Ellicot City vs Severna Park (Columbia, Ellicott City: home, neighborhoods, best schools)

[dap76]

Accepted a job at BWI and my wife's office is in Elkridge. With a young family schools are a big consideration and we like the property we are seeing in both towns. Any opinions on which is better and why. It looks like the commute will be roughly equivalent from both.

Also if there are any other like areas that are highly recommended with strong schools that info would be great. We are hoping to keep our commutes within the 30 minute range if possible.

[tysons2008]

I would suggest Crofton, MD. It is more reasonable than those two. Within 30 minute commute. Also, the home prices have maintained and even increased a little....but still more reasonable.

[longdriver88]

Crofton is a nice place, some western parts of Odenton are ok as well. Try to keep some distance from ft meade if you can. I lived in the baltimore washington hospital area ... right off 97 and 100 ... I recently moved out of the BW Hospital Area right off 97 and 100... I would suggest that you find a nice out of the way area in ellicott city or try and find something north west of the "congested area's". Stay away from bus routes, I learned that the hard way.

[BIGBOB]

AA county has some of the better public schools in MD. Mine go to Broadneck H.S. Amongst the best in the state. That means living in Arnold, one of the better, and travelling about 35 - 40 ninuites to work. Good tradeoff. The number of students taking AP classes is greater in Broadneck than anywhere else, great school. Great community. And no, I do not live there, but on the Eastern Shore. The boys live there with their mom. But somehow I pay for the AP classes, go figure.



IMHO, Odenton is lacking, and that is after me living in the central MD region for about 40 years. Look into the Annap., Sev. pk., Arnld region. You can live there. Broadneck H.S. consistantly rates in the highest of schools, that is when they are not rated #1.

Scroll down to school notes in this link and see that this school is 194th in the country, not bad standings. http://www.publicschoolreview.com/sc...chool_id/35816

Again, they place in the top of the AP and Consolidated test or whatever that test is called. Good school and community.

[jessy0780]

Hands down, Ellicott City. The schools are excellent, and the area is great! Try the 21043 zip code. I'd also look in Elkridge, the area off of rte 103- not the area near rte 1.

[macroy]

Originally Posted by BIGBOB

AA county has some of the better public schools in MD. Mine go to Broadneck H.S. Amongst the best in the state. That means living in Arnold, one of the better, and travelling about 35 - 40 ninuites to work. Good tradeoff. The number of students taking AP classes is greater in Broadneck than anywhere else, great school. Great community. And no, I do not live there, but on the Eastern Shore. The boys live there with their mom. But somehow I pay for the AP classes, go figure.



IMHO, Odenton is lacking, and that is after me living in the central MD region for about 40 years. Look into the Annap., Sev. pk., Arnld region. You can live there. Broadneck H.S. consistantly rates in the highest of schools, that is when they are not rated #1.

Scroll down to school notes in this link and see that this school is 194th in the country, not bad standings. Broadneck Senior High School - Annapolis, Maryland/MD - Public School Profile

Again, they place in the top of the AP and Consolidated test or whatever that test is called. Good school and community.

Some very bold statements when other school's in MD are better rated have more Merit Scholar finalist, higher score's etc.

Not to discount Broadneck as it looks very good on paper... but many in MD (mainly Montgomery County) look even better.

America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com

To the OP:
Personally - I'd take EC. But that's a biased answer as I live there. But BWI is 20 min from me (21042 zip) and Elkridge is like 10 min away. I think you'd need to narrow it down even more by finding the right sub-sections and check out the neighborhoods and see which one fits you better.

I grew up in MC where they've always had the reputation for the best schools... but personally, the neighborhood in EC are much easier going..... you actually will meet them.. which I think in the long run will benefit my kid than it would in MC. Just my .02 of course.

[sallyransom]

Originally Posted by dap76

Accepted a job at BWI and my wife's office is in Elkridge. With a young family schools are a big consideration and we like the property we are seeing in both towns. Any opinions on which is better and why. It looks like the commute will be roughly equivalent from both.

Also if there are any other like areas that are highly recommended with strong schools that info would be great. We are hoping to keep our commutes within the 30 minute range if possible.

Somehow Howard county( Elkridge is in HC) has been named the best school system in Maryland as of late. I guess this took place in the last two years? Montgomery county used to be considered as having the best school system in the past. If you are looking at Elkridge I would suggest checking out Ellicott City and some parts of Columbia if you want to be in a nice central area with good schools. I use the following website to compare schools! SchoolMatters - Home

[dap76]

Thank you to everyone for the info. We aren't interested in Montgomery county as my wife and I grew up in Northern Virginia and really have grown tired of the traffic around DC. We'd like to get a litle further out to avoid that traffic.

Our needs are:
1) Great public schools
2) Nice communities with good size yards for families with young children
3) 30 min or less commute to BWI and Elkridge
4) Howard or A.A. Counties

As of now it looks like the places to check are (in no order):
Ellicot City
Columbia
Crofton
Severna Park
Arnold

What about:
Millersville
Lake Shore
Pasadena
Crownsville

Any other places we should put on our list? Thanks again for all the info.

[dap76]

Originally Posted by sallyransom

Somehow Howard county( Elkridge is in HC) has been named the best school system in Maryland as of late. I guess this took place in the last two years? Montgomery county used to be considered as having the best school system in the past. If you are looking at Elkridge I would suggest checking out Ellicott City and some parts of Columbia if you want to be in a nice central area with good schools. I use the following website to compare schools! SchoolMatters - Home

GREAT WEBSITE!!!! Thanks!!!

Looks like A.A. county has more top rated elementary schools in math while Howard has more top rated high schools. Things can never just fall in line and be easy can they?

[jessy0780]

Originally Posted by dap76

Thank you to everyone for the info. We aren't interested in Montgomery county as my wife and I grew up in Northern Virginia and really have grown tired of the traffic around DC. We'd like to get a litle further out to avoid that traffic.

Our needs are:
1) Great public schools
2) Nice communities with good size yards for families with young children
3) 30 min or less commute to BWI and Elkridge
4) Howard or A.A. Counties

As of now it looks like the places to check are (in no order):
Ellicot City
Columbia
Crofton
Severna Park
Arnold

What about:
Millersville
Lake Shore
Pasadena
Crownsville

Any other places we should put on our list? Thanks again for all the info.

I still would say of your choices, the best bet for schools and neighborhoods is EC.
Just so you know, Pasadena has a nickname, from some of the locals- dirty dena.