Eric Hartley: Rethinking dream homes on the Shore

Eric Bentley doesn't go home after work these days. Instead of braving the Bay Bridge to get back to his house on Kent Island, he's been staying at his mother-in-law's in Silver Spring on weeknights.

And one day last week, he started browsing the Internet for real estate listings in Anne Arundel County. He's considering selling or renting out his Stevensville home, a decision he said is "killing me."

"That's where I wanted to raise my family," Mr. Bentley said Friday.

He bought the small house 12 years ago, when he was single. He's now married with three children, the oldest...