Page 17 - Baltimore County Quality of Life Guide and Business Directory

Hunt Valley/Phoenix/
North County
Hunt Valley is the gateway to North
County, the rolling, less-populated area that extends to Pennsylvania and is traditionally considered Maryland’s horse country. Hunt Valley is another commercial and business hub that has expanded beyond the Hunt Valley Towne Centre mall and nearby corporate headquarters. Phoenix, Sparks, Monkton, Hereford and several other smaller communities lie just north of Hunt Valley. The Torrey C. Brown (TCB) Rail Trail has miles of trails for bikers, hikers, runners and just plain meanderers. From Hunt Valley, the trail is 18 miles to Pennsylvania.
Family-Friendly Feature: Oregon Ridge Nature Center offers educational nature programs and houses owls, snakes, turtles and other critters.
Owings Mills/Reisterstown
The Owings Mills/Reisterstown area, in
the far northwest, is undergoing major development — with new or newly redeveloped and named commercial centers. The site of Owings Mills Mall is becoming the retail Mill Center, and another commercial district is now open at Foundry Row on Reisterstown Road. Meanwhile, Reisterstown maintains its historic business district, which dates back to the 1750s.
Family-Friendly Feature: Irvine Nature Center provides free indoor and outdoor programs and exhibits for all ages.
Randallstown/Pikesville
Pikesville borders the city on the northwest side, straddling the Beltway along Reisterstown Road. It is a stable community with long-time businesses at its heart,
good schools and a growing condominium presence. Randallstown, to its north and west along Liberty Road, offers a variety of housing options with quiet communities just a few blocks from busy thoroughfares.
Family-Friendly Feature: Choate House on Liberty Road, originally built as a tavern, is a rare example of rural structures from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Ruxton/Brooklandville/Stevenson
These three unincorporated areas are largely residential and are spread across Greenspring Valley mostly north of I-695
in rolling hills with curvy roads. Stevenson University’s original campus, numerous private schools, farms and small commercial areas complete the landscape. Fort Garrison, a frontier outpost built in 1695 to defend the area against Native Americans, still stands as a County property and National Historic Landmark.
Family-Friendly Feature: Meadowood Regional Park, located across from Greenspring Station, has soccer and lacrosse fields, hiking trails and picnic areas.
White Marsh/Perry Hall/ Parkville
The northeastern corner of the County, is home to Parkville, Perry Hall, White Marsh and Kingsville. White Marsh continues
to see both residential and business development, attracting increasing numbers of residents. The new mixed-
use properties offer almost every housing type and most family needs within a short distance. The area has easy access to I-95 and I-695, along with access to Gunpowder Falls State Park with its many trails, picnic areas and beaches.
Family-Friendly Feature: The new 43 Fields project has AstroTurf fields and an indoor ice-skating rink.
“Baltimore County is fantastic in that it is so large and diverse. You can meet people responsible for huge budgets or running large companies, all the way down to the small entrepreneurs just getting started. I get leads almost every month from our membership in the Chamber. When I first started out almost 12 years ago, I joined one of the Chamber’s leads groups and almost right out of the gate signed a multi-thousand-dollar website deal. The leads and business are there for the taking if you work it appropriately.”
Jeff Spokes Director of Sales Strategic Factory
www.baltcountychamber.com 15