Carroll County Problems/Pitfalls

[fabsroman]

I have worked in Carroll County for more than 10 years, finally making the move to the county this year.

The worst thing I have found is the lack of food/restaurant diversity compared to Baltimore & Howard County.

Meh, we will save more money by eating at home more often. Plus, just like Howard, in another 10 to 15 years Eldersburg will be humming with businesses and restaurants.

 

[5cary]

16 years in Carroll County. Two kids in the schools (Eldersburg) and no serious complaints. There are a lot of rumblings about the loss of good teachers to better pay elsewhere.

If not for trying to keep our kids in Eldersburg schools in particular, I would have moved farther west/north a few years ago. I've lived all over the country and CC feels most like home to me. It's getting a little crowded now, though (relatively speaking...it's not even *close* to Columbia or Ellicot City type crowded).

I really don't want to see more shopping growth. I fear new "Town Centre" type shopping going up in some of the larger unused retail areas.

Pick you property right, and I really don't think you'd be disappointed.

 

[ironcity]

I have lived in Carroll County since i moved back to the states after my PCS (92). I like it. As other stated i have seen alot of growth in those years but that is to be expected, My house use to back up to a farmers field but now it is a bunch of homes. When we were looking at homes I already had in my mind that I would drive an hour to work which i do and to eliminate the traffic i flex time at work so i go in early as well as leave early. In short i don't regret one bit living here.

 

[Raineman]

in another 10 to 15 years Eldersburg will be humming with businesses and restaurants.

Ummm...Fabs....IT ALREADY IS.

I have lived in Eldersburg since 1980. It is "inner city" now compared to what it used to be.

Imagine this....You are sitting at Rt. 32 & 26. The next light east is in Randallstown. The next light west is in Frederick. The next light north is somewhere in Westminster, and south, well, I can't remember, if it wasn't in Clarksville, it may have been in AA county. Open air Carrolltowne Mall, "Mom & Pop" businesses, cars unlocked with keys on the ignition, homes left unlocked with windows open (unless the fertilizer was flowing that day). Everyone knew just about everyone, and neighbors walked the neighborhoods and socialized instead of rolling up the sidewalks when they get home from work.

That's the Eldersburg I grew up loving. Now it is crowded, congested, and full of snotty transplants and latchkey kids. South of Liberty Rd. was gerrymandered to Howard Co. politicians (that right there should give you an indication of its future),and...WE STILL CAN'T GET A DAMN STEAKHOUSE HERE.

I am going to attempt to sell my home this year which has lost value since I bought it in 2007 and get the hell out of here. If I don't completely relocate the mid-atlantic, I will likely go to a remote area in the county. Carroll is still worth living in and has some hope, but Eldersburg is shot.

There are some beautiful areas left, New Windsor/Union Bridge corridor out to Libertytown, and the area from New Windsor/Union Bridge up to (but not including) Taneytown. Some areas between Finksburg and Hampstead/Manchester but anywhere past Manchester you are getting into a haul if your Mrs. is coming to work in Eldersburg. You couldn't pay me to live in a Westminster zip code(s) (well...most of it).

 

[remodeler1]

It's certainly gotten more crowded in the past 45 years. If you don't have to commute then i'd look north of route 26 and west of route 27.

 

[ShafTed]

If you are going to the trouble of moving, just do it once and do it right. I can almost guarantee that you will be much happier a few miles NORTH of Carroll County.

 

[GTOGUNNER]

Stay away from developments with HOAs Stay out of incorporated cities.
I have been here 16 years. Looked at houses in a 100 mile range of NIH. Carroll County fit and I have never regretted. The teacher thing is nonsense. Good teachers will live and work in the community.

 

[strapped]

I'm considering moving to Hampstead in the next few years. Wife works in Westminster and I am in the city so Hampstead seems like the best commute.

 

[gamer_jim]

So, what is bad in Carroll County? School system? Although, the area we are looking at all three phases of schools are 9 out of 10. Government? Gun laws?

Carroll County isn't bad, it's actually quite good considering proximity to other lib md counties.

The good:
* within a 90 min driving distance of a lot of work opportunities. The commute would suck but I could put bread on the table and pay the mortgage.

* No county restrictions on firearms. Per md. law local municipalities can restrict where you shoot.

* code enforcement is weak. This can be good and bad. Bad for property value but good if you just like to do your own stuff.

* Sheriff is fantastic. He is pro-gun, and even though we live in the boonies we've gotten fantastic response from deputies during 911 calls.

The bad:

* depending where you live it can be extremely redneck with no recourse. In my neighborhood trucks on blocks, dogs running around, low-level drug dealing. I've talked with neighbors and complained to authorities but the problems persists.

* wired internet or cell service can be bad in rural areas. I pay $120/month now for verizon wireless broadband with a 30gb cap. Comcast promises they will wire use eventually but still no love. The cable commissioner doesn't care.

* Carroll Co. government is pretty much stuck in the late 90's. Their electronic access is almost non-existent. A neighbor of mine had a code issue with their livestock and had to take time off work to resolve an issue which could have been fixed by an email.

* They went and built fancy new schools but now can't afford them. I don't have kids so I can't comment. An older school, North Carroll High, is either vacant, or will be vacant because they don't have the kids or tax revenue to support it. It seems to me the issue is we either pay more money in property taxes to pay for vocation or else close the school and sell the land. I"m not too involved in this since I don't have kids so maybe I'm misunderstanding the problem.


Overall, depending on where you work it's not a bad place to live. Basically be ready to commute and you might have to deal with weird neighbors.

 

[dist1646]

Mount Airy is in the process of replacing its "Resident Troopers" with a town Police force like Westminster, Eldersburg, and Sykesville. The rest of the county is patrolled by a combination of the Sheriff's department and the State Police.

Eldersburg does not have it's own police force. It is still the Sheriff's dept. and State Police here. I understand the Chief of Police in Sykesville is an anti, so I would avoid that town as well as Westminster, Hampstead, and Manchester. Rural Carroll County is still a good area to live in. We do need to get rid of some RHINO politicians though.

 

[fabsroman]

If you are going to the trouble of moving, just do it once and do it right. I can almost guarantee that you will be much happier a few miles NORTH of Carroll County.

If my parents weren't still in Colesville/Silver Spring, I would be in a different state and it would be something other than PA. My wife and I are toying with PA, but a 90 minute drive might be too much for my parents to visit very often. My wife actually sent me links for houses in PA, and they are a lot cheaper than here, and cheaper than Carroll County too.

Yes, the dream is to not live in Maryland anymore, like you. Problem is my parents and my siblings. Two brothers live near my parents, a sister lives in Chevy Chase, and a sister lives in Annapolis. If we weren't a tight knit family, my sister's husband would have already left for Texas or Alaska. So would I.

When my wife and I were looking at our first place, we were looking in Gainesville, VA. It occurred to me and her, that I would not be too happy being over an hour from my parents. So, I am trying to strike some sort of balance while my parents are still on this Earth.

Nothing in life can be simple.

 

[HRDWRK]

Eldersburg does not have it's own police force. It is still the Sheriff's dept. and State Police here. I understand the Chief of Police in Sykesville is an anti, so I would avoid that town as well as Westminster, Hampstead, and Manchester. Rural Carroll County is still a good area to live in. We do need to get rid of some RHINO politicians though.

Do you consider Eldersburg to be "rural"?

 

[HankR]

If my parents weren't still in Colesville/Silver Spring, I would be in a different state...

Yes, the dream is to not live in Maryland anymore, like you. Problem is my parents and my siblings. Two brothers live near my parents, a sister lives in Chevy Chase, and a sister lives in Annapolis. If we weren't a tight knit family, my sister's husband would have already left for Texas or Alaska. So would I ...

Nothing in life can be simple.

I feel your pain, but somebody has to go first. We're way away from MD these days, and I wish the kids could see grandma and grandpa more often, but the overall quality of life for us and the kids is better out here in America. We used to be a large, close-knit family, all in MD. Now we're a large, close-knit family scattered over three western states and MD. Instead of seeing my brothers twice a month I see them once or twice a year. It sucks that my kids spend more face-time time with grandma than real face-to-face time, but that's the only downside.

Once we left, other family members started to drift away. I think my folks will flee in a year or two, leaving only one brother there. When we first left we planned to visit frequently, but after getting used to the freedoms here it is painful to go back. We try to meet at our place, one of the other western brothers, or some neutral territory (NC beaches, VA or WV "mountains"*, basically anywhere that isn't MD or IL).

Go for it!

*Our kids did have to be trained to not make fun of our eastern family's concept of what constitutes a mountain.

 

[Russ D]

Not much to complain about here in Manchester. I prefer Northern Carroll to anything West of 140.

 

[MDElite]

If you have young children Carroll county is in the process of "right sizing" the school system, so expect a lot of political silliness for the next few years while they reduce the number of schools. The housing boom 15 years ago necessitated more schools, but now the system is running at less than 80% capacity. Several elementary schools are on the chopping block.

Mount Airy is in the process of replacing its "Resident Troopers" with a town Police force like Westminster, Eldersburg, and Sykesville. The rest of the county is patrolled by a combination of the Sheriff's department and the State Police.

We are in the southern part of the county and I would describe most of my neighbors politically as Center-Right or old school conservative Democrats (the kind that don't really exist anymore). I would describe where we live as in between everything and close to nothing and would expect significant growth in the next ten years with developments that I know have already been approved.

The "Rain Tax" FU to the state is kind of humorous as is the bill they passed that essentially doesn't allow county $$$ to be used to enforce the FSA2013.

A few months ago one of the Montgomery County transplants asked on our neighborhoods Facebook page "what all the shooting was about on the neighboring farm". The responses were "It's nice out and it's Saturday".

Which elementary schools are on the chopping block?

 

[nerfherder]

Which elementary schools are on the chopping block?

I was wondering this, too. Thought the chops had already happened?

 

[Arcamm]

Mount Airy is loosing one.

 

[dist1646]

Do you consider Eldersburg to be "rural"?

Yes, as long as you are off of the main drag like I am. You do not have to be very far away from the shopping area on Rt. 26 to find a relatively quiet neighborhood to live in. Very pro 2A here also!

 

[edrod68]

I live in Winfield....off of Salem Bottom Road...it is pretty quiet here (just off of Route 94 and Route 26 intersection)

We live on a 1 acre corner lot and in a small (12 house) development built in the 70s...no HOA at all...do what you want here...

Surrounded by large farms (all in farm presevation) so will be farms for a looong time...

When we first moved here it took a while to adjust to how quiet it was. We are about 15 min from Eldersburg..but luckily have peace and quiet out here.

 

[sailskidrive]

Which elementary schools are on the chopping block?

I'll have to ask the spousal unit as she has been a little involved with tracking the closures. The two that come to mind are Union Bridge and Carroll High School. It's a pretty big CF as previously mentioned there was some investment in new schools that are way under utilized as well as MD State grants given to rehab some schools. If the rehab'd schools are closed the county will need to pay back the $$$. There is a new High School in the northern part of the county that is way under capacity and if it was older it would be shuttered, unfortunately if I remember correctly the county still has bonds out financing it. There was a push to close one of the two elementary schools in Mount Airy but the kids will be moved relocated to a school that will immediately be at capacity and physically not age appropriate, other kids would be bused way north of town to New Windsor. This would leave a single elementary school in a high growth area.

By the time the restructuring is complete we will be discussing the need for expansion.