Commuting to downtown DC and Baltimore: suggestions to where to move?

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

My wife and I are contemplating a move to the DC area. I would be working in downtown DC and my wife would need to travel to Baltimore at least two days a week. We have two children, aged 11 and 8. Our question is: is there a smart choice to make in terms of neighborhood / suburb to relocate to ? Looking at the map and METRO lines, I thought of Greenbelt but does this option actually make sense ?

Many thanks,

JP

[Anonymous]

Yes, also Laurel, where Marc train is an option for getting to DC or Baltimore. Schools are iffy in both greenbelt and Laurel. You'll want to look closely at that.

[Anonymous]

Thanks ! Is there any way one can take a systematic look at the quality of school by district / neighborhood ?

[Anonymous]

Move to downtown DC and have your wife grab the train 2 times a week. That would be the easiest cute by far.

[Anonymous]

Greatschools has the test scores of each school as well as racial/socioeconomic makeup.

I'd be looking at Silver Spring or maybe Shephard Park/Colonial Village. Good schools from K through 12, the Bawlmer-bound spouse doesn't have to drive through all of DC, and the DC-bound spouse is a Metro trip away.

Prince George's typically scores worse on tests and has more socio-economic challenges than Montgomery and even the more affluent part of DC.

[Anonymous]

Move to DC. I did the commute to Baltimore for 2 years. Easy as pie. It was all against traffic. It took 45 minutes - tops. We lived in NE so it was near South Dakota and 295. We now live in Colonial Village and it would be really easy from here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Move to DC. I did the commute to Baltimore for 2 years. Easy as pie. It was all against traffic. It took 45 minutes - tops. We lived in NE so it was near South Dakota and 295. We now live in Colonial Village and it would be really easy from here.

Funny, on a thread yesterday everyone kept saying commuting from DC to Columbia was "murder." Wonder how many of them have actually done it.

[Anonymous]

Thanks all.

Anonymous wrote:Move to DC. I did the commute to Baltimore for 2 years. Easy as pie. It was all against traffic. It took 45 minutes - tops. We lived in NE so it was near South Dakota and 295. We now live in Colonial Village and it would be really easy from here.

And you would say that it's a good idea to school two children in a public school in downtown DC?

I have also looked at Montgomery county, and, on Google map, it's only a 55 min drive away from Baltimore. If this is true, I am wondering if the extra school quality might not be worth the 2x 10 min commute. Or what am I missing please?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all.

Anonymous wrote:Move to DC. I did the commute to Baltimore for 2 years. Easy as pie. It was all against traffic. It took 45 minutes - tops. We lived in NE so it was near South Dakota and 295. We now live in Colonial Village and it would be really easy from here.

And you would say that it's a good idea to school two children in a public school in downtown DC?

I have also looked at Montgomery county, and, on Google map, it's only a 55 min drive away from Baltimore. If this is true, I am wondering if the extra school quality might not be worth the 2x 10 min commute. Or what am I missing please?

If you can stomach the lottery process, then yes. I am thrilled with my child's public charter school; I couldn't be happier.

[Anonymous]

I work in DC, and my partner works in Baltimore. We live in Bowie. Our neighborhood feeds to a very good elementary school (10 on Great Schools).

The middle school and high school rate a 6 on Great Schools, but they are large, and you have to remember that the test scores are an average. Most of my neighbors have been happy with the schools, even though people will say all kinds of nasty things about PG County schools.

We both have very reasonable commutes. There is a MARC train stop in Bowie, which makes commuting to Baltimore and Washington easy. I still drive into D.C., and the average is 30 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes going home at night. There's also a park and ride to the metro (orange line).

We love our neighborhood. But I will say that people on here say a lot of horrible things about PG County. I suspect most of them actually have no experience with PG County.

We considered a lot of places, but Bowie turned out to be the best choice for our needs.

A lot has to do with your budget. We were able to get a single family home with a nice yard for a very reasonable budget. And we've been happy.

As for Montgomery County, don't be deceived by distance on a map. In certain parts of Montgomery County, the traffic is very heavy.

As for Columbia and Laurel, which people often suggest as a place between D.C. and Baltimore, I decided the commute for me from Columbia to D.C. would be too much to do on a daily basis.

Best of luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all.

Anonymous wrote:Move to DC. I did the commute to Baltimore for 2 years. Easy as pie. It was all against traffic. It took 45 minutes - tops. We lived in NE so it was near South Dakota and 295. We now live in Colonial Village and it would be really easy from here.

And you would say that it's a good idea to school two children in a public school in downtown DC?

I have also looked at Montgomery county, and, on Google map, it's only a 55 min drive away from Baltimore. If this is true, I am wondering if the extra school quality might not be worth the 2x 10 min commute. Or what am I missing please?

Don't forget about the Beltway factor. We're in Baltimore and every time we come to DC we get clogged up right as we move from 95 to 495. Maybe it's better with the new highway they just built though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all.

Anonymous wrote:Move to DC. I did the commute to Baltimore for 2 years. Easy as pie. It was all against traffic. It took 45 minutes - tops. We lived in NE so it was near South Dakota and 295. We now live in Colonial Village and it would be really easy from here.

And you would say that it's a good idea to school two children in a public school in downtown DC?

I have also looked at Montgomery county, and, on Google map, it's only a 55 min drive away from Baltimore. If this is true, I am wondering if the extra school quality might not be worth the 2x 10 min commute. Or what am I missing please?

Don't forget about the Beltway factor. We're in Baltimore and every time we come to DC we get clogged up right as we move from 95 to 495. Maybe it's better with the new highway they just built though.

I'm the Bowie poster. I second this. I think on paper, commuting from Montgomery County to Baltimore may not seem bad, but it can be really horrible because there are some spots that just clog up no matter what time of day or night. The ICC was designed to help with this, but it's kind of expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in DC, and my partner works in Baltimore. We live in Bowie. Our neighborhood feeds to a very good elementary school (10 on Great Schools).

The middle school and high school rate a 6 on Great Schools, but they are large, and you have to remember that the test scores are an average. Most of my neighbors have been happy with the schools, even though people will say all kinds of nasty things about PG County schools.

We both have very reasonable commutes. There is a MARC train stop in Bowie, which makes commuting to Baltimore and Washington easy. I still drive into D.C., and the average is 30 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes going home at night. There's also a park and ride to the metro (orange line).

We love our neighborhood. But I will say that people on here say a lot of horrible things about PG County. I suspect most of them actually have no experience with PG County.

We considered a lot of places, but Bowie turned out to be the best choice for our needs.

A lot has to do with your budget. We were able to get a single family home with a nice yard for a very reasonable budget. And we've been happy.

As for Montgomery County, don't be deceived by distance on a map. In certain parts of Montgomery County, the traffic is very heavy.

As for Columbia and Laurel, which people often suggest as a place between D.C. and Baltimore, I decided the commute for me from Columbia to D.C. would be too much to do on a daily basis.

Best of luck.

Bowie is probably the best place in PGC. OK to great schools, safe, decent shopping options, fairly convenient, and TRULY diverse. I know I'd move there if life took me in that direction, although DW would be much much much harder to convince.

I'm glad for the posters who try and differentiate between the parts of PGC -- some might be great places to live in 20 years but I want somewhere that's great NOW.

[Anonymous]

My family does the DC/Baltimore thing and we live in Laurel, and know lots of other DC/Baltimore couples. If you want to walk to the MARC you'll be buying a house zoned for Laurel Elementary, which is pretty bad. The high school is worse. The good thing is that housing is so much less expensive that you can do private school with the savings, if you are open to that. We like the town a lot, and so have decided to stay despite the schools and do private. A note on the MARC: check the schedule before you decide on a house! The trains don't run all that frequently so you need to know that one of those trains will work for you. A good alternative is a pretty short drive to Greenbelt to the metro.

[Anonymous]

Thanks again to all, very helpful.

I suppose that an other criterion is whether one has to fly often or not. If so, I suppose distance to Dulles will also come into the picture, rigth?