Working at Ft. Detrick. Where to live?? (Baltimore, Columbia: apartments, to rent)

[carr24]

Hi, I'll be stationed at Ft. Detrick in the next 6 months and have started looking at where to live. I've been debating on living in Rockville (King Farm specifically) and commuting to Frederick in order to be on a Metro line and have the ability to get into the city on weekends. I'm a 25 year old female and will be living on my own. I don't know anyone in the Frederick area, and would like to be able to access DC on the weekends in order to see friends. Realistically, how long do you think this commute would take (1) on a "typical" day and (2) on a "worst case scenario" day. I'd also like to know how safe/ nice the King Farm area is. It was reccommended to me by a former resident, but she hasn't lived there in a few years.

I'm sure there are some great places in Frederick too, I just don't know where to start looking. If you could offer suggestions, and let me know what the nightlife is like in Frederick, perhaps that would sway my decision. Please let me know!

[mamaecho]

You would be reverse commuting basically if you live in Rockville and work in Frederick, so I would guess maybe 30-40 minutes would be your commute. King Farm is basically on the line between Gaithersburg and Rockville. When I travel to Frederick I normally allow 20-30 minutes and I'm in Montgomery Village which is near Gaithersburg..

You would not be able to ride the metro to Frederick though, I'm not sure if you know that or not.

Frederick is a nice place.. there's lots of varied areas and you may find what you want in downtown Frederick if you like "city living" lots of awesome restaurants, bars, etc in downtown Frederick.

It's easy enough though to drive from Frederick and leave your car at Shady Grove metro and metro into dc..

King Farm is a nice area.. it's known as a "richy rich" kind of place.. they have their own grocery store and few other stores/shops/restaurants. It's close to the metro.

You could also look at Germantown, Urbana, Clarksburg, all along 270, making your commute to Ft. Detrick easy as well as making the metro accessible. All of those places are safe (althoug there are some unsafe parts of Germantown)

Are you looking to buy or rent?


Oh, as far as night life in Frederick, if you want clubs you'll have to go to DC. Bars are nice, I've went out and had a good time.. Lots of outdoor seating in downtown Frederick.. bands place near the canal making it a nice date place.

[carr24]

Thanks! I do know that the Metro stops at Shady Grove, which is why I was looking there to have DC accessible, but still have a reasonable drive to Frederick.

I'm not much of a club person. Bars, outdoor seating, and live music sound pretty fantastic to me, so it seems that Frederick is more up my alley than I realized. Is parking at Metro stops reasonable? Can you park overnight?

I'm looking to rent, probably in a complex which seems safer since I'm living alone.

Do you know how the parks/ bike trails compare in both cities?

[mamaecho]

I'm not really sure honestly about the parks and bike trails. Although if you are for more woodsy/foresty type places I'd say Frederick just because you are then within 15 minutes of three large state parks: Cunningham Falls, Gambrill, and Greenbriar. Cunningham and Greenbriar also have large lakes with beaches that you can swim in.

I'm not sure about overnight but I believe (and someone will have to correct me if I'm wrong) that parking is free on weekends..

As far as a complex in Frederick there are a lot.. to be nearest to downtown you do get into some seedy areas. When we were looking at complexes in Frederick my favorite was Mountain Glen Apartment. It's further from downtown but in a nice area, about three minutes away from a nice complex with a movie theater, shops (including an organic market), starbucks, restaurants, etc.

[WilliamsH]

Unless money is no object and you like driving in heavy traffic you would be much better off living in Frederick close to your job and commuting to Shady Grove Metro on the weekends when you want to see your DC friends.

Apartments of all varieties are abundant in Frederick (it's a bedroom community to a certain extent), and generally quite a bit less expensive than in the Rockville/Gaithersburg area. You will be able to find something you like.

Both communities are mature enough to have plenty of choice for the kind of amenities you mentioned, but everything is considerably less expensive in Frederick.

[carr24]

Thanks for the advice! It sounds like Frederick is a pretty nice place to live, all things considered, and driving to the Metro sounds like it's going to be my best bet. I'm heading out next month to start looking at apartments. If anyone has any other suggestions of complexes to check out I'd love to hear them!

[Katzenjammer]

Apts in Frederick-- check out the apts on the intersection of w 12th st and Toll House ave across from the hospital and Hood College. Used to be called Windsor Farm, but the name has changed. Small but in a safe area. No rats or cockroaches when I lived there. Also there's a brick apt right outside the main entrance of Ft. Detrick, I forget what its called, be careful of that one. Used to have a bad rep, but perhaps its changed. Another one to be careful of: Chesterbrook apts in Middletown (short drive from Frederick) I saw rats there, apts are cheap but narrow and they used to not have any linen closets-- but again that was back in the '90s. Frederick has become more artsy than it was in the 80s, the KKK element you may hear about was run out of town a long time ago. There's a lot of good restaurants in Frederick on Market Street and East Street, wch is where the night life is. Cops and cop groupies used to hang out at the Red Horse. Restaurants that are more hip than the Red Horse: tauraso's and brown pelican. Also check out the fudge and ice cream shop on east street's shab row.
For biking: access the C&O canal down near Adamstown or up near Brunswick along the Potomac and you can bike down to Georgetown or up to Harper's Ferry if you have a hybrid or mtn bike. Hiking? The Appalachian trail up on South mtn or at Harpers Ferry WV, short drive away. Another party zone: Charles Town races and slots in WV (slot machines and horse races).
The metro line is supposed to be extended to Frederick, but I think budget cuts have delayed it...

[htownterp]

Metro to Frederick? I hadn't heard that. I imagine that would be very costly, but I would welcome it!

[WilliamsH]

Originally Posted by htownterp

Metro to Frederick? I hadn't heard that. I imagine that would be very costly, but I would welcome it!

There was a proposal back when Schaefer was governor to extend Metro to Frederick but the Republican congressman from that district killed it for political reasons. Another idea that was floated was to build two light rails lines, one from Frederick to Annapolis and the second from DC to Baltimore, and have a transportation hub (with connections to Columbia and BWI) where they intersected. That one got killed by the construction interests that were committed to pushing the ICC. Good ideas sometimes die for bad reasons.

[cgordon]

Carr24 - There's no housing crunch here in Frederick. In fact, housing (RCI/BBC) on Detrick has opened up some 2 (and maybe 3) BR housing units to GS civilians and retirees.

Renting off-post can be a bit expensive, though ...

Frederick's a great little town, much more cosmopolitan than I thought it would be when I was getting ready to move here from Germany.

Lots to do and see in the near, and of course, DC and Balto are close enough (as long as you aren't trying to go during rush hours).

If you want more info, PM me and we'll exchange e-mail addies.

cg