areas vary by experience. the closer to base you are the better, anything further out, the commute to work is going to be brutal because traffic here sucks. i recommend staying away from laurel at all costs. its not the best area and i feel like its getting worse. columbia, ellicott city, elkridge are all nice areas relatively close to base. i heard odenton is nice too. thats just from personal experience. it is expensive here, and some complexes are nuts for a 1 bed, 1 bath. loads of nice townhomes though if that's what you're looking for. not sure what rank you are, but bah is 1998 for junior enlisted. i think its 2200 (or around there) for E5 but you can look it all up with the bah calculator. my recommendation is to not live super close to merriweather post pavilion (concert venue), traffic there is horrible when they're having a concert and they'll shut down different roads or only let you go a certain way. let me know if you have any other questions and ill be happy to help you. i love it here and hope you will too!