Advice requested - Frederick/Hagerstown, MD area

There is a chance I'll receive an offer for a job in Hagerstown. I just want to get some opinions from the locals about Frederick and the surrounding areas. Offer or no, I'd like to get as much information ahead of time.

They flew me up last weekend to check out the area. Unfortunately it was raining so I couldn't check out too much. I did driving tours of Hagerstown and Frederick. Not impressed with Hagerstown at all. Frederick was much better but still not outstanding. Again, it was a rainy winter day which makes anything seem dreary.

Some key considerations are:
1. affordable single family housing, within ~45 minute commuting distance to Hagerstown and the Baltimore-Washington areas.
2. commutable to major universities for wife to finish grad school.
3. currently living in Atlanta. I don't want to move to a boring area.

Hagerstown is more of a retirement town. I fooled around with a few ladies from up in that area, its not a bad place. Frederick is alright, but honestly you're not going to be far from say....Baltimore or D.C., or even Annapolis. Rockville is fairly nice, close to Baltimore and Annapolis....very close. I was making the commute from Andrews AFB to Rockville every weekend and it only took me about ~30ish minutes. If you go more east in MD just make sure you stay in the Potomac area, otherwise it can get pretty ghetto. Let me know if you have any more question! I've been here for about 3 years now.

From someone who has lived in Annapolis my entire life...


This dude is ****ing drunk^ Hagerstown is where everyone you would never want to meet. Lives. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DO NOT GO THERE. NEVER GO THERE. Really though, people are outright dreadful, white trash, black trash, all colors of the rainbow trash. Come to Arnold, Annapolis, Rockville, ......Hell even DC is better than Hagerstown.


OP, you have been warned.

Originally Posted by ChrisRedmon

From someone who has lived in Annapolis my entire life...


This dude is ****ing drunk^ Hagerstown is where everyone you would never want to meet. Lives. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DO NOT GO THERE. NEVER GO THERE. Really though, people are outright dreadful, white trash, black trash, all colors of the rainbow trash. Come to Arnold, Annapolis, Rockville, ......Hell even DC is better than Hagerstown.


OP, you have been warned.

The only part I've seen is old people and rich families in Hagerstown. I tend to lean away from white trash\black trash. Sorry you got mixed up in that crowd

Anyways, Yes Rockille and Annapolis are much nicer, but he was asking about Hagerstown and Frederick. I only spent a short time there, maybe 6 weekends out of a year....but really any city you go to has shitty sides to it.

Fredrick isnt to bad.....


But honest, i would rather be in DC or Baltimore than go to Hagerstown for one more day and almost get my M smashed by a 30 year old F-150 with a wheel missing.

Originally Posted by ChrisRedmon

Fredrick isnt to bad.....


But honest, i would rather be in DC or Baltimore than go to Hagerstown for one more day and almost get my M smashed by a 30 year old F-150 with a wheel missing.

Yea...I also never drove mine there. But driving it around in Clinton with the local populous doesnt give the best feeling of security either

OP you will do what you need to do. Just keep your BMW parked and get a honda. If the job is worth the area....Who gives a **** what the people on the interwebz think?

Thanks for the replies. Job would be in Hagerstown, but after driving through there for 5 minutes I decided I would never want to live there. Most likely would live in or around Frederick.

Originally Posted by Eisenheim

Hagerstown is more of a retirement town. I fooled around with a few ladies from up in that area, its not a bad place. Frederick is alright, but honestly you're not going to be far from say....Baltimore or D.C., or even Annapolis. Rockville is fairly nice, close to Baltimore and Annapolis....very close. I was making the commute from Andrews AFB to Rockville every weekend and it only took me about ~30ish minutes. If you go more east in MD just make sure you stay in the Potomac area, otherwise it can get pretty ghetto. Let me know if you have any more question! I've been here for about 3 years now.

Howard County

Advanced question for bonus points - anyone have experience living in BOTH Atlanta and the Frederick area?

Some key considerations are:
1. affordable single family housing, within ~45 minute commuting distance to Hagerstown and the Baltimore-Washington areas.
A - I would pick the Germantown area or just north of it. Don't go rural (Boyds, Poolesville, Bealsville)
2. commutable to major universities for wife to finish grad school.
A - Germantown allows you to commute to U of MD, Gtwn, American U, JHU, and several others.
3. currently living in Atlanta. I don't want to move to a boring area.
A - The Germantown / Gaithersburg / Rockville area is close enought to DC to afford easy commutes, but far enough to give you the suburban feel. The cost variances are dramatic depending on the area / community.

Originally Posted by turbo_f22_pilot

Some key considerations are:
1. affordable single family housing, within ~45 minute commuting distance to Hagerstown and the Baltimore-Washington areas.
A - I would pick the Germantown area or just north of it. Don't go rural (Boyds, Poolesville, Bealsville)
2. commutable to major universities for wife to finish grad school.
A - Germantown allows you to commute to U of MD, Gtwn, American U, JHU, and several others.
3. currently living in Atlanta. I don't want to move to a boring area.
A - The Germantown / Gaithersburg / Rockville area is close enought to DC to afford easy commutes, but far enough to give you the suburban feel. The cost variances are dramatic depending on the area / community.

Thanks for the input. Only problem is, Germantown would be >50 miles to the Hagerstown office.

I lived in Hagerstown for 20 years. That said I would not recommend the move. Alot of trash.

Ended up not getting an offer, so I won't be moving to the Frederick area anytime soon. Thanks for all the advice, though.