# Washington DC



## GALLUS (Jan 22, 2009)

I have an opportunity to work in DC and 
I am quite concerned about the following aspects
- cost of living
- good and bad areas to live in
- schooling for children 6 - 12 - 16
- violence and gangs
- real estate (rent vs purchase)
- comuting to work 

Any experienced family that could make some recommendations? 
I am using a real estate website to find out about crime patterns, neighborhood, and so on ...... but it is slow and information are not always available

Best


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## MarylandNed (May 11, 2010)

I have lived near DC (in the Maryland suburbs) for over 12 years. I worked in DC for a few years. Now I mostly telecommute.

Do you want to live in DC? If so, the best areas to live (in my opinion) are along the Metro (subway) red line in North West DC.

Many people who work in DC live in its Virginia (VA) or Maryland (MD) suburbs. Arlington, VA (where my office is) is a nice area. I'm more familiar with MD and particularly Montgomery County where there are really good areas in various towns such as Potomac, Bethesda, Silver Spring, Chevy Chase, Kensington, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Darnestown, Poolesville and Germantown. 

Traffic in and around DC can be brutal so aim to use public transportation if you can. Traveling in on the overground MARC train from MD will allow you to commute from further out.

Montgomery County in MD has a good school system - but much depends on the teachers in the individual school. I hear others say similar good things about some of the VA school systems but I'm not that familiar with those.

Cost of living? Being a major city and the country's capital, the cost of living is higher than most areas of the country. This is one of the reasons for the growing outer suburbs in MD and VA. The further out you go, the more affordable housing will be.

Rent or buy? That depends on your own particular circumstances such as immigration status, job status, how long you intend to live here, etc. I rented for a few years until I got to know the area better and also until I got my green card. I started out working for a small software company that was sponsoring me for a green card but they had been bought twice while I was there and the situation seemed too unstable for me to take the plunge into the property market. Having said that, we're currently in a slow recovery out of a deep recession and it's probably a buyer's market at the moment.

Gangs/violence? It's certainly out there but I have not personally experienced it in the 12 years I have lived here. It's not something I think about much and I have 4 kids in the Montgomery County school system.

This is a great area to live - especially for children. There is a lot to do in and around DC. The museums are world class and mostly free. We have a good zoo. We have major sports teams in football, soccer, basketball and ice hockey. We have many cultural events such as concerts, theater, etc. We have 4 distinct seasons. We are within driving distances of mountains, lakes, beaches and other major cities (e.g. New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, etc).

Good luck!


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## GALLUS (Jan 22, 2009)

Dear MD Net

Thank you indeed.

Yes I forgot to say, I am ready to live outside DC of course, but not ready to travel 2 hours a day (GO AND COME BACK) on a jammed pack train or in my car, stuck in the traffic jams.

My immigration status will be some sort of official (diplomatic like) status. For sure we are considering buying as I hope this job will last for quite a while.

I will have a look on google maps and the website I was referring to....
Again thank you

Gallus


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## MarylandNed (May 11, 2010)

I found this to be a good resource before I moved to Maryland:

Gazette.Net Maryland Community News


Here's another web site that you might find useful:

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/


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## lifeisgood (Mar 30, 2010)

Maryland might be a good choice for you...
DC does not have too much to offer in terms of living standards....


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

lifeisgood said:


> Maryland might be a good choice for you...
> DC does not have too much to offer in terms of living standards....


Apparently you never lived in DC or if you did you did not get out much.


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## Ducass (Aug 4, 2011)

I live in rockville, close to the metro. Life is good here, we don't have kids, but apparently the schooling is fine. i agree with the Red line, it is the best metro line to live on.


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