Help! relocation (TX to WV, work in MD) (Baltimore, Bethesda: travel, rent)

[nollies1]

I will be one of those 'commuter types' most likely MARC'ing it to MD as I will be working in Bethesda. It seems that the Eastern panhandle of WV will fit the bill for our family's needs. I have read a few posts here and it seems that all those cute little towns in WV are equally appealing.

I had a general question about population/congestion, recent rates of growth, or anything that would aid in figuring out the actual commute time rather than just adding up miles on a map. Does anyone do such a commute? How is it?

Are areas South of 340 (Southern Harper's Ferry area, Southern Charles Town) getting "too crowded" vs. North of 340 (Shepherdstown, Kearneysville)? We were hoping to get a feel for where the rush hour bottlenecks are. For instance, can you do Shepherdstown to Brunswick station in 20min or 45min during rush? Is there going to be any significant difference in commute time between ST, CT, Kearneysville, or Harper's Ferry to/from the Brunswick MARC station?

It appears to us that that pretty much anywhere in Jefferson County has a respectable school district. Would you agree?

btw If anyone plans to come on down to the Houston area feel free to ask away

Best,
George

[nollies1]

I just got off the phone with my wife, who travelled up for business and is taking the rest of the day to drive around the area.

Around 12:30pm (well 1:30 your time) she told me it took 20min driving slowly to get from the Brunswick station to Shepherdstown. The speed limits are 40mph then go up to 55mph, which is much better than I had assumed.

Of course, this gives no accurate account as to what it's like during the rush, so I'm hoping someone may bite the hook and offer an estimate. Anybody?

Thanks

[Kensington]

I can't offer any opinions on your commute to the Marc station, but where will you be working in Bethesda? WV to Bethesda by train is going to be a very long commute. You'll have to take the train to Union Station, then get out to Bethesda by metro. I think driving makes a lot more sense, maybe others can offer some opinions as well. Personally, I'd live closer in and rent, and then decide where you want to live once you've lived here for a year.

[lscalder]

Driving will take around 3 hrs. YOu will either quit or move in less then a year. The train might be 2:30 mins

[Tuneful]

Doesn't MARC also stop in Rockville? If so, you could pick up Metro to Bethesda there and not have to go all the way into downtown DC and back out.
However, it would still be a very long haul. I'm interested in it but only if I could work part-time from home. Would it be also worth posting it on the WV forum?

[nollies1]

I orig. posted on WV but later decided to try it from the MD perspective. In short I calculated a 2h commute as follows: Guestimation of 1/2 hr to get to Brunswick, 1h from Bruns. to Rockville, 30min of Red line into Medical Ctr station and walking to my building (11min train + 10min walk as per future co-worker + 10min random fudge factor).

I keep telling myself I'm crazy but at the same time have rationalized that the 1 hr on the MARC can be spent doing emails, reading papers, planning experiments, etc. so technically it would only be a 1hr commute. From this perspective it's worth it based on the house we can now afford relative to being closer in.

Perhaps in another time/place/life we would rent first, check out the areas then buy, I agree it is the more sound approach. However I think collectively we are just tired of renting, moving all our stuff (can't believe what we've accumulated!), and have decided to go for it. My wife does frequently travel to Baltimore and has escaped now and then to drive the countryside, although this weekend is the first she made it to WV. We are pretty sure that our wants and needs extend beyond what we could afford in MD so this is really the only option in terms of where to buy.

That being said, feel free to tell me this is a nutty idea

[Cheasare]

Originally Posted by nollies1

I orig. posted on WV but later decided to try it from the MD perspective. In short I calculated a 2h commute as follows: Guestimation of 1/2 hr to get to Brunswick, 1h from Bruns. to Rockville, 30min of Red line into Medical Ctr station and walking to my building (11min train + 10min walk as per future co-worker + 10min random fudge factor).

I keep telling myself I'm crazy but at the same time have rationalized that the 1 hr on the MARC can be spent doing emails, reading papers, planning experiments, etc. so technically it would only be a 1hr commute. From this perspective it's worth it based on the house we can now afford relative to being closer in.

Perhaps in another time/place/life we would rent first, check out the areas then buy, I agree it is the more sound approach. However I think collectively we are just tired of renting, moving all our stuff (can't believe what we've accumulated!), and have decided to go for it. My wife does frequently travel to Baltimore and has escaped now and then to drive the countryside, although this weekend is the first she made it to WV. We are pretty sure that our wants and needs extend beyond what we could afford in MD so this is really the only option in terms of where to buy.

That being said, feel free to tell me this is a nutty idea

Nollies1, I work in Bethesda and one of my co-workers lives in Kearneysville. Your tally is just about right: 2 hours. He leaves about 5 am and it takes about 30 minutes to get to the Duffields station (I believe its the one just before Harpers Ferry). Then on to Rockville, switching to Metro. We're at the Medical Center stop too and he gets to our building by 7:15.

Coming from Houston, the COL and housing prices are considerably more the closer you live to D.C., so I agree that you get a better price and more square footage out in W.V. My co-worker says Kearneysville is not crowded (yet) and there is still new construction going on in his neighborhood. He says the area is peaceful and he really enjoys the laid-back atmosphere and the ability to play golf on the weekend.

Welcome to the area!

C.

[kingfish1]

I am moving to area from Reno, Nevada. I love Harper's Ferry and the prices in Jefferson County. You might want to look closely at school scores comparing Jefferson to MD counties. I found some significant differences. In terms of MARC ride, the scheule shows just a 50 minute ride from Bwick to Rockville. Are you just adding some cushion to your estimation? Or is MARC scheules not to be releid upon? Wondering for myself as I consider which area aloing the line to live.

[nollies1]

It's been awhile but if I recal it was 50-60min depending on the train. Also, yes some of it is cushion (walking from MARC to Red Line in R'ville, physically reaching my building, etc.).

Thanks for the welcome Cheasare! Yes we did it, we bought in Shepherdstown. It is so beautiful in the area I cannot wait to be there. Hopefully the 'total' commute is really an hour (time on MARC won't count b/c I will do cpu stuff I'd only be doing at my desk anyway!).

In addition, my wife has driven the area now a few times during rush hour and, at least compared to Houston, she promises it's not "too" bad. For instance, the bottleneck at the MD/VA/WV border never slowed down under 25mph and lasted about 5min total. If that is typical well hey no complaints over here! She thinks I could do S'town to Bruns. station in 20-30min, depending on traffic/weather.

Well, too late to reconsider now anyways!

[Tesaje]

Long time train rider here on the Brunswick line. The schedules are accurate for when the train runs on time. But they only have a 70-80% on time rate, but it still beats driving almost all the time. Regular delays run 10-30 minutes late frequently on the longer rides. The occasional disaster can add a lot more time. The worst I ever saw (besides 9/11 when they shut it down) was about 5 hours. They will get some buses for the shutdowns. I usually wait it out because they usually get the trains going before they round up buses for us. These events don't happen often.

There are lots of people who make your anticipated trek. Most people who live in WV, esp. Shepherdstown, pick up the MARC at the Duffield's station and just time the commute to catch the trains that go all the way to WV. The road to Harper's Ferry is twisty windy and gets slower at rush hours. The bridge across the Potomac is the real bottleneck and has gotten to be quite a back up. You really don't want to use it on Friday's going into WV. There's been so many people moving into that area of WV commuting into the big city that traffic has gotten really bad.

Harper's Ferry is closer and on the way, so it would be faster. There's also a train station in HF. The other locations are all pretty much the same.

Wherever you pick up the train, add 10 minutes to wait in case they are running freights and you have to cross the tracks. You certainly can do cpu work on the train. It's heavy rail commuter, not subway type trains. I've been doing this for so many years, I almost always do some snooze time and am trained to wake up at the announcement of my station. You can even eat and drink alcohol on the train as long as you aren't obnoxious. It makes for a long day. If you can do the compressed work schedule - that helps a lot.

We train riders have no sympathy for the folks who do suicide by train - 4 hours for the coroner to rule it wasn't the train's fault and it really messes with the engineer's head. When the Potomac floods (happens roughly every 10 years), some of the tracks are under water so the train won't run. You either drive or stay home. There is a guaranteed ride home program, but it is only for real emergencies.

That's the low down on the MARC. We love to hate it, but it's a lot better than the alternatives.

btw, Shepardstown is a neat place - even has some good restaurants and a small college.