I’d heard the Town of Hampstead would be the Seaside of East Montgomery, but I had my doubts.  How can you create the intanglible presence of a place like Seaside, FL along the cow pastures of Taylor Road?

Well – it’s been done.  I drove by today and was shocked.  Hampstead is COOL.

What you see from the Taylor Road are the mixed-use buildings of High Street’s Town Center. This is the retail and office area of Hampstead that houses businesses, new restaurants like Number Sixteen (opening in November), and Y’s Up (YMCA) at Hampstead.  The Town of Hampstead website calls these live/work structures, so apparently there is living space in these buildings as well.

The Town of Hampstead was designed by DPZ, the same group responsible for Seaside, FL, and the same “rules” apply here:  it is walkable, encourages human interaction, and the buildings “are appropriate for their surroundings.”  A third of the the development’s 416 acres is green space.  There is a bocce court, a farm where produce for the restaurant will be grown, a boating lake, a tennis area, playgrounds, and a spectrum of high-end home plans to choose from.

Village Homes

Number Sixteen restaurant outdoor dining area

Town Center

Row houses

View from Taylor Road

If you are intrigued, it’s easy to check out Hampstead this weekend.  The Parade of Homes is Oct 24-26th from 1:00 to 6:00pm, and the first Farmer’s Market will be held on High Street this Saturday from 8am to 2pm.  For more information, here’s an article from Montgomery Living Magazine.

If you go, let us know your thoughts by commenting below!

What’s in the water at LAMP (Loveless Academic Magnet Program)?  They are once again shining the spotlight on Montgomery’s public magnet schools.  Newsweek ranked the top 1,000 high schools in the nation, and our own LAMP came in at #56!   Yes, I did say 56th in the NATION.

If you’ve heard public schools in Montgomery aren’t that great, think again.

In addition to LAMP’s gold medal status, two other magnet high schools in Montgomery earned bronze medals:  Brewbaker Technology Magnet (go RAMs!), and Booker T Washington Magnet.  There is some serious educating going on here in Montgomery.

Check out this article from the Montgomery Advertiser to read more.

Okay – I’ll admit up front that we lived in Deer Creek for almost 9 years.  So I know a little about this East Montgomery neighborhood.  It is the colossus of planned communities on this side of town, and if you haven’t driven through, check it out next time you are headed east out Vaughn Road.

Here are 5 reasons I think it’s worth a peek:

1) Security. There are limited entrances and exits (3) which means that even though Deer Creek is in a prime east side location, there is little thru traffic.  It was planned that way.  Deer Creek also employs a private security service; you’ll see them driving around in their security car or at the front gate.  There is simply little reason to be there if you are not heading to or from a home.

2)  Price Ranges.  Garden homes to sprawling family residences.  You can do small, medium, or large.  Same goes with the yard.  According to the Deer Creek website, there are up to 1600 lots on 800 acres.  The lots are divided into 21 neighborhoods.  It’s big, but it’s highly organized, and there is a lot to choose from.

3) Room to Roam.  I loved that we could get the kids on their bikes and ride for an hour without a) crossing a major road or encountering traffic,  b) getting too far from our home, and c) seeing the same thing twice.   The public spaces, sidewalks, and landscaping are well maintained, and that makes the roaming pleasant.

4) Amenities.  We could ride our bikes or walk to the pool, splashpark, playground, tennis courts, etc.  Enough said.

5) Public Schools.  Elementary age kids are zoned for Wynton Blount Elementary which is right behind Deer Creek on Ray Thorington Road.  Carr Middle School is being built next door to Blount Elementary.  There is obvious demand for these neighborhood public schools, and Deer Creek is in the thick of this zoing area.

Like I said, I’ve lived here.  Anyone else have any thoughts on life in Deer Creek?  Let us know by commenting below.

If you’re looking to buy a home in the area, give us a call at the number above.  We’d love to show you any homes in Deer Creek on the Montgomery MLS.