Young Professional moving to Fort Washington (DC area) (Accokeek, Kensington: apartment, rental)

[PhenixFire_83]

Hello All!!

I'm moving to Fort Washington (DC area) in early July. Believe me I am more than ready for this move (I was recently laid off and I am taking the opportunity to get the hell out of the south, LOL!!). But anywho, I have quite a few questions and I would appreciate anyone that could help, so thanks in advance.

How fierce is job competition, for one with a Bachelors in Business + 6yrs solid professional experience: project mgmt, admin, quality testing/assurance, etc?

Would I really NEED a vehicle?

Is it better to apply for federal civilian jobs, while living in the area? (maybe I should post this one on federalsoup.com, LOL)

Best places to rent for 20-something female, no kids, living alone?

Thanks you guys, and many blessings on this wonderful Sunday!!

PhenixFire_83

[RaisedWell]

Originally Posted by PhenixFire_83

Hello All!!

I'm moving to Fort Washington (DC area) in early July. Believe me I am more than ready for this move (I was recently laid off and I am taking the opportunity to get the hell out of the south, LOL!!). But anywho, I have quite a few questions and I would appreciate anyone that could help, so thanks in advance.

How fierce is job competition, for one with a Bachelors in Business + 6yrs solid professional experience: project mgmt, admin, quality testing/assurance, etc?

Would I really NEED a vehicle?

Is it better to apply for federal civilian jobs, while living in the area? (maybe I should post this one on federalsoup.com, LOL)

Best places to rent for 20-something female, no kids, living alone?

Thanks you guys, and many blessings on this wonderful Sunday!!

PhenixFire_83

If you are moving to Fort Washington, yes you would need a vehicle.

[terrence81]

Originally Posted by PhenixFire_83

Hello All!!

I'm moving to Fort Washington (DC area) in early July. Believe me I am more than ready for this move (I was recently laid off and I am taking the opportunity to get the hell out of the south, LOL!!). But anywho, I have quite a few questions and I would appreciate anyone that could help, so thanks in advance.

How fierce is job competition, for one with a Bachelors in Business + 6yrs solid professional experience: project mgmt, admin, quality testing/assurance, etc?

Would I really NEED a vehicle?

Is it better to apply for federal civilian jobs, while living in the area? (maybe I should post this one on federalsoup.com, LOL)

Best places to rent for 20-something female, no kids, living alone?

Thanks you guys, and many blessings on this wonderful Sunday!!

PhenixFire_83

I wouldn't say that it's any more fierce than any other city. The nice thing about this area is that it hasn't been hit as hard by the recession as other parts of the country. Unemployment is up here just everywhere but it's like 5% compared to like 8 or 9% in other places. Now I will say that people are more educated here. So you will be competing for jobs with people with advanced degrees. Although that shouldn't scare you since if said person with masters degree is overqualified they still might not get hired.

Where you live will definitely depend on where you work. So you'll need to find a job and go from there. This is a huge area. If you get a job in say Reston, VA then you won't want to live Ft. Washington for very long. Vice versa if you get say a government job in Suitland,MD then you won't want to live in Reston but Ft. Washington will allow an easy commute. So get the job first then worry about where you live. The traffic is the second worst in the country here but the major job centers in the city are very expensive the longer the commute often the cheaper the apartment hence why the traffic is so bad. Decent one bedrooms start in the $1100-$1200 in the suburbs and go up from there so don't be afraid to look having roommates. It's about $1400-$1500 for a one bedroom in the city. Maryland is cheaper than VA but taxes are higher so is gas so it all evens out in the end.

You will need a car in Ft. Washington the only way to comfortably live in the area without a car is if you live AND work in DC. In my experience I've found that places that are easiest to live in without a car are more expensive so any money saved by not driving will go into rent and the metro in my opinion is kinda expensive. I did the math, it's actually cheaper for me to drive to work in a big SUV than to take the metro during rush hour. So yeah don't get rid of your car.

I think you'll enjoy it here. You can start job hunting now but make sure you put your Ft. Washington address on your resume. A lot of jobs don't even look at out of town resumes.

[cool rob]

Originally Posted by terrence81

I wouldn't say that it's any more fierce than any other city. The nice thing about this area is that it hasn't been hit as hard by the recession as other parts of the country. Unemployment is up here just everywhere but it's like 5% compared to like 8 or 9% in other places. Now I will say that people are more educated here. So you will be competing for jobs with people with advanced degrees. Although that shouldn't scare you since if said person with masters degree is overqualified they still might not get hired.

Where you live will definitely depend on where you work. So you'll need to find a job and go from there. This is a huge area. If you get a job in say Reston, VA then you won't want to live Ft. Washington for very long. Vice versa if you get say a government job in Suitland,MD then you won't want to live in Reston but Ft. Washington will allow an easy commute. So get the job first then worry about where you live. The traffic is the second worst in the country here but the major job centers in the city are very expensive the longer the commute often the cheaper the apartment hence why the traffic is so bad. Decent one bedrooms start in the $1100-$1200 in the suburbs and go up from there so don't be afraid to look having roommates. It's about $1400-$1500 for a one bedroom in the city. Maryland is cheaper than VA but taxes are higher so is gas so it all evens out in the end.

You will need a car in Ft. Washington the only way to comfortably live in the area without a car is if you live AND work in DC. In my experience I've found that places that are easiest to live in without a car are more expensive so any money saved by not driving will go into rent and the metro in my opinion is kinda expensive. I did the math, it's actually cheaper for me to drive to work in a big SUV than to take the metro during rush hour. So yeah don't get rid of your car.

I think you'll enjoy it here. You can start job hunting now but make sure you put your Ft. Washington address on your resume. A lot of jobs don't even look at out of town resumes.

You said it all!

[TechlawyerinPG]

Welcome. I was a young professional woman living single in Ft. Washington (recently married...not quite as young but still professional ) and have commuted to DC, Tysons Corner and now to the Dulles Corridor (Sterling, Ashburn, Chantilly area).

You will want a car living there. I actually lived in Arlington for many years before I bought a home in Ft. Wash and went without a car for years...I bought a car right before I moved to Ft. Wash. You can get around by bus and metro...many of my neighbors do it everyday but you will prefer to have a car.

I live at the very beginning of Ft. Washington bordering on Oxon Hill near the Nat'l Harbor and my commute into DC ranges 15-40 minutes depending on what part of DC. I can get to Georgia Avenue area around Howard Univ. in about 40 min in rush hour and downtown in about 30 minutes. On weekends, downtown takes about 15 minutes. If you live further down in Ft. Wash closer to Accokeek you may need to add another 15 min or so.

Closest metro is Southern Ave. (2-4 miles depending on where you are in Ft. Wash.) which has ample parking and connects to many bus routes. This is where I park when I want to metro into downtown. As my job moved from downtown DC to the Dulles corridor, I considered taking metro instead of driving both when I was working in DC and in Dulles. For both locations I decided I preferred to drive. When I worked in DC my parking was subsidized and I got to work faster. For Dulles, the combo or metro and bis I'd have to do was going to take 2 hours or so and cost a mint each day...so I drive instead and park in my companies free garage and I get to work within 1 hour whether I take the Wilson Bridge or go through DC and take GW Parkway to get out to Dulles.

Of all the places in Prince Georges, I picked Ft. Washington as the most convenient for getting to work in DC and VA and it has been thusfar.

Hope this helps!

[MGD]

Originally Posted by PhenixFire_83

Hello All!!

I'm moving to Fort Washington (DC area) in early July. Believe me I am more than ready for this move (I was recently laid off and I am taking the opportunity to get the hell out of the south, LOL!!). But anywho, I have quite a few questions and I would appreciate anyone that could help, so thanks in advance.

How fierce is job competition, for one with a Bachelors in Business + 6yrs solid professional experience: project mgmt, admin, quality testing/assurance, etc?

Would I really NEED a vehicle?

Is it better to apply for federal civilian jobs, while living in the area? (maybe I should post this one on federalsoup.com, LOL)

Best places to rent for 20-something female, no kids, living alone?

Thanks you guys, and many blessings on this wonderful Sunday!!

PhenixFire_83

same here, add 2 kids and the need for a school zone ranked 9 or 10 by greatshools.net.

I have family in the area and decided my previous move plan put me at risk of having the same lack of support with the kids as i faced in Florida.

So i am returning to Montgomery County from whence I came...lol.

But the schools are badder than people make them look, and many of the high schools are uniformly sorry...Wootton and my old high school, Churchill, are the only two that seem worth anything.

And i have to actually secure housing before the job cause as stated above employers don't look at you too often if you don't appear to be in the area...so i am using my brother's Kensington P.O. box to get things done. And it's working I have an apptmt lined up with a temp agency already...

What's the advice for me (my mother would be helping me get into a place so i have to live in montgomery county cause her church and other resources will help out, but they don't stretch their help outside the county borders).

Most important for me is the school zone. But at the end of the day i can't have more than 40% of my income (which will at a minimum be $14-$15/hour, and at a max be $45k+ for entry level professional bachelor's degree holder) going towards rent/utilities. It should be 30% but i am willing to sacrifice the extra 10% to live in a good school zone.

Is there anything under $1,000 a month in the Wootton or Churchill clusters that allows a whole family to live in it?

[df80umes]

@MGD

I wouldn't go off the rating on greatschools.net They appear to be bias...in my opinion. Many schools that have scores above the state averaged are ranked as low as a 5. My son currently goes to s "9" school district and I'm not impressed at all. He's not being challenged and I have to supplement work at home.
When looking at schools I have a few (not so scientific) factors. I look at their website, if it's maintained and seem to have an active PTA(which you can call the school about) that's says alot to me. I would also try driving by the school and talking to the teachers.
Good Luck in your search.
Also, I'm not too familiar with Mont Co. but I don't think you'll find a rental for around $1000.