Anybody here live/work around DC?

Hey guys, doing some pre-research on a possible job opportunity. Fed job in Alexandria VA. Any advice where to live/best/cheapest way to get to work?

I am only familiar with the MD side.. sorry

traffic is horrible in the DC area.

there was that thread about Texas a little while ago and people said traffic was terrible there. We drove into Austin/San Antonio every day for a week on vacation, the traffic there is laughable compared to DC. It helps that it seems like most people in TX actually seem to know how to drive. And they have those nice signs everywhere reminding folks the left lane is for passing. I was pulling my hair out on the way home from the airport on a sunday night when we got back to VA. Buncha idiots here.

Working in Alexandria you could probably take the metro into work if you find a place to live near a metro station, or are willing to drive and pay for parking at one of the stations that is further out. I dont know if it ends up being cheaper than driving but might be less stressful.

My brother has an apartment in Falls Church, I dont know exactly what he is paying but I have to think its less than $1800 a month. Hes a few short blocks from a metro, a 10 minute drive from Arlington.

I live in Alexandria, VA. Who is the job with, and are you looking for a house / townhouse / apartment or...?

mad_machine wrote: I am only familiar with the MD side.. sorry

That counts, let me have it.

fifty wrote: I live in Alexandria, VA. Who is the job with, and are you looking for a house / townhouse / apartment or...?

USPTO, right now, what ever we can afford. From my research we won't be buying anything for at least 2 years due to pay scale.

Patents and Trademarks Office? I was in that building at a fund raiser last weekend :) The building (or buildings - it's more like a massive campus) is a 5 minute walk from Eisenhower Metro Station. I live maybe 3 miles from there and know the area quite well. Do you have kids? School districts matter a little. We moved from Little Rock about a year ago, bought a 4 bedroom , 2000 sq ft place for around the $500k mark.

FWIW I know a few employees of that office and , due to limited office space they permanently telecommute.

In reply to fifty:

yes and 2 kids 1 autistic and 1 gifted

I'm not familiar with Alexandria schools. We have an Alexandria address, but live just across the Beltway in Fairfax County. Fairfax County schools are uniformly pretty good. My kids are in the 1st and 3rd grade - dedicated gifted and talented classes start in the third grade. From third grade on there are about a dozen gifted and talented only elementary schools in the county that kids can apply to, or they can take advanced classes at their regular school. We chose the latter option for my daughter - she takes 4th grade math, but is in the third grade and also doing something like 5th grade English. There are also language immersion schools at the elementary level - our local one is Spanish, but there's also Arabic, Chinese, German and a few others.

Regarding kids on the autistic spectrum, I don't have a lot of experience with that one but do know several parents who have autistic kids in the neighourhood public schools and they seem satisfied with the care they receive.

If you're curious about the area we live in , try a www.realtor.com or www.zillow.com search for zipcode 22310 - there should be rental and purchase property prices as well as "Great Schools" ratings for whatever school zone you fall into.

My brother works there. He's an attorney and has a the awesome option to telework. He loves it though, left the law firm side of the house 10 years ago and has enjoyed the gov't side of things a lot more. Much more time with the family, etc.

I worked down the road at Ft. Belvoir for a year or so. We lived in Fairfax and made the 20+ mile commute on the Fairfax county parkway. I also worked an odd shift so I rarely saw traffic. Fairfax county does have a great school system and some beautiful places to live. The only down side to Virginia is that they tax you to death on everything. Also remember they tax you on your personal property (cars, boats, atvs, etc.) each year.

My brother lives up in Maryland near the Walter Reed Med Center. Great school system up there as well but you have to deal with traveling from 495 down to Alexandria and getting past the 270 spur is a nighmare even at 2100. I-66 is also miserable to travel on any time of the day or year.

Living south near Lorton is cheaper but not as nice. You are def going to pay living anywhere near your office. My boss lives in that area and constantly complains about the cost of living and I'm sure he's making triple my salary.

Well, for gifted children, you'll have Thomas Jefferson high school nearby. Its often rated the #1 high school in the country.

My advice after living in the area for a long long time and then moving away: If you need to go into work every day (I too have heard that many/most patent office employees telecommute), live as close as you can to work. Its simply not worth dealing with the commute anywhere in the NOVA area to save some $$ on a home/rent. The extra money to live closer in is worth every cent.

It's truly amazing how much time and money people in the DC area (and probably many other places) waste on insane commutes.

Alexandria can easily be a place you can live/work without requiring a car, and you'll be a lot happy for it. Be sure to make use of bike trails as well. One thing I'm totally kicking myself for.

That said, if you can't swing it financially, get as close as possible to a metro on the same line.

There's still a steady flow of people who still physically work in a PTO office. I guess find out if you can telework or not.

I know for the first 4 months telecommute is not an option. Maybe a few years down the road due to schedule.

Nice to hear it is a nice area with good options

the Metro is the only way to go. The NOVA/DC area has a wonderful light rail system that covers a surprising amount of area. If I had to work down there on a full time basis, I would use it all the time.

Last time I used it was for the President's inauguration. Local 22 down there runs out of people fast when that event comes up every four years and puts out a call to all the regional locals for help.

I am thinking this is an option for my future. Changing my focus from what I want to do, to what career/setup would be best for the family and future.

I like the idea of rail. Loved it while I was in Japan. I would honestly get rid of one car and maybe get a fun car that wouldn't be a DD. No sense in it.

Keep up the great suggestions.

Just don't put too much faith in the rail system. You still want to be physically close to your job. If you need to go more than a few stops, expect a long commute. It won't be "long" by standards for that area, but it can easily be a 20+ minute ride to go only 4 stops + your walking/biking/driving time on either end.

thanks for the clarification. I enjoy having a very small daily sphere. (work, kids schools, grocery, and home) Not as small now as it would be in VA (right now it is mandatory driving furthest point to furthest point of 6 miles)

I am just talking about doing stuff with the kids and fam. Rail into DC etc. Just seems something we would enjoy.

fifty wrote: If you're curious about the area we live in , try a www.realtor.com or www.zillow.com search for zipcode 22310 - there should be rental and purchase property prices as well as "Great Schools" ratings for whatever school zone you fall into.

Looking at homes in that area and it is only about a 15% bump from what we are looking at in New Orleans area. So reasonable (~$400k) for 4 bedrooms 2000+ sq ft. There are also many foreclosures. which I like. Sweat equity is something my wife and I both are good at (our first home was a foreclosure we rehabed.)

the closer the better, I lived in Leesburg and worked in Langley for a little over a year and my 15 mileish commute frequently took over an hour, each way. It only gets worse the closer you get. Inside D.C. speed cameras cause people to slam their brakes creating artificial backups. Metro and bikes are you friend if you find a residence close enough to utilize them as an option. Also autistic children can be quite gifted (as I'm sure that you're aware) schools in the area are better then average but of course vary even within district.

One of my friends lives in Springfield VA and works for the FAA. He either takes the train into work or bikes as the bike path network around DC is pretty good. He and his wife live in a condo just south of the beltway off 95. Nice area. Traffic is brutal, even on weekends when I head down there to ride.

ProDarwin wrote: It's truly amazing how much time and money people in the DC area (and probably many other places) *waste* on *insane* commutes.

I've been skewered!

(Commutes from Gaithersburg to the Navy Yard area on the Metro)

Wife and I are saving money to get a house at some point (when she has a keeper job for one) been really thinking about ways to minimize the commute insanity. My commute is about an hour and fifteen each way, but it is on the train and I get to do a lot of reading.

Metro access is not a small consideration. I work in southeast and live north of DC, I only get down on the beltway a handful of times a year and have driven to my office exactly ONCE as a favor to a friend (long story).

ProDarwin wrote: It's truly amazing how much time and money people in the DC area (and probably many other places) *waste* on *insane* commutes.

More or less guilty here. I drive an hour-plus each way and almost 100 miles total. You sort of get used to it. It's pretty common around here. I wish I could afford to buy something closer to work, but that would also mean living in NJ... which I'm not keen on. So I live with a long commute to have a house that's paid for in a reasonably safe neighborhood that doesn't care about my 6 cars.

But I'll admit the 2+ hrs a day I spend in a car gets tiring.

The amusing/ironic part is if I worked in downtown Philly, I could walk to a regional rail station that would have me in the center of the city in 30 minutes.

There is nowhere cheap to live around there. You'll either be spending most of your money on housing or most of your time driving to/from your housing. I would avoid inside the beltway like the Plague. Seriously--you couldn't pay me enough to deal with that crap. No offense to my good friend Apexcarver!

I think of all of us that live in the DC area, I might be the only one that actually lives in dc (near 14th and U nw).

Most of what others have said rings pretty true, but don't be afraid to look closer in and commute out (via train, bike or car). I commuted via car from just off of Logan circle in the middle of the city to Lorton via 395 for two years and it wasn't that bad traffic wise. Evening was always worse, especially Fridays when people were coming into the city for the evening. Otherwise I was look at everyone stuck in traffic everyday trying to do the regular commute. Now I work in Silver Spring and can take the bus/bike/metro or still drive. All take about the same amount of time, actually. Bus to work w/ bike on the front of it and bike home is the cheapest and healthiest.

I deal with having less space, but seeing what some people pay for places "further out", I don't think it's that much less for the money. If you do plan to try to live near a metro, being on the same line as your work stop matters. It's cheaper and saves time on the train swap.

Rent for a while to get to know the area and put in some time with the org. Hopefully you can start teleworking by the time you're ready to buy a place. I also know a few people who work there, and they do the telecommute thing. One just purchased a really neat place in Accokeek on the other side of the river in MD south of DC, and just deals with the commute once a week or so when he goes into the office (mostly just to keep regular face time for career purposes). If I had his work situation, I'd be seriously considering that area.