My wife and I both agree that Howard County is a great place to raise a family even though we each come from very different places.

My wife was born and raised in Maryland and lived in Anne Arundel County her entire life until she moved to Elkridge with me in 2002. I am from California, and have lived in many different communities in both the LA and SF Bay areas. I was very happy living in Alameda, CA before being laid off from my job back in 2002.

For my family there probably is no better place to live. We are very pleased with the school system, the library system, the Parks & Recs, the diversity, the public services, public safety, jobs, shopping, recreational facilities, and convenient location. We try to take full advantage of the available services and facilities to get the most for our property tax dollars.

Of course no place is perfect, so you weigh the pros and cons and costs of living in your community relative to other places that you could be living. There are, of course, many "better" places to live but at what cost? For what we need and want and can afford, we believe that Howard County is a huge bargain.

Jamie

'do you think this sort of ranking influences any moving decisions? '

If your question is reference to mass population , then I will say YES .
1) location , location , location
2) exposure , exposure , exposure
If they all wanna relocate here , shouldnt that , in theory , raise our home values here in Md ?

To me Howard county is a prototypical example of the sprawl-based development model that is unsustainable in the future. Public transportation is non-existant. Got to drive across the parking lot to go shopping. McMansions that wastes energy, neighbors that are miles from each other. Unfortunately, the economic model is stacked to favor building the new, not revitalizing and revamping the old. What's so great about Howard county?

Semiconscious, Columbia isn't designed the same way that much of the rest of Howard County is. The homes are supposed to be in walking distance of at least one village center and pool. It's pretty easy to bike around the whole town, too -- I did it a lot as a kid.

That's not to say it's perfect -- just more walkable than swaths of big homes on one-acre lots.

Public transportation is definitely an issue. That's pretty much true across the region.

Jamie, not to sound too much of a contrarian, but I've been to Columbia town center and don't recall any pedestrians besides the ones walking from their cars in the parking lot.

I'm not saying people DO walk, Semiconscious -- only that they can if they want to. :-)

Anytime parking is fairly plentiful, people will probably choose to drive short distances rather than walk.

I've gotta agree with Semiconscious on this one - Columbia is "blah" and boring.

I think that the appeal for most people is the safety and good schools. These things are both important and appealing.

It's such a shame that Baltimore City could be the "jewel of the region" however neglect and crime have really decimated this once great city. It’s a shame that we as Americans no longer value our cities.

This article relies on the strenght of Ellicot City. It is incorrect to lump Columbia in as well. Old Columbia has quickly become a hot spot for crime and gang activity. A number of neighborhoods in Old Columbia have become so innundated with foreclosures and delinquent HOA dues payers that FHA and most banks no longer are willing to approve mortgages to live there.

The Sun had a series on old vs. new Columbia in 2000. Here's the first part: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/bal-columbia-part1,0,3456578.story

@Josh - Totally disagree with you. I think you're severely underestimating the significance of Columbia, which offers a wonderful quality of life to its residents, as anyone who lives here will tell you. And while you reference it being "a hot spot for crime and gang activity," there were a grand total of 2 homicides in all Howard County during 2009. Not exactly a dangerous place to live...

It always makes me chuckle when some people in places like Columbia complain about "hot spots" for crime and and gang activity. Try staying in an average DC or Baltimore neighborhood for a few nights if you really want to see what "hot spot" of crime and gangs is.

As for foreclosure activity, there's no place in Howard County that comes anywhere near to what is happening in Las Vegas or Florida.

I was quite disappointed though, to see how pedestrian unfriendly Columbia is but that merely makes it no better than most small cities in the US.

Money Magazine - ' homes are affordable , by Northeast standards anyway '

Howard County's median home price of $ 487 ,000 must be affordable only to Money Magazine staff .

ColumbiaBill, I challenge you to spend a Friday night in the Wilde Lake Village Center after dark, or the open-air drug market on Tamar Drive, the tent city on Rt 175, or the boarding houses. The only thing worse than being surrounded by young men loitering, with the underpants exposed, the vandalism, even the burning of children's tot lots, is knowing that some people work two jobs to afford to live there because of the broken promises that Columbia was as you describe.

I strongly agree with the other sentiments that Columbia/Ellicott City is built around an outdated, unsustainable ideal. It is one of the most car-oriented communities in the area. The bike/ped paths are sparse and not well connected, and the transit service is inconvenient, not to mention there is no efficient alternative transit option to either D.C. or Baltimore. And, in the communities themselves, save the old town area of Ellicott City, homes are cookie-cutter boring, which little architectural or cultural value. Add in the crime that has popped up in several villages in recent years and lack of large job-producing companies within the actual towns, I personally don't see why people would consider this a great place to live.

@Josh, I am not sure where you get you r information from, but I happen to live in the Kendal Ridge Neighborhood, very near Tamar Drive, and have never seen any "open air" drug market. We relocated here in 2004 from a Philadelphia suburb, and just love it. Given the large number of FBI, Secret Service, and NSA Employees that live in my neighborhood, I tend to think that the neighborhood is safe. Your comment about the foreclosure rate is completely inaccurate. There are neighborhoods in Ellicott City that have too many rental units, so FHA wont underwrite loans,same thing with numerous other condo developments in Montgomery, Fairfax, Baltimore, Louden Counties. Its actually very common EVERYWHERE in this economic climent. Stop with half truths and look at the facts. BTW, I have spent time at night in the wild Lake Village Center, and I have NEVER had an issue.

Josh, the "tent City" was in Jessup, not Columbia.

Tent-city on Rt. 175? Open-Air drug market on Tamar? And the dangers of Wild Lake Village Center after dark? Are you serious? Having lived most of my life in NYC, SF and Boston, I will take those laughably tame, crime-ridden, gang-areas any day. Columbia/Ellicott City will never be mistaken for Mayberry, but it is a very nice place to raise a family. This is made all the more surprising considering how close it is to two former crime capitals.

Thinking of moving to the area. What about the jobs at the Fort Meade Army Base and The National Security Agency?

Anon, are you asking what jobs are already at Fort Meade and NSA? Or which jobs are coming?

NSA is computer engineers, mathematicians and the like. More here: http://www.nsa.gov/careers/career_fields/index.shtml

Fort Meade job details here: http://www.ftmeade.army.mil/pages/cpac/cpac.html

BRAC, the base realignment and closure effort, is sending jobs (a lot of them IT/communications-related) to the Baltimore area, including Fort Meade. More details here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-brac-jobs-20100622,0,4681647.story

Please don't think this is true. We are just fine without people flocking here from Northern Virginia due to government moves and closures. Stay in Virginia and commute or telework.

Josh;
Wilde Lake Village center after dark? Isn't that were Splashdown is located. And I think we've been to that rather overpriced fondue place after dark. The wife and I were not jacked and the care was still there after a rather slow dinner. Yes, there were shady characters hanging out - but, nothing to really be threatened about. It looked mostly like "hood rats wannabes".