Anonymous wrote:Might want to consider being within a mile of a metro station for resale value. Houses close to a metro station will hold their value better, even in a downturn. And yes, we do feel the effects of recessions in DC.

Yep, and as area population growth continues, and congestion increases, that premium is only going to get greater. There's a reason people pay for proximity.

Anonymous wrote:I have to chime in and disagree with those who say Metro is unreliable. In my experience the people who complain most about Metro are those who use the system infrequently. I've been riding the Orange line to and from work for 13+ years now and, while the system isn't perfect (NYC's is definitely better) I'd hardly call it "unreliable". In fact, I love commuting on Metro and would never even consider moving to a neighborhood that required me to drive to work instead.

We also take Metro on the rare occasion we go into the city on weekends (for baseball games, museums, etc). Yes, it takes longer on a Saturday or Sunday but who wants to deal with parking when Metro drops you off almost anywhere you'd want to go?

http://wusa9.com/news/article/180577/158/Metro-Passengers-Cite-Lack-Of-Communication-During-Incident

You must not go too many places if Metro drops you off almost anywhere you'd want to go.

I live in DC and have a double stroller (city mini) and take the metro everywhere when possible on weekends (we live a block away from a stop). We metro to museums or to Target. I would so much rather take the metro than get two kids in and out of the car. Also, some areas near the metro have lots of stuff walking distance - that is harder to find (but not impossible) far from a metro. Oh and we have a garage, so parking is not an issue - metro is just easier. Esp when one kid falls asleep - much better to fall asleep in the stroller than in the carseat.

Another thing you may want to consider if you are coming from NYC w/o a car and move here and get a car is how much weight you'll gain. I gained 15 lbs. Sucks and had to join a gym.

Paying an Arlington metro premium for a work commute into the city: Make sense ; Paying an Arlington metro premium for weekend trips into the city: Does not make sense.

As an Arlington resident though, the metro premium (in the Courthouse to Ballston corridor) is also tied to walkability to a lot of amenities, so the areas you're talking about (like Clarendon, Lyon Village etc.) may still be of interest for you. At ~$900k ceiling, you may also want to consider high-end THs in these areas, as you'll often get much more space if you're not someone obssessed with having an SFH. We bought a TH at that price-point in this Arlington corridor (at 2900 sq feet). We cared a lot about metro accessibility at the time we bought, but realize it doesn't matter so much. I commute on the original line for work, but realize that with my 0.8 mile walk to the metro, it would be faster for me to commute in via Route 50. Still, I do metro to work (40 minute commute to Farragut West work all in from Ballston area).

We *never* metro in on the weekends, because it takes much longer than driving on the weekend (we are into the city every weekend or every second weekend). 10 minutes by driving to the national mall or Dupont....with walking/waiting/metro it would take almost an hour on the weekend. We don't care about shelling the $10-15 for weekend parking- the people driven crazy by parking are those only willing to park at street spots.

Anonymous wrote:Why do some posters always use the expression "car-bound"? If you don't have a car, wouldn't you then be "Metro-bound" or "public transportation-bound"? This isn't NYC. DC isn't Manhattan, and the Maryland and Virginia aren't Brooklyn or Queens. Metro isn't remotely comparable to the MTA in terms of scale, frequency of trains, or reliability. The vast majority of people who live here drive frequently to get where they need to be.

No one has suggested that the OP sell her car and rely solely on public transportation. But it's nice to have options. Being <1 mile to a Metro station increases those options.

Why do some posters always use the expression "car-bound"? If you don't have a car, wouldn't you then be "Metro-bound" or "public transportation-bound"? This isn't NYC. DC isn't Manhattan, and the Maryland and Virginia aren't Brooklyn or Queens. Metro isn't remotely comparable to the MTA in terms of scale, frequency of trains, or reliability. The vast majority of people who live here drive frequently to get where they need to be.

How secure are your jobs? Might either of you get a new one in the years you are planning on living in the house?

We live less than a mile from a metro in the suburbs (Forest Glen area of Silver Spring) and I do commute to work, and LOVE it. My quality of life would plummet greatly if I had to drive into the city or worry about metro parking. We have one car too, which is nice (DH works in the suburbs near where we live). We don't use metro that often on the weekend, though it's a nice option. Agree with resale value - prices in our neighborhood have dropped from the boom but I do think we have an advantage in being walking distance to the metro/red line.

OP - I'm a North Arlington PP and there is definitely a premium for metro when you're comparing SIMILAR properties. There are expensive areas farther from Metro, but they're generally expensive because they're exclusive, have bigger houses or more land or they're a new infill house. Lyon Village is a good example - you compare a house in Lyon Village (walkable to Clarendon) with a similar one in Country Club (2.5 miles from Ballston) and the prices are very different. Hint: you can park at Ballston Commons Mall for $8/weekday, $1/weekend day or $77/month. That's what I do, so we can use Metro without paying $200K extra for the same house closer to Metro.

I have to chime in and disagree with those who say Metro is unreliable. In my experience the people who complain most about Metro are those who use the system infrequently. I've been riding the Orange line to and from work for 13+ years now and, while the system isn't perfect (NYC's is definitely better) I'd hardly call it "unreliable". In fact, I love commuting on Metro and would never even consider moving to a neighborhood that required me to drive to work instead.

We also take Metro on the rare occasion we go into the city on weekends (for baseball games, museums, etc). Yes, it takes longer on a Saturday or Sunday but who wants to deal with parking when Metro drops you off almost anywhere you'd want to go?

OP, I think the answer to your question depends largely on how much you plan to go into the city. Some people go all the time and others go very rarely. Coming from NYC, I'm guessing you'd be more likely to fall in the first of those two groups. In that case, I think it would be worth it for you to pay for better proximity to the Metro. You're used to doing lots of walking to get places and I suspect it will be frustrating for you to be more car-bound. As others have said, Metro accessibility will also help you tremendously at resale time.

The farther-out Metro stations have much more parking available and make it more feasible to drive to a station and park (on the weekends) but in Arlington, Metro parking won't be as easy. Unless you arrive very early (e.g. before 8:00am) parking at Metro is difficult everywhere on weekdays because you'll be competing with commuters for a space. So if you're contemplating weekday trips into the District, I'd want that walkability for sure.

Good luck and welcome to the area!

Anonymous wrote:

3. Traffic in DC and surrounding areas are just as bad as NYC, in my opinion.

I completely disagree. Unless we are talking about Cherry Blossom week, in which case now that I think about it, I still disagree. It is much easier to drive and park in DC than in NYC. And, along the line of what other posters have said, "knowing your parking" is very important. Parking on some streets "opens up" at 630 or 7, fills up at some times, isnt available at others. Some streets have meters, some for whatever reason unknown to no one other than the Gods are close to stuff but have none.

I think that people who get flustered by DC driving dont think of DC as just being a grid: letters one way, #s another. Random one-way streets every now and again, but the next street will be one way the other direction so if you needed to turn and it was a one way, you can just jump on that and circle back.

Ok, clearly Im getting way ahead of your move here. Good luck, DC is a great city! Hopefully you will love it here and your family as well.

I don’t see the premium the OP is talking about. Most expensive parts of DC metro area actually are not metro accessible at all and prices there are no bargain even at entry level.

NW DC is full of such examples. Spring Valley is not cheaper than AU park, which has metro access. Cleveland Park is not more expensive than Wesley Heights. East Village area in Gtown which is walking distance to Foggy bottom and Dupont lines does not carry premium over further out parts of Gtown. Dupont is not more expensive than Kalorama. Mclean is not a bargain to compare to Arlington, definitely the premium OP is talking about of 200K is not there. There are plenty of over a million properties in the further out parts of N. Arlington and in Mclean and crazy expensive properties in far away Great Falls.

The bottom line is, the wealthy in DC area care less about the Metro system. It is faster and easier to drive into the city on weekends than using slow and expensive metro system. If you live in deeply residential areas inside Beltway, you are still very short drive away from most places of interest or shopping. DC is much much smaller than NYC, you can be on the most suburban cul-de-sac but within only 10-15 mile radius from most things you need.

We always drive into the city.

The only way I would ever pay more to be within walking distance of the metro is if I used it every day to commute. Other than that driving in on the weekends takes way less time. PLus you always think you will go into the city way more than you do. Or at least that is true for us (early 30's with 1 child and expecting another)

OP here. Very interesting replies. I am having a feeling that most posters consider DC area public transportation to be sort of work in progress and not there yet type of thing.

To answer some questions. We were looking in North Arlington close to DC, the prices <1 mile away from metro were definitely 200K or even 300K more than equivalent homes further away and not walkable to metro. Our budget is 900K, definitely cannot go over a million. This opens up a few places further away from metro with good enough space and scenery and walkability to some amenities. I am working from home, that is not likely to change. DH can change his location, but he has flexibility of getting to the office a bit earlier or later, so to avoid the rush hour traffic. We would like to stay in the area central to the main employment points. We want to have reasonable drives to DC, Tysons, Reston, Bethesda. Arlington seems to be right in the middle. We are not set on Arlington, we are open to other places bordering the general area.

We live a mile from the metro in Silver Spring and use it frequently. We only have one far and both hate driving so being close to public transportation has been key. We actually use the bus system more frequently than the Metro even. Silver Spring is a major transit hub so there are buses going everywhere anytime. I wouldn't rule out the bus system in some areas. We wanted to be somewhere we could walk to restaurants, stores and groceries and not be reliant on a car to get anywhere and places with Metros usually have all that. I think if you don't like driving and are used to being able to get around without a car, you will not be happy in a suburb away from the Metro. We paid about $50k more thank the same houses farther out but it has been completely worth it.