Jump to content

Advice on moving to DC area?


Zoraima

Recommended Posts

Hi all.

 

Sorry this is not terribly germaine to Geocaching, but hoping it will be alright.

 

As mentioned my husband has a job interview on Monday in Springfield VA. We're pretty sure he has the job.

 

Looking at places to move in either Maryland or Virginia. He will be working in DC.

 

Any suggestions as to what towns we should look at to call home? Or, any places we should avoid at all costs due to crime, seriously high prices for housing (we're in Boston now and the prices are astronomical, we're looking for something reasonable), or other reasons?

 

I thank you all very much, and sorry to take up the board with non-caching advice...

 

Zoraima

 

-----------------------------------------------------------

 

Even the smallest person can change the course of the future. --Galadriel, "The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship Of the Ring"

Link to comment

quote:
Originally posted by Zoraima:

Hi all.

 

Sorry this is not terribly germaine to Geocaching, but hoping it will be alright.

 

As mentioned my husband has a job interview on Monday in Springfield VA. We're pretty sure he has the job.

 

Looking at places to move in either Maryland or Virginia. He will be working in DC.

 

Any suggestions as to what towns we should look at to call home? Or, any places we should avoid at all costs due to crime, seriously high prices for housing (we're in Boston now and the prices are astronomical, we're looking for something reasonable), or other reasons?

 

I thank you all very much, and sorry to take up the board with non-caching advice...

 

Zoraima

 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------

 

Even the smallest person can change the course of the future. --Galadriel, "The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship Of the Ring"


 

You mean besides 'Don't'? icon_wink.gif

 

I lived in the Mt. Vernon area for a short time but that was several years ago. I remember it then as being a very nice area. I have no idea what it's like now.

 

Visit the Mississippi Geocaching Forum at

http://pub98.ezboard.com/bgeocachingms

Link to comment

Well, we like to commute down here. There are lots of cheap, and exspensive places in DC, but you are paying for the crime level. Traffic sucks no matter where you live if you commute to DC. Eastern Loudoun County is great, but is a bit pricey. I think all of MD stinks and so do most people who live there. I moved to WV to get a better price on housing. You can't even get a halfway decent townhouse with in 30 miles of DC unless it's in a horrible neighborhood for under 200K. My favorite ploces to live that are semi affordable would be Leesburg VA, Ashburn VA, or South Riding VA. Leesburg being #1.

Link to comment

I live in New Market MD (near Frederick, MD), commute to Ashburn VA (just E of Leesburg). Love this part of MD, wouldn't move to Northern VA if the house was free. But the I wouldn't live in many parts of MD either.

 

You're getting to get a lot of meaningless answers to your question I suspect because what it acceptable or ideal for some just won't be for others.

 

I used to live in Montgomery Village, MD. I still have friends thier that absolutely LOVE it. It's a planned community of 30,000 or so, has like 11 pools, lots of park lands, shopping, nearby to some of the best public schools in the nation, etc. But for me it's the typical non-compelling vanilla suburban sprawl. Now these same friends would hate it where I live, convenient to nothing of interest for them, but where I can wake up in the morning and smell the fresh air (well, at least insofar as the cow manure is fresh), crack a farm fresh egg, and not stare down the back of an endless string of cars just to get out of the neighborhood.

 

House pricing is all relative too ... is $400,000 astronomical or is $600,000? It's all relative to what you can afford.

 

Good luck!

 

Brian

Link to comment

I live in East Springfield, not too far from the Hotel you'll be staying at.

 

I bought a townhouse 2 1/2 years ago that has appreciate over 50% since then. My wife rides the Metro into DC every day, so we picked a place to live that was convenient to a Metro stop.

 

I remember when I was in the marketplace then, that single family homes in Falls Church were about as resonable as any place in Northern Virgina that was close to DC.

 

If all you need is a townhouse, then your options open up a bit. If you'd like, I can recommend a Real Estate Agent.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

War is God's way of teaching Americans geography.

 

-Ambrose Bierce, writer (1842-1914)

Link to comment

I think the big tradeoff is price for commute.

 

Like most places the farther out in the suburbs you go generally the bigger, newer and cheaper the housing. I would say that the DC traffic is worse than Boston's (I grew up in MA) since it goes in all directions, not just into the city.

 

That said it depends on your needs. If you don't require a lot of space then closer in options may be affordable (Not sure how the 2 markets compare, but I would guess Boston is still pricier even with the recent spikes around here). Certainly somewhere near the Metro would be preferable and the network is much more extensive on the MD side. A lot of folks opt for the relatively cheaper suburbs and just suck up the commute which is fine too. I live about 13 miles from DC and it takes me 45 minutes on average to go that far in the morning rush. Mass transit time is about the same in my case and still involves a good walk.

 

Sorry that this resonse isn't too definitive but it really is a wide open question that is based on personal taste.

 

Something hidden. Go and find it. Go, and look behind the Ranges -- Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you . . . Go!

- Rudyard Kipling "The Explorer"

Link to comment

Thanks a lot for the responses, everyone!

 

From our perspective, we're looking for a townhouse or condo.

 

My husband is blind and will be taking the Metro to work every day. We'd like to be someplace fairly close in and close to transportation. Neither of us wants to deal with the upkeep of a house, especially me!

 

If that helps at all...

 

JoeC, I may contact you about a realtor! Thanks!

 

Z

 

-----------------------------------------------------------

 

Even the smallest person can change the course of the future. --Galadriel, "The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship Of the Ring"

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...