Relocating to DC: Need suburb recommendations

[Turnerbro]

Could look into Calvert County and commute up on Rt. 4. Also might want to look into Bowie, Crofton. In NOVA, you might have to look further out with that budget. Reston would probably be doable but commute could be longer than coming from Calvert County. In general you'll get the most bang for your buck in PG, but the schools aren't as good. Some reasonably affordable good private schools though.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by Turnerbro

Could look into Calvert County and commute up on Rt. 4. Also might want to look into Bowie, Crofton. In NOVA, you might have to look further out with that budget. Reston would probably be doable but commute could be longer than coming from Calvert County. In general you'll get the most bang for your buck in PG, but the schools aren't as good. Some reasonably affordable good private schools though.

Calvert's closed up.




Not really, but the RTE 4 commute isn't much better, in fact some aspects of it are worse, than anywhere else in the region.

Schools are considered, at least the school system, among the top three or four in the state on most measures.

Relating back to the OP, "parks" is a loaded term with several, oftentimes, conflicting definitions. Calvert is primarily still rural so you'd run into farms with all that comes with them (dust, smells, noise, etc.) as well as hunters and people working the water (meaning not sport fishermen but people whose livelihood is crabbing, oystering, fishing, charter hunting and fishing) if you're near the Bay or the Patuxent.

[Jalux]

Fort Washington south of National Harbor (west of 210) is also great. You'd be surrounded by National Parks (Fort Washington National Park, Fort Foote National Park, Piscataway national Park), live less than 10 miles from DC proper, and have a large new home at a fraction of the cost of neighbors just across the Potomac River in Virginia. Further, neighborhoods in this area tend to have people that take pride in home ownership.

[Rufus Clay Banger]

Look in southeast Howard County, MD...like Laurel...which actually is in two counties. The Howard County portion will be nicer, but still with the proximity to Laurel, PG County, which has the retail you'd want access to. People on this forum always seem to forget that HoCo even exists. Without traffic (non-rush hour) you can be downtown DC in 35 minutes. Rush hour will push it above an hour by a little. But with a little compromise it meets pretty much every one of your requirements (good schools, parks, etc). This neighborhood of brand new homes is an example.

https://www.drhorton.com/maryland/ma...eysuckle-ridge

[CHIP72]

Where is your husband's job located on Pennsylvania Avenue? The location may be near a Metrorail station.