Commuting from Baltimore to Bethesda ..Where to live? (Columbia, Ellicott City: lease, high school)

[Coonies78]

My wife and I are going to be moving to the Baltimore area and I was wondering about the commute from Baltimore to Bethesda. We need to be in close proximity to Baltimore because my wife is a physician and will be on call so we need to live within 20 min of Baltimore. I'll need to be able to commute to Marriott's HQ in Bethesda. We're moving from Boston area so we're somewhat used to traffic. We also have two toddlers so we'd prefer a family friendly area.

We need advice ASAP.

Thanks in advance

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by Coonies78

...moving to the Baltimore area
and I was wondering about the commute from Baltimore to Bethesda.

We need advice ASAP.

Wherever it is in the B'more region you choose to live...
#1 on the list has to be convenience to a MARC station.

MARC to downtown DC ... then Metro out to Bethesda.

You can ALSO drive there but you'll be hating life if you have to do it regularly.

[DaveinMtAiry]

Originally Posted by MrRational

Wherever it is in the B'more region you choose to live...
#1 on the list has to be convenience to a MARC station.

MARC to downtown DC ... then Metro out to Bethesda.

You can ALSO drive there but you'll be hating life if you have to do it regularly.

Interesting thought but would that save time? It sure would end up costing a lot.

I'm thinking Columbia may work, I believe that's within 20 minutes of Baltimore. Columbia to Marriott will be tedious as it goes right through traffic on the DC Beltway, maybe an hour? I made a similar drive from Laurel to Gaithersburg, by way of Bethesda, and it was an hour. Of course once I got through Bethesda it was against traffic. An option I did not have was the inter-county connector which will cut across 95 west and join up with 270 south. There is a backup on 270 down to Bethesda but it does roll along, maybe 20 minutes from the ICC/270 joint to Marriott.

I do know that right now Marriott's headquarters are NOT subway accessible but they are moving near the Metro in downtown Bethesda. Not sure when.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by DaveinMtAiry

Interesting thought but would that save time?

His commute time wasn't my concern ...nor do I suspect it is the OP's

My focus was "close proximity to" some unnamed Baltimore hospital...
which usually means Hopkins or maybe UMUC (could be GBMC, Mercy, Sinai, St Josephs too).

Marriott's headquarters are...

google identifies a Metro stop at the new location
(which I suspect was a significant criteria for the location)

[DaveinMtAiry]

Originally Posted by MrRational

His commute time wasn't my concern ...nor do I suspect it is the OP's

My focus was "close proximity to" some unnamed Baltimore hospital...
which usually means Hopkins or maybe UMUC (could be GBMC, Mercy, Sinai, St Josephs too).

google identifies a Metro stop at the new location
(which I suspect was a significant criteria for the location)

OP said " I'll need to be able to commute to Marriott's HQ in Bethesda" so obviously he is concerned about his commute, as he should be. The Marriott move is not scheduled until 2022 when the lease expires. They will not be close to a subway for some time. I know this as I went to high school right near that headquarters and know the company well.


After looking it over Columbia is 30-35 minutes from Baltimore. That brings in Ellicott City, the area north of Columbia near RT 29 and possibly Catonsville. I think your best bet is to look at those areas, then take the ICC (Rt 200) across the top and then down 270.

[HoCoMom]

There is no way to guarantee 20 minute commute from the Ellicott City or Columbia to any Baltimore hospital except St Agnes, and even that would depend on location of the house.

[HoCoMom]

If she will be at UMMC perhaps Federal Hill area of downtown or parts of Catonsville, that is close I95 but the commute to Bethseda will be horrible. Mt Washington may be doable to UMMC in 20 minutes in non rush hour but that makes your commute even worse.

If it is Hopkins, Federal Hill would probably still work or Canton.

Just realized that today is Match Day. If your wife is coming for residency, congrats to her!

[Coonies78]

Thanks for advice everyone. She will be at UMMC. A couple of questions...

Is the hour long commute to Bethesda that most are referencing a "slow grind" of a commute where you are hardly moving the whole time or is it mostly against traffic until you get closer to Bethesda? I'm not sure if the answer changes if we were in the city of B'more vs Columbia/Ellicott City?

I have had 45min -1hr long commutes before and I can generally tolerate them if I am moving but I (probably like most people) abhor the type of commute where you are in bumper to bumper traffic the entire time.

[DaveinMtAiry]

Originally Posted by Coonies78

Thanks for advice everyone. She will be at UMMC. A couple of questions...

Is the hour long commute to Bethesda that most are referencing a "slow grind" of a commute where you are hardly moving the whole time or is it mostly against traffic until you get closer to Bethesda? I'm not sure if the answer changes if we were in the city of B'more vs Columbia/Ellicott City?

I have had 45min -1hr long commutes before and I can generally tolerate them if I am moving but I (probably like most people) abhor the type of commute where you are in bumper to bumper traffic the entire time.

If you look at a map the first part of the drive is not that bad. Let's say you will be taking Int 95 south to the Washington Beltway (495) It will begin to backup an exit north of 495, then it will in fact be a slow grind until you get past Connecticut Ave (Rt 185 right before the split for 270 North and 495 to the west/south). That is pretty much why they finally built the long debated Inter County Connector or Rt 200. As I said that's probably your best bet, the new (toll) road goes west and avoids the Beltway altogether with little traffic. But as it approaches 270 you will walk into the slow grind there, as I said maybe 20 minutes of it until you get to Marriott which is right off of 270.

[tarheel_indc]

If you decide to live in Ellicott City or Columbia your best bet IMO is to take RT 29 south and then take rt 200 all the way to 270 like Dave suggested. In the morning the drive from Ellicott City / Columbia all the way to 270 will flow fast/ok. I don't have experience with the segment on 270 in the mornings. The evening commute from Bethesda will be much worse than the morning unfortunately. Depending on the day and where exactly you're exiting, 29 can be very slow moving.

I'm going to suggest one other possible place to live: Maple Lawn. It has easier access to I-95 than Ellicott City, so it might take almost the same time to get to Baltimore during rush hour, even though it is farther away. But, the commute to/from Maple Lawn to Bethesda will be at least 20 minutes shorter in the evenings than to Ellicott City.

All of these are nice places to live, family friendly, good schools, etc... good luck