Your Guide To Maryland

before packing your belongings and moving to the old line state it's important to realize there's more to maryland than just awesome crab cakes maryland has a long rich history the first settlers arrived in 1634 and it was the temporary capital of the continental congress the birthplace of the star-spangled banner union and confederate armies fought each other at antietam creek during our nation's single bloodiest day in history the chesapeake bay was important to early trade in america it was a major blockade point for british ships in the revolutionary war these days ports on the bay handle ten thousand sea-going ships a year carrying over two billion pounds of cargo indeed much of what it means to be a marylander revolves around the state's special relationship to water there's more than 50 rivers here and countless streams lakes and ponds but its crown jewel is the chesapeake providing marylanders with a sense of local identity and pride during the warmer seasons the bay is home to work boats catching blue crabs there's jet skiers everywhere and weekend sailors chasing the breeze in the fall skipjack crews dot the bay in pursuit of oysters this group is the last sail powered fishing fleet in the united states the chesapeake bay retriever is a tough dog red for swimming in the bay's icy waters to retrieve waterfowl but the cultural quirkiness doesn't end at the water the state's official sport is jousting from the wild ponies of assateague island to the running of the preakness to the annual hosting of the biggest steeplechases maryland's special love of horses exists at all levels of their society maryland is the country's 42nd largest state but what it lacks in size it more than makes up for on the number of people over 6 million people live here ranking at the 19th and overall population and there are 584 people per square mile which begs the question why do so many people live so tightly packed together the answer is easy it's the economy maryland's economy is the 15th largest in the united states with a gdp of 428 billion dollars at the end of 2019 its unemployment rate was 3.6 maryland's diverse economy is the second highest employer of technical workers in the country more than 37 of the state's 25 and older population have a bachelor's degree but when you lift the hood to look at the shape of this mighty economic engine you'll see that the state's proximity to the nation's capital gives it a huge advantage over other states it has a bigger percentage of federal workers than any of them and it's home to more than 60 federal agencies all u.s defense companies are headquartered or have offices in maryland the u.s military injects 18 billion a year into the economy and non-defense procurement tops 12.3 billion dollars a year supporting more than 200 000 private sector jobs traditionally agriculture and fishing are the roots of maryland's economy but the state is aggressively growing its advanced technology industries more than 2100 biotech firms make maryland the country's fourth highest employer in that sector and being home to the world famous human genome project this rank is richly deserved employing more than 56 000 people biotechnology is expected to create more than 10 000 new jobs over the next few years iit and cyber security are obvious draws to the state the u.s cyber command and the national security agency are both headquartered here maryland has the fifth highest concentration of i.t workers accounting for 80 out of every 1 000 private sector workers aerospace and defense is a thriving industry leading the way in satellite technology research and design the manufacturing of robotics and unmanned aerial vehicles all this tech is driven by the us government's defense needs in the area of biodefense avionics weapons and ordnance testing the sector generates nearly 40 billion dollars a year in economic activity and yet in a world where it seems like everything we buy comes from overseas it's interesting to note that maryland is a hotbed of manufacturing chief and foremost baltimore's famous shipyards feeding them and other industries are more than 4 000 manufacturing companies many of them involved in steel fabrication a third of these are in the baltimore area manufacturing accounts for four percent of the state's workforce and sixty percent of all such jobs are advanced employing cutting edge technology tourism is a large and vigorous part of maryland's economic muscle employing more than 140 000 people and showcasing the beauty and richness of the state there's fishing charters fort mchenry the three-mile boardwalk of ocean city pub crawls in baltimore's inner harbor sailing on the chesapeake fossil hunting at calvert cliff state park horse races 18 scenic byways history and art museums fine arts the brookside gardens the national aquarium the william british planetarium and the salisbury zoo these are but a handful of fun interesting things to do in maryland and they don't even scratch the surface maryland is divided into five distinct regions western capital central southern and eastern shore the panhandle known as the western region is primarily rural mountainous and gorgeous in addition to out-of-state tourists many flock to this area on the weekends to escape the summer heat or to go skiing in the winter with west virginia to the west the potomac river to the south and separated from pennsylvania to the north by the famous mason-dixon line this region is well isolated from the rest of maryland culturally people here are more appalachian in outlook they possess strong family loyalty a deep connection to the land love of god and fierce independence summers here are 10 degrees cooler and winter is harsher median home values here are just over 164 thousand dollars and median income is just below 50 thousand dollars in cumberland and hagerstown crime is somewhat higher than in other parts of maryland the poverty rate for the region as a whole is 13.3 now let's talk about the capital region also called the washington dc metro area it has a population of 2 million 219 874 spread across three counties this region regularly hits the various top 10 places to live lists due to its hot jobs market and the closeness to the nation's capital there are literally tons of things to do here the national cherry blossom festival broadway plays at the kennedy center the national art gallery day hiking in the shenandoah mountains visit over 200 monuments scattered all over dc especially on the national mall catch a double header at nationals park visit the world famous smithsonian 17 museums 13 gardens and of course the national zoo little about the counties montgomery county schools rank number two in the state second only to howard county eight communities in montgomery county were listed in the top ten places to live in maryland by money magazine prince george's county holds some of the richest african-american majority counties in the nation in fact five neighborhoods fort washington friendly kettering mitchellville and woodmore are the top 10 wealthiest black communities in the country frederick county located in northern maryland borders pennsylvania west virginia and virginia just across the potomac river it's home to catoctin mountain park where you'll find the presidential retreat camp david the county still has significant farmland and is the state's largest dairy producer generating one-third of the state's milk production as for jobs well as already stated the federal government is a massive employer in maryland and in this area in particular here's a list of the top employers in the capital region kind of amazing wouldn't you say but all this prosperity comes at a cost to live a quote modest yet adequate standard of living residents with a family of four need an annual salary of more than 123 975 dollars this according to the economic policy institute here's a quick look at the cost of living for these three counties as compared to the national average pretty expensive but the drawbacks don't end there the capital region has the second worst traffic in the nation only new york cities is worse a typical one-way commute takes an average of 36 minutes on a good day that said there are other commuting options besides your car the train the subway buses and ride sharing many employers subsidize most if not all the cost of public transportation options another thing to consider when moving to this part of maryland is what i call the dc mindset in this job-centric place you won't necessarily get to know your neighbors as in at all even if you try everyone's from somewhere else or going somewhere else and they're doing it as fast as possible unless they belong to a church people tend to make friends through their jobs the intense nature of employment here makes happy hours a big part of the culture when you do make friends visiting and doing things together can be a chore given the terrible traffic and urban sprawl meetup groups are a mixed bag they're often just happy hours with people you don't work with i'll wrap up the capital region with a quick bit about home values the average median home value here is 374 967 montgomery county homes are the highest coming in at just under five hundred thousand dollars and if you decide to rent well a one bedroom apartment in this region goes for roughly fifteen hundred dollars a month central maryland has a population of two million seven hundred and ten thousand four hundred eighty nine anchored by baltimore maryland's largest city this region offers waterfront villages and mill towns beautiful farmlands the rolling hills of horse country professional sports teams the waters and the beaches of the chesapeake bay and annapolis the oldest state capitol in the nation though the dc metropolitan area is certainly rich the crown of all maryland's jewels is howard county ranked the third wealthiest county in the country howard also has the state's best school district niche.com ordered the district an a-plus it's the only a-plus it gave in all the state's 25 school districts the county has a student-to-teacher ratio of 13 to 1. 59 of the students are proficient in math and 55 in reading six cities in central maryland made the list of the 20 best places to live i'll mention just three of them annapolis is a really cool place if you enjoy history sailing and a cosmopolitan flair an hour west of washington dc and an hour south of baltimore this maritime city has a bustling downtown with loads of restaurants and shops its gorgeous waterfront is peppered with marinas sailboats yachts and great waterside pubs over 350 years old it actually served as america's temporary capital from 1783 to 1874. downtown annapolis is a living museum here you'll find lovingly preserved 18th and 19th century buildings and over five blocks of cobblestone streets next up is mount airy ranked 11th in the state and one of the smallest towns on the list it's an hour north of dc and 40 miles west of baltimore residents who live here love it its location gives them that small town feel while still having easy access to the urban areas that they needed you'll find historic buildings in the town and beautiful farmland outside of it now area is big on creating an environment where residents can stay active it has 10 parks where you can go for a stroll train for a 5k catch some fish and place some leisurely tennis and of course you can meet up with friends at one of the many restaurants and pubs the school district is very good and received an overall grade of a 60 of the students are at least proficient in math and 52 in reading well above the state's average the mount airy crime rate is 63 percent lower than the u.s average your chance of being a victim is one in 107 not only that but the year-over-year crime rate has dropped more than 55 while mount airy is a small town its cost of living is pretty steep the median home value is 361 dollars while i'm eating household income is a hundred and twelve thousand nine hundred fifty five dollars this makes it thirty five percent more expensive to live in mount airy than the national average to live in mount area means you need to commute for a good salary the average one-way commute time is nearly 41 minutes money magazine loves ellicott city it's repeatedly listed in their top 10 places to live in the united states you'll find great restaurants on main street charming taverns and delicious craft ales at the local brewery ellicott city is close to annapolis baltimore and dc so residents have a lot of options when it comes to where they can go for work and play residents typically commute 30 minutes each way when going to work the median household income is 124.59 one of the highest in the state and that high income is needed ellicott city's median home value is 522 700 and the median rental is around sixteen hundred dollars a month we leave the central region and head to southern maryland here we find the southernmost counties on the western shore of the chesapeake bay nearly three-fourths of the area is still rural and home to the amish and mennonite communities it's an ideal place if you love nature fishing beaches kayaking pristine waterways wineries crab cakes and oysters cozy cottages and a more traditional lifestyle people are starting to move to southern maryland from metro areas in search of a quieter lifestyle and a lower cost of living two small towns experiencing this exodus also made various best places to live lists la plata is a mainly white-collar residential area many residents commute to nearby washington dc or baltimore for work as a result the town is experiencing an economic boom the median household income is ninety two thousand seven hundred and thirty eight dollars and the median property value is three hundred thirty six thousand seven hundred dollars the typical commute time is 31 minutes chesapeake beach is a small town with a young population it's friendly expensive and loaded with marinas charter fishing restaurants and bars there's also a water park and a resort spa hotel the city is listed on the national register of historic places the median income is 102 679 dollars and the median property value is 313 600 finally we come to the eastern shore of maryland lying in the atlantic coastal plain this region is made up of nine counties seven of which have chesapeake bay coastlines only one of the nine counties worcester borders the atlantic ocean largely rural the eastern shore has three primary industries fishing along the coasts farming which includes large-scale chicken farms and tourism which tends to be centered around the atlantic coast resort of ocean city the area is loaded with historic and natural landmarks on bike trails or quiet country roads if you hate quiet country roads you can explore many of the rivers creeks inlets and bays by boat the fresh fish crabs and oysters found here are something residents and visitors look forward to all year probably the coolest thing you'll find are the famed wild ponies of assateague which wander freely on the beaches of assateague island national seashore lovely as all this is it should be noted that none of the cities and towns on the eastern shore made the list of best places to live in maryland the eastern shore like the western region has a lot of poverty and some of the large towns here are ridden by crime i hope you learned something about maryland that will help you in your planning with luck you can make an informed decision when you go to buy rent or simply come visiting if you enjoyed the video please hit like subscribe and share with your friends and until next time i'll see you bye for now

Channel: Start Packing

Views: 20,427

Keywords: moving to maryland, best places to live in maryland, where to move in maryland, where to visit in maryland, baltimore, Annapolis, great places in maryland, maryland living, where to live near D.C., moving near D.C., what is maryland like, what's it like to live in maryland, maryland moving, maryland life, maryland cities, going to maryland, all about maryland, top reasons to live in maryland, dc lifestyle, maryland facts, maryland guide, maryland overview

Id: 6z8tLrltFrE

Length: 15min 28sec (928 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 16 2020