Looking for homes in MD commute to Alexandria and Suitland where to look. (Frederick: new home, neighborhood)

[gummywork_89]

Hello everyone:

We have been looking at housing in MD. I work in Mt. Vernon Alexandria and my spouse works at the Suitland Federal Center. We have been looking for houses in MD because they appear to be half the price as in VA. So far we have attended a few open houses in Ft. Washington, and I must say I never knew Ft. Washington was so beautiful. Nice tree lined streets well-kept homes. However, I have also been looking into La Plata, MD and Waldorf, MD. These two areas appeal to me more than Ft. Washington because of all the retail options nearby. I must say I enjoy suburban living much more than city living and I don't mind a commute. No kids, so schools are not important, but it would be nice to not have to worry about private schools in the future. Right now we live in Old Town Alexandria. I must say it's not for me. I enjoy living in sprawl a little yard and plentiful parking which is why I'm leaning towards the suburbs. We are looking for homes under 1.2 million. Honestly, the cheaper the better. I seen some homes I love in the 300k range in Waldorf and Ft. Washington. Any other areas I need to look?

[lookingbutnotlost]

Well you'll have plenty of money to send your kids to predicate.

[MDude25]

Maybe you can check out Accokeek, MD, it's south of Ft. Washington.

[UrbanScholar]

You may also want to try Clinton and White Plains. I have friends living there that commute to Alexandria and Suitland and they say its not bad.

[lookingbutnotlost]

Originally Posted by lookingbutnotlost

Well you'll have plenty of money to send your kids to predicate.

Oh dear, I meant private not predicate.

[papichulo2]

Clinton, Ft washington, alexandria, the thing is though clinton is run down a little but its nice and close to sultan and deff safer.

[gummywork_89]

Thank you all for the reply. I was really surprised at how nice Ft. Washington is. Everyone at work tells me that it's dangerous. It looked really nice to me and I lived in really bad parts of Los Angeles before such as Long Beach and East Los Angeles, so I don't really understand when someone is trying to tell me that Ft. Washington is a bad area. I'm still leaning towards Ft. Washington, just in love with it at the moment. But we are taking our time we are not jumping into anything.

So before we moved to NoVA my husband was a professor at Penn State in rural PA. It was a nice area to me. Is anyone familiar with North Beach, MD, Dunkirk, MD etc. Now what I need to know is would it be crazy to commute to Alexandria and Suitland from Dunkirk or North Beach? I been tracking google maps during rush hour and it seems the average time would be 58 minutes for me to get to Mt. Vernon and 38 minutes for him to get to Suitland. Now here is the deal with that he technically can work whenever he wants to as long as he puts in 8 hours a day so he can go to work earlier or later.

Now I know for me it might seem a little crazy, but I think of it like this. Right now I work only 20 minutes to Mt. Vernon taking Highway 1. However, I always get to work an hour early and just play games on the computer because I'm such an early bird and just leave early. I work M-F 8-430 I'm guessing if I leave Dunkirk or North Beach around 615 I can be in Mt. Vernon a little early get a coffee, possibly run to Walmart across the street grab some items I need for home and go back to work.

What are your thoughts? again I'm sorry for all these questions. I'm just so unfamiliar with the area.

[misskmd]

Honestly, I could never, ever live in Dunkirk, North Beach, Prince Frederick area ever again.....its so far from everything, no shopping options...no nothing!!! The only good thing is schools!

I just hated living there so much!!!! I moved from there about 6 years ago and still nothing has improved around there. I have family members that still live in the area, so at least once or twice a yearI go there.

If commute is not a problem for you, I would recomend Waldorf. Suburban feel, nice affordable housing, but not too far from DC and plenty of shopping.

[misskmd]

Also I would look Bryans Road,MD. With improvements the Governor Larry announced on MD 210 Im sure housing pricea will go up soon around the area. There are beautiful new towhomes being build there...Lennar homes

[jessyoo]

Hi Gummy,
We have lived in FT Washington for 3 years. We love the beauty of the nearby national park and marina. We live in Captains Cove and are located near the private community pool and public marina area. There is a builder up the street putting in new homes at the 500k and up range. We are also down the road from the private National Golf Club in the Tantallon area.

I'm a management consultant and my spouse is a government lawyer. The houses are very affordable (250-350k) in our neighborhood; our street has a mix of people such as GS 15 director, nuclear engineer, chefs, retired ethnobotanist, PG county educators, construction contractor, retirees, etc... For anyone looking to send their kid outside to burn off energy or just be noisy outside of the house, the downside of this enclave is that there doesn't seem to be a critical mass of children to form tribes to find misfit and mayhem together outside after school.

I'm from the LA area as well and Fort Washington is nowhere near the level of comparison. Honestly I think the deer here are dangerous! One jumped into the driver side of my car and totaled it.

Sure there is a lack of retail but the outlets take care of most clothing needs and I just remember to bundle errands if I'm in Tysons, Alexandria or Waldorf. The casino will probably bring some new retail developer interest and those developers will probably pressure to reclassify the rural tier designation.


The MD government released estimates on the pressure on MD 210 in the coming years, it's not pretty. I would avoid buying further South of Fort Washington/Accokeek. "Traffic on MD 210 is expected to increase from 82,700 vehicles per day to 126,350 by 2035."
http://governor.maryland.gov/2016/06...0-interchange/

Feel free to direct message if you have questions.