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I just got a job in the Suitland Federal Center. I'm 27, single, and will be making about 50k to start. From what I know about Suitland itself, I can rule out living in the immediate area due to the absurd crime rate.
So the question then becomes- where to live? It looks like the Suitland metro stop is very convenient to my job, but I'm not necessarily sure that commuting via metro is the best option if it will restrict where I can live too much. I'm very outdoorsy, so I will be bringing my car and anticpate many trips to both the beach and the mountains on weekends. It would also be nice if I could be fairly close to some parks/natural areas to use on weeknights after work.
I absolutely hate traffic, and don't want to have more than a half hour commute whether via car or metro. I'd also like to get something more reasonably priced, like $1200 rent max (never thought I'd be calling that a reasonable price...)
So far I'm looking at Bowie, Upper Marlboro, Arlington, and Alexandria. Is it possible to find a place in these areas meeting my criteria? Should I consider any other areas? I guess my priorities in order are:
1. Proximity to Suitland
2. Outdoor activities
3. Low crime
4. Reasonable cost
You could live in towns like Deale, Chesapeake Beach and North Beach. All of them are on the Chesapeake Bay and about 30 minutes from Suitland. Not a ton of nightlife, but pretty rural areas with water activities galore. Unfortunately for mountains you need to be heading into VA or PA more or less, which means cutting across DC (i.e. you won't be living there).
I'd stay in Maryland just for the sake of not having to cross a river twice a day (cars are only allowed to break down on bridges in this area....not 200 feet across where there's a shoulder, ON the bridge. it's the law).
I second Chesapeake beach area.
Also, you might consider the Riva/Edgewater area, just south of Annapolis. Annapolis is the small boating capitol of the world.
Bowie and Upper Marlboro are.......ok. Not bad, but not much going on....lots of strip malls and such.
Thanks for the advice. Chesapeake Beach does look like an interesting area.
One thing that concerns me though, is that Google Maps claims 44 minutes from Chesapeake Beach to Suitland. Does it really take that long? I was hoping to have a commute no longer than 30 minutes, but if most of the area I'd be driving through is rural and scenic it might not be too bad. Is this scenic country along highways 4 and 260?
How are the actual beaches in these areas? Is this a place I'd want to lay in the sun and swim in the summer? It sounds like most people in the DC area go all the way out to Ocean City for the beach. Is there something wrong with the much closer beaches on the Chesapeake?
Also, anyone know approximately what a 1 bedroom apartment would cost in the Chesapeake beach area? I haven't been able to get much reliable info online about the costs in this area.
From the corner of Suitland Parkway / Pennsylvania Avenue (next to Andrews AFB) to the 'flagpole' in Chesapeake Beach takes me about 27 minutes or so at a good clip, slightly longer in the morning as there can be a back up at that light by the base. From that intersection to your office is something you'll have to dig up. Overall it is very rural driving. Trees and whatnot. After you pass Upper Marlboro (301) you can occasionally pass farm tractors on rt. 4 and 260.
The towns are not really like resort towns like you'd see on the ocean, i.e. no Skeeball and french fry places littering the streets. Kind of more like a fishing village with a few other things to do (they're both small towns). I would strongly, strongly recommend visiting to see if it is for you. Might get lonely if you are looking for a lot of nightlife (consider Annapolis if that is the case).
I think one thing keeping the towns from becoming bigger beach areas are jellyfish. Come July or so, the Bay has a lot of jellyfish which don't exactly feel that nice to the touch. North Beach has a small beach with a net, Chesapeake Beach has a public beach with no net. Don't expect 1000s of yards of sand--more like a 100 yards here and there. Still, the sun does shine if you want to get tan.
Rent--not much compared to DC proper. Check the Southern Maryland version of Craigslist
However, i don't like to be a hater, but Suitland is undesireable, and there's not much of anything good in the immediate area.
As far Ches. Beach goes, you could certainly take advantage of the area. There are actual sandy beaches and piers, marinas, etc. There's a new waterpark that families go to.
There's nothing "wrong" with it, but it's not a tourist area. DC people go to Ocean City, Rehobeth, Outer Banks, Myrtle beach, etc because they are more destinations. Ches. Beach is a residential area, and it's on the bay as opposed to the ocean. There aren't a bunch of hotels, there's no boardwalk.
you could get a 1-br within your price range for sure. not a huge rental market though.
Where are you coming from? Could you take a trip through the area to get your bearings before signing a lease?
I would check out FOrt Washington in Pg county.
Check out National Harbor. It is a brand new harbor in Pg county with upscale shopping,dining,housing,walk trails,bike trails,farmers market and much more all of these are walking distance.
I'll definitely be checking out the North Beach area, but I'm also intrigued by Greenbelt. I worry that I'd be pretty isolated from the life of the city out in Chesapeake beach, but I know it's harder to find natural areas closer in to the city. It's all a tradeoff.
A friend lived in Greenbelt and said the commute by car to Suitland was surprisingly reasonable at around 20 minutes. I also like the idea of being able to just ride down the green line of the Metro to Suitland without changing trains. It seems like there are quite a few parks in the northern part of the metro area, although most of them are also west of Greenbelt.
Would I be happy with the outdoor recreation options near Greenbelt/College Park? Would the drive west to Great Falls Park or Rock Creek Park be easy?
Ahh, greenbelt would be a different choice. It's kind of a neat little affordable town in the area around the metro, and that would be a fine commute down the beltway.
That said, I don't know how much of your "outdoorsiness" would be satisfied. It's really not convenient to Rock Creek at all...less so to great falls.
I've never set foot in Greenbelt park so I can't really say anything about it. But when I think of that area of PG county generally, I think congestion.
I guess a lot would depend on the individual neighborhood.
I was thinking about this thread the other day and wanted to just mention Rock Creek, et. al.
Rock Creek as you can see by the map is huge. There are parts in there where you can really get quite lost from the hassles of the city (i.e. north of the Zoo basically). They've even see coyotes in there.
When you team up Rock Creek with say the Canal path up to Great Falls, you really do have quite a lot of hiking you can do. You can bike up Rock Creek and the Canal path and spend a whole day basically 'outdoors', etc.
The reason I'm mentioning this is because you might want to consider city living, near the park, as an option. Somewhere up by the Zoo perhaps, and subway out to Suitland (a bit of a trip, but probably within the 30 minutes you want).
As another poster accurately pointed out--the Beach towns are residential towns that just happen to be on the water. They are not really resort areas and are more like fishing villages--you might be a bit bored. If you outdoor fix is a weekend thing (i.e. we're not talking about you waking up in the morning and cutting down a tree for a fire to cook your coffee) than some of the options in the city near the Park might suffice.
I know it's not the mountains and whatnot, but I do suggest in your visit you drive up Rock Creek (or better, rent a bike) and see what it is like 'north of the Zoo'. If you come on a weekend they close the roads to cars and you can really explore.
Just a thought.
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