RateItAll: The Opinion Network

I've lived in Maryland for most of my life, and have seen many of the attractions that make Maryland a destination. It is a very diverse state and offers a variety of activities and sights to visit. There are plenty of opportunities for outdoor recreation. The Western part of the state is home to Deep Creek Lake which is a regional vacation haven. Fishing, boating, and hiking opportunities abound there. Nearby Swallow Falls State Park is a great place to visit with its natural hemlock forest. While Cental Maryland is highly developed around Baltimore and Washington DC, there are great trails and parks for hiking and biking and other activities. The Eastern Shore and Chesapeake Bay are mostly rural and there is definitely a laid back atmosphere there. Blackwater Wildlife Refuge is a great place to get out and see the local wildlife.

Ocean City is a big resort city, which I personally don't care much for. However, some people truly do love it. Nearby though is Assateague Island, which is one of the nicest and definitely most unique beaches on the East Coast. It is worth the trip to see the wild horses of Assateague and the less crowded beach.

Baltimore is a great city for visitors. There is no need to be scared about its violent reputation. I've never heard of major problems with visitors and crime in the city. The Inner Harbor is a great place to walk around, and with the National Aquarium, Camden Yards, the Maryland Science Museum and more attractions, there is definitely enough things to keep a person busy for a few days. There is also a ton of nightlife in the Harbor, and Fells Point is a renowned neighborhood for its night life. In nice weather, the water taxi to Fort McHenry is a must for visitors. History fans will definitely enjoy the Fort and the story of Francis Scott Key's creation of The Star Spangled Banner.

Washington DC is not part of the state, but is located on land that Maryland gave to the Federal Government. It is centrally located and a very easy day trip from any point in Maryland. The Metro subway system reaches out into the DC suburbs and is clean and very easy to use, for those who don't want to deal with DC traffic.

horrible!!! cant wait to leave. there is nothing to do here. The weather is so shitty. 100F and humid summer, 20F winter. october and may are the only nice times. you could go to the beach...oh never mind there is no beach. that thing you call ocean city is not a beach. it is a strip mall that happens to be located on the atlantic that has summer water temps of about 50F.No Thanks. Everyone stares at you like you dont belong and act like you owe them something. disrespect and lack of manners is requisite. lived here since 1999. Never found a thing I liked. for entertainment I go to dc or alexandria va, which is actually publicly called "The fun side of the potomic" Ha! Wish there was 0 stars!

Get the bad out of the way first- Baltimore is an absolute 3rd world country that should be incinerated. . .outside of that, Maryland is diverse, highly educated in many areas (especially near the metro DC area), high quality of living in many areas. . .there's much to like about the state. . .

I was born and raised in Maryland, on the Eastern Shore, in the great little college town of Chestertown. This is a great little town that in appearence is very clean, and quaint. The Eastern Shore is rural, with small towns beyond farmland. It is country drives to get from one town to another, with rolling hills, farms of cattle, corn, hay, and trees of many varieties. In the Fall, the countryside is very colorful.

Chestertown is in my opinion the perfect retirement town. But it's not the place to live to work. Most people use it as a bedroom community and drive out to bigger areas such as Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Dover, Wimington, Annapolis, or Easton. But it is a perfect town to love to live in. The Washington College sits right in the middle, with young people riding bikes, and giving it continuing youth. The downtown is very small, but it has a nice park and also a waterfront to relax.

Kent County has a nice laidback feel to it. People meet people while shopping regularly, or in cafes, and smile when passing. Chestertown is as close to a "Mayberry" as one could ever find. The old historical buildings and brick sidewalks give the town much flare. People walk this town daily, or jog, ride bikes, and often see friends passing by in cars.

If I had any negatives, it would have to be that there is not too much to do there. As a boy we had Betterton Beach, with rides, and amusements. But it was torn down and made into just a relaxing beach with nothing to do. Jobs are hard to find,. Most of the people who work locally are service, such as in the hospital & medical field, in local retail, farmers, or lawyers. The school system seemed to be controlled by young blacks who always caused trouble in hallways.

The things people do to past time are becoming part of a sports team, a league of some sort, or visit friends at the bars. People don't seem to want too much to be happy there. Just raise a family, work to support them, and make friends. All in all, it is a great place to live. I just might go back home. I miss it.

Pretty good state. Downtown Baltimore is nice.

Maryland doesn't really interest me in any way.

Has a couple nice areas, ie the northern DC suburbs, ocean city, annapolis, and a couple baltimore suburbs. Baltimore sucks.

Baltimore is a dump with mostly rude people who seem to think it is a "cool city". (Yeah right). Washington DC is awesome, but it's not part of Maryland. The western and ocean city parts seem okay. Honestly this is pretty much the worst state of the northeast, except possibly Delaware.

It's certainly got it ups, downs and quirks like every place else, but I'm convinced you'd have a hard time finding a more well rounded state. It's usually called "America in Miniature" for the diverse geography-- mountains, forests, cities, costal plains and the ocean. But it goes deeper than that. Talk to residents of the western mountains of Garret County, residents of the metropolitan region between Baltimore and D.C., then to people on the Eastern shore. They're all within a four or five hour drive from one another but are as different from one another as people living on opposite ends of the county. Just take a look at the diversity of comments in on this page. People who complain about MD based on some limited experience say: "it's too conservative", "it's too liberal", "it's too urban", "it's too rural", it's too hot", "it's too cold". How can all these be complaints about the same state be true? As someone born and raised there-- I can say it makes sense.

There is something there for everyone to love and something for everyone to hate. Sure, I hate the high taxes, the bad traffic around the cities, and the lousy humidity in the summer, but I've always gathered the things I love from it too. I've loved living in the quiet countryside but with only a half an hour commute to work or the city and being only a day trip away from the mountains and the ocean. You could spend a Saturday in Washington just as easily as Philly and be home in time for dinner. I've loved the change of seasons. MD has them all. True summers can be hot but you'll also see your share of New England style nor'easters in the winter. You can find the best of the north and south cuisine along with the region's own particular favorites. You can go for a nice pile of steamed crabs and cold beer on the deck of a bayside restaurant one night and a homemade Amish feast the next. A hike in the mountains is hours away from a fishing trip on the bay or day at the beach. As one of the original colonies, MD is rich in history and historical places as well. Industry here is diverse too. Everything from farming, to fishing, to bioscience to aerospace. Maryland is home to Johns Hopkins, Black & Decker/ DeWalt, Lockheed Martin, McCormick & Company, W. R. Grace and Company and many more. It's not only close to DC, Philly, and NY, Baltimore's a seaport itself.

Frankly, most of the negative comments I read here are just simply invalid because they're way too subjective and based on very minimal experience. To the guy who accused the Chesapeake Bay of being a worthless "marsh", I don't know what kind of traumatic day trip he was forced into but he's talking about the largest estuary in the U.S. surrounded by a watershed encompassing over 64,000 square miles in six states. It produces 500 million pounds of seafood per year, and is a commercial and recreational resource for the more than 15 million people. It requires a 17.6 mile bridge-tunnel to cross its mouth http://www.cbbt.com/facts.html (Do some research before you criticize buddy-- http://www.baydreaming.com/ )

Other people love to cite Baltimore's (Maryland's) crime rate but always fail to remind you it's nearly all drug dealers killing each other in a very few areas of the city. It's not the widespread problem implied by the sensationalistic media. And finally, anyone who makes the blanket statement that EVERYONE in even a small state is "rude", "dumb" or otherwise "nasty" need not be taken seriously enough to waste your time with.

Love it or hate it, anyone really interested in discovering it would quickly see that "America in Miniature" is a well deserved description of Maryland.

I'll add my own experience to the other strongly negative reviews. Absolutely the nastiest, rudest, most vulgar people I've ever met were in this awful state. People loved to tell me how much money their parents made, how much their new car cost, or that they lived in "the richest community in the country"--yeah, really classy. The reviewer who mentioned Prince Georges County nailed it--I don't think you could find a worse collection of humanity outside a maximun security prison. If Alabama or Mississippi come to mind when you think of rednecks, you've never been to southern Maryland--the ones there make those places look positively refined. As to the "charm" the reviewer below mentioned--I'd be out for what I assumed would be a pleasant evening walk in my community only to have carloads of teenagers shout the f word at me. This happened any number of times, really charming isn't it ? As others wrote, the traffic, humidity and crime were awful. So it's not hard to tell I was glad to leave !

Maryland combines the politics, architecture, and industry of the North, with the charm, eccentricity, and quirkiness of the South. I've lived many places in my life, and this by far is the best state in my opinion. Geographically perfect -- I can head to the beach, the mountains, or any major city on the East Coast with absolute ease. Maryland has one of the most educated populations in the country, yet (with the exception of some D.C. suburbs) is remarkably unpretentious. And yes, the Maryland accent isn't exactly the most appealing accent in the country, the fact that the state HAS its own accent is part of the charm. Also, Baltimore is one of the best and most underrated cities in the country. My only complaint is that the cost of living is very high (although Baltimore is cheaper than other East Coast cities).

I very much dislike the Batlimore/DC area because of the horrible traffic, crime and a fair amount of racial problems. I've also been treated rudely because I have a southern accent. I do like the eastern shore (Ocean City, Assateague) and the western part of the state (Frederick westward). The westernmost counties are similar to West Virginia in culture and landscape. Overall, it's a split state.

Well if this is the beginning of the northeastern megalopolis as one reviewer mentioned and whatever positive things that is supposed to offer, you can have it. If you combined the ugly, filthy landscape of New Jersey and the rude, cold people of Massachusetts, you pretty much have Maryland. People acted as if it was some big deal to live there and that I should be impressed that they did. For the life of me I couldn't fathom why ! I had never seen roadways and streets strewn with so much trash. Crime was terrible. Even solidly middle class commmunities suffered from dangerous, violent crime. From the DC suburbs up to Baltimore and over to Annapolis was a mass of overdevelopment and sprawl. Everyone was uptight and unfriendly, lack of manners seemed to be a virtue. The summers were sweltering and the winters freezing, what a great combination. DC's eastern neighbor Prince George's County has to be the worst suburban county in the country. All it seemed to be were either dangerous ghettos or shabby communities of white trash. Traffic was a nightmare and that just added to the already bad air pollution. Too bad I can't give it a zero, that's what it deserves.

I got derouted here on an airplane one summer and ended up taking a limo all the say from Baltimore to Scranton, PA. From what I could see this state looked very dirty and crime ridden. Definately didn't catch my attention.

Maryland has lots of plusses- It is the southern axis of the Northeastern megalopolis- which gives it all the cultural and economic advantages of that location. Nice Ocean beaches, and a world class city and national capital in Washington. Sure DC has horrible traffic and expensive housing- but I would rather be here then in Memphis or Indianapolis.

High crime, high taxes, a mediocre state university, filthy (you see garbage everywhere), and rude, ill-mannered, unfriendly people. Annapolis is overrated as is the entire Chesapeake Bay-what is so special about swampy, mosquito infested shorelines and brown, brackish water anyway ? Baltimore is a dump, Ocean City is tacky, southern part is filled with redneck hicks. High humidity and temperatures in the summer. For a state that supposedly ranks in the top 5 for income and educational attainment I swear there are more blue-collar, low-class, thoroughly unrefined people than I've encountered anywhere else. If all that isn't enough, there's the awful accent--goin up er on Sayer-dee for a Bawlmer Oreos game--so if you can't tell already I don't care much for the place.

A very nice state. I would consider living here. Western Maryland is gorgeous, especially around Deep Creek Lake with beautiful Apalacian hills and mountains. Baltimore has it's shortcomings but it definately has character, some good neighborhoods, history, good food, and a nice waterfront. Having Washington DC close by adds to the appeal especially in the way of culture. All you people complaining about traffic...... Blah! Blah! Blah! Every metropolitan area in the US is clogged with traffic, Maryland is not uniquely better or worse in that category. The Chesapeake Bay with all the surrounding marshland is beautiful country and Maryland crab is yummy!!! Ocean City is fun and Assateague Island is a great place to capture peace and solitude by the ocean! Lots to do in Maryland !!

Better then most states, Maryland goes far in the way of culture, vacation opportunites and amenities and services to its citizens.

An decent state that is improving itself- deserves to be rated much higher here.

The despot's heel is on thy shore, Maryland, My Maryland!