CRE VS WW
- Thread starter porfel
- Start date
It's very easy to get lost in CRE.
Indeed.
frequentflier
happy to be living
I think most homes in Wildewood have more land and privacy. Wildewood is very clean and though I only go in there for yard sales, I have never seen a trashy yard or home.
CRE does have nice and well kept properties but there are a lot of crappy homes and yards, too. There is a lot of section 8 and absent landlords. CRE offers a nice airport and beaches. There a lot of children in CRE and no sidewalks. People often complain about drivers not obeying the speed limit.
If you are considering buying a home in either place, my personal preference would be Wildewood.
(FWIW, we lived in a skypark home on the airport for almost 10 years in CRE and had an evil neighbor that made everyday a living hell. My husband still rents hangar space in CRE and we still pay dues and even though the neighbor moved, I don't think I'd live there again)
CRE does have nice and well kept properties but there are a lot of crappy homes and yards, too. There is a lot of section 8 and absent landlords. CRE offers a nice airport and beaches. There a lot of children in CRE and no sidewalks. People often complain about drivers not obeying the speed limit.
If you are considering buying a home in either place, my personal preference would be Wildewood.
(FWIW, we lived in a skypark home on the airport for almost 10 years in CRE and had an evil neighbor that made everyday a living hell. My husband still rents hangar space in CRE and we still pay dues and even though the neighbor moved, I don't think I'd live there again)
When I was at the store on Saturday, had a customer looking for security cameras.
He lives in Wildewood, said there has been an increase in break ins.
He lives in Wildewood, said there has been an increase in break ins.
PeoplesElbow
Well-Known Member
They both have a surprising number of registered sex offenders, CRE is more ghetto/white trash and wildwood is overly snooty.
SamSpade
Well-Known Member
I lived in CRE for nine years, and if I actually HAD a choice, I would not have chosen it.
BUT - I was easily able to afford it. I had a nice 1100 sq foot home, 1/3 acre and a garage - and I lived on one of the paved roads. My first year, I had a roommate and an adjustable rate mortgage (which I wisely switched, later). My house payment was damned close to nothing.
There's no place I knew of - then - anywhere NEAR DC that was as affordable and still offered the amenities it offered. And I was thinking of TRAILER PARKS.
WW has obscene HOA costs - CRE has a "special tax district" - originally suggested as a temporary measure to deal with expenses, but one which has persisted now for DECADES. AND CRE has other fees.
I'm so glad NOT to live in an area with a HOA.
BUT - I was easily able to afford it. I had a nice 1100 sq foot home, 1/3 acre and a garage - and I lived on one of the paved roads. My first year, I had a roommate and an adjustable rate mortgage (which I wisely switched, later). My house payment was damned close to nothing.
There's no place I knew of - then - anywhere NEAR DC that was as affordable and still offered the amenities it offered. And I was thinking of TRAILER PARKS.
WW has obscene HOA costs - CRE has a "special tax district" - originally suggested as a temporary measure to deal with expenses, but one which has persisted now for DECADES. AND CRE has other fees.
I'm so glad NOT to live in an area with a HOA.
I druther not live with an HOA, but the one here in Pembrooke is not too burdensome.
The neighbors will also band together for push back.
This is the only place I have ever lived without municipalities besides the county seat.
SamSpade
Well-Known Member
Way back when I lived in CRE, we had two HOA fees yearly and somehow, POACRE managed to get a special tax district slammed on TOP of the fees.
By contrast - the next development over - Drum Point - had only a trivial yearly fee of a few dozen bucks - it's up to 275 yearly, which is close to WW's MONTHLY fee.
Ours is $340 per year. A lot of it is the maintenance of common areas and retaining ponds.
SamSpade
Well-Known Member
CRE - sadly - has a different kind of history. It was only ever originally intended to be a place people went to get away from it all - a sort of summer rental type of place - camping, horseback riding, golf, private lake, beach on the bay. Before the bridge was built, if you drove all the way to Lusby, you were "away from it all".
Consequently, the entire infrastructure of CRE was not intended for school buses and families and heavier traffic and delivery trucks. Most of the roads were gravel, several sites were just empty land - it was just a place to go away for a month. Where I lived - at least a few houses were STILL THAT WAY. People came in the summer - and left the rest of the year.
So - roads were narrow. Not up to "code" since they were technically PRIVATELY OWNED. Over time, they lost the golf club, the swin center and so on. It turned into - a neighborhood.
Eventually, Lusby became the largest concentration of households IN THE COUNTY and the Ranch Club had serious problems with waterway bridges COLLAPSING, roads getting washed out.
They have had - years - to get it right. And they haven't done it.
That is a very dismal summation.
ltown81_2022
Member
To me the difference is-
CRE= West Virgina
Wildewood = Columbia, MD
CRE is kinda ramshackle and very hard to understand. It is also one of the cheapest places to buy a home around St. Mary's and the residents can reflect that at times. The dirt roads suck and are borderline dangerous. They make Calvert have to close schools all the time.
Wildewood is more a planned development and upscale. The only knock I have on Wildewood is originally it was supposed to have a lot of trees. With the older houses, you could have a small lot and there were so many trees you would not see any of your neigbors houses. The development over the last 10 years however has been more strip mining, high density where they cut down a a ton of trees and put in single family homes 10 feet from each other along with town homes and apartments. It is still a great place to live with a lot of amenities.
Long story short, Wildewood is a place you want to live. Ranch Club is generally a place you live because its what you can afford.
If you work in St. Mary's, not dealing with the bridge is enough to make the decision.
CRE= West Virgina
Wildewood = Columbia, MD
CRE is kinda ramshackle and very hard to understand. It is also one of the cheapest places to buy a home around St. Mary's and the residents can reflect that at times. The dirt roads suck and are borderline dangerous. They make Calvert have to close schools all the time.
Wildewood is more a planned development and upscale. The only knock I have on Wildewood is originally it was supposed to have a lot of trees. With the older houses, you could have a small lot and there were so many trees you would not see any of your neigbors houses. The development over the last 10 years however has been more strip mining, high density where they cut down a a ton of trees and put in single family homes 10 feet from each other along with town homes and apartments. It is still a great place to live with a lot of amenities.
Long story short, Wildewood is a place you want to live. Ranch Club is generally a place you live because its what you can afford.
If you work in St. Mary's, not dealing with the bridge is enough to make the decision.
SamSpade
Well-Known Member
That's a good assessment, having lived in Columbia (and CRE). Although the Columbia today is not the one I knew in the 70s and 80s.
Which is actually why my wife was NOT interested and I have come to agree with her. Lots of trees might seem nice, but it also means pretty much no sunlight - no yard, no flowers - and of course, nuisances like leaves, branches and falling trees, among others. There's something to be said for actually being able to let sun in the window.
And that's a fair assessment, although I have known people who HAVE money and still choose to live in CRE. But yes, it's a great place for starter homes.
Which is funny, because when I first moved to CRE, I was commuting to DC. Getting work over the bridge was a goal of mine.