Work in Columbia- live in Silver Spring? More culturally-diverse? How's the commute? (Ellicott City: crime)

[ang7633]

Would living in Silver Spring be a better culturally-diverse option for us than Columbia? We are a mixed Asian household moving from an all-white area and would love to finally live in a town where we can experience not only more asian culture, but more other cultures as well (i.e. different races of people, restaurants, etc.)
How are the schools there? What's the crime like?
Also, What would a commute from Silver Spring to Columbia be like to drive each day?
Thanks again!

[kjg1963]

Silver Spring is very diverse and the selection of restaurants reflects that. I work in downtown Silver Spring and I see people of all nationalities here. Your commute should be a fairly easy one -- you would be going against rush hour traffic and might be able to get to Columbia in a 1/2 hour or so via Route 29.

Maybe other posters can give more information on schools and crime (there are websites that can give you this information also).

[J_Lurk]

Well ... Silver Spring is more diverse than Columbia, but the difference is mostly in Hispanic population. It sounds like either one will be an improvement on where you are. If you are looking for Asian, Columbia is close to the same as Silver Spring, and Ellicott City is even more Asian (5% Korean alone). Howard County is diverse. In fact, by 2011 the schools are expected to be minority white: Growing minority enrollment forces schools to adapt - baltimoresun.com

To me, the trade-off of additional traffic would not be worth the commute. I confess that moving here I was very nervous about traffic, and I've found that the closer you get to DC, the worse it is. I've also heard too many stories from people in the Silver Spring area about moving for schools, and I'd personally be nervous about coming there as a newcomer and knowing exactly where to buy for good schools. Silver Spring may have better restaurants, but you can find some non-chain gems in Howard County too if you know where to look.

Ethnic breakdowns from City-Data for your reference:

Races in Columbia:

* White Non-Hispanic (64.4%)
* Black (21.5%)
* Hispanic (4.1%)
* Two or more races (2.8%)
* Asian Indian (2.0%)
* Chinese (1.9%)
* Korean (1.8%)
* Other race (1.6%)
* American Indian (0.8%)
* Other Asian (0.5%)


Read more: https://www.city-data.com/city/Columb...#ixzz0nGEewxvH

Races in Ellicott City:

* White Non-Hispanic (76.9%)
* Black (7.3%)
* Korean (5.0%)
* Chinese (2.8%)
* Asian Indian (2.5%)
* Hispanic (2.1%)
* Two or more races (1.7%)
* Other Asian (0.9%)
* Other race (0.6%)


Read more: https://www.city-data.com/city/Ellico...#ixzz0nGEswlEE

Races in Silver Spring:

* White Non-Hispanic (38.7%)
* Black (28.1%)
* Hispanic (22.2%)
* Other race (11.6%)
* Two or more races (5.0%)
* Vietnamese (2.6%)
* Asian Indian (1.8%)
* Other Asian (1.4%)
* American Indian (1.1%)
* Chinese (1.1%)
* Filipino (0.7%)
* Korean (0.5%)

(Total can be greater than 100% because Hispanics could be counted in other races)

Read more: https://www.city-data.com/city/Silver...#ixzz0nGFCI6GG

[SmokeyLisa]

I agree with J_Lurk and was going to suggest either Columbia, Clarksville, North Laurel, Ellicott City, Fulton and Elkridge. All would be a pretty easy commute to Columbia. They are all the burbs so if you are looking for more of a city then Columbia would be the closest. Columbia is fairly diverse and they are a lot of mixed raced families and children. It is known for its diversity and acceptance. The communities tend to be those most integrated, meaning that the different races live amongst each other vs. in separate sides of town. Having said that some sections of town are more integrated and diverse than others. You will not have a problem in Columbia being a mixed race couple.

I suspect that the census Fulton, EC and possibily Elkridge will have larger Asian % than they do now and Columbia will have a larger multirace % than it does now. Take a look at some of the schools in the areas that I mentioned and you will see that the Asian % can get close to 30%. As J_Lurk mentioned a large % of the Asian's are Koreans.

[bonnielisabeth]

One thing to add..."Silver Spring" covers a very large area...there is "downtown" Silver Spring and then there are a lot of outlying areas included in "Silver Spring" as well that are not anywhere near down town. (I live in one of them...)

You will want to investigate demographics, because they may not be what they seem on the surface--as other posters have pointed out.

I think there is a difference in crime between Columbia / Howard and Silver Spring, so you may want to check out those statistics as well.

If you are interested in Montgomery County vs Howard County, you may want to check out the Burtonsville MD area and Rockville MD. To me, they seem more heavily asian.

[Kensington]

Columbia has always seemed racially diverse to me. The schools are better than Silver Spring as well.

[newhart]

If the job is going to be in Columbia, definitely check out Howard County. Why do the commute if you don't have to? As for schools and diversity, my kids' middle and high schools in Ellicott City are both more than 30 percent Asian. But the African American and Hispanic percentages are very low. Those percentages will be higher in parts of Columbia. The least diverse high school in the county is probably Glenelg in the western part of the county, and its feeder schools. That information is available in the school profiles on the HCPSS website.

There are A LOT of ethnic restaurants to choose from, and getting more all the time.