Commuting from Frederick to NIH (Silver Spring, Bethesda: sublet, apartment complexes, rentals)

[berbsnicole]

I am starting a position at the NIH in April and I am attempting to find an apartment that isn't outrageously expensive but is also close to public transportation. I have looked online at apartments available in Bethesda, Rockville, Silver Springs, and Alexandria, VA but they all seem really expensive. I would appreciate it if anyone had any insight into affordable housing (I would like a 1 bedroom, 1 bath apartment) in decent neighborhoods from which the commute to the the NIH wouldn't be too terrible.

[cgordon]

Not clear from your post, but if you're not living in Frederick right now, I can't say that I'd recommend a move here for you. If you are in Frederick currently, and you're looking to move nearer work, it's probably a Good Idea.

Don't get me wrong, Frederick's a great town, but the commute from here to NIH, I'm afraid, would be brutal.

We do have a MARC station, but I don't know how useful that would be to you.

I have to go to Silver Spring periodically, and if I have to go during normal commute times, the traffic is totally nuts. One day, I left Frederick about 8:30 a.m. and we didn't hit Silver Spring until after 10.

Afraid I don't have any advice for you on housing nearer your work, either.

Good luck with all that ...

[berbsnicole]

If I would live in Frederick, I would I think that I would either take the MARC to the metro at Rockville and then the metro to NIH or I would go to the Urbana park and ride and take a bus to the Shady Grove metro station and the metro to NIH.

[Big M]

I work at the NIH. Building 10.

You are better off renting a floor off a family in a nice three story single family home in Bethesda and walking to work rather than doing the 'brutal' commute which the previous poster so aptly put. Much better quality of life.

It is horribly expensive around here, but times are tough and your powers of negotiation on price are improving all the time.

M

[cgordon]

I just hired a new employee who had worked in Bethesda for a good while. She's got a couple of school age kids and lives about 15 min. from Frederick.

She was spending 1.2 - 1.5 hours a day on the road, each way.

She took this position, complete with a fair cut in pay, in order to escape the commute ...

[Marilyn Emery]

I agree with the other posters about the commute. There are rooms or in-law suites to rent in the area of NIH. If you can find someone you will be working with to check the bulletin boards there you may find a place. You can also check the gazette papers, or craigs list. I know someone who found a small "apt" to rent in the bethesda area through an ad they placed on craigs list.

Good Luck

[CHIP72]

I believe the OP currently lives or has family that lives in Chambersburg, PA, based on a similar post in the Pennsylvania forum (where the question was whether a commute between Chambersburg and Bethesda was doable without driving yourself crazy).

To berbsnicole - one thing that would be very helpful for everyone is if you gave everyone an idea about your budget. I think based on what you said in your other post you are looking at $1000/month. You'll almost definitely need to live in a sublet apartment or a studio/efficiency to get that kind of rate near NIH. I will note there was a recent post on here (can't remember the forum; it was probably the DC forum) where someone looking for an apartment in Friendship Heights (a neighborhood in NW DC right near the DC/MD border that is less than 5 miles from NIH) found a sublet apartment for less than $1000/month (which I thought was a very good deal).

As I noted in your other thread, Frederick would be a possibility, but it would be a long commute even via MARC (Frederick-Rockville) and the Metro Red Line (Rockville-NIH) or via the MTA Route 991 commuter bus (Monocacy/Urbana-Shady Grove) and the Metro Red Line (Shady Grove-NIH). You may be able find a studio or efficiency in one of the cheaper (but not bad, at least location-wise) apartment complexes in Silver Spring that is near the J1 or J2 Metrobus route (both of which stop along either Wisconsin Avenue/MD 355 or Old Georgetown Pike next to NIH).

[kate7878]

I work at NIH and I agree that the Frederick-Bethesda commute is brutal, though there are a number of people at work who do it. Heck, some folks even commute from PA. However, those people are always complaining about the long the drive and the price of the commute. Yes, rent may be a little cheaper but the savings will quickly be eaten up by the price of transportation and you'll be tired and unhappy, especially if you don't have family or other reasons for wanting to be in the area.

I'd recommend staying close to the Metro red line (west side) for the easiest commute. Affordable places are available in Rockville, and cheaper places in Gaithersburg. Look near White Flint, Twinbrook, Rockville and Shady Grove metros. I should add that MANY luxury condos have gone up in the past few years, and a lot of these switched to rentals because they've been unable to sell the units. These rents tend to be sky-high and can give you a distorted picture of the rental market here, but there are plenty of decent older buildings with more affordable rents. Look at houses too - is this market you are likely to find a better deal on a house than an apartment.

One other note -the NIH R&W keeps a housing list (NIH Housing Site), and the bulletin board in building 31 always has a lot of listings. Both are good places to find deals.