billsfaningeneseo Posted August 31, 2009 Posted August 31, 2009 Hey all, so I am seriously looking at relocating to the Maryland area since teaching jobs up here where I live in NY (Saratoga Springs) are very hard to come by if you don't have experience (or aren't dating the daughter of a superintendent). I am looking at a couple different areas, and was wondering if anyone has opinions about the job market/lifestyle/etc.. Columbia/Ellicott City (Howard County) or Frederick (Frederick County). At this point I am looking at heading down sometime around Christmas as I will be substitute teaching and reffing HS soccer for the fall. Thanks!
PromoTheRobot Posted August 31, 2009 Posted August 31, 2009 Hey all, so I am seriously looking at relocating to the Maryland area since teaching jobs up here where I live in NY (Saratoga Springs) are very hard to come by if you don't have experience (or aren't dating the daughter of a superintendent). I am looking at a couple different areas, and was wondering if anyone has opinions about the job market/lifestyle/etc.. Columbia/Ellicott City (Howard County) or Frederick (Frederick County). At this point I am looking at heading down sometime around Christmas as I will be substitute teaching and reffing HS soccer for the fall. Thanks! I lived in Bal'more in the mid-80's so assume things have changed. Obviously it's all pretty expensive. Frederick, especially, is turning into a bedroom community to DC. Nice little town that is growing like mad. They do have a Carolina League team there, The Keys, an affiliate of the O's. You might consider living in Westminster and commuting to Frederick or even Charles Town or Berkley Springs WV. Columbia in Howard County was developed almost like a social experiment. A perfect mix of races and ages in a perfect community. To me it has a Stepford Wives quality to it. Everything is camouflaged. I mean EVERYTHING! You could drive by an enourmous shopping mall in the center of town and not even know it's there because it's buried behind bushes. Gas stations too. I remeber once driving around desperately looking for one and not realizing I drove past it 4 times. Merriweather Post Pavilion is a huge summer shed concert venue in Columbia. Ellicott City has a really really old center of town with some boutiques and cafes. All the buildings are made of stone and date back to the 1700's. Pretty cool Baltimore has become a trendy tourist destination with the Inner Harbor and surrounding areas. Crime is a huge deal. Someone gets murdered daily. The "Block" used to be the strip club and dirty book store area but it's shrunk over the years. There are some awesome old gentrified neighborhoods too like Fell's Point, Mt. Washington and Mt. Vernon. I liked living there but I was younger and drank more then. PTR
plenzmd1 Posted August 31, 2009 Posted August 31, 2009 Hey all, so I am seriously looking at relocating to the Maryland area since teaching jobs up here where I live in NY (Saratoga Springs) are very hard to come by if you don't have experience (or aren't dating the daughter of a superintendent). I am looking at a couple different areas, and was wondering if anyone has opinions about the job market/lifestyle/etc.. Columbia/Ellicott City (Howard County) or Frederick (Frederick County). At this point I am looking at heading down sometime around Christmas as I will be substitute teaching and reffing HS soccer for the fall. Thanks! My quick takes having lived in the DC metro area for close to twenty years now. I must admit I have a bias towards more urban areas and downtowns, so know that going into whjat I am going to say. Columbia is, I think, one of the first planned communities in the country. Has that Pleasanteville feel to it. But, the plus is you are about midway between both DC and Baltimore, but still pretty far from both (appx 35 minutes to each with no traffic,maybe a bit farther to DC). PLus is the schools are spoda be great, and my gut tells me Howard County pays pretty well too. Frederick is a little more rural, but is rapidly becoming just another suburb of DC. Nice little downtown to Frederick though, has more of that hip small town feel to i now. For instance, one of the top new restuarants in the DC area has opened in Frederick(Volt), doubt if you would ever see a great retuarant open in the Columbia Town Center.And if you ever take a job in DC (or anywhere along the 270 corridor) the MARC commuter train is there and makes thing easier. Short synopsis, hope it helps.
ajzepp Posted August 31, 2009 Posted August 31, 2009 I lived in Columbia briefly back in the mid-90s and loved it. I really like most of the mid-Atlantic area, to be honest. B-more is a very underrated city. I would move back to Columbia in a heartbeat.
billsfaningeneseo Posted September 1, 2009 Author Posted September 1, 2009 Thanks for the replies guys. A lot depends obviously on the school systems and available jobs (I am a certified Social Studies Teacher in NY). Being from a small, semi-rural, rather hippy town (Saratoga Springs), Frederick sounds like a pretty cool place. Columbia's location is really appealing, but the cost of living in Howard County is nearly as bad as Fairfax/Loudoun in Virginia. I will probably take a trip down in November or so (once my HS soccer reffing gets done) to take a look around. Any other opinions are appreciated!
SDS Posted September 1, 2009 Posted September 1, 2009 Thanks for the replies guys. A lot depends obviously on the school systems and available jobs (I am a certified Social Studies Teacher in NY). Being from a small, semi-rural, rather hippy town (Saratoga Springs), Frederick sounds like a pretty cool place. Columbia's location is really appealing, but the cost of living in Howard County is nearly as bad as Fairfax/Loudoun in Virginia. I will probably take a trip down in November or so (once my HS soccer reffing gets done) to take a look around. Any other opinions are appreciated! Don't believe what you hear about Columbia. Section 8 housing has all but ruined 9 of the 10 villages. The last village that opened, River Hill, experienced a tidal wave of flight from the other 9 that drove up housing prices through the roof. (Townhouses 1/2 the size for twice the price and people couldn't buy them fast enough). There are very few places in Columbia that I would put my family, plus you have to pay a separate Columbia property tax. If cost of living is an issue, then Columbia is not for you. They are getting a mega-Wegman's though. It's not a singles town either. Ellicott City is nice, as is my sliver of western Elkridge. It is very nicely located with easy access to major highways, Baltimore, and DC. Not too far from Annapolis either. I have friends in most of the major school systems.
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted September 1, 2009 Posted September 1, 2009 Maryland's an over-priced hellhole. Just MO.
SDS Posted September 1, 2009 Posted September 1, 2009 Maryland's an over-priced hellhole. Just MO. yeah, people hate it here so much the price of real estate is through the roof.
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted September 1, 2009 Posted September 1, 2009 yeah, people hate it here so much the price of real estate is through the roof. OOOOOOR it could be that their only other choices for living in that area are Bloodymore, Murderland and DC. Could be, just sayin'.
plenzmd1 Posted September 1, 2009 Posted September 1, 2009 OOOOOOR it could be that their only other choices for living in that area are Bloodymore, Murderland and DC. Could be, just sayin'. where the hell do you live, the Northwest Territories? Crimew everywhere bub...and yes if you are buying crack in some parts of Bmore prolly a better chance of something bad happening to you..
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted September 1, 2009 Posted September 1, 2009 where the hell do you live, the Northwest Territories? Crimew everywhere bub...and yes if you are buying crack in some parts of Bmore prolly a better chance of something bad happening to you.. I went to the Bmore Zoo once. ONCE.
billsfaningeneseo Posted September 1, 2009 Author Posted September 1, 2009 Thanks SDS, that's the type of information on Columbia that is hard to find with internet research. Howard County is appealing because at least according to what I have found online it is one of the better school districts in the state. Same with Frederick County. A lot will come down to what jobs might be available later this year/next fall. Anything specific that drew you to Elkridge and that keeps you there (it is right near Ellicott City correct?).
SDS Posted September 1, 2009 Posted September 1, 2009 Thanks SDS, that's the type of information on Columbia that is hard to find with internet research. Howard County is appealing because at least according to what I have found online it is one of the better school districts in the state. Same with Frederick County. A lot will come down to what jobs might be available later this year/next fall. Anything specific that drew you to Elkridge and that keeps you there (it is right near Ellicott City correct?). Elkridge, as a whole, is an old community and quite frankly is a bit of an armpit along the old route 1 corridor. I am on the western tip of Elkridge away from that scene. Most people would think we are Ellicott City. I'm only 1 mile from both EC and Columbia. My area has the nice feel of EC w/o the price penalty of being officially in the zip code. Schools are funny in HC. Some are nice, some not so much, some have a great rep like Centennial HS, but have so much money that drugs are 1000x worse there. We love Rockburn Elementary and and Grace Episcopal Church childcare is outstanding. We are always under the threat of redistricting because MD, as a whole, is very transient, so the child density in any one area fluctuates quite a bit. Unemployment in the county has been about 2% or so, but may have climbed to 4-5% in recent months.
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