new job (Washington: sales, apartment, rentals)

[kikiamitchell]

I have a new job offer in the DC area, and I will be relocating from Texas. I know absolutely nothing about this area, except from what I've learned from the internet and television. I'm looking for a safe,safe, affordable, diverse, and friendly community. School districts are very important, and I'd like to move to an area that has a really good middle schools and high schools. Please, any help you can give me would be really appreciated.

[nbdinz]

Friendly?
People from the south typically don't find DC very friendly. The unhappy and grumpy dumpy people in this city are the ones that are transients... they also destroy this city with their uncaring attitudes about the city and the area.

Affordable?
Again, people from the south don't typically find DC and its suburbs affordable. A typical modern 1 bedroom apartment in DC will run $1,800 and up In Bethesda Maryland it will run the same. In Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia it will run around $1,400 and up.

Schools?
For better schools that are nationally recognized stick with Montgomery County, Maryland or Fairfax County, Virginia. If you choose to live in DC, go with a private school if you don't move to Georgetown/Burleith/Glover Park/Chevy Chase.

Diversity?
The entire metro area is diverse.

[sngbrd]

I am from Pennsylvania, my boyfriend lives here in downtown dc. friendliness is extremely important to me. I spend a great deal of time here and I have met some very unresponsive and unfriendly people here and some really cool people. The rent thing is true..his apartment is a studio and would go for 1100 to 1200.00/month which is insane. NW washington is pretty safe at least in the area he is in but there are some areas that I generally stay out of ...

[adh0789]

If you want good schools look into Montgomery county MD, but the whole DC metro area is expensive. It bugs me to say it cause i live in PG county but if you want good schools and safety stay out of PG County MD, S.E., N.E.& S.W. DC most of N.W. is safer than the rest of DC.

[teleblazer]

Originally Posted by kikiamitchell

I have a new job offer in the DC area, and I will be relocating from Texas. I know absolutely nothing about this area, except from what I've learned from the internet and television. I'm looking for a safe,safe, affordable, diverse, and friendly community. School districts are very important, and I'd like to move to an area that has a really good middle schools and high schools. Please, any help you can give me would be really appreciated.

I echo the sentiments of others in this forum. If you're looking for safe counties, good school systems and a diverse and friendly community you're probably not talking about many DC areas or subburbs based on my Southern point of view (originally from New Orleans, LA). PG (Prince George's County) is known for a lot of crime and other problems in the news. Montgomery county is often known as being really expensive. Howard and Calvert counties have been lauded for the best schools over the last few years but Howard is quite a distance from DC. Rent is crazy in most places and I left the Fairfax, VA area because for a little more than rent I could build a house in Southern, MD.

So with that said you're probably talking about Southern MD like Calvert County. There's a new Huntingtown High school (about a year or two old) and two schools listed as Blue Ribbon schools (Plum Point Elementary and Plum Point Middle) near where I am selling my home. I can get to just about anywhere in DC I want in 45 minutes with normal traffic on Route 4.

There's access to beaches, and community items. It's more of a homely area but it's slowly growing. I'm about an hour or so from Annapolis and Baltimore, MD.

The thing you have to watch in Maryland is some people live NEAR great schools but they are not actually zoned to go to those great schools. So ask directly if you start looking for houses out this way.

John
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[VT Hokie 2007]

I'm from D.C. (well, actually, Tyson's Corner, which is about 6-8 miles outside of D.C. in Virginia). The cost of living in suburban Northern Virginia is on par with most other large suburban areas--gas, food, cars, clothes, etc. are all reasonably priced. Home prices and rent are what truly make Northern Virginia's cost of living high. But something outsiders don't realize is that people are paid so well in this area that it more than makes up for the higher cost of housing, which leaves A LOT of discretionary income left over. People pay high rents, but most college-educated professionals also have expensive cars, nice clothes and big TVs and can afford oppulent vacations and private school tuition.

The job market in the Washington, D.C. suburbs is INSANELY good. Northern Virginia has a 1.7% unemployment rate--that's TOTALLY unheard of! For all intents and purposes, there is full employment.

To conclude, I would note that living close in to D.C. in places like Arlington, VA will get you small, expensive homes/rentals. The further one gets out (to places like Springfield and Leesburg), the more affordable rents and homes become. The primary advantage to living right in around the beltway is proximity to D.C. and the incredibly convenient D.C. Metro rail. If one does not work in D.C. nor has much interest in being close to Washington, then I'd recommend living further out--more home for the dollar.

I'd also strongly urge newcomers to avoid living in suburban Maryland if the decision is between Maryland and Virginia. Traffic is worse on the Maryland side, the economy is weaker, there is higher crime, and MUCH higher taxes--higher gas tax, sales tax, and income tax. There is really no advantage to living in suburban Maryland and the commonwealth of Virginia has better and more public universities (such as UVa, Virginia Tech, William & Mary, VMI, George Mason, Washington and Lee, Mary Washington, etc.) and in-state Virginia tuition to these universities is simply ridiculous--talking $10,000 for 1 year of tuition, room and board for in-state students. Can't be beat.

[VT Hokie 2007]

Opulent* Where the heck is the edit button??

[montco78]

If you are a southerner you will probably like VA better just for the personality of people there - more southern like.

I have to disagree with previous poster about the MD side. MD is great.

[yukimika]

"Traffic is worse on the Maryland side"
uhhh, when was the last time you were there? it took me 1 hour to detour off the beltway just to go to McD's near Tysons corner. I've been stuck in traffic there plenty times before that too.

As far as taxes go, I suggest the interested party do his/her own research.

MD sales tax: 5%
VA (fairfax): 5% (4% state and 1% local)
http://business.marylandtaxes.com/ta...se/default.asp
http://www.fairfaxva.gov/Taxes/VASalesTax.asp

as for all the rest income, etc... As I said do your own research. Example,
http://individuals.marylandtaxes.com...ax/default.asp
http://www.tax.virginia.gov/Web_PDFs/taxtable.pdf

For crime, the idea that Montgomery county is worse is wrong. There is plenty of violent crime in NOVA too.

the personality of areas around DC is pretty much all the same. Not like you cross the Potomac and are all of a sudden in happy land. There are lots of nice people in MD also.

for schools; both Montgomery Co. MD (potomac/bethesda/rockville) and Fairfax VA have excellent middle schools and high schools. Consistently ranked the top in the country.

MD has great public universities too, specifically the University of Maryland system. With the UM-College Park being the flagship school. Also the University of Maryland College Park is better than UVA and VT combined. It's better than UVA in liberal arts, sciences, and social sciences and better than VT engineering school. Sorry hokies.

But they are all good schools.

[VT Hokie 2007]

yuk, I'd do YOUR own research--UVa is considered the first or 2nd best public university in the nation (behind only UC-Berkeley) and Virginia Tech's engineering IS ranked higher than UMD's, in addition to VT's architecture dept., which is nationally renowned (I'd link you to US News, but it is premium information, so a link won't help). The University of Maryland-College Park is a great school, no doubt, but no person in the country would say UMD is better than UVa--that's totally ridiculous--and the fact that you would say UMD-College park is BETTER than UVa calls into question your credibility. Not to mention the fact that in-state tuition at UMD is about 70% higher than Virginia public universities. And UMD's football team is a total joke--watching Virginia Tech humiliate Maryland 55-6 in football was one of the greatest days of my life.

Also, UMD-College park is the only reputable state university in Maryland (Johns Hopkins is private). Hardly a reason worth selecting the state of Maryland to live in.

I'd also like to point out that you conveniently brushed over Prince George's County, MD, and other surrounding Maryland counties that are regional jokes. The Maryland suburbs is comprised of more than Montgomery County. I'll happily point anyone to not only Fairfax County, Va, but also Arlington County, Loudon County, Falls Church City, Fairfax City, and Prince William County, Virginia. I'd put these Virginia provinces in the Washington, D.C. suburbs up against ANY that Maryland has. All you've got is Montgomery County? Ha!