Relocating to DC Area
 

Hello Everyone - My family and I are considering relocating to the DC area and could really use some input from knowledgable locals. If things go as planned, I will be working in Bethesda and we are considering living in the Loudoun area, probably around Sterling. We are looking at this area because it is relatively close to the airport (I will be traveling alot) and we have heard it has good schools (we have one grade schooler and one middle schooler). Here is my question: What kind of commute can I expect to Bethesda (I'm skeptical of Mapquests 30 minute estimate)? Also, are there any other areas you recommend we consider.

Thank you for your help!

Depending on where you are working in Bethesda, you can count on a commute of about an hour and often much longer. There is often a bottleneck along 495-Washington Beltway from Bethesda to Route 66 in Virginia and often Route 66, the gateway to Loudon County, is very badly backed up with traffic. Your alternative would be to pay to take the Dulles Expressway (Route 267), money well worth the loss in time limping along in Route 66 traffic.

Thanks Shane - How much time will the commute typically take when I take the toll road? Are there any other areas you would recommend that would be good for a family with young kids? I would like to get closer, but the housing costs are brutal (we are moving from the midwest where housing prices are much, much lower).

rush traffic from sterling to bethesda is horrendous--at least 1-1 1/2 hrs. i wouldn't want to drive it most days. how many days per week will you be going to the airport vs the office? will you be going to the airport at rush hour times? if not, then i'd live near the office. will you always fly out of dulles or will you also fly out of national or bwi? if both, then you'll have killer traffic to the office and to the other airports.

i'd suggest you look in montgomery county, md, which includes bethesda. it has one of the best school districts in the country. i grew up in potomac, next to bethesda, and it is about 30 min to dulles, national and bwi airports from there--without traffic.

i hear ya on the housing prices, but aren't they high all around dc? if you will primarily fly out of bwi and national, you could also look in anne arundel county/annapolis area. the schools are not as good as montgomery or fairfax county but they are good.

As one who recently moved to escape a commute I suffered for two years between Montgomery County and the Dulles area, my advice is emphatic--don't do it.

It's not just that most days, two and a half hours of your life will be consumed by the trip. It's the type of driving. The slow creep, starting and almost stopping, again and again, mile after mile. The tension of close quarters and near misses with those cutting in and out of lanes to try to squirm ahead. Seeing flashing lights ahead of you and knowing that someone's driving stupidity has caused an accident that will make you late for work or your flight again. It can curdle the spirit and make life seem mean over time.

And it's never knowing when a major accident--or even the lightest of rains, with its increase in small accidents--will turn your hour and a quarter commute into three hours one way. It's setting the alarm an hour early on the days when you absolutely must get there on time, or, if the need to be on time is just strong rather than absolute, to see if it's raining and you must start out immediately, or if you can risk going back to sleep for another hour. It's eating too many fast food dinners in the car, because you're hungry, it's late, and everyone else will have eaten or be in bed by the time you get home. It's being surprised by what your home looks like in the daylight.

The Toll Road is no guarantee of traffic that moves. Many's the time, in particular, that I've hit a solid lineup of cars in the right lane, sometimes miles from the exit from the Toll Road to the Beltway, inching towards their opportunity, probably a half hour to 45 minutes away, to be able to turn their noses northward towards the bridge and Bethesda rather than eastward.

I don't recommend Anne Arundel or Annapolis either if you are working in Bethesda. I lived in northeast Montgomery County, on the way between Bethesda and BWI, and I tried every way I could to get across Montgomery County to and from Bethesda and the Bridge, and every alternative was awful, worse than between the bridge and Dulles.

Live as close to work as you can. If necessary, let your kids go to school with a lot of children of other races and nationalities in a less affluent area, and spend a couple of extra hours with them a day that you would otherwise spend creeping in traffic. You may find their educations doubly enhanced if you do.

Agree with others: don't do it. Your quality of life will suffer the entire time your endure that commute. Who knows? It could be YEARS.

BTW, Bethesda has excellent public schools - some of the best in the country.

As someone who also moved FROM DC who used to endure a similar commute, I'd say don't do it. Even thought you might need to consider a smaller living space to live in Montgomery Co., the schools are generally terrific and you will gain HOURS in time and YEARS of stress by living closer to Bethesda.

Sorry to pile on, but I'll agree with the others that this commute is AWFUL. I did it when I was single and then newly married...can't imagine what it would be like with kids and school & sports obligations.

If you're going to make this move, do it to the Maryland suburbs as others have suggested.

For total disclosure, I'll say we left the DC area because it became too hard to juggle children & activiteis, two jobs, commutes & good schools. And that was before housing prices skyrocketed.

I look forward to returning to the DC area post-kids.

Yikes! What areas in Montgomery County do you recomend? We've web searched houses in the Gathersburg area, Germantown, etc. Are there any other areas we should be looking at? What are your feelings about the MARC train system? I've looked at their website but frankly it not a lot of help.

May be a bit off-topic, but as someone looking to MOVE to the DC area from NYC, what areas/neighborhoods are appealing as far as NOT having to deal with a long commute?

Well, sorry, but I'll pile on too. If you intend to work normal hours (8-5 or 9-5), that is at least a 1.5 hour commute one-way each day. If it is Friday afternoon or raining out, or there is an accident, even more.

My suggestion is for you to visit DC, rent a car, and stay in a hotel near Sterling for even a few days. Take your expected trip each morning during the times you would go to work and see what you think. I think you will be changing plans.

I'd go with a smaller house in Bethesda. You should consider renting rather than buying initially so you are locked into a neighborhood. I think after you live in Wash. for a while, you'll decide to live as close to your job as you can if you want to maximize time with your family.

JDub:

Look into Annedale, VA. Its just a little farther out than Alexandria, VA.

I'll agree with everyone else - don't commute from Loudon County to Bethesda and don't think of looking into Annapolis cause that trip is just as bad. I've lived and worked here quite awhile and I live close to my job.

If possible consider a home in the outposts of Montgomery county or into Frederick County - I won't go any further.

The pounding that your head and your car takes trying to commute around the beltway is "horrendous"

Another consideration might be "Do I really want to relocate there?" Salaries are good, housing costs are high, schools are good, kids are pretty competitive..

JDub:
Do you plan on making more trips to the airport than to your office? I'd definitely look in Montgomery County. Schools are generally better there than Loudon, which is struggling harder than most areas to keep up with the growing sprawl.

There are pockets of Silver Spring that remain relatively reasonable. They are harder to find than a newer place far out in the sprawl . . . JBC411's point is very good one.

Plus in some part of lower Montgomery, i.e., the Kensington-SS area, you can be nearly equal commute time from all three airports. I can be at IAD, DCA or BWI within 45 minutes from my house, plus taking Metro to DCA eliminates all traffic.

Hi Repete - The travel is what makes this a tough decision. I'll probably be on the road at least 2 to 3 days a week. That makes the area around IAD attractive - especially for those early morning trips. On the other hand, an hour plus of bumper to bumper traffic (each way) on the days I'm in the office is not terribly attractive. (The phrase "damned if you do, damned if you don't comes to mind".)

Another complicating factor is that we currently have a large home with a big yard and lots of open space in the back. So, of course, we are inclined to look for something similar. Do you know what the commute would be like from the Boyds/Germantown area?

I can't tell you how much I appreciate everyone's input. This type of "real life" experience is pretty hard to find.

Thanks

Before I moved six years ago, I did the commute from Germantown to Bethesda for about a year, down I-270. It took me about a half-hour, unless there was a big accident (which does happen). Unless something has drastically changed in the past five years, it's a better drive to Bethesda than out to Sterling area. There's a lot of relatively new construction -- homes, townhomes and condos -- in Germantown, and you'd be more able to get something a little larger there than in Bethesda. But you'd still need to factor in 30 minutes to an hour commute each day, each way. The reality of Washington DC area is that, if you need to get on the Beltway or one of the other big highways, you're going to sit in a LOT of traffic.

One other idea that gives you proximity to an airport -- though one that's NOT cheap -- is to think about Old Town Alexandria. I did that commute to Bethesda for several years, and it's a pretty quick drive up the George Washington Parkway and shoot across the American Legion Bridge. It's also about 10 minutes from National (Reagan) Airport. Problem with that one is 1) Cost, 2) Town versus suburb atmosphere, if you're looking for space, and 3) If there's an accident on GW Pkway, you're completely in trouble -- there's no shoulder and nowhere to go.

If you're working in Bethesda, I would suggest looking for a house in Frederick County, somewhere like New Market, Lake Linganore or further west to somewhere like Boonsboro. And you'll still have a long commute.

Suburban Maryland and Virginia home prices have exploded. Talking to a man I go to church with a couple Sundays ago, he revealed to me that the modest bungalow where the young Sylvester Stallone once lived in Silver Spring, MD was going for over $ 700,000.

Shouldn't Sly's psychic mom have seen that coming and hung onto it as an investment property????

As a lifetime Washingtonian, I would recommend that you DON'T relocate to the Washington area. Despite a few feeble attempts, the fight against sprawl is like the little Dutch boy plugging the dyke with his thumb. Traffic is a nightmare. Home prices are out of this world. Condos little bigger than tents are going for $600,000 on 14th Street where only a few years ago many houses were still bombed out from the '68 riots and prostitutes had the run of the streets at night. Taxes are high, even in northern Virginia. Congestion is high. The Washington pace of life is hectic, especially for someone raising a family.

As someone who is raising a large family, I had to move my wife and kids to Maryland's Eastern Shore for a more normal living space and a big yard for the kids. The commute from home to where I work is 1 1/2 hours and, though it is a sacrifice well worth it due to current circumstances, it is exhausting. I look forward to moving to a more relaxed, rural setting as soon as it is feasible.

Hate to burst your bubble, if I have done so. However, consider the posts of all the other posters and my own before you make your decision to relocate.

I live in Frederick County MD. If you commute to Bethedsa plan to be on the road prior to 6 am 5:30 would be better. As others have said the commutes are horrendous. The schools in Frederick County Maryland (Frederick City - not as good.) are good but are becoming crowded. As others have said, be cautious in the newer areas of Northern VA - such as Loudon Cnty. I will never forget the feature story in The Washington Post a couple of years ago. Housing had so outpaced schools that people would move into a neighborhood & find out that school was so overcrowded that they simply would NOT accept new enrollments - didn't matter if you lived across the street. Parents were left to find a school with "open enrollment".
We would love to leave the area. We could buy a new home on several acres for what someone would pay for our 40 yr old rancher in Frederick County, MD. The closer to DC/Bethesda the worse the prices.

I have no specific knowledge of DC - but have several coworkers who have gone through the same process in coming to NYC.

First - if this is a transfer rather than a new job - make sure that your salary increase is truly approrpiate for the area - some companies try to cheat on this.

If housing costs are massively different consider asking for a one-time housing allowance - a friend of mine got this - $80,000 from his company - to help make the move easier.

Lastly - it is almost ineveitable that your housing standards will have to change - not neighborhood or schools - but you will probably have to simply go for a much smaller house on way less land. This is just life in the suburbs of major cities.

After all - what's more important - your time with your family - or the size of your yard?

I work in DC and live on the Loudoun / Fairfax line. Commute is 1 hour in the morning (6:45 out of the house, 7:45 arrive at the office) and 45 minutes in the evening (7:00 leave office, arrive home 7:45).

The commute to Bethesda would be do-able but pretty tedious.

IF you decide to go out toward Frederick County, note that you can access Dulles from Frederick via Route 15, connecting Frederick with Leesburg and then the Dulles Greenway, an untraveled toll road between Leesburg and Dulles. It is a pretty country drive and not all that stressful, about 30 minutes total.

Good luck.

The only problem with living in Fredrick is that the trip to IAD is going to be pretty long and that's a priority for her.

As tough as it is to hear, it seems the closer to the Beltway you are, the more convenient yout travelling life will be. If you want a big house, you will need to be prepared to pay a lot of money or live in a less desirable neighborhood.

For the NYer moving to DC, the question hingers on where you are living. If you are working near a Metro, than living near a Metro is key.

This is not the first thread on which I have disputed the pronouncements of the Beltway-loving MikeT, but I'll do it again. The Beltway is death. Inevitable in too many cases, but to be avoided as much as possible. Two rings of parking lot, one inside the other and pointing different directions, much more often than not. It is a very sad fate to have it's spectre hanging over your every workday--I was there for too long.

MikeT is wrong and msr3017 is right--Frederick County and far western Montgomery County (which is still surprisingly rural)is a relatively good area to access Dulles from, taking the route msr3017 describes, as far from the Beltway as possible.

It sounds like msr3017 does not have too bad a commute into DC, but I'll bet he/she uses Metro for as much of it as he/she can. It is an interesting byproduct of the way things have worked out in greater Washington that people who work in the central city often have shorter and more pleasant commutes than those who work in the suburbs, due to Metro and rail.

Here's a suggestion: live in DC, in the Brookland neighborhood. Before the naysayers jump all over me, it's the last great place to buy a house in the entire DC area. It's has real neighborhood, has affordable housing and it is safe (despite what some people say). Yes, DC public schools are a mess, but with the money you save on housing, you can send the kids to private school. My husband and I were going to do that exact thing until we ended up relocating to Richmond (LOVE being away from the traffic!).

Commute from Arlington to Bethesda used to be about 40 minutes by car door-to-door, but think that's closer to 50 minutes these days.

I concede that I forgot about the approach to Dulles that was described above. While I still think Fredrick ridiculously too far a commute, even to Betheda, it is correct that you can get to Dulles from Maryland without using the Beltway.

I

JDub,
This is truly a tough one. There are pockets in Montgomery that are still somewhat reasonable -- a very relative term -- but they are tougher and tougher to find.

You'll likely be forced into some compromises -- i.e, figuring out home much of a commute is a big yard, nerwer house worth. There are occasional nice deals in the Aspen Hill/Bauer Drive area of Montgomery -- but the neighborhoods vary greatly with some going downhill and others improving. Olney, although farther out, is somewhat cheaper.

Take a lengthy scouting trip if you can and talk to locals. Keep posting questions here and we'll do what we can.

Interesting thread. Responding to JBC411, I drive each way, the whole way, without taking Metro. When Metro comes to Dulles or even Tysons then I will be tempted.

National Public Radio and my Ipod keep me sane, plus (now) Washington Nationals games on 104.1.

I love living in Northern Va. and would not recommend against it to anyone, even if they'll be working in Bethesda.

But Frederick County is a decent alternative, both to Bethesda and Dulles, at least in my view.

(PLUS - Southwest Airlines flies from BWI, which is accessible from Frederick County but not Loudoun County).

Hello Everyone – Thank you for the great information. Based on your comments, we’ve been giving more serious thought to the Gaithersburg/Boyds area. I would be working in the very Northern tip of Bethesda, so it seems that the commute would be a bit easier going in that direction. I actually found a web site that shows video images of DC traffic real time (no kidding, it was a link off of a website called 495 Sucks!). Frankly, the route to VA from Bethesda looks pretty discouraging most of the time, especially near the river. Surprisingly, the route north from Bethesda to the Gaithersburg area seems much less congested. There also are some fairly nice houses in that area that are relatively close to our price range – even a couple of new developments that look nice if you can put that whole Stepford Wife thing out of your mind. Please keep the thoughts and ideas coming, it has been very helpful!

I think the Kensington area is convenient & still relatively reasonable.