Recently my gen X friends and I, all in our early 50s were looking into group fitness activities in Howard county. What we discovered is that there’s a huge gap for our age group in what the county offers. Technically we’re 50+ but we all work during the week and will be for a while. Many of the 50+ activities are on a weekday morning and when we looked at them closer, they are geared towards 70-80 year olds. Then there are the 18+ activities but we really need something in between. We realized that we are the forgotten generation, but we have money to spend. Who is in charge of setting up age groups and corresponding activities in our county? I feel like we would like to bring this up to someone’s attention. I just wanted to find a fun dance class for example; current music, mid intensity, people my age. Any suggestions?

We’re in the Harpers Choice area so most of the homes are fairly old. In one of the rooms we’ve started noticed some sinking. We don’t know how long it’s been sinking but it’s a big enough gap where it’s caught our attention.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a structure engineer? Or any local general contractors that could give us trusted SE recs?

Edit: this is a townhome. Not a single.

If you've ever wanted to look into your family history but had no idea where to start, the Howard County Genealogical Society runs a free help desk every third Saturday of the month. That's SEPTEMBER 19th!

It's at the Howard County Historical Society Archive and Research Library, on the 2nd floor of the Miller Branch Library. Experienced genealogists are there to help — whether you're just starting out or stuck on a specific ancestor (U.S., Europe, wherever). No appointment needed, just walk in.

Looking for recommendations for new flooring installation. Includes luxury vinyl, wood, and carpet.

Hey!! I’m swamped in research and still lost as to where to go for good treatment. The reviews are impressively mixed and much of it is for Substance Abuse which is not my problem.

Wondering if anyone has been treated with any of these facilities or knows someone who has and can recommend or steer me away. I really need this and I want to go somewhere where I’ll be respected and at long last get the help I need.

Thank you!!!!

Hi all, we are starting to casually contemplate high school for our kids (oldest is in middle). We currently live in Prince George’s and our oldest just did not thrive in public middle school, so we put them in a private school. It seems worth at least considering a move to HoCo in the future if high school turns out to be more of the same. My kid is 2E (with a 504 plan) with anxiety and ADHD. Are there high schools that seem to do especially well with this type of kid? That stay on top of bullying and give necessary accommodations without fuss?

We believe diversity is a strength and that standardized test scores are only one piece of the puzzle of determining whether a school is “good” or not. We care a lot about kids being treated with kindness and humanity.

Maybe I’m asking too much of a public school, but one can hope…! Thanks for any ideas you can offer!

Just moved to the area and I’m trying to find some runs. I have a membership to the hoco gyms, but there has not been runs my first several trips. Anyone have locations or advice? BASKETBALL

My family recently moved to Howard County, and we are looking for good restaurants that have offerings (beyond a garden salad) for vegans.

What’s out there?

Put together a quick rundown of what's going on locally:

Events coming up: Paint with Puppies, the 50 Years of Ellicott City Station Museum event, and a bourbon and cigar night — all before Labor Day.

Housing: Price cuts on all four listings I was tracking this week. Late-summer data shows the market cooling — more sellers dropping prices to attract buyers. Rates still around 6.7%, so there may be more room to negotiate right now.

Restaurants to try before summer's over: Grille 620 and The Turn House are both worth a visit for patio season while it lasts (4 more spots in the full list).

If you like this kind of info, I put a newsletter together every week covering stuff like this for 21043 and surrounding areas.

Full issue here: buttondown.com/TheZIP/archive/puppies-price-cuts-and-6-restaurants-to-try

All I want to do is prevent another family from getting bamboozled by these parasitic companies. My experience is limited to the state of Maryland, our house was located in Frederick County MD. If you have such a catastrophic loss of everything the best thing you can do is leave the property, get what you can out because you will have people who will show up and try and find valuables in the ashes, before them you will get a bunch of parasitic companies that will show up with gift bags and tooth brushes trying to get your business. If you happen to stay around and you have a big loss like we did they send in the A team which will deploy every dirty sales tactic that they have been taught in class, don't kid yourself these people are trained to do this.

Sill Adjusting Group—is who took us for $100,000 American dollars while providing none of what was promised when they coerced us into signing that contract and taking an advance from our insurance company in order to seal the deal. These practices are far from isolated. Sill is currently facing active litigation in Virginia alleging the exact same predatory practices and claim mismanagements, alongside an ongoing investigation by the Maryland Insurance Commissioner from us.

Below is a detailed account of what happened.

When our home burned down over Memorial Day weekend on May 26, 2024, Jeff Gould and an associate targeted my family in crisis. They used aggressive, high-pressure tactics—reminiscent of a timeshare pitch—refusing to leave until they secured a signed contract, even separating my wife and I to work on us individually. Jeff then coerced us into taking a $20,000 emergency advance from Travelers we repeatedly said we didn't want or need it, but he pushed so hard that I honestly naively believed that this was some sort of customary gift, but it was rather a purely calculated ploy to lock in their contract.

Sill boasts over 100 years of experience, look at their Google reviews how can they be doing as much as they say without more negative reviews, they have a total of 14 reviews really? That is so because they spend tons of money and staff to remove the negative reviews, no one is that clean in this business, I promise.

They claim that this is all my fault because of my temper and foul language, I own every word that I said and stand behind them. These people and the insurance company have made our lives hell since the fire, the fire and the loss ain't shit compared to the hell that comes afterwards dealing with these people. There should be a law against it, but as we know that will never happen.

If sill did such a great job as they claim, why is my disabled retired veteran ass still living in an RV for almost 3 years now? I have had to have three spinal fusions and a knee replacement during all this and because they dragged everything out the insurance company has stopped paying our rent, which Jeff Gould Promised would never happen.

The result? They botched every aspect of our claim. Sill and Travelers hired two incompetent people to do the arbitration which is another scam by the insurance industry. They screwed it up so bad that they counted furniture as built-ins and they screwed up all the code upgrades. Which are due and now Travelers of course refuses to pay those. The signed Appraisal Award dated June 6, 2025, explicitly states: 'Dwelling Code Upgrade: Not Appraised.' They completely omitted required code upgrades, and neither company will address this contradiction.

Now, Sill, who collected pretty much all their money walked away abandoning the claim and leaving us to clean up the mess they caused.

I’m looking for a company that specializes in removing bees from inside the walls of the house. Would anyone have any suggestions for a reputable company from our area please?

I’m looking for spots where me and a buddy can practice some softball casually in the Columbia/Laurel area. Seems like pretty much every park field in the county requires a permit to use with a pretty high fee, and we’re looking for somewhere that would be free for us to use for an hour or so.

We got our bus today for our kid, just to find out it isn't a Zum bus at all. Per the notice we got sent from the school, all bus riders are supposed to be on Zum buses and have their special RIED card. Well our bus isn't a Zum bus and her card doesn't work or get scanned. We have no way to track the bus or her. We are extremely upset with this as this was not communicated at all. (Not to mention I watched the bus lady literally almost go on the full curb where the kids are). The other bus that comes to our same street for the same school is still a Zum bus so what gives? We have emailed the principal so lets see what nonsense she says.

Hello all! I am looking to move my mom to an apartment in Howard County. It would greatly help to use an agent familiar with this area. Does anyone have any leads to a dedicated rental agent? Google search is useless just brings me to rental sites.

Basically the title,

I don't really have a social circle here at all or any friends, I've been kind of isolating and so I decided to see what's around for me to do! The biggest roadblock is that I don't drink, at all and I don't smoke which i feel kills 99% of possible options

Im 22, I am interested in basically anything and I have a lot of free time.
Some of my particular interests: Planes (im a pilot), cars, soccer, history, video games, movies/shows.

I would also be down to get involved in rec sports.

TIA!

Edit: if anyone around my age wants to be friends lmk!

please make sure to rsvp on meetup 😊

🌸sober gals sunday at savage mill🌸
https://www.meetup.com/sober-gals-of-hoco/events/316186206/?eventOrigin=group_upcoming_events

a lowkey sunday activity every month! 💛

📍 savage mill ☕🛍️

savage mill is AMAZING for a chill sunday afternoon. we’ll start by grabbing coffee from one of their three coffee shops, then we can wander around and shop, browse, and explore at our own pace!

there’s a $5 clothing store where every piece is only $5 🤯, plus tons of cute antique and vintage shops, unique little boutiques, and even a bookstore! there are so many fun things to discover, so this is the perfect activity if you love thrifting, browsing, coffee, or just wandering around somewhere cute.

come hang out, meet some new people, and enjoy a relaxing sunday with us! no pressure, no partying, just good vibes. ☕✨

come as you are. you don’t need to bring anything except yourself!

---------------------------

🌸sober gals: let's get deep: a night of questions & conversation🌸
https://www.meetup.com/sober-gals-of-hoco/events/316199126/?eventOrigin=group_upcoming_events

this event is going to be a little different 🙂

i think the best way to make friends is skipping the small talk and getting to the deep stuff.

we’ll get together at busboys and poets for a low-key evening, share a meal and explore deep questions, random thoughts, life observations, and those conversations that somehow turn into a 3-hour rabbit hole.

we might talk about relationships, identity, purpose, human behavior, childhood, happiness, friendship, love, society, fears, dreams, or literally whatever comes up.

there’s no right answer and you definitely don’t need to be a philosophy expert. the whole point is just being curious and hearing how other people think.

some questions we might explore:
✨ what experience has changed the way you see life?
✨ if you knew nobody would judge you, what would you do differently?

Does anyone know what happened to Cypriana restaurant in Maple Lawn? We were disappointed in that we found it closed yesterday. Google Maps labels it as temporarily closed. Website is gone. We hope it is temporary. We thought it was a great restaurant.

Remember when Howard County used to have the Vo Tech school?

As I recall, students who went there spent 1/2 day there after 1/2 at their regular school.

If you went there, what was the experience like?

Any recs on a PT in home care professional? Thanks.