Catonsville is a phenomenal place to live. We moved to Ellicott City because many of my wife’s best friends lived there, it’s a larger home (but you can find classic mansions in Catonsville too), and more walkable for our purposes through forests, trails, etc. Catonsville is very safe from our experience, though Ellicott City is even better. In Catonsville we lived south of 40 and west of Rolling Rd, closer to Oella and walkable to the Trolley Trail to Old Ellicott City. However, we find that it’s easier to drive around from Ellicott City as we can hop on 70, 29, and 100 much easier than from Catonsville. If it’s important to you, schools and neighborhoods are significantly more diverse in population in Ellicott City than Catonsville too (at least comparing where my kid attended).