living in VA and working in MD? (Chantilly, McLean: to rent, townhouse)

[idcantu06]

Hi everyone,

My fiance and I are in a bit of a situation. He has been working in Manassas and I'm looking into a promotion in Bethesda, MD... we were thinking of residing somewhere that's in the middle since traffic is just an all around pain the arse. I'm curious to see if it's beneficial or we should pick one state over the other considering the cost of living and taxes?
We're also fairly new to the area, both moved here from Texas. His salary is higher by about 20K and we are looking to rent a townhouse to have enough room for our husky and chihuahua thanks!

[Bigfoot424]

W/o knowing your budget it's kind of tough. His commute to Manassas would be easier than yours if you stayed in VA. If you move to MD he'll have the tougher commute of course. An area like Vienna/Oakton would make things easier for you and still allow him a fairly easy commute. While the old "easy reverse commute" used to be a real thing around here and still is to a degree it has gotten worse. But still, he would fare better than you. You would be closer but have the traffic to slow you down.

[Badger21]

I think from a tax perspective you'll want to stay in Virginia. Yes, we have the dreaded car tax, but I think the overall tax burden is lower here than in MD. In addition to Vienna/Oakton, I'd throw Tysons Corner and McLean into that mix as well. Great shopping and you'll both be able to commiserate over how miserable 495 gets.

[NC211]

Who ever has to cross the bridge on the beltway is going to have the worst commute most times, if you're in the 9-5 schedule. As you get settled to the area, tune your radio to 103.5, specifically "on the 8's", meaning for example 8:08, 8:18, 8:28 and so on... That's when they give the traffic updates (otherwise known as the crash reports). Just across the bride on the MD side is a road called "River Road". I swear, more crashes happen there than anywhere else it seems. It's almost as if, on a perfectly sunny day at 5:00pm, someone is driving along, sees the River Road exit, realizes nobody has crashed yet, and immediately decides to side-swipe something just for the sake of it. River Road, River Road, River Road....always River Road!

[chazas]

Another option is to live closer in for your commute, but near a Manassas line VRE station for his.

[Fallout Zone]

Originally Posted by idcantu06

Hi everyone,

My fiance and I are in a bit of a situation. He has been working in Manassas and I'm looking into a promotion in Bethesda, MD... we were thinking of residing somewhere that's in the middle since traffic is just an all around pain the arse. I'm curious to see if it's beneficial or we should pick one state over the other considering the cost of living and taxes?
We're also fairly new to the area, both moved here from Texas. His salary is higher by about 20K and we are looking to rent a townhouse to have enough room for our husky and chihuahua thanks!

VA to Bethesda is rough, but doable. MD to Manassas sounds awful. So, that probably sets the decision without even including any other factors.

The closer you can get to Tysons Corner, the better. You may decide that the rents are prohibitive, but that area probably gives you the best situation. Tysons is a huge job center, so much of the traffic is towards it in the morning. If you can manage to get closer to Tysons, you can somewhat avoid that issue. Getting to MD will always stink, but not having to go on 66 or back roads to 495 would be better.

[paposo]

You have 2 options. Either move to Germantown/Gaithersburg and take 270 south to Bethesda (or take the metro). Or you can move north into Sterling/Chantilly and take 267 to 495 and pay the toll.

The reality is that 66 all the way to 495 every day will make you loose your sanity, and the traffic is Bethesda is bad as well.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by paposo

You have 2 options. Either move to Germantown/Gaithersburg and take 270 south to Bethesda (or take the metro). Or you can move north into Sterling/Chantilly and take 267 to 495 and pay the toll.

The reality is that 66 all the way to 495 every day will make you loose your sanity, and the traffic is Bethesda is bad as well.

Gemantown/Gaithersburg to Manassas would be horrendous. Sterling/Chantilly to Bethesda is almost as bad.

Bad, bad ideas.

[Riley09swb]

I used to live in Sterling (near 28 and Church road) and I commuted to Bethesda. I used to take Rte 7 to Georgetown Pike to 495. It would take me a little over an hour in the mornings and 45 minutes on up in the evenings. I only did it for a short time because I was laid off about 8 weeks after taking the job. No loss there. My husband commuted to Chantilly off of Rte 50.

[acgood]

Commuting from somewhere in VA to MD is definitely better than the reverse, as others have said. Will not be fun, but improved if your budget allows choosing to locate somewhere where you can take advantage of either the toll road or the 495 express lanes.