Job offer in Bmore, DH working in DC - where to live? and preschool situation?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Or Bowie. Bowie has a MARC station. |
Anonymous
|
We live in Rockville pretty close to Olney. It's 45 minutes to downtown Baltimore by car and about 1hr 15 minutes door to door from my home to my office in Ballston (park at Twinbrook metro, take the train in then walk 10 minutes). Driving would be faster, especially in the morning, but would make me a crazy person. I imagine there would be areas of Silver Spring (other end of the red line) that are similar.
Our kids attend preschool near our home since that works best with our flex schedules/telecommute days. |
Anonymous
I lived in Baltimore and worked in DC, and driving from Baltimore to DC (and especially to NOVA) is miserable. The train is by far a better option, in my opinion. But that said, while I love some things about Baltimore, I would caution OP against immediately buying there. In fact, I would caution against buying anywhere until you try out the commute for a good, solid year. There are plenty of places to rent in Baltimore. There are also plenty of places to rent in other areas along the MARC line. I found out the hard way that even if you do some "trial runs" of a commute, you really don't know how you will like it one year out. The real estate market in Baltimore is nothing like the market in DC. If you buy a house now, in a year or two, you might not be able to break even when you factor in transaction costs. It really does not make sense to buy unless you plan on staying there 5 years or more. Whenever considering a longish commute, it is better to rent in the target location first. You might find that it just isn't workable and you need to find a different location. I also would caution you heavily against relying on commute estimates given here. I've read all kinds of claims (not on this thread) that I don't believe. I don't know if any studies have been done, but it is my strong suspicion that people convince themselves their commute is shorter than what it is as a sort of mental coping mechanism. I've seen claims on here (this forum and others -- not necessarily this thread) that just aren't possible, at least not on a regular basis. As to the PP who recommends Silver Spring. I think the SS-Baltimore commute is rough. Sure it's a "reverse" commute, but keep in mind that if you work downtown in Baltimore, you're going to get Baltimore traffic anyhow. And depending where you are in SS, you'll still get SS traffic, which can be dense. Again, rent in SS for a year and see how it goes before buying a house. I feel the same way about Columbia. I often see people recommend it as being in commuting range to DC, but I personally find that commute extremely draining. Perhaps some day when there is metro in the area, but driving from Columbia to DC is rough. Columbia to NOVA, yikes! Again, pick an area you think might work, rent there for a year and then decide whether or not to buy. What people find tolerable in a commute is VERY subjective. You might also want to consider how dense an area is, because if both you and your DH are commuting, you might want to find an area that has no traffic on weekends. Again, this is why it's so much better to rent in an area first |
Anonymous
This commute is not 45, at least not on any kind of regular basis. It's more like an hour or more. |
Anonymous
| We do this, and live in Laurel. My commute to Baltimore is about 40 minutes, his commute to DC on the metro (drives to Greenbelt) is an hour and 15 minutes, depending on where in DC he is going that day. If we had it to do over again we'd buy a little farther north, in Howard county, because of the schools, but the commute hasn't been too bad for us because we both have some flexibility and don't have to make the drive/train every day. |
Anonymous
| OP I live in Potomac and sometimes go to Johns Hopkins for work. I take the ICC my commute is 45 min to 1 hr. My husband works in Tysons he starts work around 10 am. His commute is about 15 minutes give or take. By 9:30 there is rarely traffic on 270-495. If your husband has flexibility with start time he can easily pop on GW parkway and be in Ballston in minutes |
Anonymous
| Yeah, I think if you can end up on the green or orange/blue lines it'll be the easiest commute. I think your commute up to Baltimore will *mostly* be reverse, if you take the B-W pkwy. As others have noted, some of it depends on the hours you guys both work and their flexibiility. FWIW, I did an Annapolis-Pentagon City commute for a year or so and it was a slog in to Virginia in the mornings once they got going on the new exits off 295, but not so bad headed home. |
Anonymous
|
Ugh. We did this for about five years. Like a PP we decided to live near my job in DC so I could be close to the kids during the day and so that only one of us would have to commute.
With a couple of exceptions you will not find good schools in Baltimore City. The privates and decent public schools are all on the north side of town. That is eventually where we moved. |
Anonymous
| We were in a similar situation, albeit pre-kids. We chose to live in cap hill. I took the Marc to Baltimore. Hopkins runs a shuttle from penn station to east Baltimore. Husband waked to eastern market to metro to job in pentagon city. |
Anonymous
|
Silver Spring. If you can get to Rt. 29/Colesville Rd./Columbia Pike easily you can get to Baltimore easily. As several previous posters have said, it's a reverse commute. I live in Silver Spring and work in downtown DC but I occasionally have to go to Baltimore for work. I can often get to Baltimore faster than I can get to downtown DC at rush hour.
If you want to avoid the tolls on the ICC (MD 200), take Rt. 29 to 32, then 32 to 95. It will only take a couple of minutes longer than taking the ICC. |
Anonymous
| Yeah I'd look at Olney. |
Anonymous
| Greenbelt. |
Anonymous
| If you took the train to Baltimore, you'd then take a JHU shuttle to the hospital. I don't know how much time that would tack on, but I'd factor that in, because the train station aren't very close. |
Anonymous
If you do Columbia, be sure to be at or slightly south of 32 - there is a 2nd rush hour to Ellicott City/ out of Columbia job centers that the DC commuter would hit on 95 and 29. Specific Columbia recs would be Atholton HS area or Maple Lawn - I prefer the areas west of 29 / 95. |
Anonymous
|
I live in Baltimore (DH works here and I work from home). I like Baltimore a lot, but I would not recommend living here with a commute to Arlington. I second the recommendation for renting in Capitol Hill and testing out the MARC commute. There is a free shuttle from Penn Station in Baltimore to Hopkins' medical center, but it will add time to your commute.
If you do wind up looking at housing in Baltimore, Bolton Hill Nursery is supposed to be quite good. Good luck figuring it all out and congrats on the job. |