Howard County's fast growth spurs question of what's next

It's a big draw thanks to its highly ranked public schools, proximity to Baltimore and Washington, D.C., affluent neighborhoods, historic Ellicott City and the burgeoning Downtown Columbia redevelopment, with its luxury apartments and shiny office buildings.

But in a post-Covid world where companies can hire talented staff from anywhere and where you work isn't so important anymore, even the darling of Central Maryland could face some hiccups in its growth. Add to that its lack of available land for new developments — only 2% of the county's land remains undeveloped — and you have a fast-growth county reaching "an inflection point."