Where to live to have 20 min driving commute to Capitol Hill?

[Anonymous]

If you hate commuting, don't move to the suburbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I hate commuting. The only problem with silver spring is the schools. I think we'd want a better school pyramid than what you find generally in silver spring. So I'm thinking I may have to suck up the Arlington commute to get better schools. Somehow I don't know anyone who actually makes that drive, and looking at it on google maps just doesn't illuminate things.

I sort of do this drive. I commute from the Cherrydale neighborhood in N. Arlington to 4th and Eye NW, passing right by (or, depending on what route I take, under) the Capitol. So I can tell you with certainty that you can't make it from my house to the Hill in 20 minutes, except during non-rush hours. Depending on where you are going on the Hill, 30 minutes, door-to-door, would be a very good day, but I think you have to plan for 40, especially in the evening. Of course, there are places in Arlington closer to the Hill than Cherrydale, but your big choke points, traffic-wise, are the bridges, and you have to cross them no matter where in Arlington you are coming from. So living further east or south in Arlington will help, but not as much as you might think.

We moved to Arlington from the Hill, and I truly hated the commute at first. (Because I live a mile from the metro and have to switch lines to get to work, it's quite a bit faster for me to drive than metro, so that's what I do.) But I've gotten used to it and don't really mind it anymore, especially in the morning. Evening rush hour is more annoying, both because it is often longer and because I am just crankier at the end of the day.

I work on the Hill - on the NE side - and commute in from Rosslyn. No way is that 20 minutes. I commute via metro, b/c it's way less variable than traffic. It's about 35 minutes from Rosslyn to Union Station, with the transfer. Driving, it could be 15 minutes or an hour on any given day. That said, if you would live somewhere around Pentagon City, it would shave some driving time, or you could take VRE into Union Station if you are on that side. But traffic is a mess heading to the hill when Congress is in session.

Where is the choke point? 395 north towards union station? Why not take Maine avenue to independence?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:brookland

That's what I ultimately settled on for a similar commute to the OP. Going on 3 months and very happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you hate commuting, don't move to the suburbs.

If you hate commuting, don't move to this area period. Unless you move so close to your job that you can walk, which is unlikely for both spouses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here -
Where is the choke point? 395 north towards union station? Why not take Maine avenue to independence?

Maine gets backed up, too and the merge on to 395 is very slow. There seem to be regular breakdowns and delays in the L'enfant underpasses, too.

[Anonymous]

You could explore how far out to Anne Arundel Co. you could get. I regularly go from around the ballpark to Annapolis in evening rush hour (including during the summer beach season) in an hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - DH has ruled out living in D.C., and because of child care issues a car will be necessary in the afternoon, so Metro is a no-go. I have a reserved parking space at work.

It's going to take you 20 min to get over the 14th street bridge in the morning. So, hmm. I don't know. Terminal C, National Airport? The Pentagon City mall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you looked about any property around Capitol Hill? There are so many parks that the back yard issue has been non-existent for us (plus we meet so many others at the parks/playgrounds that it's great for socialization.

We are very happy with our school. There are some great school options (elementary) and we believe things will improve (or we'll have more options) by the time our child reaches middle.

Uh huh

Actually, this thread and the massive demographic change that's rocking the city are pretty compelling argument that people are going to continue to move into the city, and that the schools are going to continue to radically improve as well.

[Anonymous]

Radically improve is a big claim. The Hill has been improving for years (we bought in 1996) and I am still amazed at how limited the options are within DCPS and how far you have to go for Charters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - DH has ruled out living in D.C., and because of child care issues a car will be necessary in the afternoon, so Metro is a no-go. I have a reserved parking space at work.

It's going to take you 20 min to get over the 14th street bridge in the morning. So, hmm. I don't know. Terminal C, National Airport? The Pentagon City mall?

I disagree. At 6:45am, it will only take you about 10 minutes to get over the bridge.

[Anonymous]

My friend commutes from S. Arlington (gasp!) to her office near Farragut West (not capital hill, I know) and says it takes her about 20 minutes. This is how she says she justifies the crazy monthly parking fee, bc metro would take double that (including getting to the metro I mean)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Radically improve is a big claim. The Hill has been improving for years (we bought in 1996) and I am still amazed at how limited the options are within DCPS and how far you have to go for Charters.

This, in spades. We moved to the Hill in 1995. If someone had told me how little things would change in almost 20 years, I never would have believed it.

[Anonymous]

Cheverly, MD, it's about 15-20 minutes without traffic. Not sure about with traffic, but probably doable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cheverly, MD, it's about 15-20 minutes without traffic. Not sure about with traffic, but probably doable.

I was just going to recommend this!! I live and work on Capitol Hill and I love it (kids in public schools and doing great-- including Washington Latin for middle school) but if I had to move off Capitol Hill, this is where I would go. Very suburban enclave (private community swim and tennis club, nice backyards, etc.) yet so crazy close to the city. Not sure about the public schools-- my friends that live in Cheverly use the private school there. Kids can walk to school. House prices are way cheaper than in the city, so private school is affordable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cheverly, MD, it's about 15-20 minutes without traffic. Not sure about with traffic, but probably doable.

I was just going to recommend this!! I live and work on Capitol Hill and I love it (kids in public schools and doing great-- including Washington Latin for middle school) but if I had to move off Capitol Hill, this is where I would go. Very suburban enclave (private community swim and tennis club, nice backyards, etc.) yet so crazy close to the city. Not sure about the public schools-- my friends that live in Cheverly use the private school there. Kids can walk to school. House prices are way cheaper than in the city, so private school is affordable.

Horrible schools.