Quote:
Originally Posted by skeet
Just a dumb question Fabs..why would it be a bad idea for your kids to grow up on a farm?? My wife did as I pretty much did, as well as my kids and my grandkids. Wouldn't hurt them a bit and they won't grow up dumb either. In fact they would probably be so much better for it!! Spend the bucks now and enjoy the country..it won't be there for you and them later..unless you move away from the area you are in..remember when IT was country??
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Thing is, when I was writing that I was thinking about your farm on the Eastern Shore and I also knew I would be getting a response from you about this. Yeah, I am on the fence about it, but leaning toward Howard County's education system since it is one of the better ones in the country, along with Montgomery County. I don't want to start comparing your kids, which I assume are my age, to me and my wife. Then, there is my two brothers, one of which graduated high school with a 1.0 gpa and neither of which got a college degree. Then, there is my two sisters that both did pretty well in high school, got college degrees, and one of which is a CPA. Ultimately, I think kids can get a pretty decent education almost anywhere with some exceptions (e.g., DC, Compton, Harlem), but some places just provide way more opportunities than others. Kind of like "It isn't what you know, but who you know that matters."
All I know is I grew up in Montgomery County and it provided a pretty good education for me. Of course, the school I went to in the 80's now gets a 6 out of 10 on greatschools.com. The majority of schools in the Howard County area get 10's out of 10, and my wife is working in Howard County, so that is where we are headed. I also want to stay close to my parents and brothers in Silver Spring, one sister in Bethesda, and the other sister in annapolis. Granted, we are looking at western Howard County where there is still some open space. Put offers on two places that were just under 6 acres, but we didn't get them. I also have access to a 100 acre farm out there and another 180 acre farm down I-70 in Washington County. Once I get to Howard County I will probably end up getting to know a lot more farm owners.
My law/tax practice is made up of a lot of people that I grew up with in this area. So, moving to the Eastern Shore or western Maryland also kills me there. Plus, I think it will provide one heck of an opportunity for my kids if they want to be attorneys/CPA's. If I am still alive at that point they could just take over my practice. I'll be alright with them becoming brain surgeons too.
Yeah, I agree that what was once country is where I am currently living. Our townhouse was built in 1997 on a place that used to be a dairy farm. Down the road from here, I used to dove and waterfowl hunt in the mid 90s' where it was just cornfields. Now, those cornfields are developments. There was a nice farm right up the road from me with a nice pond on it that got ducks in it. They are now draining the pond and starting to build a road into this huge farm so they can build houses. At least it has taken them 10 years of building in Clarksburg to finally get to that last section of the development. I am really hoping that this down turn really puts a hurting on new home construction and the birth rate, but that is wishful thinking.
Ultimately, there are a lot of factors going into where we move. My wife likes where she works. Most of my clients are between Baltimore and DC, with some exceptions over in Annapolis and in Frederick and Washington Counties. I know this area pretty well. Along with hunting, shooting, and fishing, I like riding my bike and there are ZERO climbs on the Eastern Shore and way too many in western Maryland. I am stuck in Maryland because of my law and CPA license. The list goes on and on.