Rockville and Arlington - how to commute? (Bethesda, Gaithersburg: apartments, condos)

[themissy11]

Hello. My fiance has just accepted a job in Rockville, MD and I have just accepted a job in Arlington, VA. We're very excited to move together, but were wondering where might be a decent place to live in order to accomplish:

1) Not too expensive (we're recent college grads)
2) Not too awful of a commute for either of us.

Less important but also nice: I'd love to be able to take a train to work (in Arlington).

Does anyone have some advice of an area to search in / could you give us an approximate on the commute times?

Thank you very much!

[macroy]

Unfortunately, you're both working on the more pricey side of of DC (Arlington/Fairfax/Montgomery). And the commute will suck either direction.

To find a good middle ground, I'd say Falls Church/Dunn Loring area? you can take the Metro, and he can "sort of" have a reverse commute. The American Legion bridge is backed up either way (pretty much your only crossing between MD/VA on the west side of DC), but after the bridge he has alternatives from a local standpoint depending on which part of Rockville.

From the MD side, I think you'll have less choices.. Rockville/Bethesda are both very pricey... not saying you can't find something (I think the older part of Bethesda by Westbard and Mass may have some older places that are not as inflated... but I may be wrong).

The third choice is to actually live in DC and commute out.

I think you'll be looking at a minimum of 45 min of commute each way depending on where you live and where in Rockville you fiance's work is.

[Natthapol]

I am currently living in Falls Church / Tysons Corner and commute to Bethesda / Rockville area everyday. It 's not bad as it 's kinda reverse commute, I almost never hit the traffic on the beltway in the morning as most people is coming south to VA from MD in the morning. (I-270 going north also flow smoothly in the morning) but the reverse is not ture, if you live in Rockville, MD and trying to commute south on I-270 and I-495 in the morning, it 's a real nightmare! If I were you I would look for a condo near West Falls Church Metro (try to work out a deal from the owner, I believe there are some condos within walking distance to the metro) Your commute time (including walking/waiting/riding metro) will be around 30 minute -- about the same as your fiance 's commute time driving to Rockville.

Also, I am currently live at a place called the renaissance in Falls Church very close to Tysons Corner, I find the place really conveniently located and there are shuttle bus running to west falls church metro during rush hour. It 's a condo as well, you have to work out the deal with the owner.

One good thing about living in VA not MD is that your income tax is lower, if you live in Montgomery county, they also impose county tax on top of MD state tax!

Good luck in your search!

[OrdinarySoul]

If the two of you can afford about $1500 a month in rent, you can find an one-bedroom or efficiency in Arlington or Bethesda near the metro.

I rent an efficiency in Arlington near the metro for about $1000/month. There are other similar units in that building for rent as well.

There are some one-bedroom apartments renting for about $1400/month in Kentlands area in Gaithersburg. It's close to the Shady Grove metro.