I was raised here and born at the local hospital, as well as my children. My wife and I made the decision to move back in this area specifically for the school system. If you have any questions feel free to dm me too.

1. Definitely a good place to raise kids, but it's definitely car heavy to get to places for kids/teens. Regardless of where you live all that will be around will be the numerous trails and walking spots, but if you want to go to the mall, Centennial, any of the farms, bowling, etc you'd need to drive there to get there. Scouts? Driving. Horseback riding? Driving. You'll be able to find pretty much any activity and/or sport, but there is no guarantee that they'll be remotely next to each other in Howard County.

2. Columbia is known as one of the bluest spots in MD, and also known for Merriweather, which hosts pretty big artists as a small venue. The Lumineers, blink 182, OAR, Kenny Chesney, Weezer, Metallica, Pearl Jam, etc have performed there and is a big place to go for a small venue concert. Columbia is also known as the city pretty much in the middle of Baltimore and DC, and for being nice.

3. Not really areas to avoid per se but definitely parts exist like all cities that aren't as nice at certain times of day. Wilde Lake (as the actual lake) is asking for trouble at night. Some gas stations as well (Long Reach village center) are sketchy. However I've never felt unsafe in those areas in fearing for my life, and I'm a minority.

4. School system is arguably the reason why house pricing is so high in this area. K-12 are some of the best in the state and the high schools can compete against the best in the nation and the "best" for the high schools are considered some of the best in the country. Even the "worst" schools are still really, really good educationally (Wilde Lake has been this school historically, iirc.)

5. Rockville is dependent on how close you are to 95 and which part of Columbia you're in, and if you're willing to pay tolls down if that works for your area of work. You will 100% hit traffic down and up if you work a typical work schedule 9-5. Expect that drive to be 45 min to an hour on a bad day or with rain.

6. Are you ok with living in a liberal area? Are you also ok with having to drive everywhere to do most things? Does the cost of living in Columbia warrant the location for you? There are a ton of adult clubs and activities that exist, and same for kids.

7. As a kid I hated being able to only play outside at the park/with friends, and that's pretty much it. I was at the whims of my parents to take me to the library (which btw is a great resource for not only books, but they have an up to date DVD collection as well), mall, lake or bowling alley. That's really the only places to go in Columbia to do as a kid.