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My husband and I are moving to Maryland from Texas this Spring. He will be working at Johns Hopkins University and I will be working at the Medical Center in Bethesda. We only have one car, so one of us has to use the public transportation. Could you please give me some advice about where the best place to live would be? Thank you
If Johns Hopkins U means near the hospital then there is a train station at t he hospital. The Medical Center in Bethesda has a Metro stop. Comparing the 2, it would seem that DC is easier to reach via MARC train to Metro than Baltimore. Therefore, you should probably live somewhere near a MARC station in the Baltimore area. Then you would take MARC to Union Station and transfer to the Red Line Metro train to Medical Center. It's a bit long, but makes more sense to me than the other way around. Just my thoughts. Others will know more than I do.
I enjoy downtown Baltimore and have considered living there (I work near Medical Center Station, Bethesda) but a consultant we had lives near Hopkins U. and found the commute from her home (drive to train area then take train) to Medical Center Metro to be bad, sometimes taking 2 hours by train each way. Delays were common.
You are right to think about alternatives to driving to Medical Center. Congestion is already bad and will be getting a lot worse, with military BRAC consolidations coming. A lot of people seem to like Columbia and Ellicott City in Howard County--everyone I know who lives there drives, and has to come in ungodly early (and get some telecommuting if they can) to beat some of the crunch.
Hello Maldea, I'm native DC resident living in LA now (Hopkins grad). Lived in Baltimore and commuted to Georgetown, not fun or sustainable over the long term although Baltimore has its charms and is more affordable. A couple of things to consider, if you're in Baltimore and taking the train, take a look at the red line metro, it's a long metro ride after your long MARC ride, if you miss your train, your commute becomes a nightmare, I know I did it enough. And remember that the segment of the beltway from 95 to Bethesda is really congested. You may want to consider following the red line up to near the end in Shady Grove and then having your husband do the commute to Baltimore through back roads like maybe taking 29. Or just buy another car and check out Columbia MD, kind of dull and suburban but good schools and its about half way for both of you. Keep in mind traffic is much worse in DC, so if you go too far out you'll have long commute. Your employers are great institutions, congratulations and best of luck finding place that works, I don't know your tastes but I think community near shady grove metro might be your best bet, your husbands commute would be worse but yours won't be too bad at all, the metro in DC is safe clean and relatively reliable. You'll enjoy DC, lots of really smart and interesting people.
You may want to consider following the red line up to near the end in Shady Grove and then having your husband do the commute to Baltimore through back roads like maybe taking 29.
I live in Gaithersburg and just did that trip at 9 am last Thursday. At that time, it took over an hour using back roads. I'm going to do it again this coming Thursday at 7:30 am. I suspect that it will take longer.
Route I took for those who want to know: 370 to Shady Grove to Muncaster Mill rd to Bowie Mill rd to 108 to 32 to 29 to 175 to 95 to 395, then through downtown to Pratt st to Caroline st to Hopkins.
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That's a tough one
