SperlingViews - Bowie, Maryland

COST TO MUCH TO LIVE HERE...[read more...]

In Bowie,living so close to DC and Baltimore is awesome! The shops here are great (Bowie Towne Centre). Been living here for 7 years so far and I love it.[read more...]

Ive have been living in bowie sence i was in 6th grade. Im now an 11th grade in bowie high. I have noticed a change threw the years that i have lived here. I got to a school named Bowie High School which is full of gang violence,drugs,grafiti, and the school is falling apart and has alot of distruction to the building. In the areas and sections that i have been around, i have seen drug deals and cars being stolen. In the day the city looks ok but when the sun goes down, its a terrible place to be and it make you want to stay inside. I know mostly all of the people who cause crime and i have to say the things i have herd are terrible. The black community has grown rapidly but thats not what causes the crime its all racisis.[read more...]

I have lived in Bowie since 1967 and it has really changed. It is located only 15-20 min outside Baltimore and Washington DC. As these cities have grown, the city crime has spread to the outside cities. Bowie was not spared. It's crime too has increased. The face of Bowie has also changed. It is currently a multi cultured community and somewhat transit. It is not the Bowie my parents knew....perhaps time to move on for me.[read more...]

Living in Bowie, espically the 20715 zip area, is great. Very central location to everywhere...Annapolis, Baltimore, DC, Andrews AFB, and Ft. Meade. Twenty plus years ago Bowie was a bedroom community. Now it is a city in its own right. Has everything you need without leaving the city, along with the hometown feel.[read more...]

Maryland legislature passed a sales tax increase taking effect this year. It is up from 5% to 6%.[read more...]

I am distraught that you would rate Bowie with a number 8. truly this is offensive to the 55,000 residents of this city. We are the fourth largest city in Maryland and we deserve better. That number puts us up there with truly dangerous places such as parts of Washington DC or Baltimore which are poverty stricken, unemployed, apartment filled drug infested areas. That couldn't be further from the truth. It is primarily a comfortable and safe city with dozens of neighborhoods.Apartment complexes re few and far between and quite posh and expensive. We have an incredible housing stock reaching into the high 900,000's. Currently our foreclosure rate is relatively low as compared to other suburban areas such as those in Virginia (Manassass, Woodbridge etc.). We have every house of worship possible, fabulous shopping, restaurant choices, a University, a carefully run, fiscally responsible city government. We have our own newspaper! We have a police force, our own trash collection and recycling services, and a host of great elementary schools and a well respected high school. I have lived in the city of Bowie since 1993. We have a number of incidents of theft from cars usually along populated thoroughfares or in shopping cneters parking lots. There was one murder in 2007 but fatalities from car accidents occur more often. There are so many large stores there is shoplifting, but stores have theft abaitment programs in place. Frequently these folks are apprehended. We have a bunch of banks, too many, so thieves have been coming here to rob banks a few times. Yes, it is not all rosy here, even though personally I have never seen or had happen in my neighborhood any crime. Of the three zip codes: 20716,20715, 20720 we have some 55,000 people. 20716 may have lost a few people but the plethora of new housing developments (incorporated into Bowie) offers luxury and elegance attracting people away from this zip code into another.But now that the housing market has been hit so hard from the bankruptcy of mortgage companies and the ill effects of the sub prime lending the mansions are still going up but at a much lower pace. Houses sit on the market for months and buyers have diminished to hundreds from thousands only a year to a year and a half ago.[read more...]

Expensive.[read more...]

I have lived in Bowie for many years and it is a great place to live and raise a family. It is the best place to be in the county and is more affordable than Montgomery County. You can get more house for your money. In addition, it is a short commute to Annapolis, D.C. and Baltimore. It is close to the Metro and Marc trains. They have the best schools in the county and plenty of recreational facilities and shopping, restaurants, etc. It is also very diverse and I like the fact that my children are exposed to many different cultures. However it seems to be becoming a more affluent area of movers and shakers as well as a home to those of us who have lived here for years. I love Bowie and would highly recommend it as a nice place to live.[read more...]

Bowie is an excellent place to live and raise a family. The schools are good comparatively, the recreational activities, parks, etc. are great. It is close to transportation and it is a short commute to D.C., Baltimore, and Annapolis. I have lived in Bowie for many years and it has really developed but has maintained that Old Town feel as well. The people are friendly and it is a desirable place to live. The only thing is that it is getting a little more crowded because people want to live here.[read more...]

Bowie offers a variety of housing. Whether your're seeking an apartment, condo, townhouse, or a single family home, Bowie has it all. Close to the metropolitan areas of Washington, DC & Baltimore, MD. By living in Bowie, MD, you have access to a modern urban lifestyle, while living just outside of the hustle & bustle of it all.[read more...]

With the population growth and being close to DC we have had an upsurge in crime. My brother-in-law is a county police officer and he told me to act as if I were in New York City at night. In other words be on guard all the time. Very sad we have to live like this. It has caused many of our friends to move farther south in MD. Their is one more thing I must mention~ The black community has increased considerably. I have been here most of my life and this change was weird for me b/c I wasn't sure how they were going to act toward me a caucasion. This is what I have observed over the past 8 years. 30% of the black community are friendly and could care less what color I am. I LOVE IT! However, The other 70% are RUDE, ARROGANT, OBNOXIOUS, and downright mean. It especially comes through their children. If you start up a conversation in a store line they won't let down this wall they've built up, But I will NOT STOP being nice. I have experienced their predjudice toward the white community in the grocery store, the department stores, driving, the bank, restaurants and especially in the Towne Center (shopping center here in Bowie). I feel like an American Indian being forced out of my city because the white man has moved in and hates the red man!! My conclusion is: IF YOU WANT TO "GET ALONG" YOU WILL, If you don't want to; you won't! I wish that 70% wanted to, it would be THE BEST CITY in Maryland, and I would stay.[read more...]

We are looking to move by October 2006, due to the rise in crime.[read more...]