Bethesda-Annapolis commute (Columbia, Silver Spring, Bowie: home, schools, college)

[cmercury1]

Hi there,

I need some advice on places to live in the metro area. My husband will be working in DC, and I will be working in a few locations (Annapolis, Columbia, and possibly Bowie). We'd like to live in Bethesda for the schools, but this means an hour long commute for me in traffic, according to Google maps. Is this a terrible idea? How accurate is Google maps for I-495? Alternatively, are there other areas with excellent schools that we could consider? Metro access for my husband would be a plus (Red line, preferably). TIA!

[mtbr22]

I commute from Silver Spring (20901 zip code inside the beltway) to an office located at the New Carrollton metro station, taking i495 most of the way. In the mornings it's usually ~15-20 minutes via the inner loop of i495, and in the evenings it's usually ~25-35 minutes via the outer loop. Bowie would be ~10 additional minutes each way via Rt. 50, which almost never has serious traffic IMO. There are occasional days when you'll add 15-20 minutes in either direction for crashes, but these typically occur only a few times per month.

Commuting in this direction sends you opposite from the worst beltway congestion on most days. The slowdowns in the morning are usually at the i95/i495 merge through College Park on the inner loop, and in the evenings from the Rt 50 / i495 merge until Rt 1 on the outer loop of the beltway.

Silver Spring would also be centrally located if your commute occasionally takes you up i95 to Columbia.

On a sidenote, I'm probably selling my home in the spring for a job relocation. It's a 5 min drive / 25 min walk / 10 min bus ride / 15 min bike ride to the downtown Silver Spring metro if your husband didn't mind a little exercise.

[kcmo]

I would also take a hard look at Silver Spring. Downtown is booming. It's a really neat place, a bit more diverse than Bethesda too.

Commuting from Silver Spring (or Bethesda) to Annapolis, Columbia, Bowie etc would be generally a reverse commute. Depending on where you are from, reverse commutes around here can be as congested as main commutes in other cities. You can make it from downtown Silver Spring all the way to downtown Annapolis in about 45 minutes most of the time. Most traffic will be going the other way. If you tried it during afternoon, you can double your time though.