Relocating to Silver Spring, Rockville, or Gaithersburg (Baltimore, Bethesda: sale, 2010)

[bumby99]

I will be relocating with my husband to the DC area in October. We are in our early 30's and have no kids. We are looking to rent for at least a year. We want to keep the rent below $2000/month.

Can someone help us with the following questions:

-What is the crime in each area?

-What is the quality of the public transportation? Metro stops nearby?

-What area has the best shops and restaurants?

-Any other suggestions or hints?

Thanks!

[katethekitty]

-Rockville is super upscale and damn expensive...
-Gaithersburg is a little less expensive but I've known a few people who live there and love it.
-Silver Spring (Lived here 1 year) can be the least expensive and it's the biggest area out of the 3 if I'm correct. There are very good parts and not so good parts as well.

The metro is nice, especially for Rockville, but you will NEED a car, no doubt, IMO.

[Lenagainster]

If you are considering renting a house in Silver Spring, look into the area called Woodmoor. Located north of University Boulevard and east of Colesville Rd. (Rt 29). If you are considering renting an apartment in Silver Spring, learn Spanish.
Shopping; Rockville, White Flint Mall; Bethesda, Montgomery Mall; Gaithersburg, Lakeforest Mall, Silver Spring, Wheaton Plaza aka Minority Mall aka Westfield Shopping Center.
Restaurants; too many to mention, my favorites are O'Donnell's in Kentlands and BJ Pumpernickel's in Olney.

[handy man88]

Originally Posted by katethekitty

-Rockville is super upscale and damn expensive...
-Gaithersburg is a little less expensive but I've known a few people who live there and love it.
-Silver Spring (Lived here 1 year) can be the least expensive and it's the biggest area out of the 3 if I'm correct. There are very good parts and not so good parts as well.

The metro is nice, especially for Rockville, but you will NEED a car, no doubt, IMO.

Huh? Are you kidding me?

When did Rockville become "super upscale?"

If Rockville is "super upscale," then what would you call Potomac and Bethesda? Sublimely upscale?

Rockville is an average area. A good mix of everything from both ends of the spectrum.

G-burg and Silver Spring are very diverse areas. Some areas rough, some areas average.

Crime is higher in G-burg, then Silver Spring, and then Rockville.

Public transportation is about even for all three areas.

Rockville is probably better for shops and restaurants, but it's highly congested. It's definitely a place to avoid come Christmas time.

[handy man88]

Originally Posted by Lenagainster

If you are considering renting a house in Silver Spring, look into the area called Woodmoor. Located north of University Boulevard and east of Colesville Rd. (Rt 29). If you are considering renting an apartment in Silver Spring, learn Spanish.
Shopping; Rockville, White Flint Mall; Bethesda, Montgomery Mall; Gaithersburg, Lakeforest Mall, Silver Spring, Wheaton Plaza aka Minority Mall aka Westfield Shopping Center.
Restaurants; too many to mention, my favorites are O'Donnell's in Kentlands and BJ Pumpernickel's in Olney.

Lakeforest mall is getting quite rough also. A lot of hispanics just hanging around outside.

Also for G-burg, there have been a spate of crimes including robberies, muggings, murders, and rape.

[lind1550]

bumby99 -

Your questions are a bit hard to answer just because of the nature of Rockville, Gaithersburg, and Silver Spring. The DC metro area in general is very "patchy" as there are some very nice areas that are very close to areas that are MUCH different. Gaithersburg is a very good example of this, there is a huge difference between neighborhoods such as Kentlands and The Washingtonian vs. some developments around Lakeforest Mall. For this reason alone, renting for at least a year (vs. buying really fast) will probably make you happier in the long run.

On average, Rockville is nicer than Gaithersburg, but I would choose a nice part of Gaithersburg over a sketchier part of Rockville any day (just my preference of course). Silver Spring I don't know enough about to comment about except that I've heard there are really nice areas and not nice areas.

As for Public Transit, there are metro stops in Rockville (Shady Grove, Rockville, Twinbrook, and White Flint are all definitely in Rockville (some call the area around White Flint "North Bethesda", which seems to be a gimmick created to sell condos in the area)) and Silver Spring. There are no metro stops physically in Gaithersburg, but you can be "close" to Shady Grove metro stop and live in Gaithersburg. I have heard that the bus system here is ok, but not fantastic as far as stop frequency, etc.

Along the Rockville Pike (aka Frederick RD/355), there are TONS of retail areas/restaurants and good malls that are close (Bethesda, White Flint, Gaithersburg). There is no shortage of places to go and spend $$ here. For a mall that will have absolutely everything, go to the Tyson's Corner Mall in Tyson's Corner, VA (15 min. drive on most Sunday mornings).

For ~1800 +/- 100 you should be able to get a nice, modern 2 bed/2 ba apartment in a nice, low crime area around Shady Grove metro (less familiar with other areas, but in general the closer to DC you are the more you will pay). I think the apartments in the communities of King Farm and Fallsgrove (New Urbanism communities built recently) are low-crime by just about anyone's standards. The Kentlands in Gaithersburg is similar to the communities mentioned above.

Good luck with your move!

[Lenagainster]

Regarding crime. Maryland gets a bad rap because of the crime statistics in and around Baltimore. But Montgomery County isn't that bad. I've lived in MC for 44 years and feel safe here, even in Silver Spring.

[titaniummd]

Originally Posted by bumby99

I will be relocating with my husband to the DC area in October. We are in our early 30's and have no kids. We are looking to rent for at least a year. We want to keep the rent below $2000/month.

Can someone help us with the following questions:

-What is the crime in each area?

-What is the quality of the public transportation? Metro stops nearby?

-What area has the best shops and restaurants?

-Any other suggestions or hints?

Thanks!

Where you choose will depend upon where you work. You should live close to work if you live in the DC area since long commutes are a pain. I was 7 minutes from work. I rarely drove into DC (since I used the Metro).

Crime is lower in Gaithersburg and Rockville. If you do this option, you have the Red line for the Metro so you can go to DC pretty easily. Rockville is more expensive but it borders Bethesda which has great restaurants. Rockville also has some nice restaurants. You should definitely consider living near the Metro. I lived in "North Bethesda" which was Rockville - and I could walk to the Metro. Crime is very low. Although, in the week before the sale of our house, there was a rash of break ins for GPS/MP3 players left in our cars. Aside from that, I had left my back door unlocked for a few days (I forgot to lock it) and even left the keys in the front door (although hidden by the locked screen door).

Silver Spring is huge and the demographics are diverse. Crime is probably higher but probably marginally higher. However, it is the type of crime you should worry about. Violent crime is higher in Silver spring.

Search CrimeReports.com

[handy man88]

Originally Posted by titaniummd

Where you choose will depend upon where you work. You should live close to work if you live in the DC area since long commutes are a pain. I was 7 minutes from work. I rarely drove into DC (since I used the Metro).

Crime is lower in Gaithersburg and Rockville. If you do this option, you have the Red line for the Metro so you can go to DC pretty easily. Rockville is more expensive but it borders Bethesda which has great restaurants. Rockville also has some nice restaurants. You should definitely consider living near the Metro. I lived in "North Bethesda" which was Rockville - and I could walk to the Metro. Crime is very low. Although, in the week before the sale of our house, there was a rash of break ins for GPS/MP3 players left in our cars. Aside from that, I had left my back door unlocked for a few days (I forgot to lock it) and even left the keys in the front door (although hidden by the locked screen door).

Silver Spring is huge and the demographics are diverse. Crime is probably higher but probably marginally higher. However, it is the type of crime you should worry about. Violent crime is higher in Silver spring.

Search CrimeReports.com

G-burg crime is actually much worse than you portray it to be.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by handy man88

G-burg crime is actually much worse than you portray it to be.

I live in Gaithersburg, and I'm not so sure about that.