HELP - Moving to DC and KNOW N O T H I N G
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Anonymous
OP, not that you'll end up in Montgomery County, and MoCo is huge, so your commute will vary greatly, but the schools are good. Here's a website that might give you some idea of what you can rent for the money in MoCo. www.rentinbethesda.com For preschools (and even daycares), you can often find openings. It's not like being in DC. As others have said, a lot is going to depend on where you'll be working. I live in what is called N. Bethesda and I drive to work (silly me). It can take me 45-60mins each way. My husband was a fed until recently, and he'd commute on the metro and it would take him about 30 mins each way into downtown DC (but he didn't have to change train lines, which can add time). DC is just plain expensive. You can make it on your HHI and live ok, but not live as you would in Detroit on the same HHI. We were lucky that we bought homes before the run up in the early 2000s and we rolled that money into a great house, but now, you'll have to shop around. Housing prices have held here for the good neighborhoods, but you can find something older or a townhouse once you decide where you want to be. |
Anonymous
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First and foremost, find out exactly where you will be working. Fed agencies have offices all over, not just in DC--plus "in DC proper" doesn't mean much. You need to know where, then decide what your max commute is and go from there. A single agency may have downtown locations but satellite offices all over the DC area (MD, VA) so you need to know which office you'd be working out of. Don't take for granted you'd be in DC. If you work in Rockville, MD, you don't want to be in an outer VA suburb or vice versa.
Re: reston--whether by car or the metro that's supposed to be there in a year, that commute is not a 30 min commute to DC (it's longer, much longer), FYI. |
csabdalla
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Forgive me folks, I can't really comment on which Fed agency and I won't know the location specifics until several months from now. My nature is to scout everything out well ahead of time and position myself so that at least one of us knows what we are walking into. My desire to leave Detroit is much greater than my husband, and of course I would never be so rude as to tell him the real reason why, so I am the one who is ultimately going to makes things happen and steer the ship in this particular instance.
We have opportunities to go to other cities around the nation, however for what we will be doing DC is the better place, than say Atlanta or Seattle or Chicago. Doing the math, I think we can reasonable be able to afford something up to $3250 in rent - that just sounds crazy to me when that would be a hefty mortgage most places. but as they say "it is what it is". It just has to have great schools, i can live without a lot but I won't sacrifice the quality of education for my kids. When you guys talk about commuting on the train how long does it literally take you to get to and from work> I mean you park your car, get on a train, get off and then still have to walk long distances or get on a bus? Is that how you do it there? Detroit is the Motor City after all so we drive everywhere and park. |
Anonymous
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There are really only 2 agencies that people "can't comment on". I'm going with the one I know in McLean. Most of their satellite offices are in Northern VA, and the bulk of the employees are at the HQ building. So if that's possibly correct, keep your focus on North Arlington/Falls Church/Vienna. Stay away from the I-95 corridor, that's a bad commute to there.
The other agency is in MD, and I don't know too much about the surrounding area. |
Anonymous
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Assuming you are at an agency downtown, you will probably be very close (within a block or two) to your office once you get off the train. As far as getting to a metro station near your home, you might be lucky enough to be walking distance (but unlikely given your criteria and budget), but more than likely you will need to drive to the station and park. Depending on the station, you might need to get there early before the lots fill up. Other stations never fill up because they have more spaces available. You might want to check the metro/WMATA website to give you an idea for how the system works. I believe it tells you somewhere which lots typically fill up, and you can figure out the timing for trips, etc.
http://wmata.com/rail/ |
Anonymous
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Agree with 12:46 if it is an agency that you can't comment on, then it'll be in an arc between McLean and Chantilly.
IMO, Falls Church City is the best place in Northern VA for a generic commute. Now if you intend to stay at your building for several years (*) you can factor that in. (*) Or if you're like me and not that ambitious and content to do what you're doing for years at a time for high end office drone salaries (80-120k). Above 120k they seem to start wanting you to do work for a living. You're able to do a reverse commute to Dullesland fairly easily (if you start east of where 29/Wash Blvd/66 meet up a reverse commute won't work out so well), nearly everywhere in the city is within a 15 minute walk of the Metro, prices aren't as insane as North Arlington, the schools are great, it's walkable, and its status as having been here 60 years ago makes it historic and all community-like by Northern VA standards. |
Anonymous
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OP, just for reference, there is a lot of people here that know someone that works for an agency or does work "They can't comment on" it's one of those "open" secrets.
Meaning it's ok if people know that you are an analyst for the CIA or whatever as long as you don't comment on the stuff you see. |
Anonymous
| You also need to think about how you are willing to commute. That may depend on your childcare options. If you go fed, are you willing to schlep your kids on the metro and into the city? From an outer 'burb, say Vienna, the train ride alone (not counting walking there or parking, walking, waiting) is 30 min. If you plan to drive into the city, budget for parking. It ain't gonna be free. Count on a few hundred dollars/month for parking. If you work in the 'burbs, you still may need to pay. I work for a fed agency, office in northern virginia, my out of pocket for parking is $200/month. The attached daycare at my work is $1500/month. There's also a long wait list for the daycare and I have colleagues who just couldn't get their kids in. |
Anonymous
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If it's an agency that can't be commented on that's in NoVa, why would OP say it's in DC proper? That doesn't sound right. And if she were saying that to throw us off, why would she then just come out and say she works for an agency that can't be commented on.
PS--you're nuts to choose DC over Seattle! |
Anonymous
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I would have to say the "can't comment on" is code for "I don't have a job" or "I haven't finished my background check" - not I work for NSA or CIA. As so many people here work for NSA or CIA and freely comment on it (vs. the work they do for that agency...it's only a person who is new to the area that feels the need to be so hush hush).
Hope for you it's CIA....as NSA is really in the middle of nowhere. Again, why say DC proper? |
Anonymous
FBI! |
Anonymous
| Sounds like FBI, but FBI agents can say who they work for. |
Anonymous
| Even the CIA has offices in other cities. But again, around here, who cares. |
Anonymous
| Right, welcome to DC, toss a stone and hit someone who works for a "can't be commented on" agency. |
Anonymous
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I am guessing she thinks it is a very small office. But as other posters have said, there's no "secret" locations around here that people don't know about. So instead of saying 'no comment on location', you just say fed office in Chantilly. These places aren't secret, just the nature of the business conducted inside the walls is secret.
I highly doubt NSA - not even close to DC proper. But if it is NSA, Howard County is awesome, great schools. Look in Ellicott City and Columbia. She may mean White House and not know that thousands of people work there and yes, they say where they work. DIA is all over Northern Virginia & DC. Same with CIA and FBI. |