Moving to Montgomery County; Germantown or Silver Spring? (Gaithersburg, Aspen Hill: lease, condos)

[fardad89]

Hey everyone

I'm a 19 year old student, and I moved to US five months ago. Currently my mother and I live in Sterling, Loudoun County, Northern VA, and we are planning to buy a condo in Montgomery County, Maryland this month (Small condo for around $160K).

As a person who is new in the area, I have a couple questions, and I'd really appreciate that if anyone can give me some information about this area. My realtor showed me some condos in Silver Spring and Germantown.

First of all, two of the condos in Germantown are in "Farmingdale Estates". It's a small neighborhood south of Clopper Rd and east of Great Seneca Hwy. Since I don't know the neighborhoods at all here's is the map on Google Map:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...,0.038581&z=15

The other two condos are in Silver Spring (Aspen Hill). They are on east of Georgia Ave on Longmeade Crossing Dr. Again here is the Google Map:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...1,0.01929&z=16

All of the condos and neighborhoods show well. But I read a lot of articles about the crime rates and safety and stuff like that about Maryland! I realy want my neighborhood to be like this:

1) Since I'm living with my mother, we really don't care about the school system or entertainment or sport centers or restaurants or anything like these. But I want it to be safe (don't get mugged in a gas station, no one breaks into my house, etc.)

2) Right now, I'm gonna go to Montgomery College and they have campuses in these towns, so there is no problem there for the first year or two, but after that I'm gonna attend UMD (University of Maryland at College Park), so I need to commute there every week. Silver Spring is pretty close to both DC and College Park, but Germantown is like 20 miles. How is the traffic there? Is there a lot of differences between these two cities for commuting to College Park?

3) My mother doesn't drive, so I want to make sure that she can walk in a safe neighborhood. How is the safety in these towns for a woman in 50s to be alone and without a car?

4) Last thing, how is the transportation in those towns? My mother needs to go to work there and I want to know can she take the bus? Are they safe? She doesn't really need to go to everywhere, just enough to move around in the town, to go shopping or go to work independently.

I know it is a LONG question, but i'd really appreciate any personal experience you can share. We have to decide quickly, and I don't know anyone here.

Thanks again

[tonyc]

Personally I would rent for a year, then decide if I really like the area enough to buy.

Germantown gets my vote over SS, however the traffic is horrible in rush hour. SS to Colege Park will be breeze of a commute. Oh and if you live in SS you can attend MC in Takoma Park. As far as convenience SS gets the knod.

[dkf747]

I looked at both maps. The one in Germantown is in a good area. The one in SS seems to be as well. The one in SS is close to Metro and plenty of buses there. Bus service in Germantown is pretty good too. I think both areas are pretty safe.

Now, about Montgomery College. There are 3 campuses (Germantown, Rockville, and Silver Spring. Different programs at each campus. Best choice would be nearer the campus you will use. Germantown location of Condo is easy to Germantown Campus and Rockville (just a bit further, and more traffic). To SS it would be really long. The SS condo is not near the MC campus, but it isn't hard to get there by bus/metro. Getting to Rockville campus wouldn't be too hard either. Germantown is alot further away, but doable.

The SS location is obviously better for access to UMd. Just take Randolph rd east to Rt.1 in College Park and turn right. The campus is just down the road. From Germantown, it will be an awful commute.

Based on the above, SS wins. In my opinion, of course.

[fardad89]

Originally Posted by dkf747

I looked at both maps. The one in Germantown is in a good area. The one in SS seems to be as well. The one in SS is close to Metro and plenty of buses there. Bus service in Germantown is pretty good too. I think both areas are pretty safe.

Now, about Montgomery College. There are 3 campuses (Germantown, Rockville, and Silver Spring. Different programs at each campus. Best choice would be nearer the campus you will use. Germantown location of Condo is easy to Germantown Campus and Rockville (just a bit further, and more traffic). To SS it would be really long. The SS condo is not near the MC campus, but it isn't hard to get there by bus/metro. Getting to Rockville campus wouldn't be too hard either. Germantown is alot further away, but doable.

The SS location is obviously better for access to UMd. Just take Randolph rd east to Rt.1 in College Park and turn right. The campus is just down the road. From Germantown, it will be an awful commute.

Based on the above, SS wins. In my opinion, of course.

thank you for your complete answer
just one thing, which neighborhood has a safer environment?
also, commuting to mc is not that important to me right now (the difference is max. 15min), but how about umd? how is the traffic from germantown? is it intolerable for everyday commuting?
btw, i have a car myself, so i won't need public transportation for the college, i just want to make sure that there is a decent bus system for my mother to get around the town for work and shopping (not far away).

[fardad89]

Originally Posted by tonyc

Personally I would rent for a year, then decide if I really like the area enough to buy.

Germantown gets my vote over SS, however the traffic is horrible in rush hour. SS to Colege Park will be breeze of a commute. Oh and if you live in SS you can attend MC in Takoma Park. As far as convenience SS gets the knod.

thx for the answer

you know, i really cannot afford a year of rent (it's complecated, we have the money to buy, but don't have the enough income to rent!)

how bad is the rush hour from germantown? living in northern va i really don't have any idea! is it like a slow moving traffic for an hour? or is it like a parking in the morning?!

[tonyc]

Originally Posted by fardad89

thx for the answer

you know, i really cannot afford a year of rent (it's complecated, we have the money to buy, but don't have the enough income to rent!)

how bad is the rush hour from germantown? living in northern va i really don't have any idea! is it like a slow moving traffic for an hour? or is it like a parking in the morning?!

Then rent a hotel room for a week at a time then... I'm sure some private owner will allow...

I live in Gaithersburg and commute to DC daily. Yesterday I left at 7.30am and I got to DC at 9 am. For you, you will be going around the mormon temple which is always bad so figure at least 1 hour 15 mins. It is slow moving traffick, but one fender bender and it becomes a parking lot.

I've been looking at homes with someone recently and there're some great bargains to be had. See if you could stretch your budget and buy a TH instead of condo. The returns will be far greater. I'm actually seeing homes that are selling for 300k less than they sold for in 2006.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by fardad89

thank you for your complete answer
just one thing, which neighborhood has a safer environment?
also, commuting to mc is not that important to me right now (the difference is max. 15min), but how about umd? how is the traffic from germantown? is it intolerable for everyday commuting?
btw, i have a car myself, so i won't need public transportation for the college, i just want to make sure that there is a decent bus system for my mother to get around the town for work and shopping (not far away).

Bus service is pretty good in both places with SS possibly being a bit better.

Both areas, are as far as I know, safe areas.

Germantown to College Park - awful!

I said all that in my earlier post.

[KDkid]

I agree with the previous poster. I would do a short term lease and decide later.