Okay, I'm a die-hard suburbanite and Metro actually suits my family pretty well. My wife is visually impaired and currently not driving. She has to metro downtown about once or twice a week (she works outside the beltway, but has to travel to HQ downtown at generally once or twice per week). Generally pretty reliable for commuting with an occasional glitch (like this week's Orange/Blue line problem). I only use Metro on weekends for pleasure and as long as I plan accordingly, it works out for me. But then, I only use it for certain types of travel, like when I'm going to see tourist attractions, or to see a show at KC or National. I also often drive downtown. But when I choose to use Metro, it's been pretty reliable for me and my wife. And we've lived in the DC suburbs for about 20 years.

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

What a surprise. Another DCUM princess who's too good to ride Metro and thinks Georgetown is the center of the universe.

Another N.Arl. resident posting. I totally agree with this PP "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. "

We live in N.Arl. nearish to Yorktown highschool. I could walk to EFC metro - would be more than a mile and I probably wouldn't bother. (We park in the Ballston mall if we need metro parking - my husband has a weekday parking pass because he works in Ballston and that's where we park if we need something weekends or evenings, it's very reasonable and close to home so the drive isn't bad or stressful.) But I can also easily walk to cofee, bagel store, ice cream, groceries and a few good restaurants from my home. Living in the 'burbs doesn't always equal total loss of walkability. Plus in between my house and all those things mentioned above is a truly awesome playground and my kids are close enough to walk to their elementary, middle and highschool, all of which are good schools. No, there's not as much to do as if you were downtown and had shops etc in every direction, but with small kids, how much of that are you going to do anyway?

One downside - when we've had friends visiting from out of twon, it can be hard to pick them up from metro since we've got two carseats installed in our car we don't have enough seat room for two adults plus a driver without taking out carseats, but carless guests have had little to no trouble using bus+metro to get around during the week and to sight see (I agree, with others that on the weekend this can be a PITA as both buses and metros come much less frequently, it makes the waiting really not worth it.)

OP, for $900k you can definitely buy in a neighborhood like mine which, if you don't want/need metro every day, may be a really good fit for you.

I have commuted to and from work (3 different offices and 2 different homes) for almost 10 years and frequently take it on the weekends and evenings too and I have never a single time been a victim of crime or had anything stolen or been assaulted in any way. I realize that the plural of anecdote is not data and that there is of course some crime on Metro (just like there is in any subway system), but I would not consider it crime riddled or unsafe in any way.

I live in the city, 6 blocks from the metro, which I used to commute. We definitely use it less on weekends, partly because of the delays caused by the track work, which I hope will be done in a few years. The traffic in the city is usually pretty easy on the weekends, barring a major event, so it is faster and easier to hop in the car rather that walk to the metro, wait for a train, etc. We do sometimes use it to go to the airport (National), which takes a bit longer but is easier than schlepping everything from the car to the shuttle to the terminal (and also a good deal less expensive). I also use it when I'm going out at night and know I will be drinking.

I do think being close to a metro is generally good for maintaining home values. And when DC is older I plan to tell him that he has to use the metro to get around, rather than have me drive him everywhere. The other thing to think about is commuting if either of you gets another job.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Yes, metroing to work adds 35 to 40 minutes of walking to my day. I would hate to start driving to work in part because I'd lose that but that's just me.

OP here I hear you! Currently, I am walking on avg 40 min a day just to get around, go to the office, lunch break, etc, plus around 6 miles min on avg weekend as we avoid taking subway with the stroller. This definitely helps keeping in shape as gym-time is not really an option anymore. I would hate to lose that.. Oh well. lots to think about! Definitely must live near some nice trails or just something to walk to.

Anonymous wrote:

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

Aside from Target, I can't think of any place I want to go that I can't walk or Metro to.

Don't want to miss this fun - you absolute MUST live near a Metro station and around the station, preferably at night.

http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/2011/12/rider-reports-what-appears-to-be-armed.html

Also be sure to encourage your kids to ride the Metro because they don't need IPhones anyway and getting held up will give them street smarts.

METRO= CRIME. BTDT.

Anonymous wrote: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.

Yes, metroing to work adds 35 to 40 minutes of walking to my day. I would hate to start driving to work in part because I'd lose that but that's just me.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Re: the link: What's your point?