Well as you can see everyone here is in agreement that you should stay away from Columbia and all parts of it that you see more than 3 black ppl passing by in a one block radius. J/k...well not really...just stay away from ghetto ppl and section 8 areas. Move to bethesda near the Rio Grande down there. Or move over to Clarksville which is like 10 mins or less from Columbia and find some decent housing options where getting shot at wont happen that often.( im assuming of course). But you still havnt mentioned why Howard County. Why not Montgomery?

 

^I'm going to be working in Columbia and I've always hated commuting, anything more than 20 mins really grinds my gears. Oddly enough, I drove from the office to an apartment about 4 miles away off of 175, and it took me 20 mins to get there.

Not only is rent high in Columbia, it's hard as hell to find new construction. I went by Russett (area behind the Wal-Mart near Ft. Meade) the other day, the main thing that pisses me off is how the main road out of the development has charities collecting everyday. Not the type that walks down the aisles fast, the type that stops at your window, leans over and taps on the glass.

MoCo is fine, but most of the nice stuff is a long drive from Columbia. Silver Spring is okay, but some parts are still shady over there, I'm not familiar enough with the area to know where its safest.

 

Now that I look at the map, I see two apartments in that area that would be within 15 mins. I'll have to check those out.

Do you know who hits you harder with local taxes from your paycheck, Howard or Anne Arundel?

 

why dont you check out hosam's community right behind Best Buy in laurel? its a pretty low crime rate neighborhood and you can visit hosama bin nasr

 

Definitely HC.

The drive on 175 from here to Columbia is a breeze. Or you can do RT 32. Do you work in Columbia Gateway?

I will stay away from Russett. It is borderline with Maryland City and that area is questionable at best.

 

ahh...ok. I kind of figured that. I know one area near columbia 100 off of RT 100 is a brand new construction and is less than 4 mins from 175. You can check them out online if they have a web page and gather some intell. But of course i can tell you i kno a local drug dealer thats right down the street from there and he pays 70 a month on rent in a nice decent size apartment. Dont let that deter you from moving in though. He's retired and he doesnt do that any more. I can ask him whats it like living there since im sure he knows better. If you do move in ill make sure he leaves you alone