Thinking of moving to Waldorf, recomendations?

[slowlane]

Anyone who calls St. Mary's County an "Easy" commute to D.C. during rush-hour is out of their mind. Unless by D.C. they mean "Andrews AFB" or P.G. County. You can click here, to see how long the travel distance is on the MD commuter bus lines. Commuter Bus

A lot of it depends on exactly how far up-town in D.C. you're going to be working. The southeast side of downtown, including Capitol Hill, is MUCH faster to get to from Waldorf, than the far northwest side of downtown (the higher-numbered and higher-letter street names).

Waldorf (Charles County) is kind of "one stop town" that has every possible shopping, dining, sporting, and other services you would want, right there. The schools are rated better in Calvert County and southern Anne Arundel County, but the population density in those areas is much thinner and spread-out, so you are a considerable distance from Malls.

 

[dadswrx]

Agreed. Fortunately for us, the Bowie Town Center and surrounding retail stores have pretty much everything that we would ever need. Plus, its only 15 minutes from my home in North Calvert. We go to Annapolis for shopping on occasion, which is about 30 minutes away. We don't go to Waldorf much anymore because we like Annapolis better. I should have prefaced this by saying that between our work and the kids after school activities, we tend to do most of our shopping on the weekends. If you like to do your (non-grocery) shopping during the week, North Calvert may not be the best place for you.

Waldorf (Charles County) is kind of "one stop town" that has every possible shopping, dining, sporting, and other services you would want, right there. The schools are rated better in Calvert County and southern Anne Arundel County, but the population density in those areas is much thinner and spread-out, so you are a considerable distance from Malls.

 

[vince77]

Agree with much of what has been said here...only question would be for how long you plan to live in Southern Maryland...if it's permanent, you may want to move to Waldorf because whatever people don't like about the demographics or amenities, it will be throughout every county in Southern Maryland in 10 years...and you'll be further away from work

 

[BernieP]

Waldorf = but compared to Baltimore County =

Do your homework on places to live, (crime, schools) if the area gets too bad too fast it will be hard to offload any residence you aquire...

Don't confuse Baltimore County with the City of Baltimore, there are some nice places in the county (just get as far away from the city as possible).

My simple recommnedation would be DON'T
I've worked with several people who lived in Waldorf and all have either moved our or have plans to do so.
I believe a number of posters have offered up the reasons why, trust me on this, the primary reason is not denisty, it's all about safety.

 

[steppinthrax]

Don't confuse Baltimore County with the City of Baltimore, there are some nice places in the county (just get as far away from the city as possible).

My simple recommnedation would be DON'T
I've worked with several people who lived in Waldorf and all have either moved our or have plans to do so.
I believe a number of posters have offered up the reasons why, trust me on this, the primary reason is not denisty, it's all about safety.

Some parts of baltimore county is going to ####. I live in white marsh, I moved there in 2005 (right before the economic bs). Unfortunatley there are apartments around our neigborhood which resulted in many section 8 people moving around our area. We had 3 cars broken into and a lexus stolen on the 23rd of December.

 

[rayek46]

Be sure that most of the people who post here live in St. Mary's County and have a lot of biased opinions against Waldorf. Yet they have no problem coming here to spend money. I have lived here since 2002 and find the community relatively safe and very convenient. You can't beat Waldorf for convenience in Southern MD. There are lots of stores and restaurants and plenty of good neighborhoods as well as bad ones--just like everywhere else. I like that I can go out to eat and shop when I want, as everything is only a 10 minute drive away. As a rule, most of the nice neighborhoods tend to be on the western side of rt 301 off of rt 228. Streamview, Ashford Oaks, Charles Crossing, Berry Hill Manor, Eutaw Forest, Constitution Hills, and North Point are some of the neighborhoods in that part of town. Most of the people who live in those areas are professionals and government workers who commute to DC or AAFB (Waldorf has a large military population). Most areas I would avoid are on the east side of rt 301. These neighborhoods tend to be older and less affluent with the exception of the new and still growing Fairway Village neighborhood. Bannister, Wakefield and Carrington are neighborhoods I know I would avoid if I were house hunting. The major negative to living in Waldorf is the traffic. It can be bad on the weekends with all the out of county folks coming to the St. Charles mall to shop. But overall, I like living here, hopefully you will too. Good luck!

 

[SoMdDude]

Western Waldorf is nice and quiet and we dont have a lot of crime (that I know) over here...look into neighborhoods around the 228/229 area. That would be Berry Road and Bensville Road. People will bash just about every town/city these days, as long as YOU are comfortable where you are, thats all that matters. I hear the new High School over here is really nice, but we do not have kids yet.

P.S. Being very close to 210/Indian Head Highway, the commute to DC and NOVA in the mornings is 100x better and faster, than before the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge got completed! Now its a breeze and there are never any major backups on 210 up near 495 like there used to be! Coming home back down 210 during pm rush hour is another thing though, that still sucks lol

 

[SoMdDude]

I assume you are talking about North Point? I am not saying it is now a bad high school, but put it this way: That and La Plata are the two best high schools in Charles County in my opinion, but I am GLAD AS HELL my children are now out of school.

Yes but like I said, no kids on my end as of yet, by the time we have any, we will be living someplace warm year round I'm sure LOL

 

[Lenny]

I was refered here by City Data. I live in White Marsh, Baltimore county. I got a new job in D.C. I also want to be closer to D.C. since most of my occupations will lie in that area. I remember when I was growing up Waldorf (5yo during the early 90s) was a pretty ruff area. There were a lot of security issues. I also remember a lot of night clubs were there. I got a job in D.C. and a couple of people told me waldorf has became a "bedroom" community. I have a wife and two children. I don't want to expose them to bad schools.

Read your private messages.

 

[Wrkn4livn]

I was refered here by City Data. I live in White Marsh, Baltimore county. I got a new job in D.C. I also want to be closer to D.C. since most of my occupations will lie in that area. I remember when I was growing up Waldorf (5yo during the early 90s) was a pretty ruff area. There were a lot of security issues. I also remember a lot of night clubs were there. I got a job in D.C. and a couple of people told me waldorf has became a "bedroom" community. I have a wife and two children. I don't want to expose them to bad schools.

Don't

 

[dawn]

Believe it or not there are some pretty nice areas in Waldorf. Waldorf extends in some areas all the way towards Gallant Green. It is close enough to shopping, stores, gas etc. but far away from crime, traffic etc.

 

[stormer41]

moved back here in 2003

Calvert or northern St. Mary's would be your best bet. I grew up in the Mechanicsville area and moved away in 93 to Southeastern Pa.
My husband and moved back after 10 yrs, but we moved to Calvert County.
We love it here, our neighborhood is quiet...we have alot of cops on our street and the surrounding streets. Our daughter has excelled in the schools since we've been here. Yeah, there is not much here and the commute sucks. But, the crime is alot lower here then Waldorf.

 

[OldHillcrestGuy]

Too much traffic on the west side of Waldorf (228). The east side of Waldorf outside of St Charles down to the county line in Hughesville, has many smaller developements, along Rt. 5, Woodville Rd, some off of Gallent Green Rd. and the Bryantown area. Prince Frederick Rd down to Benedict, has many smaller devlopements. Carriage Crossing off of Brandywine Rd in Hughesville, has a straight shot right up to 301 and 5.

 

[Dymphna]

That's a very good point. Also, off of Poplar Hill Road (off of Mattawoman-Beantown Road) has some pretty small developments tucked away, and I believe part of that is still considered "Waldorf."

That's the original "Waldorf" St. Charles came later. People don't believe me when I say I grew up on a farm in Waldorf, but they do still exist.

 

[girlygirl87]

I was refered here by City Data. I live in White Marsh, Baltimore county. I got a new job in D.C. I also want to be closer to D.C. since most of my occupations will lie in that area. I remember when I was growing up Waldorf (5yo during the early 90s) was a pretty ruff area. There were a lot of security issues. I also remember a lot of night clubs were there. I got a job in D.C. and a couple of people told me waldorf has became a "bedroom" community. I have a wife and two children. I don't want to expose them to bad schools.

the schools are good! Check out the website.
www.ccboe. com

I live in Charles County and it is not as bad as everyone is making it sound. Its the same crap everywhere you go!! The neighborhoods to stay away from tho are Bannister and Lancaster. You may want to consider La Plata, Newburg, Hughesville and white plains. The further south down 301 the more country it is.

 

[royhobie]

I was refered here by City Data. I live in White Marsh, Baltimore county. I got a new job in D.C. I also want to be closer to D.C. since most of my occupations will lie in that area. I remember when I was growing up Waldorf (5yo during the early 90s) was a pretty ruff area. There were a lot of security issues. I also remember a lot of night clubs were there. I got a job in D.C. and a couple of people told me waldorf has became a "bedroom" community. I have a wife and two children. I don't want to expose them to bad schools.

Either the "northern part" of St. Mary's County, or Anne Arundel County would be okay for your schools. St. Mary's is rated high for schools. Anne Arundel is medium to high. Charles Co. has good schools. I would stay to the "outskirts" away from the "city" of Waldorf if you have to live in Charles Co. Check out the school ahead of time by going by to the school in the area where you may live and talk to the staff in the office. Most school staff in the office should be more than happy to talk to you. If not, then obviously you should stay away from that area. St. Mary's Public Schools is the ONLY public school system with a long established School Safety and Security Committee and a entire Department devoted to this issue. Right now, as in any Maryland school, the primary problem remains bullying. ( ALL ) Maryland schools are not immune to this problem. Just a matter of how much they have it. Good luck.

 

[slowlane]

What's the exact address (or closest intersection) or your worksite in D.C.? The reason I ask, is that a difference of just one mile can make a HUGE difference in your commuting time, during rush-hour. I know this better than anybody, since I commuted into D.C. for 33 years.

Locating in So. Md. might be O.K. if your worksite is toward the South or East side of D.C. such as Capitol Hill, the Navy Yard, or Andrews AFB or Census Bureau. On the other hand, your commute (at least during rush-hour) will be truly punishing, if your worksite is far up around Dupont Circle, Georgetown, or West End. I would not wish that on anybody.

 

[itsbob]

I was refered here by City Data. I live in White Marsh, Baltimore county. I got a new job in D.C. I also want to be closer to D.C. since most of my occupations will lie in that area. I remember when I was growing up Waldorf (5yo during the early 90s) was a pretty ruff area. There were a lot of security issues. I also remember a lot of night clubs were there. I got a job in D.C. and a couple of people told me waldorf has became a "bedroom" community. I have a wife and two children. I don't want to expose them to bad schools.

In the words of Mater what would I tell you? "To not to"!

 

[acommondisaster]

This forum takes pride in bashing Chuck County and Waldorf in particular. Waldorf's no worse than most places. The population has grown very quickly and there are the usual growing pains kind of problems.....but overall, it's not as awful as people here would have you believe. (Nothing wrong with thinking where you live is the best)

Do your homework; which means having a look at the neighborhood, not just the house you're going to be living in. We've got a rental in one of the oldest neighborhoods in St. Charles and there are still a number of original owners there. It's a clean, quiet, diverse neighborhood. People call us inquiring about renting, you can hear the skepticism in their voices when they hear it's in Carrington, but if they take the time to see the place and the neighborhood, we've had no one turn it down. We've had 2 renters ask to buy the house after they rented for a year.

Traffic's the area's biggest downfall, but we just avoided 301 when we lived there (easily done with all the side roads). Wherever you wind up, good luck and enjoy. Be sure to take in a Blue Crabs game this spring - your girls will love it.

 

[steppinthrax]

Yeah I took a quick drive in through 301 and Waldorf, no way in hell.