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Im engaged to be married
My fiance works in Newark, DE and I work in Germantown.
WE would very much like to live together after our wedding (which in in 3 months )
Please suggest some places where we can live..
Switching our jobs (for atleast a year) is not an option. and Im scared of the 495 traffic. I dont want him to travel 120 * 2 miles evryday either.
I'm just going to offer some general advice I give to pretty much everyone with a 'split the difference' commute situation: don't.
Split the difference commutes, in which each person is driving essentially an equal distance to work results in two very tired people with neither one especially interested in doing any housework, buying groceries, going out to dinner, etc. It's rough, very rough. Of course it is done, but my advice is that one person commutes and the other takes care of the home, bills, groceries, laundry (and has the shorter drive to work in exchange).
Unfortunately, the two locations you have mapped out make this a really tough choice. Getting from DC proper to Baltimore to Newark is kind of a straight shot. Going from Germantown has a bit of a 'dog leg' to get to the trains or up to 40 and over to Baltimore.
If I was going to split it, I'd look up around Baltimore, perhaps Ellicott City or Towson or something. It's going to suck driving for both of you though.
Honestly, my recommendation would be a) find a new job ASAP or b) live apart for a bit, or have him rent a cheap apt in Newark and stay there 4 nights a week. It sucks, cause you know you're married, but it's done quite frequently.
Wow, that's brutal. I'm not sure you could've picked two places out of a hat that would be worse off, location-wise, mainly because there are only a couple different major roads in and out of those places, and you've got a major American city right smack dab in between them.
I suppose I'd look into Ellicot City, Columbia, Owings Mills and Towson.
If it were me, I'd consider the Annapolis area and reverse commute over the bay bridge and up the MD eastern shore to newark.
But you're going to have to get over your fear of 495, 695, 270 and the rest. It's just how it is.
Ask your bosses to telecommute partially if you can, because those are just monster drives.
Jim, thank you for the wishes!
I know abot the places ! what can I do
Penguin, we are actually leaning towars your suggestion.
He actually works in Wilmington, DE.
Which place would be good to live - assuming he can take the amtrack?
Thanks,.
If he takes Amtrak then somewhere near DC would be good. For example, Bethesda. For you it would be a reverse commute up 270, while for him he could take Metro Red Line to Union Station and catch Amtrak from there. Just a thought.
One of the problems with this situation is the 'spoke and hub' setup of the streets and trains. To get to Del you either have to leave from Baltimore or DC, basically. Germantown is way out on a different spoke. If you were looking at this as a clock, DC is the center, Germantown is the short hand on 10 and Delaware is the long hand (very long hand) on the 2. There just isn't a straight option between the two points.
One other point:
The cost of a monthly Amtrak ticket from Baltimore to Wilmington is $882. From DC to Wilmington is $1062.
For you to come up with about $900 means you have to have an income of about ~$1300 (after you add back the income taxes, FICA, etc). Rough estimate. $1,300 a month is $15,600 a year for just 1 commuter (not even counting the second commuter's costs, or if you have a second residence).
In other words, if one of you moved jobs AND took a $15,000 pay CUT you would be better off than doing this monster split commute.
Union Station is very safe. But if you quit wouldn't you move to - or at least closer to - Delaware? Wilmington is a lot cheaper than DC and has a lot of nice areas. Wilmington's train station is also safe, but on the edge of downtown so keep in mind that he'd have to walk or catch a bus from the station to wherever his actual job is. If you have to I'd second the idea of getting a cheap place in Delaware for work nights (did that for awhile myself due to a similar long commute sitation); better a nice nightly conversation on the phone and weekends together (especially if you know it's only temporary) than both of you being miserable and stressed because of the expense and time of such long commutes.
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