Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, I went to college in Baltimore. In the late 90's Severna Park was a slight step above Glen Burnie...comparable to maybe Laurel. Yuck, it's probably the next closest area where all the white people who lived in Laurel wanted to get away from the black people who were moving in.

I grew up in AA county and graduated in the late 90s. That couldn't be further from the truth. Severna Park is like AAs version of Bethesda/McLean.

+1

I played HS sports. They were always the championship teams with matching ribbons in their perky blond ponytails.

I lived in Severna Park several years ago, but now live in Potomac. In response to the poster who said that SP is AA county's version of Bethesda or McLean I would say that while SP is probably the one of the best places to live in AA county it certainly cannot be compared to the likes of Bethesda or Potomac in Montgomery County.

I actually liked Severna Park, and I didn't find it to be terribly rich or snobby. Yes, there are some people with huge houses there, but those are not the majority of people. It's more laid back than the "snooty" areas of Montgomery County. While there are a good number of doctors and lawyers in SP, I would argue that the majority of people here do not have postgraduate degrees as they do in MoCo and therefore in MoCo you tend to get people who are snobs in terms of education. I would also say that SP is no where near as wealthy as Bethesda, Potomac, McLean.

I also can add that my husband is a physician and he saw a lot of patients from SP. He often commented that a lot of these patients were not very bright, the kids all seemed kind of flat, etc. A lot of people also did not have money and/or bad credit.

We moved to Potomac for a few reasons. First, we needed to move out that way to be closer to Georgetown, where my husband now works. Second, you just can't argue that the schools in Potomac far outshine those in SP. We also wanted an area that had to offer more than the waterfront and The Chart House in Annapolis.

I would still say, however, that if I had to live in AA County, I would probably stay in SP. I'm just trying to help you understand that you shouldn't make SP out to be this lala land rich snobby place with the best of the best of everything. IMO it's certainly better than living in some of the other AA suburbs like Crofton, or Gambrills, or Edgewater.

Good luck, I hope I didn't offend anyone here, just trying to give you a worthwhile opinion.

I grew up in Severna Park and loved it. Nice community, good schools, and close to the water. I spent a lot of time canoeing, fishing, and boating. I went to Severna Park High School and our athletic teams were really good. For shopping, yes, there are a lot of small, local stores, but I'm not sure why that's a problem? Severna Park has both a Giant, Safeway, and an organic/natural food store called Good Life. I'm not sure what the heck PP is talking about.

Downtown Annapolis is a short drive away. A lot of families sponsor midshipmen. Once I was old enough, I got a part time job working at the Naval Academy. Not a bad gig for a teenage girl.

I live in AA county and the only thing SP has going for it are the public schools. The schools, unlike alot of the rest of the county, have no public housing kids or low income kids attending, simply because there aren't any of those neighborhoods assigned to the schools, there is very little racial or economic diversity in SP or the schools. The neighborhoods are a mix or professionals (lots of doctors, lawyers, stay at home moms, etc.) and an upper income NASCAR crowd (meaning could be tradesman whose jobs pay really well) So people flock there for the schools and the "whiteness" of it (that may sound racist or wrong but sometimes it is what it is). If you are actually familiar and real about it, if you drive 2 miles down the road, there is racial and economic diversity in Millersville, Severn, Pasadena but SP has been able to maintain things this way for years. As a side note, there are no services whatsoever in SP, unless you really want small local stores to shop. You still have to go to Annapolis for Whole Foods, Trader Joes, bookstores, malls, box stores, Home Depot/Lowes or just for decent Giant or Safeway -- or up to Glen Burnie or Crofton. And to be honest Broadneck area is the same way.