Don’t do it, OP. DC is really not that fun or exciting. The schools anywhere with city/urban feel are ok for elementary but I personally don’t think are good enough for middle/high school. Different people will have different thresholds on good enough. I’ve lived in both places. Even my kids find DC boring and beg to move back to NY. They say they don’t care about their yard or basement. |
I wouldn't do it simply because having your spouse away that much isn't good for the family, especially your marriage. |
No. Fair point - this commute would be a killer for the husband (still better than commuting from Boston, which was OP's other idea) unless he only has to go into the NY office once a month or so. |
This oversimplifies. There is a ~40 min stop in DC while they change the engine. |
We love DC, OP. (My spouse and I both grew up here and spent some time in NY, but we prefer to live here. We are not “forced” to by our jobs.)
I think it’ll be hard to find all the things you want but that’s true anywhere. |
I'm not debating the concerns about this idea, but the cost issue just doesn't seem applicable to OP. We're looking for a rental in upper NW now to live in during renovations and there is a fine supply of rental housing below 8K/month. We're looking closer to 5K and there are decent options. Again, not a historic Cleveland Park mansion, but a simple detached house in AU/Park Tenleytown or rowhouse in Woodley. There are also options for small rowhouses in Georgetown (perfectly fine for a small family used to NYC, but not the outside the beltway types that post on this forum frequently and seem to be dominating this thread). If he/she is looking at that rental range, they likely could afford a 1.6 million+ house in upper NW. The basic Hill rowhouses are cheaper. OP, I don't fully understand the commute plan, but I have met some former New Yorkers who decided to settle in DC - lots of amenities and solid public transit and proximity to other cities on the NE corridor but a bit more relaxed and livable. I have my quibbles but overall can see why they would make the decision to live here. The cultural options aren't as good, but there still are many, esp in comparison to other metro areas. And the restaurants have steadily been getting better. It is significantly more affordable than SF and NYC, although it is still expensive. |
But there are people posting here who don’t seem to know that there is an Amtrak station in Alexandria. There are ten trains a day from Alexandria to Penn Station. Getting the train in Alexandria does add about 45 minutes to the trip. The only way to avoid that would be to live walking distance to Union Station, since you’d have to allow that much time to travel from Cleveland Park (or wherever) to Union Station (source: I used to live in Cleveland Park and work on the Hill). https://www.amtrak.com/tickets/schedule-results.html |
I mean, it depends but early in the morning you can zip into the parking lot at Union station from Cleveland park pretty quickly. But I would probably drive and take the Acela if I lived in Alexandria anyway. The OP’s husband should just get the divorce now. OP wants to quit her job, move the whole family to DC for no reason except to be “near a city” and force him to commute once a week to NYC from Rockville or wherever. It’s not going to be good. |
How does one get to NYC on the train if not by way of Penn Station? |
The Acela is often 4 times the cost of Amtrak fares. Not all of us are made of money. |