Moving to DC from Brooklyn-- where should we live? Buy/rent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:is it worth it to you and your husband to have coffee and edgy non-chain retail and a nyc-ish feel in your 'hood, if the trade off is a commute that is often an hour or an hour +, crawling on highways?

If so, Mt. Pleasant, Bloomingdale, or other similar areas will work for you. If not, try Takoma Park (easy access to 495 and Georgia) or consider trading off and living in an AWESOME house that is in the suburbs, closer to Columbia.

I think the answers here vary so widely because the answer is that the things you want aren't really possible. You're going to have to give one up: Nyc-feel, ok commute, or proximity to city.

For what it's worth, I live in Takoma Park and it can take 15-20 minutes just to get thru lights to the beltway, so yeah, it's a reverse commute, but it's still a bad commute.

^^ and I should say Takoma Park is at the tip top of the city. Anything south of that (i.e. the whole rest of DC) is going to take longer. As in a mile distance can take 20 more minutes of driving.

[Anonymous]

Hyatsville

[Anonymous]

I live at the tip of DC and my parents live in Columbia. It's not 35 miles. It's closer to 20 miles. The commute is not bad at all on 29. Downtown Silver Spring would be great. Where we are in DC would be good. The Shepherd Park or Colonial Village neighborhoods are nice, but the residents are city people, not suburban. You would have a very hard time adjusting to many neighborhoods listed here. People are stale and formal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Capitol Hill was actually where we were thinking of looking originally. This is all coming full circle. So it's settled: a year in Capitol Hill, realize how painful the commute is, then move to SS. Done and done!

The commute from Capital Hill to Columbia is a killer. I would not do it and I'm from Columbia. There is no easy way to get there from Capitol Hill. Too many lights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't have a job - rent in Columbia at first.

I think its kind of strange that you are considering a 35 mile commute TO Columbia.

I agree with this. Any 35-mile commute in the DC area is usually more than an hour. Hell, my 4-mile commute from N Arlington to Farragut is 30 minutes!

OP, I think you really have to compromise on urban feel or short commute -- it sounds like you will lean towards compromising on the commute (so it will be longer) but with a 2-year-old I would compromise on the urban feel. You can always move in closer after you get a feel for where you might be working.

Please don't rent in Columbia. I'm from there and can't live there. BOOORRRINNGGGG! I commuted from DC to Baltimore for 2 years. It was actually a breeze. The traffic is not as bad as commuting from DC to VA. I went up 295. We lived in Brookland, which is another great neighborhood. It's right on 295 so the commute was very convenient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

shirirb wrote:REALLY REALLY? I have to give up and move to the suburbs? There's no reasonable alternative in DC metro?

There are lots of great areas in DC, but DC isn't 35 minutes from Columbia.

Columbia is an exurb. It's not 35 minutes from DC.

We're in Chevy Chase, MD not even a mile from DC. My husband doesn't commute to Baltimore every day but drives there frequently during the morning rush for meetings. He has gotten to the Inner Harbor in 35 minutes, so getting to Columbia would be even faster.

BULLSHIT. He's either speeding dangerously or taking a helicopter. Fastest that commute would be in rush is about an hour.

Hell, google maps is giving that commute 42 minutes for current dead-of-the-night-on-a-Sunday traffic. So there's no way. Sorry.

I did this commute every day for 2 years. It was a BREEZE! It took no time at all. It's not the same as going from DC to VA everyday. The traffic patterns are different. My commute from NE DC to Baltimore every day in RUSH HOUR was 45 minutes going up 295. That's it. There's more traffic on the weekends.