complaint here because hardly anyone from that far out posts here.