I work in Baltimore, my wife in DC (sale, for rent)

[Huxtable]

Here's our situation:

I am going to be working at Johns Hopkins Hospital in downtown Baltimore (600 N wolfe street) as a resident. My hours are going to be rough, but I will be driving in the morning before traffic starts. I will be coming home around rush hour.

My wife is going to be working as a law associate in downtown DC. Her hours are going to be probably as bad as mine (60-70 hour weeks). She is likely to go into and out of work during rush hour. However, she will also be working late many days, well past the time the last MARC train leaves. She is willing to drive to the nearest metro station and hop on that to get to and from work. She could also drive the whole commute.

So as you can see, we are two very busy people with demanding schedules. We are in our mid-20's and would like to live somewhere that young professionals would enjoy. I've know of a few residents in my program that live in Laurel, but one says the commute is too much for her. No one lives in Silver Spring. We are considering buying a townhouse or single family home, but only after we "test" the location out for a while. Renting an apt or condo would likely do fine.

Any thoughts or recommendations on where we should consider would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[Zippy7fo]

Columbia is your best bet. Its the half way point for both and your wife has 3 major routes to DC plus MARC.

[silverspringer]

This is almost an unsolveable situation -- I feel for you. If you live in Columbia, as the above poster suggests, your wife's commute to downtown DC will be pretty excruciating.

Silver Spring offers a good commute to downtown, especially if you're near a metro. The commute to your part of Baltimore will be long. You'll be going against traffic, though, on the beltway and 95. You also have the option of taking 295.

I think you need to live closer to DC than to Baltimore. DC has worse traffic. If you live close to DC, at least you'll have a reverse commute north. Also sounds like you are more likely to be traveling at off-peak times.

There are tradeoffs, but you might consider places like Hyattsville and College Park, if you can get near the Green Line metro. If you stick close to the beltway in Silver Spring or Takoma Park, that would be good too.

[silverspringer]

Maybe you could rent a cheap place in Baltimore and crash there a couple nights a week?

[saganista]

Another take: Think about a place like Burtonsville. It's a little bit off the beaten path, about 7,000 people, still a little countrified, and very diverse. But your wife would be about ten miles and maybe 15-20 minutes from the Glenmont station on the DC Metro Red Line. From there, it's a 30-minute ride to Farragut North in the heart of K Street lawyer country. Metro runs until about midnight (3:00 am on Friday's), so working late shouldn't be a problem. For you, going north to Hopkins (nice gig, btw...congrats) it'd be a little tougher. That's maybe 30 miles, but off-peak probably less than 45 minutes. In rush hour, even though it's mostly Baltimore traffic, it will be a good deal longer, but I don't know how to estimate how much longer. Those last few miles are on city streets. Could get ugly. Still it may not be as bad as you might think...

[KittiKat]

I just responded to another post about this same situation. I moved to Howard County due to my need to access DC and Baltimore. I moved from Alexandria, VA. Traffic is better in MD and there are some wonderful neighborhoods in Howard County. We are actually relocating and have our house for rent or sale in Stone Lake in Howard County. It is 5 bedrooms so it might be too large for you. I don't think you would regret being in Howard County. It offers the rural side and you are close to the urban side as well.
Good luck!

[f x emmet]

Try Burtonsville Md. area. Wife can take commuter bus to Sil Spr and Subway after that. You can drive to Balti against the AM taffic