Researching Other Places to Live

I hate my day job. I berkeleying hate it. But there is really no other available jobs in my career field in the immediate area I'm working in now. So that means I would need to take a job in another city. But before I start applying for jobs willy-nilly, I want to do some research on the various places where I see job openings.

The two biggest things I'm looking for is the price of housing and the amount of traffic.

As an example, I work in Frederick, MD, but commute from about 45 minutes away. Although I don't particularly like doing this, I simply cannot afford to live in Frederick. It's stupid expensive. I don't mind the 45 minute commute (at least, not too much), but I wouldn't want a commute much longer than that. And in some areas closer to DC and Baltimore, you could easily have an hour commute to only drive 8 miles because of the sheer amount of traffic.

So, my question is, does anyone have any ideas for how to research this? I don't want to get a job somewhere else and end up having to commute 2 hours each way to and from work.

My dads rule of thumb for home buying is to buy in the best school district possible. Even if you don't have kids and aren't planning on having kids, the school district is what is going to hold housing values the best. It has worked well for him. He views a home as an investment.

With that in mind, here is what I would do:
1. Find a job that you would want
2. Find the best school district in that area
3. See if you can afford the housing in said area. If you can't, move to the number 2 school district.
4. Pick a house like you might buy, and use google maps to find the commute time. Their traffic thing is pretty accurate. Do it 3-5 times a day to get a good picture. Rinse and repeat with each area.

^^^ good advice - although I'd say a house is a depreciating asset. Land is an appreciating asset.

I don't own a house now and won't be able to afford to for many years yet. I'm mostly concerned with finding affordable housing (preferably with a garage) in at least a decent neighborhood within about a 45-50 minute drive of prospective employment.

hotpads.com is a good source for getting an idea of housing costs in a given area, but how can I figure out the traffic gridlock and average commute time without driving to every neighborhood during rush hour?

45 minutes to seems like an insane commute. I could live on the far side of Huntsville and still get to work in much less time then that.

I would say check Google maps during rush hour and try to listen to local radio stations for traffic reports (a lot are online now). There is also a few websites which compare the cost of living of various places. What kind of work do you do?

I'm a professional gigolo.

Actually, I'm an engineer.

A 45 minute commute might seem bad to you, but it's actually pretty low for the DC area. My girlfriend commuted just under 2 hours each way for about a year or so.

In reply to Sky_Render:

Well you can move to NOLA and get in the boat buisness. We are looking for an applications engineer.

Use Googe/Bing Maps and similar to get estimated drive times?

Move to Pittsburgh, and live in the same area you work (North Hills, South Hills or East in Monroeville) or live close to the Subway if you work downtown. Housing is cheap, taxes are OK, commutes are no big deal if done right, it's a sports town and employment opportunities are pretty strong, especially if you want to work for the Fracking Industry. You can also look into getting a job in Southpoint or Cranberry, and living outside Allegheny County to reduce taxes and make the commute even better.

If you move off the east coast, an engineering salary will easily buy you house much sooner than "years away"

But what kind of environment are you looking for? Outdoor sports? Lots of AUto-X/track involvement? Weather? Etc.

I like Tulsa, oil/gas/aerospace industry keep jobs like yours very well paid, but with the added bonus of a ridiculously low cost of living compared to everywhere buy Wyoming. And whilst not the most exciting place to be, all that disposable income allows you to travel, if that's your thing (we love to travel).

(Ahh re-read your OP, doesn't seem like you are wanting to move to far from your current location, right?)

My company is looking for an ME and EE here in Huntsville. No idea if you are looking to move that far. PM if you want more details on the job or Huntsville.

Frederick is where the 'home office' for my company is. I would never take a job there. Way too close to DC for me.

I hear ya Sky, Jenn and I are looking at locations around the area. Jenn is shooting for a museum position in Va, fingers crossed and we might be looking to get a house down there in the next year or so.

That said, I work in DC and commute an hour and fifteen minutes by metro to get to work right now, really want to cut that down.

I'd like to stay in the Maryland area. There are LOTS of jobs available, but they're all a lot closer to DC or Baltimore.

So far what I'm seeing is that it would be cheaper to buy a house in pretty much every area I'm looking. In many cases, it would be a lower monthly payment than rent for even a small apartment. That sucks, because there's pretty much no way I can afford to buy a house. And it would take even LONGER to save up for a down payment if I'm shelling out like half my salary in rent.

Move closer and ride your bike to work? 8 miles on a bike is a ~35 minute commute for me...

If you’re an Engineer and into cars, there's a little place called Detroit you could consider. Actually not really Detroit, but the Detroit Metro area. Most of the OEM's (Ford, GM, Fiat, Toyota and Nissan) are hiring. Every Tier 1 and 2 supplier is here. Various other auto companies inc the Chinese have offices here. The job market for Engineers is red hot right not. Most companies are having a hard time hiring and there is a poaching war going on especially with agency people.

There are plenty of really nice areas to live in with very reasonable housing costs and you can pick you commute time. My commute from Beverly Hills to Ford in Dearborn varies from 22-30 mins depending on what time I leave (sliding scale from 6:30 to 7:30). Some people choose to have a 35-45-50 min commute, but if your moving in to the area, pick accordingly.

Before people start crying Detroit, Zombies, guns, crack heads, crime, the apocalypse. check out the crime rates for many of the suburbs, it's ridiculously safe around here and Detroit is not nearly as bad as the nay sayers have people believe.

Sky_Render wrote: That sucks, because there's pretty much no way I can afford to buy a house. And it would take even LONGER to save up for a down payment if I'm shelling out like half my salary in rent.

That sucks. My rent isn't even one weeks gross pay and I am in a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with a decent sized back porch and fenced in backyard and 2 car garage. Also the commute is 8 miles.

This isn't adding up right.

If you wish to explore cheaper housing, talk to a realtor. It's what they do. Many are quite good at it.

There are numerous cheap places to live around the Frederick area. While the city itself is booming and not particularly cheap, go up 15 to Thurmont, and you can buy lots of house and land for a relative pittance. Same going west to Boonsboro. Both an easy commute to Frederick.

The commute to DC from your area is generally pretty good, and faster than going into Baltimore. Especially if you take the Marc train. There's a reason many do use it. A lot of realtors are actually quite used to working this angle.

You're an engineer. While not paradise for engineers, the general area employs many. DC and Baltimore being the big ones, but even Chambersburg and Shippensburg employ many. Frederick and Hagerstown as well.

I'm not entirely sure how a commute to DC or Baltimore is "generally pretty good," considering everyone I know who does so spends over an hour each way.

Honestly, I think you're putting the cart before the horse. You've already said you want to stay in the MD area, so you've got it narrowed down (as opposed to going anywhere in the US). You also said you don't mind commuting 45 minutes. Look for a job that is going to make you really happy. Once you find that, I have no doubt that you could find a place to live that's within 45 minutes. As has already been said, realtors are pretty good at that stuff. Or if you're renting, there are always endless options.

Where do you live now that takes 45 minutes to get to Frederick? I feel like you have to either live closer to DC or balt that a job in/nearer either would be closer than frederick, or wayyy out past frederick into pa/wv.

Like others have said, this doesn't all make sense to me..

Apex, what sort of position is your "Jenn" going for?

I live just north of Hagerstown. So, yes, it does take me 45 minutes to get to work in the morning.

I find it strange that everyone here seems to think I'm hiding something or that things "don't add up."

bluej wrote: Apex, what sort of position is your "Jenn" going for?

Jenn (my fiance) is trying to get a position as a museum curator or administrator, which is what she went to school to be (Masters in Public History)

Right now she is a temp in an HR/admin position outside of her field and severely underpaid.

Sky, I think Hagarstown is probably what is getting you right now. Try looking around up by Thurmont. That said, if you really hate your job, find something new and look into living situations after you find out whats out there. DC has its pittfalls, but I take my train time to catch up on reading. We are also looking at VA to cut my commute to about 45min or less.

I lasted 9 months commuting in the DC area. I lived in Hampstead, near westminster, and commuted to the Columbia area. Good grief it was horrid. That was the first place I came to where I could afford to live, and the house was smaller and cost three times what my one in Dalls did. Personally, i see NO upside for living in Maryland, if it's not family that's keeping you there, get the hell out.