Moving to MD/DC area Working in SUITLAND, MD HELP!!! (Arlington: apartments, townhouses)

[gellis81]

Hello peolpe, I would great appreciate if i could get some advice on apartments/townhouse 1-2 bedrooms with garage if possible with a somewhat a fair commute( i know there is no good commute ) in the $1500 range, I am a young professional 27 and single. Im working in SUITLAND, MD and moving to the greater DC area.

[akorosdc]

You could try Old Town Alexandria. You would definitely be looking at a 1-bedroom there, though. There are decent parts of Maryland, but I'm not as familiar with that area. Suitland itself isn't that great, and as for PG County it seems to depend on who you talk to. Silver Spring's a little far, but a cool area. As for in DC, you can try looking at Capitol Hill. The only issues there are: 1) highly doubtful you'll find a 2-bedroom, 2) even less likely to get a garage. Most likely it'd be a 1-bedroom apartment with maybe an off-street parking option (an extra fee, and not always available since you're looking at smaller buildings and townhouses).

[mattjans]

gellis81, what did you end up doing? I'm moving for a job in Suitland, too...looking mostly at Silver Spring and Takoma Park (want to metro, not drive).

Did you end up in Suitland or VA?

[chaz0426]

Hello I worked in Suitland MD this summer as an intern (im 21) commuting from Arlington/Falls Church. I thought I'd give you some advice. While I don't know that much about apartments in the area as I stayed at a friends house for the 12 weeks I can give you some tips on the commute.

If you live in Arlington or anywhere west of the Washington mall area I drove everyday using I-295 and Pennsylvania ave easily with an average 30 to 45 min commute for 15 miles from Falls Church to Suitland which isn't bad at all.

The commute wasn't actually that bad but I did do a lot of research planning my roads and route as a lot of construction was going on/still is. Also since my job was relatively flexible I usually left around 7am as traffic seems to get heavy in that area (Suitland as well) around 8am through 10am. Maybe it's different during the fall and spring. I would then leave around between 3 and 4pm right before traffic got bad on I-295 but it was about a 50-50 shot of it being clear completely if you left before 3:30 and a pretty clear nice commute as well. If you left after 4pm then you'll def hit traffic right when you get near the capital building on I-295 going west.

For the first two weeks I lived south of the area and used I-95 which is hell, don't ever commute or plan on using that if you work in Suitland. I also lived in the dumfries area before I moved to Arlington around May. Easily plan about 2 hours and daily 10 mile + backups.

But if you plan on living in Alexandria the commute on I-495 eastbound between 7 and 9am isn't that bad and it's I'd say about 10 to 12 miles to Suitland. Since the traffic is the other way in the morning (going westbound) the drive is pretty clear unless they do construction. So Alexandria is a good location. If you live in VA in the Arlington area then use my route and go over key bridge (not Woodrow Wilson) and take I-295 to suitland. If you leave after 9am then Woodrow Wilson might be fine as I had to take it a few times after rush hour.

I worked at the federal center in Suitland and I pretty much have all the roads and routes memorized.

Pennsylvania Ave is the only pain really if you commute through the city but I never faced a backup or traffic just lots of lights. Traffic for me always seemed to be the opposite direction I was going so that's how I guess I lucked out and one of the good things about working in Suitland.

I took the metro several times too as a matter of fact I took it to silver spring like 36 hours before the metro rail collision and I remember getting off at the same exact station and when that happened I knew exactly where it was. Creepy.

I chose not to use the metro as a commute because during rush hour it's like over $4.00 each way if you go over 15 miles and when I did the math It ended up costing 4 X as much as if I had just used my car. Gas cost me $180 for 14 weeks vs the $500 or more of metro. So just keep that in mind. (I don't have much money being in college so I usually try to save). + how packed the metro gets and the strange people you encounter I prefer my own car and space as well.

The times I did take the metro was between 10am and 3pm and it's very clear and you can get any good seat and the metro costs are cut in half during non-rush hour times.

Well I hope I helped in some way, If I work there again next summer or even full time after college I'll be doing the apartment thing so I'll keep an eye on this thread.

[gellis81]

Thanks everybody for your replies, I found a Townhouse In Alexandria in the Landstowne neighborhood across from Fort Belvoir.