Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None of the places you mentioned are "safe" or "desirable" places. Of the three, I vote Silver Spring. It's too bad that your job is MD because VA is a better place to live. Like a prior poster, I've lived in Silver Spring, Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Mclean, and Vienna. My ranking is:

McLean>Vienna>Bethesda>Chevy CHase>Silver Spring

I also went to UMD so I am well familiar with the area and you'd have to put a gun to my head to get me to live in College Park or Hyattsville.

If this is your list for the OP, you clearly are not someone who has a budget similar to that of the OP. I would love to know the "reasons" you dislike College Park and Hyattsville so much.

The "" are loaded with read between the lines.

Yep

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None of the places you mentioned are "safe" or "desirable" places. Of the three, I vote Silver Spring. It's too bad that your job is MD because VA is a better place to live. Like a prior poster, I've lived in Silver Spring, Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Mclean, and Vienna. My ranking is:

McLean>Vienna>Bethesda>Chevy CHase>Silver Spring

I also went to UMD so I am well familiar with the area and you'd have to put a gun to my head to get me to live in College Park or Hyattsville.

If this is your list for the OP, you clearly are not someone who has a budget similar to that of the OP. I would love to know the "reasons" you dislike College Park and Hyattsville so much.

The "" are loaded with read between the lines.

I just put "" there to emphasize that most people I've met would not use those specific terms to describe any of those areas. I wasn't intending for any read between the lines, whatever that means. All three areas are higher crime than other areas of MoCo like Bethesda, and Bethesda is already between 2x and 4x higher crime than Nova.

What kind of people have you met? Don't tell me, we all know.
No one would ever say that McLean and Vienna are more desirable than Bethesda and Chevy Chase, not even in a million years.

Anonymous wrote:MD has layered taxes. In addition to MD state taxes, you will pay sizable county taxes and on top of these some areas have additional local taxes depending on where you choose to live. Areas of Rockville, Silver Spring and Takoma Park all have additional taxes. Make sure to run everything through a tax calculator. If you are lower income the tax situation in MD is not bad at all but if your are upper income it is terrible.

Montgomery County was in a dire economic situation before COVID. PG or Howard would be safer from a financial perspective.

No, not Silver Spring, it is unincorporated. Rockville and Takoma Park are municipalities, as are Gaithersburg, Kensington, and several others listed here:
https://www.mdmunicipal.org/102/Montgomery-County

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None of the places you mentioned are "safe" or "desirable" places. Of the three, I vote Silver Spring. It's too bad that your job is MD because VA is a better place to live. Like a prior poster, I've lived in Silver Spring, Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Mclean, and Vienna. My ranking is:

McLean>Vienna>Bethesda>Chevy CHase>Silver Spring

I also went to UMD so I am well familiar with the area and you'd have to put a gun to my head to get me to live in College Park or Hyattsville.

If this is your list for the OP, you clearly are not someone who has a budget similar to that of the OP. I would love to know the "reasons" you dislike College Park and Hyattsville so much.

The "" are loaded with read between the lines.

I just put "" there to emphasize that most people I've met would not use those specific terms to describe any of those areas. I wasn't intending for any read between the lines, whatever that means. All three areas are higher crime than other areas of MoCo like Bethesda, and Bethesda is already between 2x and 4x higher crime than Nova.

MD has layered taxes. In addition to MD state taxes, you will pay sizable county taxes and on top of these some areas have additional local taxes depending on where you choose to live. Areas of Rockville, Silver Spring and Takoma Park all have additional taxes. Make sure to run everything through a tax calculator. If you are lower income the tax situation in MD is not bad at all but if your are upper income it is terrible.

Montgomery County was in a dire economic situation before COVID. PG or Howard would be safer from a financial perspective.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None of the places you mentioned are "safe" or "desirable" places. Of the three, I vote Silver Spring. It's too bad that your job is MD because VA is a better place to live. Like a prior poster, I've lived in Silver Spring, Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Mclean, and Vienna. My ranking is:

McLean>Vienna>Bethesda>Chevy CHase>Silver Spring

I also went to UMD so I am well familiar with the area and you'd have to put a gun to my head to get me to live in College Park or Hyattsville.

If this is your list for the OP, you clearly are not someone who has a budget similar to that of the OP. I would love to know the "reasons" you dislike College Park and Hyattsville so much.

The "" are loaded with read between the lines.

Anonymous wrote:None of the places you mentioned are "safe" or "desirable" places. Of the three, I vote Silver Spring. It's too bad that your job is MD because VA is a better place to live. Like a prior poster, I've lived in Silver Spring, Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Mclean, and Vienna. My ranking is:

McLean>Vienna>Bethesda>Chevy CHase>Silver Spring

I also went to UMD so I am well familiar with the area and you'd have to put a gun to my head to get me to live in College Park or Hyattsville.

If this is your list for the OP, you clearly are not someone who has a budget similar to that of the OP. I would love to know the "reasons" you dislike College Park and Hyattsville so much.

OP- My opinion is to look at Montgomery County for schools and services. For that price range, you'll be able to afford the Rockville HS cluster. Despite its GS rating, it is a gem. You can afford a newish townhouse in the Norbeck Overlook community that feeds into Flower Valley Elementary school- another gem. From Norbeck Overlook, it is a 4-mile drive to Glenmont metro station. Or you can get a single-family home that feeds into Lucy Barnsley or Rock Creek Valley Elementary schools. Glenmont metro will still be around 4 miles away depending on the house location; and some homes are walking distance to Rock Creek Village shopping center. The Rockville HS neighborhoods are truly a hidden little secret. Great family-oriented community and the high school is one of the smaller ones in the county, and not overcrowded either. I regret not buying into this cluster.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College Park is great. University Park is great. Mt. Rainier and Hyattsville are great. Greenbelt is great. Cheaper than MoCo and NoVa.

What is it you think "great means"

It's all cheap for a reason, and far from great.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great news!! Unlike Virginia in Maryland we have dentists and Catholics. Whole new world.

What does this mean?

KKK hung Catholics in VA not that long ago. Catholics, Jews and Blacks like Maryland as safer

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I still want to know what the earlier comment about Maryland having dentists means.

Virginia invented the Toothbrush. If it was invented in Maryland it would have been called the Teethbrush.

Maryland had first dental school in United States. Between NY and MD tons of great dental schools and dentists. Once you cross American Legion bridge to the Deep South you have hillbilly’s with corn cob piles pulling teeth after a shot of Whiskey. Of course after the car tax and all the tolls even if you had a Dentist who could afford to drive there.

This is OP. I still want to know what the earlier comment about Maryland having dentists means.

Anonymous wrote:College Park is great. University Park is great. Mt. Rainier and Hyattsville are great. Greenbelt is great. Cheaper than MoCo and NoVa.

What is it you think "great means"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You may already know this, but the property taxes in MD are some of the worst in the country, that's why homes are so much cheaper there. Their income taxes are also higher than Virginia's. Also, Virginia has some of the best public schools in the country and great public universities. Just be sure to weigh the cons as well as pros. But you know your circumstances best. Best of luck!!

You will also pay high transfer taxes when you buy a home. Maryland is a liberal state and has Hugh social welfare needs in Western Maryland, the Eastern Shore, and Baltimore that are largely funded buy the areas close to Washington.

And VA is a wannabe liberal state. So I might as well stay in the true liberal state.

+1 we keep hearing how NoVA basically funds RoVA, which is huge in comparison.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You may already know this, but the property taxes in MD are some of the worst in the country, that's why homes are so much cheaper there. Their income taxes are also higher than Virginia's. Also, Virginia has some of the best public schools in the country and great public universities. Just be sure to weigh the cons as well as pros. But you know your circumstances best. Best of luck!!

You will also pay high transfer taxes when you buy a home. Maryland is a liberal state and has Hugh social welfare needs in Western Maryland, the Eastern Shore, and Baltimore that are largely funded buy the areas close to Washington.

And VA is a wannabe liberal state. So I might as well stay in the true liberal state.