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Is there anyone here who can tell me about communities that are within commuting distance of Washington, D.C. (Specifically, Georgetown University?) What are some nice places to live? What transportation options are there? What about housing costs?
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I know way more than I'd like to about the DC area after a long search for housing last year.
What are your priorities? What sort of neighborhood are you looking for? How much are you hoping to pay? It would help to know a bit more about what you're looking for.
DC has a wonderful subway system, but unfortunately Georgetown doesn't have a stop, for reasons unknown. The closest stop is Foggy Bottom, and I believe it's about a fifteen minute walk into Georgetown from there and probably a little longer to the University. I'm sure metro buses go to the campus if you're not up to walking, though.
Posts: 4292 | Registered: Jan 2001
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quote:but unfortunately Georgetown doesn't have a stop, for reasons unknown
Actually, the reasons are well-known yet seldom acknowledged. They feared a stop would encourage people who ride the subway (read: poor people) to come to Georgetown.
Never mind that subway usage isn't restricted to poor people.
quote:Is there anyone here who can tell me about communities that are within commuting distance of Washington, D.C. (Specifically, Georgetown University?) ...What about housing costs?
A 3 BR 3 level townhouse within about 35-60 minutes of Gerogetown (depending on traffic) will cost about $500k. There cheaper places within that range, but they are isolate pockets of ongoing gentrification, with prices escalating 30-50% a year in some areas.
The rental/ownership market is very upside down here in the DC area - most houses will rent for about 75% of the PITI payment on a 30-year fixed mortgage w/ 20% down.
If you're talking about Georgetown for school, renting will be doable pretty close. I can't remember if you're single or not. How big a place would you need?
quote:What are some nice places to live?
I'm not as familiar with the city as I am with the 'burbs, unfortunately.
quote:What transportation options are there?
As stated above, metrobus and driving. I have no idea how much time the bus adds to a commute, if any.
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I am seriously considering going back to school for my L.L.M, and Georgetown is one of the schools to which I would like to apply. But before I do that, I want to know more about where my family would be living for nine months to a year.
I am married and have three young children, so we would probably want either a three bedroom apartment or a rental home with three bedrooms. In my mind, I have been thinking about the surrounding counties, probably in Virginia, but I know next to nothing about them. I am not averse to a bit of a commute to school every day (30 minutes plus is no problem; I do that now going to work).
If we do this, we will have quite of bit of money from selling our home in Vegas, but I would like to have enough left at the end of the 1 year LLM program to get set up in whatever locale we decide to go to next.
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OK, then renting will work well for you. $1500 is likely doable, $1600-2000 for a townhouse.
I like the VA suburbs. Lots of amenities - great parks, great schools.
Traffic sucks, though. You'd want to dry run the commute during rush hour to test it. I could give some specific guidance on specific locales if you want to email me as you search.
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All the advice I have to offer pertains to the city itself, unfortunely, and it definitely doesn't sound like that would be right for you. Sorry, but good luck!
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Dag, could you give me brief descriptions of some of the Virginia suburbs you're talking about?
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
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The main suburbs you'd be talking about are Arlingon County, Falls Church, parts of Alexandria, and north-eastern Fairfax county. I would focus on Arlington, Falls Church, and Fairfax.
Here's the problem: the area I'm talking about has something more than half a million people, I think. It's huge, with lots of areas. I can give some highlights:
Arlington County is closest. Rosslyn is right across the river from Georgetown. You could live within a mile and a half of the main campus (I'm not sure where the law school is), an easy walk or ride over the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
Next would be Ballston/Clarendon, just a little farther out in Arlington. It's on the metro line, which won't take you directly to Georgetown, but you could get within a mile or so. Or take buses.
These will likely be the priciest barring enclaves of "richer" areas scattered throughout.
Farther out, you have Falls Church and eastern Fairfax. If you look at a map, you'll see I-66 heading west out of the district. You would take that most of the way in to get to Georgetown. The problem is, it's HOV-2 during rush hour. The metro line follows I-66 to the city. If you're close to 66, you're relatively close to a metro stop. This corridor will include Falls Church and Vienna.
Going out 66, it will generally get cheaper, but prices are all over the place. I don't reccomend being very far outside the Beltway if you're going into the city each day.
If you look farther north, you'll see the George Washington Parkway running along the Virginia shore of the Potomac. This is what will make areas such as McLean, Tysons Corner, Pimmit Hills, West Falls Church commutable from Georgetown. Prices vary considerably.
It's hard to be more specific right now. As I said, it's a huge area. I'll ask at the firm where the Georgetown students lived while in school. Some of them must have commuted from VA.
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Like I said, I can give detailed info when you narrow it down.
i can also say that if you can swing it to live in Rosslyn, that should be the first place you look.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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If you're willing to commute an hour one way, you can try for the cheaper suburbs in Dale City/Lakeridge.
If you want cheaper than that, I recommend Fredericksburg. But the commute is a killah-- I leave at around quarter to five in the morning to get to work 60 miles away by 6am. After 5:15, count on a two hour commute. Leaving to come home: if I leave at 2p, I can usually get home by 3 or 3:30. If I leave at 3, it's a two hour commute.
(Probably not a feasible schedule for a student, though. . . But Fredericksburg does have a really good liberal arts school-- Mary Washington University.)
By cheaper than Alexandria/Rosslyn/etc-- you can get a nice home on a quarter acre lot in a nice subdivision in the Fredericksburg area for $400k. Rent on the same property will run $1000-$1500/month.
Posts: 14554 | Registered: Dec 1999
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I, conveniently, go to Georgetown and commute from Virginia, and thus have plenty to say about it.
You should be aware that the law school is actually several miles away from the main campus, across the District near Union Station and the Capitol. Unfortunately, the same student parking policy applies to both campuses. That is, we are told: Don't even think about driving. There is no student parking available. You can park on the streets at meters or 2-hour zones, or in public parking, but if the latter, you're looking at $20 a day, easily.
That said, the school has a shuttle service, which we call GUTS - Georgetown University Transportation System. It makes the run beween the law school and the main campus several times a day. There's also a bus that runs out into the Ballston/Clarendon area and one that loops to the Rosslyn Metro stop. All of these are free, so if you could find a place in Rosslyn, say goodbye to commuting problems. I live in Falls Church, and have managed to survive without a car. It's usually a fifteen minute Metro ride to Rosslyn, then ten minutes across the Potomac to campus. I've been interning near the law school and have ridden that shuttle; it's about half an hour during rush hour back to the main campus.
I've also found that a bike is quite useful; there are paths aplenty and it's easy for me to ride to campus on days when I'm not in a hurry.
I personally quite like the Alexandria area around Arlington Cemetary; it's a bit more out of the way than Rosslyn, but is also an easy commute. I'm thinking of moving over there at some point.
You should also check Craigslist for housing - go here then put in key words like Rosslyn, Arlington, Alexandria, etc. Most of the postings have links to googlemaps, so you can see where you are. Dag's got good ranges on the prices, I think.
quote:Actually, the reasons are well-known yet seldom acknowledged. They feared a stop would encourage people who ride the subway (read: poor people) to come to Georgetown.
This is, though a great story, actually a myth. It's really because the ground under the neighborhood isn't up for a subway.
Posts: 794 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I've always heard that the poor ground is the myth to cover up the real reason. The subway approaches much closer than the closest station does.
Be that as it may, if the law campus is near union station/capital hill, then metro is perfectly feasible. Just get a light laptop.
Of course, that doesn't change the recommendations, except to make Ballston/Clarendon, Falls Church, and Vienna even more attractive.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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I have a friend who lives in Fairfax and works in the city. She drives to the train station, parks there, and takes the train to work. She says it's not a bad commute. It's a really nice area, too - and very close to fantastic shopping.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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quote:I've always heard that the poor ground is the myth to cover up the real reason.
Huh. Well, color me bemused.
I'm not sure which line you're talking about, though. The Orange and Blue lines veer hard right at Rosslyn, just south of the university, and cross the Potomac towards the Mall, heading away from Georgetown. I think the Red line's the next closest and it's a good ways northwest of the area. *shrugs*
But, yeah, Virginia's a good place to live. Except for Fredericksburg.
Posts: 794 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Just 'cause I have to put in a good word for the Maryland side of the river...
In Montgomery County the nearest suburbs are Silver Spring and Bethesda. Silver Spring and Bethesda are somewhat urban (lots of commercial buildings in Bethesda, like the cool Discovery Channel center). Takoma Park is way off to the east. Farther north, you have Rockville and Shady Grove. Gaithersburg is way up I270 (NIST, Lockheed Martin and a bunch biotech companies). Then there's a bunch of little suburbia-planned-communties like Montgomery Vilage. To the NW of DC is Potomac, and to the north of Gaithersburg is Olney. Somewhere farther north is Damascus, a rural town (in the sense that the homes aren't right next to each other).
Housing costs aren't that different than Virginia's, but in both states prices do seem to keep going up.
Up here we have the RideOn buses that go everywhere (metro stations, etc) The Metro's red line runs down from Shady Grove, into the city (Metro Center, I think), then doubles back northeast into Prince George's County to Glenmont. Traffic becomes a problem when you try to go into the city, particularly during rush hour but a new highway, the ICC, just got approved recently so things might start changing.
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Hey, what's wrong with DC proper? I don't know how young your children are, but I loved growing up in DC. There is so much that you can just walk to. What you can't walk to, you can get to by bus or metro. I didn't even get my driver's license until I was eighteen, just because it wasn't important.
Unfortunately, I don't know much of anything about housing and such. Sorry.
Posts: 2149 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Lawguy, I can connect you with my dad who (if he doesn't know I referred you) may give you a break on sweat equity on a house in Annandale, which is where I grew up. The schools (Fairfax County) are top notch. He's kind of got a hoarding problem, and he's moved up from furniture to nicer homes, it seems.
I have lots of friends my age that live there, though both parents tend to work. Also, townhomes are much more acceptable for middle class living there than you may have been accustomed to in Utah.
I might be making a similar move myself in the next year.
I went to Falls Church High, but we were in Annandale Ward. The Annandale ward is totally cool. Also, Annandale was on the X-files once. And also in Broadcast News. It's hard to say what the neighborhoods are like. Due to the amount of trees, it feels a lot like the East Bench in Salt Lake. Except you aren't up on a mountain. There are areas with more high density living. I don't seem to remember Annandale having trailer parks, but I wouldn't swear to it. There were also some neighborhoods with the post war/rambler style going on quite a bit. There are some roads that run north south that feel a LOT like Highland drive. I think there may even be an Orthodox church along one, just like in Salt Lake.
Posts: 2010 | Registered: Apr 2003
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One of the places that Dags missed was Loudoun County which contains Reston, Herndon, Sterling, and Leesburg. You'll find that the rental rates begin to drop significantly once you get out that way. The average commute time from Sterling to Georgetown Hospital is about an hour. You'll have to gauge whether the cost benefits outweigh the drive time. Also, keep in mind that the closer to D.C. you get, the more crowded and overtaxed the school systems are.
Your best bet is to talk to a Realtor and let them know what you're looking for. Get some locations and then have the merry Hatrack band vet them for you. Posts: 1480 | Registered: Dec 2004
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It would be help if you told us what you are looking for... Do you prefer big city and tall buildings, or suburbs, or a town sort of environment? What sort of activities do you enjoy? What's most important?
Living in the virginia surburbs outside the beltway (Fairfax), I'd have to say I prefer them - and I'd argue its much better for families, especially schools, etc. However, it should be noted that I think that sort of suburban environment can be drasticly different from the environment in the more urban areas. If you like the activities, culture, and lifestyle that you might find in a big city, or if you want to walk places rather than drive, then Alexandria, Arlington, or DC are the answers.
Do NOT underestimate traffic. 10 miles on a map is easily 30+ minutes here, and that is stop-and-go traffic. I personally think people who live in Loudon and work in DC are just a little crazy for doing so... I actually knew someone who commuted an hour and a half each way to work!
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Since the LLM program is only one school year (say 9 months), we are willing to make some sacrifices that we normally wouldn't, just because they would be temporary. If I have to have a long commute to save money, I'll just get a laptop and do homework while taking mass transit. If we have to live in an apartment, which we thought we had grown out of three years ago, then that's okay.
I'm not a city boy. I don't mind cities at all, but I'm not the kind of person that feels totally deprived if I don't have city-stuff within walking distance. In fact, as a lifelong Westerner, I have no problem traveling quite a long distance to get where I want to go.
That's why I'm thinking of looking in areas 30-60 minutes away, perhaps with more of a suburban feel. Good schools would be a plus, since I have two young school-age boys. I also would be looking for a safe neighborhood, where my kids can make friends and play outside all they want.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Mass transit west of Vienna is not viable in Virginia. That's why I didn't include Loudon County(although technically Reston and Herndon are in Fairfax) and places in Fairfax such as Fairfax City, Burke, Springfield, Centreville, and Chantilly.
I lived in Centreville, and it would take at least 40 minutes to get on the metro in Vienna counting driving, parking, walking, and waiting. Then it's a 35 minute train ride if you get lucky when you transfer at Metro Center.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Dags, I always just lump Herndon/Sterling/Reston together in my mind. Just like I stick Arlington/Alexandria and Centreville/Fairfax together. I think it's more of a distance thing than a county line issue for me. Posts: 1480 | Registered: Dec 2004
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quote:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Actually, the reasons are well-known yet seldom acknowledged. They feared a stop would encourage people who ride the subway (read: poor people) to come to Georgetown. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is, though a great story, actually a myth. It's really because the ground under the neighborhood isn't up for a subway. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This happened when they set up the DART - Dallas Area Rapid Transit. In the original planning stages, they asked all the surrounding cities if they wanted to be connected, and if so, pony up some money. A few cities said yes. Many, the richest, said No. The reasoning was that they didn't want the Dallas People (poor, usually black and Hispanic) coming into the suburbs.
Five, six years later, the cities that signed on are booming. They are growing much more rapidly than the unconnected suburbs, and now the unconnected suburbs are clamoring to be a part of it. However, they missed the window and will need to wait ten - fifteen years for Stage II.
This is frustrating to me because my office is in a suburb that said no, while my slightly-ghetto but well-loved apartment is a three minute walk from a DART station. It means I can't take public transportation, and when I move to closer to work so I'm that much closer to school, I can't take public transportation into Dallas. It's frustrating.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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>>Dags, I always just lump Herndon/Sterling/Reston together in my mind. Just like I stick Arlington/Alexandria and Centreville/Fairfax together.
I do the same thing. But Stafford and Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania are completely seperate entities. . .
Posts: 14554 | Registered: Dec 1999
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quote:I'm not a city boy. I don't mind cities at all, but I'm not the kind of person that feels totally deprived if I don't have city-stuff within walking distance. In fact, as a lifelong Westerner, I have no problem traveling quite a long distance to get where I want to go.
That's why I'm thinking of looking in areas 30-60 minutes away, perhaps with more of a suburban feel. Good schools would be a plus, since I have two young school-age boys. I also would be looking for a safe neighborhood, where my kids can make friends and play outside all they want.
Well, I would say Fairfax county is a good bet then. Vienna, Fairfax, McLean, Centreville, Burke, etc. are closer and pretty nice, about 40 minutes from the city, I'd guess. Herndon, Reston, and Loudon County are a little farther but may be even nicer than those above. Arlington would be really close and is generally pretty nice. Schools vary a lot from one to the next, but most range from good to really good. I know the areas I listed above are pretty safe, but it can also vary from spot to spot. (Good school tends to correspond to safe community.)
quote:Vienna, a town of nearly 15,000 in Northern Virginia, finished fourth overall Monday in Money magazine's 2005 list of Great American Towns. Gaithersburg, Md., came in at No. 17.
From a list of 1,300 cities, the magazine ranked the top 100 based on "where you would want to raise your children and celebrate life's milestones."
Area towns also ranked at or near the top in categories such as highest earners, most school spending per pupil and most educated.
Great Falls finished first in the "biggest earners" category with a median income of $165,592, and Potomac and Fairfax Station took fifth and sixth, respectively. The magazine ranked Chevy Chase first, Bethesda second, Potomac fourth and McLean ninth in the list of the most educated towns nationwide. Ashburn, Leesburg and Sterling ranked fifth, sixth and seventh in the category of fastest job growth. With the exception of No. 1 (New York City), Montgomery County, Arlington County and District schools filled out the top 10 list for most school spending per pupil.
posted
I'm just now getting into college so I don't know a lot about housing costs, but I grew up in Fairfax/Centreville and now live in the next county over so to add in my own two cents...
Fairfax generally has an excellent educational system. It and Centreville are very suburban and developed, but also far out enough that you can get to green spaces easilly. I would most recommend those areas but, if commuting time really isn't a big issue for you but housing costs are, you may actually want to look into Prince William County. From Manassas/Gainesville/Haymarket, the commute is anywhere from an hour to 80 minutes and it's not quite as suburban, but it's still a nice area. Safety could be a bit of an issue directly inside the actual city of Manassas, but the neighborhoods nestled in or alongside of it are generally very child friendly.
Posts: 1548 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Let me just say that there is a reason that Manassas has the word a$$ in it...you don't want to live there...
Posts: 1480 | Registered: Dec 2004
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quote:I'm not a city boy. I don't mind cities at all, but I'm not the kind of person that feels totally deprived if I don't have city-stuff within walking distance. In fact, as a lifelong Westerner, I have no problem traveling quite a long distance to get where I want to go.
That's why I'm thinking of looking in areas 30-60 minutes away, perhaps with more of a suburban feel. Good schools would be a plus, since I have two young school-age boys. I also would be looking for a safe neighborhood, where my kids can make friends and play outside all they want.
There's lots of little suburbs in Montgomery County; Montgomery Village is one of them. MV is a planned community, so you're never more than X meters from a pool, park, playground, rec center, etc. Rockville and Gaithersburg are the same way. In addition, Montgomery County is one of the most culturally, ethnically and religously diverse areas of the country.
I'm going to borrow Tres' quote:
quote:Great Falls finished first in the "biggest earners" category with a median income of $165,592, and Potomac and Fairfax Station took fifth and sixth, respectively. The magazine ranked Chevy Chase first, Bethesda second, Potomac fourth and McLean ninth in the list of the most educated towns nationwide. Ashburn, Leesburg and Sterling ranked fifth, sixth and seventh in the category of fastest job growth. With the exception of No. 1 (New York City), Montgomery County, Arlington County and District schools filled out the top 10 list for most school spending per pupil.
Chevy Chase, Potomac, and Bethesda are all in Montgomery County. The county spends more than half its budget on schools. On Newsweek's most recent high school list, five MCPS schools were in top 100 (11- Richard Montgomery HS in Rockville; 17- Wootton HS in Rockville; 29- Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS in Bethesda; 71- Churchill HS in Potomac; and 80- Walter Johnson HS in Bethesda).
posted
Um, red flag here, UofUlawguy. The Georgetown U Law Center is NOT in Georgetown. It's approximately a 5 block walk from Union Station, which is downtown near the Capitol. It changes your commuting perspective/potential neighboorhoods, IMO, and might make Maryland a better option (honestly, parking is a pain -- you'll want to take Metro and that means the Red Line,which goes up into MD).
Posts: 1784 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Rosslyn to Metro Center to Union Station isn't a bad commute at all, although avoiding a transfer is always nice.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Dag's right, it's not too bad of a commute. I just *hate* Metro Center with an undying passion and will generally try to avoid it at all costs Posts: 1784 | Registered: Jun 2001
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My husband is from Vienna; it is quite nice, but (like most of the area) quite pricey.
His family moved to Manassas shortly before he married me; TheHumanTarget is spot on in his(?) above analysis.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Has anyone mentioned "slugging"? This is important to know about if you're considering anyplace as distant as Fredericksburg. I don't know if it exists along routes north and west of DC, but a spontaneous carpooling system to take advantage of the express (HOV) lanes on I-95 northbound has developed. Certain places have come to be gathering points for the formation of carpools; they are known as "sluglines." Passengers line up for a ride to certain agreed upon places, say, the Pentagon metro station or 17th and ? downtown. I've never slugged, so this is hearsay, but from what I understand the driver looking for enough passengers to use the express lanes will tell his destination and those at the front of the line going to that place get in the car, and off they go. Solo drivers get to use the express lanes, and passengers get a free ride.
I understand that when this first started happening some transportation authorities tried to stop it, but common sense prevailed as wiser voices said, "are you crazy? This is the perfect way to get people to carpool and it isn't costing anyone anything!"
I no longer live in the area, but I have friends who slug to work every day. Maybe others currently living in the area can give more specific info. (Mothertree, I lived in Annandale ward too and second that it's a great ward! Do I know you? Feel free to e-me!)
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I lived in a rented townhouse in Alexandria right off the highway -- there's a bunch of similar enclaves "Fairlington" and "Shirlington" were built to house the huge influx of workers to the Pentagon around WWII. The townhouses are really nice and, rent seemed pretty affordable to me although it's been awhile so prices may have skyrocketed without me being aware of it.
If you want to be able to live without a car entirely, these probably aren't good choices since they have bus service only. Nearest metro stop is not really easy walking distance, especially in the winter.
But people in DC area survive what most of us would call ridiculous commutes.
I really enjoyed the year I spent in and around DC. I love the old town of Arlington and wouldn't mind living there again someday. If I did move back there, I'd certainly at least check out those town houses to see if they are affordable still.
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I don't know how young your children are, but I loved growing up in DC. There is so much that you can just walk to. What you can't walk to, you can get to by bus or metro. I didn't even get my driver's license until I was eighteen, just because it wasn't important. ![[Taunt]](graemlins/taunt.gif)
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