Today, I'm going to talk to you, guys, about the nine things to know
before moving to Waldorf, Maryland.
Hi, my name is Malcolm Lawson,
I'm a local real estate agent and let's get to it.
Just so you know, you can find the full article I wrote for this video
along with additional resources and links over my website, TheLawsonGroupMD.com.
#1 on the list is traffic.
Waldorf, Maryland is primarily a commuter city, right.
A lot of people live there but they commute into DC or into the DC area.
So, obviously, there's going to be a lot of traffic early in the morning
and kind of late in the evening.
So, anywhere between, I'd say, 6:00 to 9:00 in the morning,
expect a lot of northbound traffic coming out from Route 301.
Anywhere between 4:00 and about 7:00,
you’ll expect to see a lot of backups coming into the city,
coming southbound on 301 and it stinks sometimes, you know,
I fully admit that.
Coming into Waldorf from DC at 4:00 or 5:00 in the evening
is real pain in the neck.
You can expect to sit in a lot of stop and go traffic.
Alright, so, let's switch things up and talk about a positive now.
So, in Waldorf, Maryland, there is plenty of things to do, right.
You can never say there's nothing to do in Waldorf.
If you have kids, I recommend Sky Zone which is an indoor trampoline park
just south of Waldorf.
You have Scary Strokes which is an indoor miniature golf course
with all these black lights and arcade machines.
You have the St. Charles Town Center which is a two-story mall.
It's actually a pretty nice mall to go to.
We actually have two different movie theaters here in Waldorf.
Now, one is technically in Brandywine but it's close enough.
If you're into guns, we have Fred's Outdoors
which has an indoor gun range.
I also recommend Myrtle Grove which is an outdoor gun range.
It's actually an outdoor national park that has a gun range
and that's close enough to Waldorf.
It’s an easy enough drive there.
We also have the Indian Head Rail Trail which is close enough to Waldorf
that was an old railroad track that they paved over
and they turned into a very long, paved running and biking trail.
It's several miles.
If you're going to walking, running, jogging, biking,
that's a perfect place there.
Waldorf also has a lot of bars and restaurants available, right.
Several of them have live bands that play pretty often.
So, there's definitely plenty of things to do
on a weekend here in Waldorf.
You can never say that there's nothing to do.
#3, let's talk about the stores.
So, just like there's plenty of things to do,
there's plenty of shopping to do here in Waldorf.
Waldorf has all the big-box stores that you expect, right.
It's got a Lowe's, Home Depot, Office Depot, Best Buy.
It has all the big brand stores that you want.
We've got that here in Waldorf. We’ve got a Walmart.
And, the nice thing is we have all the big-box stores,
we also have a lot of little stores that are still here in Waldorf.
A lot of specialty stores in Waldorf.
There's plenty of shopping to do.
It's one of the things I like most about Waldorf
is if you need to go buy something,
you can almost always find a store that has that.
#4 is Waldorf is primarily focused around that Route 301.
So, it’s pretty much just one way in and one way out of Waldorf.
Now, if there's a bad traffic jam,
you can kind of cut across the back routes,
take 210 which will take you north through Fort Washington
[and also link to the Beltway] but for the most part,
there's just one way in and then one way out out of Waldorf
and everything revolves around that 301.
So, all the major shops and stores I talked about,
they're all right there on that 301 and as you kind of get further away
against the residential communities outside of 301.
So, this is actually a pretty good thing though
because it makes it very easy to get to any store that you want.
All you have to do is get the 301, once you're on 301,
it's easy enough, it’s quick commute to get to any store that you really need.
#5 is Waldorf has a very large military community.
So, with Andrews Air Force Base being just north of Waldorf
and all the military assignments in DC such as the Bolling Air Force Base,
the Pentagon and the White House,
there's a whole bunch of military assignments in DC
and a lot of those people end up moving to Waldorf
and just kind of put up with that commute on 301 to 495.
So, Waldorf, has a huge military community,
a huge military presence here.
Many people actually move here when they're in the military,
that get out of military and then they stay here.
Alright, so, #6 is that Waldorf is close to the country.
So, Waldorf has all the amenities that you expect with the big city
but we are literally just a 10-minute drive
and you’re out in the country.
So, if you like just get away from it all sometimes
and go explore national parks and go to farmers’ markets
and go antique shopping, all of that stuff you can do.
It's just a 10-minute drive out of Waldorf
and you're out in the country which is pretty cool.
One of my favorite things to do is go to the Hughesville Barn
which is just south of Waldorf a bit.
It's an old tobacco barn that they've converted into
kind of like a flea market where people run out little booths
and they sell a lot of antiques and knickknacks and everything.
So, if you're into antique shopping and exploring national parks,
Waldorf is a great location for you.
Alright, #7, Waldorf is going through a bit of a cultural shift currently.
Waldorf is originally established in the 1800s
and it was primarily like a farmers’ market
for all the farmers to gather around.
Then, in the 1950s, it went through a cultural shift
and they legalized gambling in Charles County
and Waldorf was actually known
as Maryland's little Vegas.
It had a bunch of casinos in here, a bunch of gambling.
They eventually outlawed gambling again and we still have the remnants
of a lot of that culture still here in Waldorf.
A lot of these old buildings from the 50s and 60s
and they're slowly tearing these old buildings down
and replacing them with new shopping centers and new homes.
Just recently, they tore down the old Waldorf Hotel
and that was a kind of an iconic casino here in the 1950s and 60s.
Men had turned it into a bit of an eyesore,
it's probably a good thing that they tore it down
but that's pretty common here.
They're tearing down a lot of these older buildings
and replacing them, kind of revitalizing this area
which I think is a good thing.
#8, let's talk about school zones.
For disclosure, I don't have any school-aged kids right now,
so everything I know about the school zones
is based on what I read on the Internet.
But, if you do some research in the school zones here,
you'll see a lot of 5 out of 10, 6 out of 10, 7 out of 10.
School zones are a top priority for you,
I would encourage you to do your research
and have a look at the individual schools
and individual school zones that you'd be in
and you can see what the ratings are online for those.
Hey, before we get to #9, I just want to remind you, guys,
that I write articles for all my videos as well.
So, if you want to see the full article
on 9 Things to Know Before Moving to Waldorf
with additional links and resources, go over to my website,
TheLawsonGroupMD.com to find that.
So, #9, let's talk about restaurants.
Just like there's plenty of things to do in Waldorf,
there's plenty of shopping to do in Waldorf,
there's plenty of restaurants in Waldorf
which is awesome!
I would say you could probably go to a new restaurant
every single weekend for a good 6 months
before you ran out of restaurants to try.
in the Waldorf area. There are just that many
good places to eat here.
Some of my favorite places to eat here are, you have The Silver Diner,
you'v got Chevy's, you have got The All American Steak House,
you'v got the NewYour Italian Deli which is just north of Waldorf
but I swear I have had the best deli sandwich of my life there
go check out the New Your Italian Deli
I also really like Vocelli Pizza here
and of course Chedders. So Chedders, when you are coming into Waldorf you will see it on the left.
and that place is always packed, right. If you can get a table there I highly recomend
you go check them out they are pretty good
So that's it, that is the 9 Things You Should Know Before Moving to Waldorf Maryland!
If you are thinking about making the move down here to Waldorf, my team and I would love to help you.
Feel free to reach out to me on my website
TheLawsonGroupMD.com