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I recently was offered a job working in Fairfax County that starts in late August. My husband works in DC and we are currently renting in Arlington. We are looking to buy our first home buy the end of this year and have been checking out different areas in VA and MD. We fell in love with the North Potomac/ Gaithersburg area of MD. I would expect it to be a rough commute for me into Fairfax County, but I would like some feedback. I am used to horrible commutes as I am from the NY metro are4a. I would probably be leaving very early in the morning (between 6:30 and 7) since I am a teacher and like to get to school early to prepare. Comments?
That's going to be a doozy. The reason being is that avoiding the traffic that Tysons Corner generates will be tough. I'm sure someone with more experience will be able to tell how to avoid Tysons traffic. All it took was one time sitting on 123 in order for me to thank my lucky stars I don't have to do that commute into Tysons everyday.
What's so great about that area? Not trying to be ugly but maybe you can find a place in VA that has the same character and atmosphere.
That would be an absolutely horrific commute. And btw, leaving at 6:30 - 7:00 is not early for traffic on I-270 or the beltway. Leaving at 5:00 would be early.
I have a couple of suggestions for you. The easier of the two would be to get up early and watch the traffic reports every 10 minutes on channel 4 or 9. Watch what they have to say and what the traffic cameras show each morning at around 6:30 - 7:00.
The second suggestion would be to actually experience the commute for yourself one morning. Either stay in a hotel up in that area one night and then drive from G'burg to Fairfax, or get up early and do the reverse commute at 6:00 or 6:30, and then turn around and drive it at 7:00. I have a feeling that if you do that you'll nix the idea of moving out there and having to do it everyday.
I live in N Potomac/Gaithersburg, and while I like it here, I agree with the others. Burke / Fairfax, or some other place around there would be better for you.
We live in Germantown, Maryland which is about six miles from Gaithersburg. I'll be blunt. We cannot stand this area. We are moving (in three days!) to Burke (Fairfax County). We've lived there twice before and loved it. When we found out we were coming back up here, we decided to give Maryland a shot. Big Mistake.
The commute would be a nightmare. There are some wonderful communties in Fairfax. Burke is very safe. And you would be so close to work. If it were me, I would cross Maryland off my list.
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