Commute from Northern Calvert County to DC (Fort Washington, Chesapeake Beach: house, to buy)

[rivettijensen]

We currently live in Reston, VA and my husband works in DC. The commute from here is obviously not great, so we know what we're in for in general in this area. But we would like to move to a smaller, slower, less crowded town to buy a house as we have small children.

Tell me about the commute to DC from places like Chesapeake Beach. Do many people commute to DC from out there? Do they drive all the way in or take the Metro or is there some other option? About how long does it take? Like I said, we know and accept a lengthy commute. From Reston it takes a little over an hour on public transit. I just wonder if it's any better or worse from out in Calvert County, an area that we may enjoy more.

Thanks for the help!

[Redneckyup]

Reston! Argh! This is my two cents worth. We lived in Fort Washington and my wife worked in Lanham. We moved to Chesapeake Beach. My wife was not sure of the commute either. So...I suggested that she get up one morning and drive to where we were planning on moving and drive to work like normal. She also drove it on a weekend, twice. She was happy with the nice 45 minute commute, so we moved. Smartest thing we ever did. I had two children go to school and grow up here and life is good. BTW, your commute to DC will vary on time you leave and where you work in DC. From 40 to 75 minutes.

[slowlane]

Originally Posted by rivettijensen

We currently live in Reston, VA and my husband works in DC. The commute from here is obviously not great, so we know what we're in for in general in this area. But we would like to move to a smaller, slower, less crowded town to buy a house as we have small children.

Tell me about the commute to DC from places like Chesapeake Beach. Do many people commute to DC from out there? Do they drive all the way in or take the Metro or is there some other option? About how long does it take? Like I said, we know and accept a lengthy commute. From Reston it takes a little over an hour on public transit. I just wonder if it's any better or worse from out in Calvert County, an area that we may enjoy more.

Thanks for the help!

Go to the Maryland Department of Transportation website, to see schedules of commuter busses from Calvert County to D.C. Vanpooling is also very popular in Calvert County. Also, see the other very recent discussions, here, which go into great detail describing Chesapeake Beach.

[jayman1981]

Well it all depends on the time you have to be at work. Look for a commute with no traffic to be about 45 mins. With traffic about a hour and some change. Coming from Route 4, traffic gets slow around upper Marlboro near the beltway. While Southern Maryland's traffic isn't as bad as Northern Virginia, I don't think it would be that much better, plus the metro isn't that convenient to get to.

The plus side of staying in Calvert county is that housing and property taxes are generally cheaper than Fairfax county.

[PenguinSix]

Depends a great deal on what time you leave / need to be at work.

If you work in DC and need to be in the office by 8:30, you're could see 1:15 from Chesapeake Beach.

If you need to be there by 9:00, more like 1 hour.

If you need to be there by 10:00, you can do 45 minutes.

Of course, a wreck or weather can mess with this. Choke points include:

Route 4/Suitland connection
Suitland basically inside DC
South Cap / 11th Bridge
The SE/SW Freeway

My best time from C. Beach to the US Capitol was 37 minutes. I hit every light on the Suitland perfect and probably went a bit faster than I was supposed to.

Buses are numerous, but they are geared toward people who work early and leave early. Last bus to DC is 7:20 am and the last bus out this way leaves downtown DC around 5:45, which never really worked for us.

[dougmangin]

How is this commute currently? I would be going to the blue plains area where I-295 connects to the beltway. How long a commute would that be from Calvert County?