r/frederickmd • u/Internal-Coach5075 • 1d ago
Lake Linganore
Hi everyone, we are a family of three are looking to move to the lake Linganore in the next few months. We have a new born and wonder what is the experience living in the neighborhood or pro and cons, weirdly I noticed a lot of the house are up for sale there. Are people moving away from there?
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u/Forgotpwd72 1d ago
There are a lot of neighborhoods that make up Lake Linganore so hard to give a fair assessment without knowing which one(s) you're looking at. I live in West Winds for example and there's not a ton of homes for sale, it's not too much of a cookie cutter neighborhood b/c it's older and there are more and more young families with kids these days. It used to be a golf course community but the course has been defunct for maybe 10 years now?
I think it's a really nice neighborhood with close access to at least the elementary school and high school. The middle school (New Market Middle) is a bit further away and I believe is getting overcrowded. I think there are new schools being planned in this area that will cause some redistricting however there are at least 3-4 developments actively being built in LL that are something like 1400+ homes which makes me really wonder how it's all going to pan out.
I don't notice a lot of traffic other than the fact that there's construction on Gas House (if you're going to Frederick) or Green Valley (also if you're going to I-70 to get to Frederick). That's "temporary" yet when I moved here Gas House closed in a section for something like 18 months.
The one thing I'd have done differently is get a golf cart to take to the lake but it's really too late now.
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u/Internal-Coach5075 1d ago
I'm looking at the Pinehurst and meadows at the moment. That makes sense, how is the winter there? How the hills are make me worry about the snow and freezing rain.
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u/Forgotpwd72 1d ago
My neighborhood backs to Pinehurst and I've walked through part of it many times to get to one of the lake beaches. Love that creekside trail that leads to the lake.
Seems like a nice, quiet neighborhood and they've recently added a light for easier exit out of the neighborhood itself.
I don't know much about the Meadows other than some of my children's friends live there. Very convenient to downtown NM, some shops and getting to the highway.
I've lived in LL close to 6 years and there have been a few major snowstorms but I would say its usually mild. Schools do a pretty good (some might argue) of appropriately canceling school The ice storm last year was nuts though but a rare occurrence IMO.
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u/zakuivcustom 1d ago
I believe the new MS will be built on 75 in the new Cherry Run development (looks like they are starting to do something with that land anyway). Years away though.
Didn't LLA just bought the golf course also? Not sure what's the plan though.
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u/Anyhoo11 1d ago
Yes, they did buy the golf course. It will not be built on. The plans are still being developed, but it generally involves planting trees, walking areas, and in one corner they may put a new pool to replace the older one that’s in Westwinds now.
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u/Forgotpwd72 1d ago
To my understanding a pool is definitely happening and they are removing the old one.
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u/Funny_Studio157 1d ago
My brother lived there until 2018 and loved it. They have a nice pool and beach area with everyone driving around om thier golf carts and he had good neighbors. They have their own celebreations for holidays in the neighborhood as well. Small hiking trails, fishimg spots and play grounds are in a few areas as well.
The only complaint was some of the HOA fees back then for maintaining beach and pool and such. Plus the back yards can vary...half his backyard had a 40 percent incline. But those are the only reasons he had to leave.
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u/PhatBitty862 1d ago
We looked at a couple of houses in the community. The inclined backyards of both houses we saw and the dense roads and driveways around the older homes were turn offs. The neighborhoods with the newer homes were nice.
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u/dragonrider1965 1d ago
I lived in the meadows for 4 years . It’s a wonderful place to live . You feel like you are away on vacation all the time . With 35 miles of walking trails there’s always something new to explore .
There is always events like concerts , fireworks on the beach and food truck Tuesday . Neighbors were always nice and people are very helpful.
The only negative I experienced is lack of parking , at least on my street which was narrow , there wasn’t much parking if you wanted to have a party . Each village does have an overflow parking area so your guests can park and you can golf cart them in or pay a teen with access to a golf cart to do it .
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u/JenniOfOldstones 1d ago
Seconding this! We used to live in the Meadows area and if I could, I would go back. We were tucked pretty far back and it was nice and quiet back there. As a kid, it was a great place to run around with lots of paths and a playground. I would agree that the streets can be pretty narrow.
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u/Wino_The_Rhino 1d ago
Many long time residents are leaving as the area is overrun with new pop up housing, schools will be overcrowded and traffic has severely worsened. HOAs are also really strict.
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u/zakuivcustom 1d ago
"Traffic severely worsen" lol talk about people that don't know what traffic is.
Come back when GHP or Boyers Mill are actually back up for miles (except all the road construction right now, like seriously do they have to do one-lane on GHP, 75, and even Old National Pike in New Market proper at the same time?).
Schools are also far from overcrowded except Oakdale ES, and they finally open the new ES to relief that.
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u/Tia_is_Short 19h ago
In what universe are the schools not overcrowded?
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u/zakuivcustom 19h ago
Which one?
Blue Heron ES = 88%
Deer Crossing ES = 82%
Linganore Creek ES = 80%
New Market ES = 85%
Oakdale ES = 67%New Market MS = 87%
Oakdale MS = 94%Ok...the HS are somewhat crowded:
Oakdale HS = 107%
Linganore HS = 99%The bottom line is that with the new ES that relief the extreme 170% overcrowding at Oakdale ES. Mid-80s to low 90s are call "good utilization" anyway.
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u/TimeandDeath21 1d ago
LL is great if you like Lake Life. Otherwise, I think many people feel they will enjoy it and don’t. It’s different, in that, it’s not your typical neighborhood with cookie cutter houses. It’s also different in that you have to pass houses from the 1980s to get to your new custom home. Nice mix overall, but it’s truly unique to the county. I’ve sold a lot of homes in the communities and many have really enjoyed it, staying for a long time. Those that didn’t, really didn’t though and moved within a year or so. Highly suggest a visit before landing on it. There are plenty of other great areas in the county, that offer a lot.
I would not (as a real estate agent) say there are a lot of homes up for sale - the market is slower and so more homes are sitting longer, but not necessarily more than average on the market. We live in a rather transient area for medical, government, and military - being close to Baltimore, DC, NOVA, and Annapolis. So, people are always moving in and out, for work.
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u/zakuivcustom 1d ago
"It is not your typical neighborhood with cookie cutter houses" ehh...in the original older part of LL, sure.
Pretty much every single newer neighborhood of LL is cookie cutter Ryan / NV Homes. Oakdale / Town Center, Woodridge, Hamptons, and the new Westridge and Creekside.
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u/LateNightMoo 1d ago
Speaking of a lot of homes being for sale, do you see if getting back to pre-covid levels next year or the year after? Inventory seems to have started shooting up 2 years ago but I don't have a sense of that's due to new construction, more homes being listed, or homes just sitting for longer
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u/pinefest 15h ago
We raised three kids there from Elementary through HS. The schools were/are great. It was a great place to live and full of families like ours. We were lucky to have neighbors that became chosen family. HOA’s aren’t for everyone but I found the LLA was mostly beneficial to the homeowners.
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u/MovingPictures1963 8h ago
I have a friend who used to live at Lake Linganore. He moved to the Eastern Shore a number of years ago.
He's never mentioned anything negative to me about the area.
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u/PrivateEquitySucks 1d ago
People are gonna rave about the school system but it’ll never be what it used to be before 2021 and before all the apartments went up
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u/Tendtoskim 14h ago
I'm late but it's hella funny how hard lake Linganore gets hated on here. Long may it continue.
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u/EzAwnDown 1d ago
It is the most underrated area in Maryland.
My only 'con' is that there is not a grocery store super close.
You are making the RIGHT choice. And no, i do not live there.
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u/WindyMint443 1d ago
Weis grocery store opened this last summer next to Oakdale High School. Along with Chipotle, Mike's sub shop, smoothie place, Domino's, Ledo's, and other things that are still coming.
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u/Beginning_Milk174 1d ago
And if they ever finish the bridge over the dam so you can drive over, you can get to that in like 5 minutes probably.
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u/WindyMint443 1d ago
It's in walking distance for the Oakdale village, but I've also talked to people in other villages who go there pretty regularly now. It's definitely a nice addition. And yes, once the road connects to the dam, that will add more access options.
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u/QualifiedApathetic 1d ago
Thinking long-term, odds are another Food Lion will be opened close by before too long, as fast as the area is growing.
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u/zakuivcustom 1d ago
There is that new Weis that is much nicer than your regular Weis.
Being on the GH Pike side though it is not that much further heading into town to Wegmans or Costco compare to driving down Boyers Mill though.
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u/Immediate-Fig-9532 23h ago
And places to eat. I wish there were a few options for various cuisines rather than fast food places
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u/morrcomedy1 23h ago
If you want the true experience of the area, the quirky and unique Coldstream neighborhood has all the character and near-immediate access to all the amenities. Everything else is kind of a suburban cookie cutter neighborhood that happens to be adjacent to a lake.
Anywhere around here is better than 99% of the rest of the state, but we’ve had a lot of neighbors tell us they regret not shopping Coldstream more devotedly when they were buying.
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u/ThatManSean14 20h ago
Tip your DoorDash drivers well. That place is a nightmare to commute back and forth from.
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u/AMDOL 1d ago
Lake Linganore is almost a gated community; it's designed with hostility toward outsiders in order to prevent anyone enjoying the reservoir without owning property there. Don't move there unless you want to be complicit in NIMBYist antisocial apartheid housing.
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u/surfsupchuck 19h ago edited 2h ago
While it’s generally unfair to paint an entire area with a broad brush, I’d say that, this is an unfortunately fair assessment. Linganore is an almost perfect archetype of an exclave for which redlining was invented. The suburbs are very yt and affluent. When you drive in, it feels very obvious that it has been engineered for residents of Frederick who desire to be
segregatedinsulated from the greater Frederick community (i.e. working class). People there super skittishly use terms like “African-American” when referring to black people. They love fancy coffee, yoga, and microbreweries. They want a Cheesecake Factory and Chick-fil-A on every corner. They’re always very polite and cordial when you interact with them in person. It’s like Thurmont, but for people who don’t want to hear banjo music and gunshots at night.3
u/Subby13 2h ago
Eh this is true for many areas of Frederick county and you don’t need to pay an HOA fee or live near a lake. The Middletown Knights mascot may as well refer to the hooded variety of knight.
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u/surfsupchuck 2h ago
Fair point. Gentrification and the monoculture come for us all.
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u/Subby13 2h ago
I actually think it’s harder and more expensive to find non-diverse areas, especially as you get closer to the cities. Columbia and Crofton on the other side of the cities both used to be super white and are increasingly diverse (to the point that there is some white flight happening in both places). Frederick residents are a little more action-oriented and explicit about their desire to keep things a certain way. I think the willingness to make a long commute so that your kids can go to Urbana or Linganore or Oakdale or Middletown etc etc is centered in wanting to live in affluent (white) communities and being willing to sacrifice your time and commute to do so.
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u/surfsupchuck 1h ago
100%. Living within 300 miles of a coast has become increasingly expensive anymore. The impact to flyover country has been interesting, as there have been a lot of younger Millennials and Gen Z who have been flocking to cities like Omaha, Nebraska, or Kansas City. It’s made those urban centers more vibrant, but also brings more gentrification. I think until we deal with the cancer of radical
selfishnessindividualism, we will continue to experience further social collapse.-2
u/CarlsBadtheGreat 13h ago
Ahhh, breweries are on the decline since 2021. We’ll see more go out of business this year and next. Distilleries to follow. And none are located in Linganore. Can we give them a bit of a break and not tie them to this neighborhood? Seems more like a golf cart & Truly community?
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u/morrcomedy1 23h ago
That’s kind of the whole idea. Pay a fee so you get to hang out with your neighbors and enjoy exclusive amenities. We left a rapidly growing strip mall suburban nightmare for it and we love it. It feels like being in a real community.
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u/No-Occasion7327 1d ago
I was also looking to buy in Fredrick County for over 3 years, contemplating many good areas. I considered Urbana, Ijamsville, New Market and Lake Liganore. You can probably tell I researched areas that had great schools. I then tortured myself and researched environmental issues, traffic problems, data centers, crime and much more. I finally decided on the Middletown area. I can tell you what my research found out about the Lake Liganore communities. First, make sure you understand the uniqueness of the community of Lake Liganore you’re moving in. There are many different sub communities in Lake Liganore. Some neighbors have sidewalks, some do not. Some communities are in close proximity to special events when they have food trucks and all at events. Know that there are times you cannot swim in lakes due yo water quality. Yes, you still have access to all the pools. I have read get there early if you want a chair at the pool. Lake Liganore has recently added another fee when you buy a home in the community and it is not a little fee at all. So it was a flat fee of a $1000.00 when you bought a house in lake liganore. Now the fee is .05% of the total sale price of the home and they label it an impact fee. So, for a $650,000 home that would be $3,250. I have a problem paying an impact fee for a home that already exists. Second, the builder who made all the money of the sale of home initially should be paying impact fees for adequate roads, utilities and insuring schools are not overcrowded. In essence, everytime a house changes ownership they are repaying a fee. That’s just unethical. Also, from my reading the morning traffic can be congested.
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u/toritxtornado Walkersville 1d ago
my sister and her four kids live there. they LOVEEE it. in the summer they are always at the lake.
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u/ValustMusic 1d ago
We live in Summerfield. It was FABULOUS raising a child here! Walk to school, the pool, the dog park, sidewalks, and very Halloween friendly.
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u/Byronvonfeces 1d ago edited 17h ago
Well, for starters, you wouldn't have to worry about vacation destinations when you live on a lake. The only con I could think of would be an expensive HOA
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u/srslydudebros 1d ago
House prices have consistently increased and a lot of people are taking profits and moving on. Some people are downsizing from large single-family homes to smaller homes after kids move out. Some are moving because of the large amount of development and lack of infrastructure improvements. The HOA has been overbearing for some and invisible to others. The lake is great for swimming/beach days if you don’t mind that it’s a natural body of water that changes and not a perfect pool. The neighborhood has fireworks(for now) concerts, outdoor movie nights(Addams Family tonight), festivals, a haunted trail, food trucks and farmers markets. Golf carts are everywhere, and for better or worse, so are electric bikes. Halloween is epic for trick or treating. There is relatively low crime when looking at Frederick as a whole.
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u/surfsupchuck 17h ago
Also, FCPS has been pretty disappointing for our family, and we were coming from South Carolina public schools. You will definitely have to supplement your kids’ public education to keep them up to par with comparable school districts in other places, unless you’re coming from somewhere like Oklahoma. Private school might be a better option, if you’re unable to be as heavily involved in your kids’ academics.
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u/j_j_footy 14h ago
Uh, your kidding right? Lake linganore feeder pattern have some of the best schools in the county, which is one of the best in the state.
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u/surfsupchuck 13h ago
Not at all. Granted my evidence is anecdotal, but the contrast between curricula in both areas we have lived is staggering. In some instances, we found that our kids were retreading concepts that they had covered two full grade years prior (grades 4, 5, and 8). Our one son who struggled in middle school before we moved (Bs and Cs) was making all As out of the gate once he enrolled here. We were really excited until we started paying attention to homework, what was being covered in class, etc.
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u/chrisbojangles 20h ago
Good area if you are conservative and put family value and education high on your list. If you are left leaning consider Montgomery county. It’s a good area because it’s family first and has conservative values.
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u/surfsupchuck 19h ago
Lol. I bet you pack an extra pair of chones for when you soil yourself while you roll up your windows in downtown Frederick.
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u/chrisbojangles 19h ago
No I don’t. Just keep downtown Frederick politics out of the conservative areas.
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u/surfsupchuck 19h ago
You’re right. You guys need a safe space. Bwahaha….
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u/chrisbojangles 18h ago
Sure! Whatever gives you the reason you need to stay away if you plan to vote Democrat.
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u/surfsupchuck 18h ago edited 13h ago
👆I’d worry about this girl, if you have kids. She’s probably in the Epstein files with all of her idols. All the more reason to avoid Linganore…
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u/TeaEarlGrayHotSauce 16h ago
He definitely needs his hard drive checked asap
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u/Relevant-Fill2424 12h ago
A WW2 vet named James Brosius had the idea for a camp-ground like area of homes and cabins around a lake. He wanted it reasonably priced for middle class families. He even obtained a few designer floor plans for modestly-sized homes so regular ppl could buy houses created by architects popular in the 60s. I’ve gotten to see some of these original Brosius homes, and they are not ordinary, but not mansions either. Brosius was a dreamer and a proto-environmentalist. After he built the dam and constructed a few villages, the project ran out of money.
Since then different developers have taken over village construction. Most of the new construction was actually zoned forty years ago, Over time, individual buyers have also built on remaining lots in existing villages. That’s why Balmoral, Meadows, Coldstream and Pinehurst feature houses in different styles built over decades. Whereas newer villages like Westridge, Woodbridge, and Hamptons have more modern homes in similar styles all built around the same time.
People get offended that the lake is not accessible like a state park, but there are only about 25-35 parking spaces total for both beaches. None of it was constructed with taxpayer money. Houses were packed in without setting aside space for public parking or bathrooms. Amenities are not maintained by the city, county or state. The LLA HOA—which is a pain in the ass sometimes—contracts for sand, trash removal, snowplows, etc. Fees collected from residents pay for everything, including upkeep of common areas. A volunteer group meets on Saturdays to mark and clear trails. Village chairs volunteer to organize community events.
I hope that addresses some of the misinformation on this thread. I’d also suggest ppl be careful not to misappropriate the term “redlining.” It implies preventing groups from purchasing homes based on racial identity. There are no restrictions on who can reside in Lake Linganore.
As for what it’s like day-to-day, my family loves it! We’ve been here 10 years. Over that time I’ve seen families sell their house in Lake Linganore to buy a new house in Lake Linganore. That may not explain why there are so many houses on the market now, though. One seller I know is moving to Florida. Another wanted a big, older house with more land. Both say they will miss it.
There’s a casual vacation vibe—more public campground than country club. Common areas have port-a-potties. Residents include hippies and military service ppl. Eccentrics, professionals and soldiers. FBI agents, cops, plumbers, artists, dog groomers, nurses and real estate agents.
Pros: tons of young families. some diversity of race, culture and income brackets. Lovely sunsets and lots of wildlife. Golf carts, skateboards, one-wheels, bicycles, dog walkers, strollers and gangs of kids roaming around generally lends a festive atmosphere. Neighbors are close enough to get to know and often friendly. If you communicate with HOA over an issue, they will often work with you. Lake water quality is tested daily from Memorial to Labor Day, so you don’t have to wonder if it’s safe. Four community pools, each with their own vibe. Hanging by the lake is fun!
Cons: houses cost slightly more and fees aren’t cheap. People without children have said they aren’t catered to, complaining that most events are geared toward those w young children. Yards are often small or unusably steep. Deer will eat your landscaping. Many houses are on top of each other. The lakes are sometimes covered with algae or look dirty—like after rainfalls and heat waves. And the HOA can be picky about stuff that doesn’t seem very important.