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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
I will be moving to MD, looking for info
Hi...I usually hang out on WC, but I thought I would post this here as well. I'm not sure if this is the right board to post this on, or the Baltimore one.
"DH just got a great job offer in Beltsville, MD. I have never been to that area of the country, so I have no clue what are great areas to live in, what to avoid, how far cities are/actual drive times between them, etc. If anyone can offer any advice, please let me know!"
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Re: I will be moving to MD, looking for info
Well, Beltsville MD is in PG County. PG County, is not the nicest county in the DC area but there are some nice areas. I grew up there and survived. Right next to Beltsville is Greenbelt, which is nice. University Park is quite close too.
Beltsville is much close to DC than Baltimore.
If you're planning to live in PG County, consider that you may want to do private school.
COL is VERY high in the DC area, but lower in PG County.
Ditto PP.
DH had to do training in Beltsville for the first 3 months we lived here, and it wasn't a bad commute at all from Kensington (where we live).
I personally, wouldn't live in PG county - I would look in Montgomery Co. I also suggest renting first and then going out and looking for more permanent housing once you get here. I would look in Rockville, Silver Spring, Kensington, and North Bethesda.
We make the rockin' world go 'round.
And Takoma Park!
Like pp have said, it really depends on what you're looking for and how much you can spend.
North Bethesda, South Rockville, Kensington area is great with lots of shops and restaurants. It's close to DC and very metro accessible. However, it is also very $$$ so you'll be living in an older and/or smaller place than what you're used to.
I actually live in Beltsville. Parts of PG county ain't all that great and the schools suck (however because of this there are a lot of private schools). Part of Beltsville is ICKY! However, there's also a nice part. We live in a new, large house in a golf course community and paid about the same as we did for our one bedroom condo in Bethesda. The golf course (and houses) straddle PG and Montgomery county. Literally the EXACT same house is about 20% more in Montgomery county. There's great grocery stores, dry cleaners, drug store type stuff here but not as much 'fun' eating out and shopping options. It's also very close to the beltway, I-95 and Greenbelt Metro.
I've also heard parts of Laurel and Greenbelt are nice but don't know the area well.
If you're ok being further away from DC and are ok the 'burbs' feel then consider Howard County. It's more expensive than PG County but has great school system (I've heard).
Where will you be working? That would play a big factor in where to live. I live very close to Beltsville and it was a great choice when we were child-less, in our 20's and in grad school at UMD, but as others have said it's not the best place for schools, etc. Not sure if I would move in to it if I already had kids.
A great, (relatively) affordable place to look would be Columbia. It is super family friendly and suburban. Not a terrible commute to Beltsville, and probably better than most places in MoCo (definitely Rockville or Gaithersburg) since you'd barely touch the Beltway. Silver Spring would be super close, but I'm more particular about neighborhoods I like there since I grew up there.
Oh yeah, this too! If you don't have to commute in to DC, I would highly recommend looking in AA or Howard (where Columbia is located) counties for affordable, family-friendly communities.
Thanks for all of your help!! We're thinking of renting so that we can get to know the area and see how permanent DH's job is and to sell our current home. We're looking for a 3-4 bedroom, 2 bath home/ condo/apartment for now. I'm looking at places and getting sticker shock...OMG! We would probably be moving within the next 2 months.
It will be a few years before the triplets go to school, so I'm not as concerned about the school district now, because we would probably be buying a home if we stay in the area before they start school. But we are looking for a safe & family-oriented neighborhood, nearby to shopping/restaurants, and out of the DC traffic. DH currently drives 1 hr each way for work, it is straight freeway driving, no traffic. So he would prefer to drive an hour w/o traffic than to have to sit in traffic and have the drive time change all the time.
The ladies covered all avenues on places to live around the area. Sticker shock is to be expected, I think most people that moved here from elsewhere felt the same way, though it's better then is was a few years back. As for traffic, there is no such thing as not sitting in traffic in this area, unless you maybe work down the street from where you live. You will not get an hour commute without traffic anywhere in this area. Traffic is one of the perks to the HCOL
You actually get used to it though. You learn alternative routes and to just sit back and listen to the radio, at least I have.
For Beltsville I would recommend some nicer parts of PG Co. (Ft. Washington - although that is pretty south) or Accokeek. Bowie is also a good area of PG and not too far.
Waldorf, La Plata is Charles Co. and also areas I would recommend.
My biggest suggestion would be to look at Anne Arundel (Odenton, Severn) and Howard Co (Columbia, Ellicott City). In these areas, he will be going with the flow of traffic, which is a major drawback.
If you live in Charles or PG, you are going the opposite direction of traffic. Montgomery Co, as others mentioned, is a good area, but property taxes are the highest in the state. It's all about what you are willing to deal with (traffic, more expensive housing, lesser schools, etc)
As far as PG schools are concerned, they are not the best, but I know plenty of people who went to PG Co schools and had good experiences. It's all about what you make it IMO.
GL. Good news is you have a TON of options
I am a little late in this discussion, but wanted to mention my opinion. I am a PG County teacher and the pp are correct the schools. They are not great, but there are some serious diamonds in the mix of not so good.
It has also been my experience that the housing is the same. I do training for school down towards Jug Bay in PG County and I am always surprised by the gorgeous housing and rural feel of that part of the county. I agree with your renting option. You really need to research the DC area. Even Montgomery County, which everyone always suggests, has places that I would not live.
I live in Rockville and commute to the Greenbelt area (PG County) for work every day. It is actually a reverse commute for most of the ride and it is not bad at all. I leave at 6:15/6:30 and can be there in about 35 minutes with little to no traffic. In the afternoon it is more like 45min-1 hour.
The area is great once you get used to its quirks. There is so much to do esp. for children.
Oh yeah, and IF you like the livin' in the burbs feel vs. wanting a DC vibe, there's also the option of Olney. It's in Montg. county and supposed to have great schools. it's right on the ICC which goes straight to Beltsville.
If your DH is used to, and prefers highway commutes vs. back roads and heavy traffic this might be a good option. However, the ICC is a toll road and it ain't cheap. Some companies will pay for a toll tag or it can be negotiated into the salary. But you may find a cheaper house in that area is worth the expense of tolls.
I am a SAHM...so we just need to consider his drive. It turns out I am moving for sure, and would be there by the end of next month. We will be renting, andnI'll be going in a couple of weeks to look around and find somewhere. Thanks for your recs, I will check them out!