how bad will it be? (Baltimore, Catonsville: buying a house, neighborhoods, buying)

[itzdan]

My wife works at Johns Hopkins Hospital on Wolfe Street, and I work around Fort Meade. We're looking at buying a house on the northern side of Baltimore, maybe Owings Mills or Pikesville. How bad would my commute be on 695? Are there better routes than 695 to get down there? Would it be better to go up a bit more around the Beltway and take 83 down to work? Thanks!

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by itzdan

My wife works at Johns Hopkins Hospital on Wolfe Street, and I work around Fort Meade.... Yet, we're looking at buying a house on the northern side of Baltimore, maybe Owings Mills or Pikesville; rather than somewhere that is between those twice every day commuting locations.

How bad would my commute be on 695?
The stretch from 795 to 95 is about as bad as it gets on the beltway... morning or evening.

Are there better routes than 695 to get down there?
Not really.

Would it be better to go up a bit more around the Beltway and take 83 down to work? No.
The stretch from 795 to 83 is the second worst on the beltway; and then you would have to fight your way through the City too.

Seriously consider choosing a home close to I-95 on the south side of the city...
Catonsville, Relay, Arbutus, Halethorpe, Elkridge, etc.

or... choose a location real close to one job or the other so only one of you has to commute.

The point is that once you've scraped the ice off the windshield, warmed up the car and gotten yourself to I-95...
it doesn't really matter whether the trip to work itself is 10 miles or 20 miles down 95. Ya know?

But if you have to fight your way to even get to I-95 (2x a day!!)... that's just crazy talk.

hth

[ltong1009]

I wouldn't do it. Neither of you will have an easy commute.

[jonjj]

83 to Fort Meade? I don't think so. You're best bet would be to look at the southwest side: Catonsville in the county or areas near it; possibly Arbutus. Or, do your wife a favor and eliminate at least one commute and look into the neighborhoods to the south of Hopkins (Butchers Hill, Patterson Park, Upper Fells Point).

[davecj]

I would think your best bet would be to live in the city around JHH and then commute to Ft Meade. Traffic isn't nearly as bad since you'd be going opposite of most people. Plus there are numerous Hopkins incentives to live where you work.

[BlueSock]

Would you be able to take the MARC to Fort Meade? If so, you could consider taking the Metro to Penn station, and your wife could continue on to Hopkins. Unfortunately I think you'd need to switch to the light rail first, so it might be more trouble than it's worth.