First off: I know now is a terrible time to house search with interest rates, home prices and rents through the roof. No arguments there.
My wife works remotely for a nonprofit out of DC. On a recent trip to work in office, she has expressed interest in moving closer to better support her team. We’ve just started exploring options within the Washington metropolitan area, that’d be a reasonable commute, preferable by public transit.
If you have knowledge of this area with suggestions for where we should consider, and/or any dos and dont’s please let me know.
Thanks very much!
If you don’t want to be in DC proper, Reston is close and not horribly priced. Decent restaurant, hiking, and other random lifestyle stuff nearby, but still reasonably close to DC.
As others have said, plan on taking public transit. Much as I despise metro, it’s better than driving. It’s pricey, though; I spend almost $19/day parking at the end of a line and taking the train downtown. If you’re hell bent on driving, then be sure to live on the same side of the river as the job. Crossing the Legion bridge is a CF no matter the time of day.
This is the metro map
https://www.wmata.com/content/dam/wmata-com/maps/system-map-rail.pdf
And there’s supposed to be a light rail line at some point
Uggh.
I worked there for a few years. Nothing, and I mean nothing can ever get me to go back there.
Missed an exit leaving Reagan airport once, took an extra hour to get where I was going - that’s how bad the traffic can be.
And then (as others have mentioned) the 90% humidity and heat. It’s oppressive. If you’re coming from the western US, that’s going to be a fun adjustment.
If you must, then live in VA very close to mass transit. Not sure what they have now, but it was massively improving while I was there.
There’s a reason why DC has been expanding southward for decades (mostly because there’s nowhere else to expand, but people have chosen to live southward and commute).
Truly, I urge you to consider how you feel about 90+ temps with 90% humidity
DC was designated for the federal capitol explicitly because it is an unbearable swamp and the concept was intended to prevent Congress from staying there and becoming embedded
This was, of course, before the invention of air conditioning, but the plan was a solid one.
Most of the actual swamps (wetland variety) have been drained since, but the swamp-airs are certainly still around.
Northern Virginia (NoVa) is decent if you don’t want to be directly in the city.
Just move somewhere on a metro line. There are many possibilities, it all depends on your budget and priorities. Personally I’d want to live in a more urbanized area. Driving in the area sucks ass so somewhere walkable and bikeable is best In addition to metro access. MD and VA are probably best due to DC residents being the president’s serfs at the moment, but if that doesn’t bother you there are plenty of great neighborhoods in DC. Arlington is cool if you can afford it. But it’s been a long time since I spent much time there so I think things are pretty different now.
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I would recommend not doing that. Every experience ive had and have anecdotally heard about DC in the past 12 years have been extremely, overwhelmingly negative. Not to mention exceedingly expensive and more and more fascist by the day
The only big thing that I’d note is that the humidity is no joke. If you’re used to dry weather, a wet heat will be a different kind of miserable. It will also happen at cooler temperatures.
preferable by public transit
good call, driving into the city was hell when i lived there in the 90s and it’s only gotten worse.
the trains are great if one goes where you need it to. so i guess the absolute first thing to do is check the service maps for washington metro as well as vre/marc (commuter rail). if her office is near a station, that can quickly narrow down possible locations to near stations on the same line(s).
many of the suburban metro stations were designed to commute to themselves (park and rides), with lots of parking, bike racks and lockers, and kiss-and-ride (drop-off) lanes. some of the city stations have housing on the same block or literally right above them, even.
i’d shy away from alexandria for now, cuz that’s where amazon is building “hq2” (that’s along the blue/yellow metro in va).
The core of the DC metro is encircled by interstate 495 (the capital beltway or just the beltway) which forms a ring around DC proper and a bit of Maryland and Virginia. The wider region is often called the DMV: DC, Maryland, and Virginia region.
Inside the beltway and just outside is pretty urban and tends to be expensive. Cost decreased the further outside of the beltway you go. The DC metro serves the region with light rail with connections to the bus system and heavy rail (MARC and Amtrak). Manny employers will provide metro passes so it’s with asking about.
Virginia to the south tends to be less expensive than Maryland to the north of the Beltway. That said there are differences in public transit and other municipal services. Maryland taxes are higher but you get more services. What matters is knowing what those services are and if you will benefit from them.
The DC light rail has three main points you might connect in from outside the beltway. The orange and silver line, which run to the West of DC. The yellow line which ends at Huntington station in Alexandria Virginia to the South of DC by Reagan airport. And the red line which makes a U shape with both ends to the north or northwest of DC. All have parking garages or bus systems you can connect to. You can use the metro trip planner to see what a commute time would look like DC SmartTrip).
I moved here from the West Coast, and while I prefer the West Coast I didn’t regret coming out here but eventually I’ll probably head back once I’ve done the career tour I set out to accomplish here.
There are great restaurants, but they are harder to find. You really can’t trust Google reviews as it seems everything is 4.4 stars.
Be aware of the prevailing traffic patterns during commuting hours before moving. What looks like a 1 hour trip could be 3 at the worst traffic times. Louis of folks go in early and leave early to avoid the traffic and congestion, if that is an option. Ideally, live as close as you can afford to the end of the metro line with the shortest trip to work. Electric scooters can be a good last mile from metro to office.
I work in the beltway and am lucky with a 20-30 minute commute because I live close to a metro station, so it is doable.
You will want an umbrella. I came over, west coast climber in the Cascades, never owned an umbrella before, etc. Get an umbrella. It never rains, but it pours.
Happy to answer any other questions. I’m not on all the time but will check for replies when I login, maybe once every day or two.
Depends on your budget and lifestyle. If you want a single family home, you’re probably going to want to be in Stafford or further south unless your budget is high. If you want an apartment, you can get much closer. 95 fucking sucks and if you don’t have kids, I recommend an apartment closer. I left DC because I fucking hated 95.
You could maybe go west of DC, but I don’t know that area as well. It’s pricy, but nice. I don’t think I’d recommend Maryland, though I worked with a few people who lived there. Everything about getting from DC to Maryland sucks, and BWI sucks.
All of this is just based on my experience there about ten years ago.
Im on east coast, been on the west. West is best, don’t come. I wish I could leave.
Severn, MD is a decent area. Get away from most of the hussle and bussle, while be close to everything. Plenty of housing options if you move quick before interest rates jump again
Good luck! New Jersey hates everyone!
Ignore that I’m from New Jersey!
