Moving to "DC" - recommendations for good commute/safe place to live (Silver Spring: to rent)

[MovingtoDCfromNJ]

All -

I will be down in the DC area this weekend as I have the final job interview for a position in DC.


I know there is a ton of information on this site, and I have been reading through tons of comments (and arguments) on places to live.

About Me:

Age: 27
In a Relationship (24F will be moving with me)
Ethnicity: White
Income: ~145k
Pet: 40 lb dog


The office for my company is located in Capitol Heights, MD - but services clients within the DC Area (including some MD and some VA territory). Ideally I'm looking to commute 40 minutes maximum if at all possible.

My girlfriend would be transferring without a job, but is currently a bar tender and works in Domestic Violence (long term goal is full-time in this field).

We do not have kids, so that is not a concern at this point. I am looking to rent a place, with at least 2 bed rooms.

Primary concerns:
1.) Safety - This may be overstated, but I have read quite a few negative things about the DC surrounding area. I am completely fine with diversity, although I only speak English (have read this would make living in certain areas tough). My main goal is to feel comfortable if I knew my girlfriend had to walk from the Train to our place at night. (I know that's tough to quantify) - For comparison I live in Matawan, NJ right now.

2.) Commute - As stated, if at all possible I'd love to be within a 40 minute (with normal traffic) commute to work. I currently have a almost 2 hour a day commute and it's killing me.

3.) Parking - I'm not sure how big of an issue it is in the area, and I don't know the area well enough to know if the Metro will eliminate the need for a second car but I believe that we'd need 2 separate cars and the ability to park them.

I'm truly open to recommendations to anywhere in this DC Metro area (in DC, MD suburb, VA suburb, etc)

**Side Note: If there is anything you'd highly recommend seeing or restaurants to eat at, please let me know!**

[bufflove]

Capitol Hill/Eastern Market area in DC
Arlington in VA (specifically, Rosslyn-Ballston corridor)
Silver Spring in MD (specifically, downtown Silver Spring)

Those are the areas I'd start my search with. Personally, I'd go with Cap Hill/Eastern Market - considering the job location - but the vibe (and price) of each area is quite different so it'd just come down to personal preference and how much of the income you're looking to spend.

[MovingtoDCfromNJ]

Thank you so much for the quick response. I had heard mixed reviews about Silver Spring (mainly due to it being a large area, but I guess if you focus on DT it's nice?)

I've heard the VA side is VERY nice. (One of my best friends just moved down to Richmond). From what I had heard though, commuting from VA to MD is brutal. I'm guessing this may be dependent on the location in VA. Do you think it's feasible with the commute?

Will look up Capitol Hill area. The Navy area I heard was extremely nice as well (figured it would be one of the areas I would check out).

Thank you again for the quick reply!

[bufflove]

Originally Posted by MovingtoDCfromNJ

Thank you so much for the quick response. I had heard mixed reviews about Silver Spring (mainly due to it being a large area, but I guess if you focus on DT it's nice?)

I've heard the VA side is VERY nice. (One of my best friends just moved down to Richmond). From what I had heard though, commuting from VA to MD is brutal. I'm guessing this may be dependent on the location in VA. Do you think it's feasible with the commute?

Will look up Capitol Hill area. The Navy area I heard was extremely nice as well (figured it would be one of the areas I would check out).

Thank you again for the quick reply!

Downtown Silver Spring is generally nice. It's not entirely built out yet (still some vacant lots where new "luxury" buildings are in the planning phase), so the aesthetic isn't as nice as the best areas of Arlington. You don't have to worry much about safety, but it is very diverse so there are more minor quality of life issues, e.g. shoplifting or graffiti (which the county does a good job cleaning up promptly).

The Rosslyn-Ballston corridor of Arlington is very polished as it's almost exclusively wealthy/white. It's quite expensive, but likely within your budget. It's a bit sterile and generic for my taste, but that's just a preference thing and maybe I haven't spend enough time in that area to understand/see the neighborhood's character.

Commuting around the region is pretty brutal, in general. Generally, the VA side has worse traffic than the MD side, but both are terrible for chunks of the day. Cap Hill area is likely your best bet as far as commute, assuming most of your time will be spent at the HQ, but Cap Hill area (Southeast DC) is also the place you need to be most careful about which block/neighborhood you're renting in as there are nice pockets next to terrible pockets. You definitely don't want to rent in SE DC sight unseen and will want to ask on the DC forum about specific area/blocks around your prospective rental, if you get that far.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by MovingtoDCfromNJ

I've heard the VA side is VERY nice. (One of my best friends just moved down to Richmond). From what I had heard though, commuting from VA to MD is brutal. I'm guessing this may be dependent on the location in VA. Do you think it's feasible with the commute?

Will look up Capitol Hill area. The Navy area I heard was extremely nice as well (figured it would be one of the areas I would check out).

You could live in Alexandria, and it's about 15 miles to Capitol Heights.

The biggest problem with living in DC will be finding a place to accept your dog. There will be few places except for parks to walk him. The second problem is finding parking for two cars.

I will suggest that you also look at National Harbor, on the Maryland side of the river. It is a new development and there should be planned parking.

[MovingtoDCfromNJ]

Originally Posted by bufflove

Downtown Silver Spring is generally nice. It's not entirely built out yet (still some vacant lots where new "luxury" buildings are in the planning phase), so the aesthetic isn't as nice as the best areas of Arlington. You don't have to worry much about safety, but it is very diverse so there are more minor quality of life issues, e.g. shoplifting or graffiti (which the county does a good job cleaning up promptly).

The Rosslyn-Ballston corridor of Arlington is very polished as it's almost exclusively wealthy/white. It's quite expensive, but likely within your budget. It's a bit sterile and generic for my taste, but that's just a preference thing and maybe I haven't spend enough time in that area to understand/see the neighborhood's character.

Commuting around the region is pretty brutal, in general. Generally, the VA side has worse traffic than the MD side, but both are terrible for chunks of the day. Cap Hill area is likely your best bet as far as commute, assuming most of your time will be spent at the HQ, but Cap Hill area (Southeast DC) is also the place you need to be most careful about which block/neighborhood you're renting in as there are nice pockets next to terrible pockets. You definitely don't want to rent in SE DC sight unseen and will want to ask on the DC forum about specific area/blocks around your prospective rental, if you get that far.

I am not worried about the minor things, as I said, my big concern is just feeling comfortable if my girlfriend was walking home at night by herself. So Silver Springs sounds fine on that front.

I will try to do the commute from Arlington and see what it's like. I'm not too worried about it vs Silver Spring but I'd like to check out an area on the VA side as well.

I know commuting is bad, but with losing 4 hours a day to commuting now, one of my main goals is to avoid doing that once I get down there.

[MovingtoDCfromNJ]

Originally Posted by goldenage1

You could live in Alexandria, and it's about 15 miles to Capitol Heights.

The biggest problem with living in DC will be finding a place to accept your dog. There will be few places except for parks to walk him. The second problem is finding parking for two cars.

I will suggest that you also look at National Harbor, on the Maryland side of the river. It is a new development and there should be planned parking.

Alexandria will definitely be a possibility, do you think that 15 miles is doable in 40 minutes or so on an average day?

I just looked up National Harbor, looks VERY expensive (no units showed up under 3k/month on a brief look). I will check out the area as well when I'm down there. It looks extremely nice though.

[Mom21]

Is your employer in walking distance of a metro? If so, the 40 minutes is do-able. Not sure about driving, though, as I have never had a commute in that direction. You might want to ask on the Northern VA forum.

[DistrictSonic]

Originally Posted by bufflove

Downtown Silver Spring is generally nice. It's not entirely built out yet (still some vacant lots where new "luxury" buildings are in the planning phase), so the aesthetic isn't as nice as the best areas of Arlington. You don't have to worry much about safety, but it is very diverse so there are more minor quality of life issues, e.g. shoplifting or graffiti (which the county does a good job cleaning up promptly).

The Rosslyn-Ballston corridor of Arlington is very polished as it's almost exclusively wealthy/white. It's quite expensive, but likely within your budget. It's a bit sterile and generic for my taste, but that's just a preference thing and maybe I haven't spend enough time in that area to understand/see the neighborhood's character.

Commuting around the region is pretty brutal, in general. Generally, the VA side has worse traffic than the MD side, but both are terrible for chunks of the day. Cap Hill area is likely your best bet as far as commute, assuming most of your time will be spent at the HQ, but Cap Hill area (Southeast DC) is also the place you need to be most careful about which block/neighborhood you're renting in as there are nice pockets next to terrible pockets. You definitely don't want to rent in SE DC sight unseen and will want to ask on the DC forum about specific area/blocks around your prospective rental, if you get that far.

Capital Hill is in SE DC. I think you meant to say they want to avoid east of the river. Which is absolutely great advice. Then again, I will give you a pass since this is the maryland board.

In terms of downtown Silver Spring, I consider it far more interesting than Arlington, which yeah, sterile is a good description. I didn't like Arlington much when I lived there. Downtown Silver Spring is kind of like the neighborhood DC is missing, and you don't realize it until you are in the area. It's pretty safe though.

DC is generally safe, it's not so much block to block as neighborhood to neighborhood. Again places like Shaw and Petworth can be simultaneously a little dangerous and gentrifying like crazy.

PG county is where there are most of the issues in the DC area outside of east of the river DC, even then, it depends where you are in PG. Greenbelt is kind of awesome in it's own way, but where you are working, Capital Heights, much less so. Such is PG county.

Also in terms of Silver Spring, Urban Butcher, Lotus Cafe, Anything Ethopian, Oriental East for Dim Sum on the weekends, and the list can go on and on.

If you are new to the area...Downtown Silver Spring is fine.