Need input of the DMV IT Professionals! (Baltimore, Silver Spring: to buy, tax)

[rootzdread]

What's a better place to buy a property to settle down and grow one's IT/Information Assurance career? I see a lot of jobs in both MD and NoVA. I live in FL but I work for a major IT company based in Falls Church that has work in both states due to their government contracts, however I may not always work for them as my goal is to be in a company with a lot of growth potential for an IA career. In the DC forum a poster mentioned NoVA has more of this work. May I get the perspective of the IT/IA family up there? Thanks in advance

[Aimewitue]

IT in DC is booming you already know this? Why are you really asking this question??

[goldenage1]

If you are asking whether to move to Maryland or Virginia, I will vote for Virginia. Virginia has a better tax situation for businesses, and I believe there will be more growth there.

BTW, I spent my career working for IT companies on government contracts. There is a version of Murphy's law that says "No matter where you live, the next contract will be on the other side of the river". Just prepare to be flexible.

Despite my vote for Virginia now, we lived in Silver Spring Maryland. That location gave the flexibility to work in either the Baltimore or Washington markets. There is also a lot of growth currently at Fort Meade and the airport area if you do the kind of work requiring top secret clearances. This is just a suggestion why you might also think about living in Maryland.

[No_Allegiance]

Originally Posted by goldenage1

"No matter where you live, the next contract will be on the other side of the river". Just prepare to be flexible.

...Silver Spring Maryland...

Unfortunately, the saying above does seem to be true. You can never base where you work around here on the contract you're working (or even the firm for whom you're employed). Reality is that this can all change over time.

However, I found downtown Silver Spring to be a pretty good location due to the Red Line heading downtown, access to the Beltway (going toward 270 into NoVa as well as Prince George's county) and access to Howard County (up 29).

[macroy]

A lot of the companies are HQ'd (or has their main DC office) in NoVA (Booz, CACI, Deloitte, etc.). NoVA was also considered "silicon alley" during the .com boom where a lot of the ISPs and data centers are located. So a lot of technology companies started to root there.

That said, outside of DC proper, CMS/SSA are closer to Baltimore; HHS has big presence in MD (NIH, FDA, HRSA, SAMHSA, AHRQ are around Rockville/Bethesda); as do IRS (New Carrolton); and as goldenage mentioned, Ft. Mead/National Business Park is where a lot of the intelligence contracts are (as well as near BWI).

I think it really depends on the type of contract you tend to support. I supported various IA contracts for over a decade, but mine were always in MD. Of course, my employer was in NoVA. Never looked forward to days where I had to go to the office for whatever reason. I will also agree with No_allegiance that having access to the Metro will help. Albeit those properties will typically be higher priced.

[rootzdread]

I only have private sector experience and no clearances so NoVA would probably be easier for me to find something since they have a mix of private and public sector entities.