Fort Washington & Brandywine thoughts (Clinton, Waldorf: crime, daycare, homes)

[ludakrishna]

I have been researching quite a bit and wanted to get some final thoughts on these areas. No kids and schools won't be in the equation for another 6 years. My wife and I will get best value in these areas and from looking at crime maps, most of these two areas are safe (southern Fort Washington & Brandywine). I will be commuting to DC & California, MD for work. I want to get your inputs into these two areas. I have tested the commute and to DC took 25 minutes and California, MD took 45 minutes. I was looking at Alexandria, VA but the time it would add to the commute is unreasonable.

[Missingatlanta]

Both areas are nice. I lived in Fort Washington for several years. Things I didn't like: heavy traffic on 210, lack of transit options outside of the bus, few shopping options (however since Tanger outlet is there now this is probably much improved). What I did like was that Fort Washington is generally pretty quiet. There were a few serious crime incidents when I lived there so I wouldn't say crime is rare, but it's definitely not a major issue and there are good daycare/preschool options in the area. Also, it has a small town feel but still close to the city and also a short distance to National Harbor and Alexandria. Commuting to my job in DC took me around 30 minutes also but I had to leave pretty early to make this happen. I'm not sure how traffic is later in the morning.

[slowlane3]

Greater Fort Washington, MD is a huge area, including many neighborhoods, some of them much closer to DC than others. Will you be working at a Naval facility nearby, in the southeast part of DC? Or will you work downtown, which is much farther ? You may be able to drive from Fort Washington to downtown DC in 25 minutes late at night, or on Sunday, but during rush-hours it will take you twice as long, depending on the exact locations of your worksite and your homesite. Metrobus will take 3 time as long, again depending on exact locations. But on the other hand, if you're working in the southeast part of the city, you will be much closer, and you may have free parking.

As for Brandywine, it will take you 15 minutes just to get thru the gridlocked red-lights in Brandywine alone, during weekday rush-hours. The red lights in Brandywine are one of the worst bottlenecks in the region. What time of day will your commute be?

You can find TONS of information about the California, MD area on the following site. Southern Maryland Onlineâ„¢ - Your on-line community for Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's Counties.â„¢

[seanlax]

Originally Posted by slowlane3

As for Brandywine, it will take you 15 minutes just to get thru the gridlocked red-lights in Brandywine alone, during weekday rush-hours. The red lights in Brandywine are one of the worst bottlenecks in the region. What time of day will your commute be?

They could likely avoid Brandywine if using Rt 228.

[ludakrishna]

Originally Posted by slowlane3

Greater Fort Washington, MD is a huge area, including many neighborhoods, some of them much closer to DC than others. Will you be working at a Naval facility nearby, in the southeast part of DC? Or will you work downtown, which is much farther ? You may be able to drive from Fort Washington to downtown DC in 25 minutes late at night, or on Sunday, but during rush-hours it will take you twice as long, depending on the exact locations of your worksite and your homesite. Metrobus will take 3 time as long, again depending on exact locations. But on the other hand, if you're working in the southeast part of the city, you will be much closer, and you may have free parking.

As for Brandywine, it will take you 15 minutes just to get thru the gridlocked red-lights in Brandywine alone, during weekday rush-hours. The red lights in Brandywine are one of the worst bottlenecks in the region. What time of day will your commute be?

You can find TONS of information about the California, MD area on the following site. Southern Maryland Onlineâ„¢ - Your on-line community for Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's Counties.â„¢

I'll be in the Pentagon area in DC for work and also in California, MD. DC 2 / week and California, MD 3 / week.

[armory]

Originally Posted by seanlax

They could likely avoid Brandywine if using Rt 228.

Per the OP, he is not moving to California or Waldorf. He is commuting from either Ft Washington or Brandywine to either DC or California.

[armory]

Originally Posted by ludakrishna

I'll be in the Pentagon area in DC for work and also in California, MD. DC 2 / week and California, MD 3 / week.

Are you commuting to DC or Arlington? That puts a different twist on your commute as you have to go across the river after driving through DC.

[seanlax]

Originally Posted by armory

Per the OP, he is not moving to California or Waldorf. He is commuting from either Ft Washington or Brandywine to either DC or California.

Dude think about it. To get from Ft. Washington (depending on how far south you are in Ft. Washington), cutting across Charles County via 228 is fairly reasonable. A LOT of people do it. You can avoid the 301/5 bottleneck in Brandywine very easily by doing this.

Look at a map.

[ludakrishna]

Originally Posted by seanlax

Dude think about it. To get from Ft. Washington (depending on how far south you are in Ft. Washington), cutting across Charles County via 228 is fairly reasonable. A LOT of people do it. You can avoid the 301/5 bottleneck in Brandywine very easily by doing this.

Look at a map.

Yes, I have done the commute from Ft Washington to California cutting through 228 and it was not at all painful. I could get to California in roughly 45-50 minutes and to DC in about 30-35 minutes.

[armory]

Originally Posted by seanlax

Dude think about it. To get from Ft. Washington (depending on how far south you are in Ft. Washington), cutting across Charles County via 228 is fairly reasonable. A LOT of people do it. You can avoid the 301/5 bottleneck in Brandywine very easily by doing this.

Look at a map.

I lived in CC before cutting across the county was popular and moved to PG before retiring to cut my commute...no more commuting these days. That 228 traffic light is a PITA when I drive south on 210. The true reason for that extension is due to overdevelopment of SOMD and the stress it put on main arteries; 228 was a simple county road previously and only accessible via Beale Hill road.

Traffic will only get worse and roads will deteriorate faster than ever as development continues. Rt 5 is being repaved from the beltway to Clinton at present but needs to be done to Waldorf and points south. Before that happens they will need to start at the beltway again.

MD politicians need to pull their heads out of the dark parts of their bodies and address this. A moratorium on development is needed as roads are as arteries blocked with plaque with no end in sight.