Where to move in between Balt and dc? (Baltimore, Laurel: home, salary)

[newtomd849]

One of us will be working at APG the other in Fairfax. I'm looking for a place in the middle so commute lengths are about equal. cant afford more than 950 a month just looking for a larger 1bed/1bath, somewhere clean and safe.

[PenguinSix]

Wow. Yuck.

My general advice (and I've given it often in these cases) is when faced with a 'split the difference' commuter--don't.

Halfway between Fairfax and APG is going to mean BOTH of you are going to come home tired, cranky, and a bit annoyed. There really isn't much of an easy way to do this as one will be circumnavigating Baltimore and the other circling around DC.

If possible, consider one of you getting the 'shorter' commute BUT that person being responsible for cooking, cleaning, groceries, paying the bills, etc. The basic household tasks that need to get done but won't get done if both of you are looking at a 1 hour each way in traffic every day.

Can you take MARC to APG? Living along the railroad tracks closer to DC would allow your partner to get to Fairfax a bit easier (not much) and you to have a straight MARC rail ride up to work every day. You can look along the MARC rail for stations, maybe somewhere around New Carrolton to give the other easy access to the DC Beltway (though it is still going to be rough on them driving).

I don't mean to be flippant, but is it possible for one of you to change jobs? You're looking at some serious expenses every month -- several hundred dollars at least -- to have this split work assignment. To make $300 after taxes means you have to gross about $450 a month, and when you work that out over the year it means $6,000. In other words, one of you could take a $6,000 paycut to get a new job and you'd still probably end up ahead. Just a thought.

Good luck with this one.

[CrystleClear]

One of you needs to consider getting another job closer to who ever is the higher salary position. Your jobs are at two different ends of the spectrum and the commute for one of you is going to be an absolute nightmare. There is no where that is middle of the road for the two current job locations you have indicated.

[WannaComeHome]

youch. I agree with the two previous posters. while it may seem like being in between is an equalizer (and living in Laurel, I am pretty much in between), but both of you are going to be facing at least 2 hour commutes each way. I know it doesn't seem quite that far, but the traffic during rush hour is insane. It took me a little over 2 hours to get 30 miles from McLean to Laurel, just because I hit the beltway at 5:30! And it's farther than that up to APG!

Seriously, you will never see each other except on weekends with this double commute.

But if you insist, Laurel is exactly 1/2 between Baltimore & DC and is between 2 exits of I95 (Rts 216 & 198). You might be able to find an apt for that, but it won't be much, check the older places. I think my BiL pays that much or more for an efficiency at Fox Rest!