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????