What do I need to know about living in/near Annapolis, MD?

[anotherbrother]

Homeschooling info would be great too. I've lived in the Pacific Northwest my entire life. We live in a very high cost of living area outside of Seattle. I could only find cost comparison for Seattle and Maryland, not any of the other cities that are a little closer to me.

 

My husband is looking at a job with a possible raise, but we're trying to figure out if we can make do there. Even though he has a good job, it's expensive here and there's not a lot left over at the end of the month.

[happypamama]

It's a nice enough area, especially with the water. Annapolis is a nice town. It's very busy, though, especially if you're west of Annapolis, toward DC, and it's very expensive. I think MD is not too bad for homeschooling (though we left before our DD was old enough to need to be registered). If you have the option of a bit of a drive, you might want to look south of Annapolis; we lived in Prince George's County, about 45 minutes from Annapolis, but it was quite a bit cheaper (it was 10 years ago that we bought there, though). Also, I'm not sure if across the Bay from Annapolis would be less expensive, but it might be a bit.

[anotherbrother]

It's a nice enough area, especially with the water. Annapolis is a nice town. It's very busy, though, especially if you're west of Annapolis, toward DC, and it's very expensive. I think MD is not too bad for homeschooling (though we left before our DD was old enough to need to be registered). If you have the option of a bit of a drive, you might want to look south of Annapolis; we lived in Prince George's County, about 45 minutes from Annapolis, but it was quite a bit cheaper (it was 10 years ago that we bought there, though). Also, I'm not sure if across the Bay from Annapolis would be less expensive, but it might be a bit.

 

 

When you say expensive can you give me an example? We live in a 1650 square foot home now, 3bd, 2 1/2ba, plus a small bonus area. I wouldn't need anything more, but less could be difficult. Until we moved here 4 1/2 years ago we had only ever lived in a 2 bedroom, never more than 1100 square feet.

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

Examples of available housing in the Annapolis area: http://www.redfin.com/homes-for-sale#!market=dc&region_id=409&region_type=6&v=8

 

We used Redfin extensively to find out about available housing before we moved to Maryland from Missouri---it helped us to compare the relative costs of a house in one area versus another. Property taxes tend to be highish here, too, depending on the county you end up in.

[BrookValley.]

Annapolis is pretty pricey; many areas around DC have some of the highest cost of living in the country. That said, you can look around and find reasonable housing costs, I'm guessing, especially because it sounds like you're coming from a fairly high cost of living area. I would look in the areas surrounding Annapolis, but probably more south and/or north.

 

The house you describe could vary wildly in price here, depending on the neighborhood, age of the house, lot size, etc.

 

Homeschooling is pretty easy. You have to file with the county and do two reviews per year, basically showing that you are providing 'regular, thorough instruction' in the basic areas (LA, math, science, etc, etc). You can also use an umbrella school and skip the county reviews altogether (which is what I do).

 

Good luck. :) Maryland can be great, and Annapolis is a beautiful area.

[anotherbrother]

Examples of available housing in the Annapolis area: http://www.redfin.co...gion_type=6&v=8

 

We used Redfin extensively to find out about available housing before we moved to Maryland from Missouri---it helped us to compare the relative costs of a house in one area versus another. Property taxes tend to be highish here, too, depending on the county you end up in.

 

I'll definitely take a look at that. We will be renting, not buying. We've lived in apartments before and would be fine with a higher end one with some amenities. It doesn't need to be super fancy, but updated and very clean.

[happypamama]

I'm sorry; I really can't give you an estimate right now. We sold our house six years ago, before the housing crash, so I don't know what the current prices are. There do seem to be a fair number of townhouse sorts of things, and that could be a very good option.

[*lifeoftheparty*]

.

[*lifeoftheparty*]

.

[lovinglife]

We live about 45 minutes south and I will agree that housing prices vary tremendously. There re some areas, like mine, that the housing crash has affected tremendously, and others that have hardly budged. It is a lovely area. I had my last baby up there and my Dh and I both enjoy visiting every once in a while. Traffic and cost of living can be intimidating but are doable! Homeschooling isn't bad at all, you just file with the county, as someone already stated. Good luck with your decision.

[Lucy the Valiant]

Really nice little open air Shakespeare theater right on the water doing summer productions. :) (That was years ago - they may be gone now.) And touring the Academy is worth the trip! :)

[anotherbrother]

We currently live about 40 miles from my husbands job. The commute stinks and we'd love to live closer, but we could do it again if we had too.

 

What is public transportation like? He doesn't take the bus now because we don't live on a direct route and it takes three buses and two transfers.

[anotherbrother]

I do want to point out that if your lease allows for it, you can rent it out for Commissioning Week for several month's rent.

 

 

I just saw this. Very interesting.

[*lifeoftheparty*]

.

[LaxMom]

Will he be working in Annapolis? It would never occur to me to use public transport to/around Annapolis. I think Annapolis only has public transportation within city limits. Living 20-30 miles from work in Annapolis wouldn't be too bad.

 

But if he is working in Baltimore or DC, then that commute would be pretty bad. We are spoiled though, Dh's commute is 10-15 minutes. I think most people that work in DC/Baltimore consider 1 hour to be an average/acceptable commute and there are lots of people with 2 hour commutes, some have more. I think they are crazy, but you know, whatever floats your boat.

 

I lived there for 15 years before moving to the eastern shore. I can say that commuting from over here (about 45 minutes east of Annapolis) is much easier than it was commuting from within Annapolis and immediate outlying areas. That's to Balt/DC/NoVA from here, vs living just outside the city limit and working inside Annapolis.

 

The only public transportation is within the city limits, or a commuter bus from Parole to the New Carrollton metro station... There's probably one to the nearest Marc stop, for B'more, as well.

 

With the exception of living in the historic district or Eastport (major$$$$), Annapolis is not a walking or biking town. It is like a massive suburb in itself: too spread out to walk or bike, few pieces of infrastructure to make either safe, and very little in the way of pubic transport. It is very much a surface road driving city, and the traffic can be amazing, especially when the population goes from around 45k to 500k during tourist and events season.

 

Actual suburb areas aren't that much more affordable.

 

I don't mean to sound like a Negative Nelly. Annapolis is beautiful and I enjoyed my teens and early 20s there, as well as when we go into town for errands (though that isn't often because my husband works in Annapolis and does most of them on his way home). I would never choose to live there again unless I lived downtown, and even that would be a major thinking process.

[anotherbrother]

 

I lived there for 15 years before moving to the eastern shore. I can say that commuting from over here (about 45 minutes east of Annapolis) is much easier than it was commuting from within Annapolis and immediate outlying areas. That's to Balt/DC/NoVA from here, vs living just outside the city limit and working inside Annapolis.

 

The only public transportation is within the city limits, or a commuter bus from Parole to the New Carrollton metro station... There's probably one to the nearest Marc stop, for B'more, as well.

 

With the exception of living in the historic district or Eastport (major$$$$), Annapolis is not a walking or biking town. It is like a massive suburb in itself: too spread out to walk or bike, few pieces of infrastructure to make either safe, and very little in the way of pubic transport. It is very much a surface road driving city, and the traffic can be amazing, especially when the population goes from around 45k to 500k during tourist and events season.

 

Actual suburb areas aren't that much more affordable.

 

I don't mean to sound like a Negative Nelly. Annapolis is beautiful and I enjoyed my teens and early 20s there, as well as when we go into town for errands (though that isn't often because my husband works in Annapolis and does most of them on his way home). I would never choose to live there again unless I lived downtown, and even that would be a major thinking process.

 

This had definitely given me more information. He does drive to work now, but wouldn't mind taking public transport. If it doesn't exist, I suppose he could drive. We're definitely in the beginning thought process. There's a job he is interested in with his current company. I would love an adventure but I've never lived more than 20 miles from where I grew up.

[hellen]

There is a public beach in Annapolis but it's not that great. The sand is extremely coarse like construction grade sand. There are also a lot of jellyfish. There are neighborhoods with private beaches containing softer sand and jellyfish nets. I would look at one of these neighborhoods. Some are considerably cheaper than others.

 

The library system is pretty good and the interlibrary loan is easy and relatively fast.

 

If your kids do animal 4H there is boarding at a park in Pasadena I think. The Smithsonian Research place south of Annapolis has homeschool programs. Or they used to. We moved several years ago.

[*lifeoftheparty*]

.