Choosing a commute: Hagerstown or Greenbelt? (Leesburg, Winchester: rent, houses, public school)

[LynchburgLover]

If you really want to live in Virginia, do the Hagerstown and live in Winchester.

Purcellville to Greenbelt would be atrocious on a daily basis.

[stpickrell]

Leesburg to Greenbelt would be terrible. You have to live in Murrland for that to work, at all.

If it were even Silver Spring + near the Metro, I'd say Leesburg-Silver Spring is doable if you take MARC in from Point of Rocks and can accept a 90 minute commute on commuter rail. But not Greenbelt. No way, no how. I'd only do that if the alternative were not eating.

I'd pick the Hagerstown job and if you must live in VA and take a longer commute (make sure commuting won't eat up your tax savings), live in Winchester. If you want a better generic commute, then live in Frederick or Leesburg.

[dkf747]

I was thinking of this thread this morning while sitting in Gridlock on the Beltway. It took 70 minutes to get from Ashburn to the American Legion (Cabin John) Bridge into Maryland, and another 20 to Rockville. Greenbelt would have taken far longer this morning.

[FindingZen]

Ultimately, you want to be able to enjoy the quality time that you and your SO have together. You won't be able to do that during the week with him enduring an average commute of at least two hours a day.

If the salary offers are equal, then I say consider:

1)Living in Hagerstown itself if cost of living is the highest concern, or;

2)Living in or close to Greenbelt if access to urban amenities is most important.

Leesburg is a great town but that commute will get old for both of you. Probably not what you wanted to hear but I felt it needed to be said.

[daniellenbosley]

Originally Posted by dkf747

Going up 15 to 70 to 32 to 95 is a lot longer, and takes longer. I just can't see how anyone would want that commute twice a day, day after day. That said, Leesburg is a nice town!

Not sure where 32 or 95 come in? From Leesburg, 15 to 70 would take him to Hagerstown.

Both jobs are fairly comparable with Hagerstown having some more perks for us personally. VA is a preference over MD for many reasons- first being tuition costs for myself to go to back to college (George Mason-in state tuition is nearly 20K less than out-of-state). Second, we have two kids and prefer VA public schools over MD.

Leesburg itself appeals also because of it's historic charm, something that I've longed for since we left New England. It's a quality of life thing, for sure.

His commute from Greenbelt to Germantown yesterday took him an hour. I looked up direction for such a commute again today during rush hour and it says 59 minutes. I've done this a few times, an Google always seems to be on point with times. I guess it was wishful thinking assuming the timeline from Greenbelt was right. :/

I understand what may be a long commute to some is not for others. He's fine with the average one hour-ish commute, and understands sometimes delays happen and some days will be longer. Commuting to Boston wasn't always fun. He just doesn't want to be pulling 90 minute- two hour commutes.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by daniellenbosley

Commuting to Boston wasn't always fun. He just doesn't want to be pulling 90 minute- two hour commutes.

Then he shouldn't try and commute from Leesburg to Greenbelt. Seriously.

[daniellenbosley]

Thanks for all the input! I'm sure I'll be back if neither of these jobs work out!

[daniellenbosley]

Is it the bridge from VA to MD (I assume that's "7"?) that makes commuting from one state to the other so bad? It seems like there are plenty of people living in NOVA and commuting to the MD/DC area for work... their commutes are under an hour?

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by daniellenbosley

Not sure where 32 or 95 come in? From Leesburg, 15 to 70 would take him to Hagerstown.

Both jobs are fairly comparable with Hagerstown having some more perks for us personally. VA is a preference over MD for many reasons- first being tuition costs for myself to go to back to college (George Mason-in state tuition is nearly 20K less than out-of-state). Second, we have two kids and prefer VA public schools over MD.

Leesburg itself appeals also because of it's historic charm, something that I've longed for since we left New England. It's a quality of life thing, for sure.

His commute from Greenbelt to Germantown yesterday took him an hour. I looked up direction for such a commute again today during rush hour and it says 59 minutes. I've done this a few times, an Google always seems to be on point with times. I guess it was wishful thinking assuming the timeline from Greenbelt was right. :/

I understand what may be a long commute to some is not for others. He's fine with the average one hour-ish commute, and understands sometimes delays happen and some days will be longer. Commuting to Boston wasn't always fun. He just doesn't want to be pulling 90 minute- two hour commutes.

Fair enough. Thank you for sharing more details with us.

[jillybean720]

Originally Posted by daniellenbosley

Is it the bridge from VA to MD (I assume that's "7"?) that makes commuting from one state to the other so bad? It seems like there are plenty of people living in NOVA and commuting to the MD/DC area for work... their commutes are under an hour?

If their commutes are under an hour, then they live closer in, not out in Leesburg. And they're not commuting to the opposite side of the Beltway (Greenbelt), but rather just up to Rockville or something.

7 is not the bridge. Rt 7 is what runs east/west from Loudoun county down through Tysons (well, it extends beyond Tysons, but for the purposes of this discussion, one would take it to Tysons to hop on the Beltway).