Anonymous wrote:What about Fulton or Clarksville for a Bethesda/Baltimore commute?

I have a feeling OP is priced out of Fulton and Clarksville for SFH which is why they are implying about New Market. MY DH and I were looking in New Market and earlier this year you could get a SFF 2,500+ square feet for under 500K. Fulton and Clarksville were at least 650K+...which is similar to Urbana.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I’m a bit confused by your reliance on GS rankings as well as how you’re thinking about commutes. Sure, use them as one piece of the puzzle, but there is a reason HoCo and MoCo schools are generally considered the best in the state.

Howard County seems like the obvious choice for you—either Columbia or Fulton. Ellicott City is also an option, though will put more stress on the Bethesda commute (though less on the Baltimore commuter). There are phenomenal schools in all those areas.

Both are located on major high ways, plus we have some family and friends there. HoCo feels very isolated.

I mean, this is your decision but your commute would be SO much better in HoCo—which also generally has more amenities and easy access to all the major highways that connect the state. (And better access to the airport.) If this is about being near people you know or budget or whatever, totally fine, but your posts just seem to indicate you haven’t done a ton of research.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6305-Departed-Sunset-Ln-Columbia-MD-21044/37003448_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

And then closer to Frederick but still improved commutes:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/10722-Enfield-Dr-Woodstock-MD-21163/52150289_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

Nothing, absolutely nothing.

Anonymous wrote:What about Fulton or Clarksville for a Bethesda/Baltimore commute?

Couldn't find any apartments in that area. Most apartments in Columbia belong to 4 out of 10 schools. Taking that it will take us a while to find something to buy we prefer to rent until then, to avoid moving kids mid year

Anonymous wrote:OP, I’m a bit confused by your reliance on GS rankings as well as how you’re thinking about commutes. Sure, use them as one piece of the puzzle, but there is a reason HoCo and MoCo schools are generally considered the best in the state.

Howard County seems like the obvious choice for you—either Columbia or Fulton. Ellicott City is also an option, though will put more stress on the Bethesda commute (though less on the Baltimore commuter). There are phenomenal schools in all those areas.

Both are located on major high ways, plus we have some family and friends there. HoCo feels very isolated.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about Fulton or Clarksville for a Bethesda/Baltimore commute?

Ignoring the above bickering about affluence…I am curious why OP is more interested in Frederick than HoCo, given commutes. Doesn’t take them too far from the family/friends mentioned.

Because it is cheap, jesus C!

I don't think op mentioned their budget but come on people, nobody buys in New Market just for fun is they have a commute south! What is attractive about New Market are the prices! If OP is on the price range for New Market, what is she really going to afford in Howard County?
A run-down old small house? As opposed to a huge brand new place in New Market?

OP, I’m a bit confused by your reliance on GS rankings as well as how you’re thinking about commutes. Sure, use them as one piece of the puzzle, but there is a reason HoCo and MoCo schools are generally considered the best in the state.

Howard County seems like the obvious choice for you—either Columbia or Fulton. Ellicott City is also an option, though will put more stress on the Bethesda commute (though less on the Baltimore commuter). There are phenomenal schools in all those areas.

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Anonymous wrote:Where are you working? You do NOT want to have a commute on 270 south...no school choice is worth that hell.

One parent in Bethesda, one parent in Baltimore with family/friends around Frederick and Rockville areas.

What about Howard County?

One of you needs to get another job. Unless the one job has generous work from home policy

OP, another vote for Howard County. You’ll get commutes under an hour for both of you. Columbia was basically created for couples like you and has a lot of amenities. Less than/right around a half hour to Rockville and then about 40 minutes to Frederick on weekends. Easy hops into Baltimore and DC as well. The 270 commute is truly brutal.

As you figure out mortgage options, if that appeals, remember that HoCo’s jumbo threshold is lower than that for MoCo and Frederick County.

I was also thinking of Columbia. But school ratings are lower. Atholton shows only 7, Oakdale 9 and Urbana 10

Who cares about GS ratings? There are schools in Hagerstown that are rated a 9/10, and it’s often because they have too little diversity to have an equity section. The thing dragging some of the MoCo and HoCo schools down is not their test scores, but their equity ratings. Their equity ratings play a larger role because MoCo and HoCo schools are more diverse than Frederick/Calvert/Carroll/Washington County schools on average. USNWR ranks RM higher than Oakdale and Linganore HS. The HoCo schools and RM have a much higher percentage of kids taking and passing AP exams. The Frederick schools are mostly ranked higher because they have extremely low diversity levels and can’t really have any equity ratings (Linganore and Oakdale), and because they have high PARCC scores. They don’t have the highest SAT scores or AP scores, and they hardly produce any NMSF.