Cute house though. Wish they built more like that and in that price range.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi,

I googled "walkable areas in maryland" and Frederick came up as being a mini-DC. (not sure about that-but hey)

Is it diverse (age,ethnicity, etc)? I'm an AA female, single, 38

How are schools? I have a 4 year old son.

How is your commute into DC or other parts close to DC metro? I work in foggy bottom but have telework days so I can work my commute down (no car but would by a car)

I found this home, which is in my budget. Where else can I look to find something similar in this price range(no more than 380k) and "walkable"?


https://www.redfin.com/MD/Frederick/Marsalis-Pl-21702/home/167611275

I would try Rockville or Clarksburg. As a single AA woman, Frederick wouldn't work for you or your son. I worked there 20 years ago and passed multiple confederate flags flying in yards or displayed on cars everyday. I always felt like I had to get out there before sundown. I'm sure it's gotten better over the last 20 years but with Trump in office, I think the racists are bolder now. Go with a condo or townhouse in Montgomery County.

To be fair, 20 years ago, I voted for Dubya and thought the Confederate flag was a harmless expression of regional pride. Attitudes change, and the Confederates I knew was World War I Germans became more like World War II Germans.

Say 3 Hail Marys and 3 Our Fathers and your sins are forgiven.

Anonymous wrote:House is super cute. Just wondering how much the upgrades will be? I have driven there many times to look at cute new construction. No kids, OP? Then maybe but take a train, 270 is a murder, absolute murder. Even the country roads are congested a ton during the rush hours.
I know this is out of the left, but would you consider something like Washington Grove, MD? Technically Gaithersburg? Shady Grove is really close, and there are old houses and new construcion townhomes.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/200-Washington-Grove-Ln-Gaithersburg-MD-20877/37215360_zpid/

The price is too high and Washington Grove has an open air drug market on the other end of the street... so NO.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi,

I googled "walkable areas in maryland" and Frederick came up as being a mini-DC. (not sure about that-but hey)

Is it diverse (age,ethnicity, etc)? I'm an AA female, single, 38

How are schools? I have a 4 year old son.

How is your commute into DC or other parts close to DC metro? I work in foggy bottom but have telework days so I can work my commute down (no car but would by a car)

I found this home, which is in my budget. Where else can I look to find something similar in this price range(no more than 380k) and "walkable"?


https://www.redfin.com/MD/Frederick/Marsalis-Pl-21702/home/167611275

I would try Rockville or Clarksburg. As a single AA woman, Frederick wouldn't work for you or your son. I worked there 20 years ago and passed multiple confederate flags flying in yards or displayed on cars everyday. I always felt like I had to get out there before sundown. I'm sure it's gotten better over the last 20 years but with Trump in office, I think the racists are bolder now. Go with a condo or townhouse in Montgomery County.

To be fair, 20 years ago, I voted for Dubya and thought the Confederate flag was a harmless expression of regional pride. Attitudes change, and the Confederates I knew was World War I Germans became more like World War II Germans.

House is super cute. Just wondering how much the upgrades will be? I have driven there many times to look at cute new construction. No kids, OP? Then maybe but take a train, 270 is a murder, absolute murder. Even the country roads are congested a ton during the rush hours.
I know this is out of the left, but would you consider something like Washington Grove, MD? Technically Gaithersburg? Shady Grove is really close, and there are old houses and new construcion townhomes.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/200-Washington-Grove-Ln-Gaithersburg-MD-20877/37215360_zpid/

Anonymous wrote:Hi,

I googled "walkable areas in maryland" and Frederick came up as being a mini-DC. (not sure about that-but hey)

Is it diverse (age,ethnicity, etc)? I'm an AA female, single, 38

How are schools? I have a 4 year old son.

How is your commute into DC or other parts close to DC metro? I work in foggy bottom but have telework days so I can work my commute down (no car but would by a car)

I found this home, which is in my budget. Where else can I look to find something similar in this price range(no more than 380k) and "walkable"?


https://www.redfin.com/MD/Frederick/Marsalis-Pl-21702/home/167611275

I would try Rockville or Clarksburg. As a single AA woman, Frederick wouldn't work for you or your son. I worked there 20 years ago and passed multiple confederate flags flying in yards or displayed on cars everyday. I always felt like I had to get out there before sundown. I'm sure it's gotten better over the last 20 years but with Trump in office, I think the racists are bolder now. Go with a condo or townhouse in Montgomery County.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This one feeds into BCC schools, I think.
https://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/2208-Washington-Ave-20910/unit-W-202/home/170618812

Schools might not be as well regarded here, but it is in Downcounty Consortium, so there’s a choice of high schools
https://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/2920-Weisman-Rd-20902/home/11031073

I love the Frederick house, but there’s nothing like it at that price with a sane commute into DC.

Not everybody wants to live in a condo or a sh*t shack.

Rethinking working in DC is the best option.

Exactly. The house OP listed shows her style very clearly. Nothing posted has matched that or come close.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frederick has come a long way from Fredneck days, but I don't think I'd live there if I was AA, I hate to say it. It's still too close to rural Maryland.

Also , while the city itself is walkable, where this is is not remotely close to anything to walk to - you'd have to be much further east to get anything that was walkable.

FRederick has a MARC train stop, but it's way on the other side of Frederick. So in sum, no. This is a cute house but not for you.

All of this. I haven't lived there for about 20 years but I spent my formative years in City of Frederick - I would not live there if I was AA. There are still a whole lot of racists living around there.

So NOT true anymore. You haven't lived there for 20 years.

I am not white, and three of my co-workers live in Frederick. One is Latino, one is AA and one is White. All have moved there within the last 5 years.

OP, you would be totally fine in Frederick. Honest. Don't listen to these PPs. Talk to some people in real life and ask their opinions.

Ok, how about this-- I live in Frederick, and OP should not move here. The house linked has a bad school cluster. Thomas Johnson HS was recently on the news for having a Nazi flag displayed in the window. To be fair, the story is that it was part of a WW2 history class with all flags displayed, but some pranksters trashed the teacher's room when he was out and purposely left the shades up so the flag would be visible from the street, before a big event. This is the type of stuff that still happens here. Can you ignore it? Sure, but that doesn't mean it's a great place to live. There are a LOT of racists here. We moved up here from MoCo because we already lived in the northern part of the county, and we could get a much bigger home once we crossed into Fred Co. We wanted to be closer to the city, so we bought in Frederick. Our house is great. The rest of this place, not. Goal is to get back to MoCo before DS is ready for kindergarten.

I'm super glad you know one Latino and one AA person who live in Frederick, but that doesn't mean it's "so NOT true anymore" that plenty of racists still live here.

I do live in Frederick - would be interested to know your experience.

The Nazi flag in the window was a freak incident - sort of like these incidents in Montgomery County (FWIW, TJ is 39% White, 29% Hispanic, 21% Black, 6% biracial, and 4% Asian.) I wouldn't base my decision on that.

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2019/04/two-whitman-hs-students-wore-blackface-school-said/
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/potomac/montgomery-county-parents-discuss-n-word-pass-incident-racism-at-local-high-school/65-96733b88-e73e-477f-b825-459473423a41

But - I'd like to know more what led you to think there are a lot of racists in Frederick.

Commute-wise: Might be possible to take the 515 bus to Shady Grove then Red Line to Farragut North. It's a long commute - maybe it's worth making 1-1.5 days a week but it WILL be long.

The house: tiny lot, like a tenth of an acre. But you're still super car-dependent. It's new, so there is that. How important is "new" to you? If you want walkability,

Crime: Key Parkway which is nearby has some condos, apartments, and townhouses that are in the category of "it's safe if you don't run with MS-13" but still rank among the least safe neighborhoods in Frederick. Since it's a SFH you won't be subject to late night screaming matches at your neighbor's.

Schools: just meh. Butterfly Ridge (new), Monocacy MS, and Thomas Johnson (maybe Einstein is a decent approximation?). They're in the lower half of achievement for Frederick County but are demographically and achievement wise similar to places in Silver Spring or Gaithersburg.

THAT AREA IS NOT WALKABLE TO ANYTHING WORTHWHILE.

The schools aren't worth the sacrifice (for you) to move to an unwalkable area with a super-long commute. Why would you want to move all the way to Frederick for that?

If you want something *remotely* walkable and can accept the commute and the schools:
404 Magnolia Avenue $415k, right near Hood College
349 Madison Street $390k, near downtown
406 Center Street $419k, near downtown

However, the newer houses in Frederick in better school zones are in very White areas. (Sort of like the W schools, or Langley/McLean.)

Good schools and newer houses under $400k can be found in any of Walkersville, Oakdale, Linganore, or Middletown HS zones, but I list them in decreasing order of diversity, and even Walkersville (where I live) is about 70% White/12% Black.

Catoctin is too far and I think where some of "old Frederick" still exists in Thurmont and Emmitsburg. Brunswick is still pretty White but it is near the MARC line.

It's not 1960 in Selma like some of the inside the Beltway types are arguing. But ... you'll probably get an odd look or two and the occasional worse treatment from cops or other mini-authority figures that can't be fully justified and/or complained about without you looking crazy. Then if your kid screws up, I suspect there'll be a little more tsk-tsking since most folks can accept dumbass behavior from their own race but have a harder time with other races being dumbasses. That's a decision each individual has to make (and I'd say the same thing to a White family looking to move to an area where their schools would only be 10-20% White), and a lot really depends on your immediate neighbors (if you live three doors down from someone who'd call the cops on your kid for acting suspicious while at the bus stop life will be tough) -- and I acknowledge that would be more likely to happen in Frederick than in Germantown, Gaithersburg, etc.

Ellicott City's only got a tiny walkable area to the downtown. Columbia is far more walkable and was designed that way by St. Rouse (PBOH). Both wouldn't be very nice commutes, although the MARC line service there is much better than the Brunswick Line service.

Anonymous wrote:Also take a look near old town Gaithersburg, Ellicott City and Columbia MD. All have walkable areas, are diverse and have a better commute.

Ellicott City? A better commute to DC? No, it's still long and awful.

Gaithersburg is long, but at least you have the option of Metro or Marc.

Anonymous wrote:This one feeds into BCC schools, I think.
https://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/2208-Washington-Ave-20910/unit-W-202/home/170618812

Schools might not be as well regarded here, but it is in Downcounty Consortium, so there’s a choice of high schools
https://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/2920-Weisman-Rd-20902/home/11031073

I love the Frederick house, but there’s nothing like it at that price with a sane commute into DC.

Not everybody wants to live in a condo or a sh*t shack.

Rethinking working in DC is the best option.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frederick has come a long way from Fredneck days, but I don't think I'd live there if I was AA, I hate to say it. It's still too close to rural Maryland.

Also , while the city itself is walkable, where this is is not remotely close to anything to walk to - you'd have to be much further east to get anything that was walkable.

FRederick has a MARC train stop, but it's way on the other side of Frederick. So in sum, no. This is a cute house but not for you.

All of this. I haven't lived there for about 20 years but I spent my formative years in City of Frederick - I would not live there if I was AA. There are still a whole lot of racists living around there.

So NOT true anymore. You haven't lived there for 20 years.

I am not white, and three of my co-workers live in Frederick. One is Latino, one is AA and one is White. All have moved there within the last 5 years.

OP, you would be totally fine in Frederick. Honest. Don't listen to these PPs. Talk to some people in real life and ask their opinions.

Ok, how about this-- I live in Frederick, and OP should not move here. The house linked has a bad school cluster. Thomas Johnson HS was recently on the news for having a Nazi flag displayed in the window. To be fair, the story is that it was part of a WW2 history class with all flags displayed, but some pranksters trashed the teacher's room when he was out and purposely left the shades up so the flag would be visible from the street, before a big event. This is the type of stuff that still happens here. Can you ignore it? Sure, but that doesn't mean it's a great place to live. There are a LOT of racists here. We moved up here from MoCo because we already lived in the northern part of the county, and we could get a much bigger home once we crossed into Fred Co. We wanted to be closer to the city, so we bought in Frederick. Our house is great. The rest of this place, not. Goal is to get back to MoCo before DS is ready for kindergarten.

I'm super glad you know one Latino and one AA person who live in Frederick, but that doesn't mean it's "so NOT true anymore" that plenty of racists still live here.

W schools have swastika's on desks all the time.

Also take a look near old town Gaithersburg, Ellicott City and Columbia MD. All have walkable areas, are diverse and have a better commute.

Anonymous wrote:I think a condo in Silver Spring or Rockville would be much better for you, OP. The shorter commute and lower level of maintenance will allow you to spend more quality time with your child.

At the same time, you could find a job in Frederick fairly easily
City data forum is the one you need to look for information. Most people here have never ventured beyond the beltway and know nothing about life outside of their small circle

I think a condo in Silver Spring or Rockville would be much better for you, OP. The shorter commute and lower level of maintenance will allow you to spend more quality time with your child.