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I'm going to be working close to Tyson's corner, and I'm trying to figure out options to live. I lived in DC as an undergrad about a decade ago, so not sure how releavent my past experience will be especially since i didn't have a car back then. I really wanted to move back to DC so that I can live in DC proper, i.e. Columbia Heights, Dupont, Adams, Eastern Market etc. (Single late 20's guy who still wants to enjoy the nightlife), but my job is going to be near Tyson's corner, so now everyone is saying that I should live in arlington, because getting out of DC can be a real *****. So here are a couple options I thought of and wanted to see what your opinions were as to commute times.
1. live in DC, drive across the river, and take 66 down (since 66 would be against traffic, I think the worst of the commute would be getting out of the city and up to 66, If the total trip from say adams morgan to tyson's is about 30 min, I'd be OK with that).
2. Live in Arlington, shorter commute, but then i'd miss out on living in the city ( I realize now it sounds like I just want my cake and eat it too...but i really like cake....and DC city living).
3. Live in DC, rent a parking spot in Arlington where I'd leave my car. That way I can take the metro to arlington, pick up my car and drive in. I wonder if this would be tooooo much work, or worthwhile for the shortened commute time while still being able to live in the city.
I'd love some feedback on how difficult it is to get out of the city in the morning, and back in during the eveing rushhours, since technically it's a reverse commute, but i'm not sure if that actually makes that much of a difference, as I've heard that both ways are packed equally during rush hour.
I've commuted from DC (first Glover Park, then NE DC) down to Old Town Alexandria in VA and it was never that bad. Some people say there is no real 'reverse commute' in the DMV, but I laugh at that idea as I breeze by stand-still traffic on the highway as I drive home against rush hour. I'm not sure of the particulars with the commute out to Tyson's, but I seriously doubt it would be worth it to commute part way on the metro and then rent a spot for your car and drive part way. Just drive. You can use Google Maps to check out typical traffic patterns for the times you will be commuting- I have found this to be a reliable way to see how bad my commute would be before moving.
I did the commute to Tysons Corner from Cleveland park for a year, did it from Georgetown for 3 months, and now do it daily from NW DC. It's easy. And the reverse commute is absolutely awesome. You will be doing 40 mph when everyone else is sitting in bumper to bumper mayhem. I have many friends in Arlington and they tell me its about 20 minutes to our office. For me, its only marginally worse - 25 minutes to the office and about 30 minutes back. If you can flex your hours a bit you can do even better. My personal record is 16 minutes.
Your route isn't the way I'd go (depends I guess where exactly you live) -- I'd take whatever side streets you need to get to GW parkway northbound, then take 123 straight to Tysons. GW parkway northbound is fast - people do 45/50 mph+ there, and from key bridge to 123 is easily done in about 5 minutes. 123 is a little slow because of the lights but its really only another 10 or 15 minutes max.
Its worth noting that WHERE in Tysons you are talking about matters -- if its on the side closer to DC that is a lot easier than if you have to cross all of the tysons traffic to get to the side closer to Vienna.
Feel free to PM me if you want to talk in more detail.
I live in SE near the ballpark and work in Warrenton (50 miles from home) and in all honesty the traffic isn't too bad. The worst experiences are hitting the West and East Falls Church Metro stops which you wouldn't have to worry about. The commute from my neighborhood would be a breeze. Coming from NW or NE is probably much different since there is probably more traffic and lights to deal with.
I live in SE near the ballpark and work in Warrenton (50 miles from home) and in all honesty the traffic isn't too bad. The worst experiences are hitting the West and East Falls Church Metro stops which you wouldn't have to worry about. The commute from my neighborhood would be a breeze. Coming from NW or NE is probably much different since there is probably more traffic and lights to deal with.
Holy crap that's a commute!!! WARRENTON from DC? My heart goes out to you man, easy or not, thats got to be a drag....
Thanks a lot guys,really appreciate the advice. I had almost decided that the only way to do this would be to live in Arlington, but thanks to your advice, i'm gonna stick with DC proper. I'll definatelly check out the traffic patterns on google maps, that actually never occured to me. Thanks a bunch everyone.
Holy crap that's a commute!!! WARRENTON from DC? My heart goes out to you man, easy or not, thats got to be a drag....
It's not that bad. Hitting the Falls Church Metro stops is not fun and the 12 miles of backroads with lights isn't fun either but the commte isn't bad. I know plenty of people who have shorter mile commutes into the city and it takes them 2-2.5 hours to get to work and home each way. It's all in what you want. I may take a job in Hagerstown which would be a 77 mile commute but I'm guessing not near as much traffic as Warrenton. You get used to it after a while.
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