Where to rent? Commuting to BWI area and McLean, VA (Silver Spring: apartments, trip)

[hioh142]

I am going to be commuting to near the BWI airport and my girlfriend will be going to McLean, VA. I've been trying to find a good middle area, and what I've found are either the Briggs Chaney/White Oak area of Silver Spring and also Beltsville. We're looking to rent as buying is not an option. Just to give an idea of our standard of living, we currently live around the Gaithersburg/Rockville border.

We've decided we definitely don't want to go to White Oak. I've heard bad things about Briggs Chaney, but we looked in the area and the actual apartments like Hampton Point and Hampton Hollow seemed very nice. However, I'm leery due to the bad things I've heard about the area and communities.

Beltsville seems good distance wise, but I'm having trouble finding info on any good places to rent there. Any suggested apartments or would is the only option really finding a spare basement on Craigslist?

The alternative to these two is that we just move to Bethesda around the 495/270 spur and I have a minimum 40 minute one-way commute without traffic (going further east and commuting to McLean would be a nightmare for my girlfriend).

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[macroy]

Why not stay?

I lived there and commuted to Mclean as well as to Linthicum. I was in Potomac Glen where Shady Grove becomes Piney Meeting House.

McLean can be reached via Piney Meeting House to River to Falls to Clara Barton. And I went to Linthicum via 270/495/95. But would never return that way... I'd go 95 to 216 and cut through to Lime Kiln to Ednor to 28 into old town Rockville.

Both my commute to Mclean and Linthicum took about the same (45min-1:15). Of course, Linthicum is 40 miles away and Mclean was like 15. Go figure.

I would agree... any further east/north and your girlfriend will suffer.

[hioh142]

Thanks macroy.

The new job is a good promotion for me and I was thinking of getting a nicer place in Bethesda if I'm going to stay this far west. Could you compare the trip from BWI->Bethesda (which I guess would be 95 & 495) vs. the "backroads" you took for BWI->Gaithersburg.

[macroy]

I would never take 95-495 as my afternoon commute. So BWI to Bethesda would simply be BWI -> Gaithersburg and down to Bethesda.... you would come into Gaithersburg/Rockville at the Fallsgrove area... and either just shoot down 270 or (if you need to avoid traffic) hit bethesda via Potomac (Glen, Democracy, Bradley Blvd etc).

I think a good split between Mclean and BWI would be the Fallsgrove area. Which is also super nice. Or the apts over by Traville Village... fogot the name. But of course, its not as lively as downtown Bethesda. I think Bethesda will make the commute worse as you're further in the main congestion points.