Leesburg VA or Frederick MD (Arlington: home, rent, hotel)

[ECD9973]

So I'm moving back to the area from Southern CA. I am from the DC area originally.

My job is outside of Leesburg, so commute wise Leesburg wins hands down.
But I'm not that afraid of a commute (Currently my commute is 44 miles each way in bad traffic. Takes between 60 and 75 mins each way).

I hear the commute between Leesburg and Frederick is bad, but bad seems to be 40 to 60 mins. So that doesn't phase me.

Here is where I am torn. I would much rather live close to a city. Both Cities are small, I know, but Frederick seems bigger. Bigger downtown, more restaurants and live music, more parks, more activities and more growth. And they have a minor league baseball team.

For Leesburg, I remember it being VERY small downtown. But I'll admit, I had only been there 2 or 3 times when I last lived there. So my memory might not be as accurate. But it seemed like a small downtown, with not much community. But it is much less of a commute, and perhaps I'm remembering it completely wrong.

Any insight?

[normie]

Originally Posted by ECD9973

So I'm moving back to the area from Southern CA. I am from the DC area originally.

My job is outside of Leesburg, so commute wise Leesburg wins hands down.
But I'm not that afraid of a commute (Currently my commute is 44 miles each way in bad traffic. Takes between 60 and 75 mins each way).

I hear the commute between Leesburg and Frederick is bad, but bad seems to be 40 to 60 mins. So that doesn't phase me.

Here is where I am torn. I would much rather live close to a city. Both Cities are small, I know, but Frederick seems bigger. Bigger downtown, more restaurants and live music, more parks, more activities and more growth. And they have a minor league baseball team.

For Leesburg, I remember it being VERY small downtown. But I'll admit, I had only been there 2 or 3 times when I last lived there. So my memory might not be as accurate. But it seemed like a small downtown, with not much community. But it is much less of a commute, and perhaps I'm remembering it completely wrong.

Any insight?

This particular commute is also annoying because of the slowness of traffic, not just the drive time. There is only one way to get across the river, and it's a narrow, curvy, historic road. Trucks can't go very fast, especially on the curvy section just across from Point of Rocks. Route 15's historic significance complicates efforts to widen and/or straighten the road. Traffic can get maddeningly slow.

This may not bother you--there are plenty of people who drive from Leesburg to Maryland everyday because they catch the train. But it is something to be aware of.

BTW, welcome back. Where in Southern California are you moving from? I lived in Redondo Beach for many years.

[DILBERT8]

Originally Posted by ECD9973

So I'm moving back to the area from Southern CA. I am from the DC area originally.

My job is outside of Leesburg, so commute wise Leesburg wins hands down.
But I'm not that afraid of a commute (Currently my commute is 44 miles each way in bad traffic. Takes between 60 and 75 mins each way).

I hear the commute between Leesburg and Frederick is bad, but bad seems to be 40 to 60 mins. So that doesn't phase me.

Here is where I am torn. I would much rather live close to a city. Both Cities are small, I know, but Frederick seems bigger. Bigger downtown, more restaurants and live music, more parks, more activities and more growth. And they have a minor league baseball team.

For Leesburg, I remember it being VERY small downtown. But I'll admit, I had only been there 2 or 3 times when I last lived there. So my memory might not be as accurate. But it seemed like a small downtown, with not much community. But it is much less of a commute, and perhaps I'm remembering it completely wrong.

Any insight?

Leesburg is still a small town compared to Frederick.

[5stones]

leesburg has grown quite a bit, but yes, it's still smaller thna F'burg.

I would not recommend commuting FROM Leesburg to F'burg for one big reason...RT15.

It's a mess. 2 lanes right past Battlefiled PKY and in the evenings it backs way up and take you almost 30miutes to get from the outlet mall to after Battlefield where it bottlenecks. Fridays are the worst starting around 4pm-6pm. I know lots of prople regretting the move from Leesburg to Luckettes for just this reason. a 15 minute trip can take 45minutes in commute traffic.
It evens out traffic wise right past Whites Ferry...which you can take over rather than Point of rocks bridge. but it can be delayed and back up as well and take about 20 minutes just to get on the ferry.
Luckettes is fighting any and all efforts to widen rt15 to 4 lanes, which it needs to be done, as it's become a major commuter route as they keep building neighborhood out in luckettes. RT 15 was not built to handle the traffic.

If you haven't been to Leesburg in years you might be surprised at how much it has grown etc... and yes they too have summer concert series etc...but...still not up to the "hipness of F'burg"

My sugggestion is to stay in an exteneded stay Hotel in F'burg and drive the commute for about 2 weeks...then decide if you can hack for the long term.

[MOVING ONE]

Frederick probably has more to do as far as nightlife and mixed culture. Route15 is not that bad unless there is an accident or flood (it seems to flood easily). If your work hours are not 9 to 5 it wouldn't be a bad commute anyway.

[EngineerCommuter]

I drive from Frederick to Leesburg and back every day. I can say without hesitation...that it is just fine as a commute. I leave home between 6:45 - 7:30 in the morning, and almost without fail, arrive at my office off of Sycolin Rd. within 40-50 minutes later. And the posters who were talking about the northbound afternoon comumute being horrible: (1) it has NEVER taken me 40 minutes to get from Edwards Ferry Rd. to Whites Ferry Rd. At its worst it was 20 minutes. (2) And if it's backed up, just cut right through Leesburg on Plaza St. all the way to Battlefield Pkwy, make a left on Battlefield to hit Rt. 15 BUS and take Rt. 15 BUS north to the merge with the bypass. I do this most Friday afternoons when the traffic northbound is bad, and it saves me at least 10-15 minutes. Overall my afternoon drive is also 40-50 minutes very consistently.

[jahutch]

I'd live in Leesburg. I know you say you don't MIND a long commute, but wouldn't you prefer a short one. You could live close to work, and instead of spending 45 minutes each way in the car every single day to go to work, you could spend the same amount of time once every few days to go to DC or Arlington for real night life .