Where to live in DC Metro?
 

Say you had no constraints, job wise, wanted to get some decent racing and training in all the time. I'd like to live somewhere with a small downtown area, say, a few blocks of shops and restaurants, etc., but close enough to the city to get in somewhat conveniently (but not commuting).

Recommendations?


Thanks!

Silver Spring is very convenient to get to downtown DC via public transportation, however, for training purposes, I guess Beltsville, Hyattsville might be better. South Arlington, Alexandria in Virginia might also be considered for convenient access purposes, but I'm not sure of ease of training over at the VA side.

West of Wisconsin Avenue in the NW. Relatively quiet, can bicycle to grocery store, beer store. Tons of parks. Can make it to the Mall, downtown, shops, restaurants in 10 minutes by bicycle. Can get to all the local riding trails very easily, nearby to AU and GU for library needs, sports, etc. Short ride to Key Bridge and VA. Also a short ride to a few music venues. Oh, you can bike to Reagan if you need to fly!

You have to travel FAR to live in the suburbs and not put up with the hell of sprawl and traffic. If you are going to put up with the downside of a city, might as well just live in the city

Or, you can head up the road and live in Bethesda, I just wouldn't want to live near that many malls and strip malls. Plus, I don't like the Old Line State:)

And I'm pretty sure you are older than me and at a different stage in life, but you can live in DC pretty well on not that much money. It is a total myth, promoted in the "how much do you make" thread that you have to make at least $200,000 to live in/near any city. Hogwash. In grad school I live in DC at a very comfortable level for $10,000, with something like 1/2 going to rent. No car, no family, lived with a girlfriend so a 1-bedroom apartment was affordable, my only vice of beer cost me maybe $10-$15 a week, and I cooked for myself.

Anyway, that is my advice. Houses in the NW ain't cheap, but I don't know if you are looking for a house to buy, an apartment to rent, or what. But, that NW corner between VA and MD is incredible.

reston's nice. we have a lot of cyclist in this area too.

Woah, I have no idea what you are after ElJ and how much you enjoy city life, but you couldn't chain me up in Silver Spring. It is one highrise after another, roads, cars, traffic, noise.

Some people like that, but it's not for me. I like NW DC, in places, because you can find quiet sideroads and you hardly feel like you are even in the city.

Also check out River Road running out the back of GU...houses are probably not cheap, but it is out of the city, yet very close.

**And this is just my opinion! Just like we all prefer different bicycles, we all enjoy different living environments. Just saying the 'burbs of NoVA or MD are not for me. Plenty of trails to ride in/around the city though, so lots of options.

What I'm looking for is what I have right now.

1. I live in what resembles a small (~5000) person downtown - Campbell, CA. I have ~20 restaurants/bars within walking distance, that's enough for me. So that's what I'm looking for...
2. Five miles away is pretty pain-free, low-stop riding.
3. Downtown San Jose (moderately built-up) is ten miles away, Downtown San Fran is 40 miles or so away.

I don't want to live in suburbs, per se, but if there's suburbs around me, and I'm a block or two off of downtown, that's OK. As a cyclist I obviously hate lights, etc., etc.

If you gave me a map blindly, I'd look at Reston, Fairfax Station... something around there?

I'm on Capitol Hill right now, and honestly, I really like it here. It's not super-convenient to getting outside the city, but at least all the necessities are very close by (I don't even have to bike at all if I don't want to), and riding out of town in any direction isn't horribly difficult. Twenty minutes from the Mall on foot, one block to several restaurants, groceries, and a sports bar, etc.

I'll probably add more later -

I'm in Ballston, VA. Anywhere on the Rosslyn, Courthouse, Clarendon, Ballston strip is nice, plenty to do (restaurants etc). Easy access to DC (metro or ride), easy access to roads to drive places, plenty of bike shops and rides. Some of it is a little high-rise-ish, but you only need to go a couple of blocks off Wilson or Fairfax Drive and you get a much greener, more surbaban home.

A little further out (Falls Church etc) offers a little more for your money, a little more greenery, and a little less convenience.

on the VA side i would check out places along the wo&d trail for ease of getting into DC/Arlington. there are a lot of trails in and around DC for cyclists. i live in Falls Church near Tysons corner along the beltway and it takes me about 20 minutes to get to Arlington/DC. there are usually bike lanes in Arlington and Bethesda for the roads, but the city buses suck and show no mercy toward cyclists.

a few places come to mind: Arlington, Vienna, Reston (a bit far out, but there are pockets of places there where it's convenient)

i personally think you will like Arlington or the Vienna area.

What size rental or mortgage payment? The Palisades, in NW DC, is very nice, but houses start at around $800k, I think.

IMO If you need to commute to the district, inside the beltway is where it's at. There are folks who do ride in from Reston, but there are some nontrivial barriers to entry for folks in the Fairfax Station area (not just distance, but distance to go around things). "rural" No-VA (Fairfax Station) is rapidly becoming less so. Speaking from experience (Looked at Reston, spent time in Fair-Oaks, now living in Arlington) inside the beltway is where it's at. It's way pricey though. If you've got kids, some of the school districts are very good. (others, less so).

There is a rather large racing group within the Mid-atlantic area (but that's been beat to death in another thread in the racing forum).

I'm a big fan of Clarendon/Courthouse, but I may be biased since that's where I live. Close to everything. We get by with one car with commutes in opposite directions (DC and Tysons).

Of course, it's reputation as a tough neighborhood is getting out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T1RMuoQnKo

if suburb was pictured in the dictionary, those are places that would be shown.

in Maryland, you're looking at montgomery county

silver spring, forest glenn, or takoma park, md - pretty diverse places accessible to rock creek and beyond are good, lithuania and bitterken are SS residents there and can speak more knowlegeable than me,

bethesda, md - expensive, but nice

if you go east of takoma park, you're getting into prince georges county, which I wouldnt live in for various reasons (higher crime rates, schools dont have proper resources and dont test as well, etc.)

further north along I-270 into rockville, gaithersburg, germantown, darnestown, poolesville are fantastic for cycling, but are very much suburban and getting into DC becomes a "commute" for sure.

VA - frankly, it kind of sucks for bicycling. more congested, lanes in roadways are narrower, everyone trains on a bikepath.

arlington, ballston, clarendon are great for anything but riding a bike, everything else is just an amorphous blob of suburbs.

to directly answer your question, I'd live right where I do now, germantown, or where I moved from recently, gaithersburg. great for a family, exceptional bicycling in farm/horsecountry 5 minutes from my front door, and I work in rockville so not too much of a commute, but traffic sucks in all of the WDC area so you've got to accept it.

We lived in downtown Silver Spring for the last twelve years. Terrific area with great access to everything, including good access to most of the area training routes. And with all of the development in the area, it's safe and there are actually things to do. (That wasn't really the case when we first moved there.)

But we just moved to the Rockville burbs last month. And frankly, I haven't quite cracked the nut on this one yet, riding-wise. I've seen three kitted riders in the area so far, including myself.

Maybe check out Fredericksburg, VA. We've got some good cyclists, and the roads are spectacular for training.


Dave

Loudoun County... Town of Leesburg. An hour to the city and access open roads to ride on. Anywhere closer in you will have to deal with suburban road rage.

where in r-ville? west toward potomac/gaithersburg is infinitely more "ridable"


fredericksburg is not in the wash dc area. the moon would be a better commute.

an hour to what city, tysons corner?

watch out for the loudon co. sherrif, he'll get you at stop signs unless you unclip and put your feet on the ground.

Most of those places mentioned are pretty far out. For convenience to downtown with good access to training routes I recommend Alexandria, where I live. For better cycling routes but not quite as convenient to downtown, I recommend Takoma Park. Both have quaint "downtown" areas. Takoma Park has the edge for cycling routes. One good thing about Alexandria is that its a good launch pad to drive out west towards the Shenandoahs. Driving from Takoma Park adds a good half hour to that.

Bethesda is nice and being further west than Silver Spring, it gets you closer to the agricultural reserve where riding is very nice (Poolesville on out to Mt. Sugarloaf). My 55 mile Sunday ride is Bethesda out to Poolesville and back, adding Sugarloaf gets it to about 65 miles.

Buying a house in Bethesda is painful, but there's a fair number of rental units close to the restaurant zone, which is also very convenient to the Red Line subway for getting into DC itself.

Finally, if you have kids, the public schools are very good.

City of Falls Church ( as opposed to Falls Church portion of Fairfax co.)
it's small, has nice suburban feel and access to some of the better trails in the area.
You'd be about 3/4 hour commute from D.C.
Loved it when I lived there.
Marty

This. I loved Arlington as a young single guy for lots of reasons (Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. See www.walkarlington.com and http://www.bikearlington.com/), but it's expensive and frankly sort of annoying.

Check out the "West Bethesda" area. It's about 5 miles from downtown Bethesda, 4 miles from Metro (with plenty of bike parking - we got a bike locker), some local shopping and conveniences and some great little neighborhoods. Prices vary from the mid 200's for a condo to whatever you want to pay. We're kind of wedged in between Potomac and Rockville, there are lots of great riding roads (Potomac area, River Road, Glen, Tuckerman, etc), it's about 12-15 miles into downtown DC, an easy trip via bike (road or Capital Crescent Trail) but car commuting is less fun. Schools are some of the best in the area.

But to be in the center of that "town center" feel... downtown Bethesda, Arlington, Alexandria, Takoma Park, the horribly fake retail Rockville Town Center are your best bets.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Shirlington in NoVA yet. Restaurants, theaters (both movie and live), library, groceries, etc. Close to WO&D/Four-Mile Run trails. Quick access to good rides in N. Arlington & into D.C.

To re-iterate... I wouldn't be commuting, I'm telecommuting.

That's about it...or Glover Park or one of the other NW D.C. neighborhoods. If you're near Rock Creek Park, you'll have no trouble riding to good training routes.

Forgot to add that there are a number of good bike shops within easy reach on Shirlington; Spokes, Etc., Conte's, Revolution, Big Wheel, and the ubiquitous Performance. There's even an REI close by!