COMMENT BY
Jobita from Burtonsville, MD
COMMENT ABOUT PLACE
Burtonsville, MD
COMMENT
Great place to visit but not to live
I grew up in the DC metro area, and the truth is that there is a plethora of cultural activities to go to in DC and the surrounding areas. i grew up in Ft Washington, which is a suburb of DC. the cost of living in DC is outrageous and the only people who would really like living in the actual city are single people with no children. parking is a major hassle! my husband (boyfriend at the time) lived on capital hill and every night had to fight to find parking, sometimes driving around for 20 min because he didn't want to park in the alley.
that's another thing. Crime is bad. DC doesnt have a good neighborhood and a bad neighborhood there are just good and bad streets. one street will me well maintained and cared for. literally the next street over there are drug dealers on every corner. like i said, my husband rented in capital hill. it's really conjested and NOT a place for children unless you put them in private schools.
if you are moving to the area consider the suburbs. the only problem is that DC is one of the areas in the country where the prices went through the roof. even places far away from the city where you have to drive 20 min to a subway is high. We are actually moving to Hagerstown where prices are still low. a lot of people are moving there and to the eastern panhandle of west Virginia where the MARC train will take u to DC metro. the prices are still low. the funny thing is taht even though it's an hour away that's till the same time it took me to get to DC during rush hour when i used to live in Fort Washington which is 15 min away.
Yes, traffic is THAT bad. a 15 min drive turns into an hour drive. but it's still better than living within the city. the best thing is to live close to the city so that you can go in and have fun at all the FREE museums and cultural activities.
This area is very diverse, lots of entertainment, huge tourism (for obvious reasons) i LOVE this area. you have great malls, and lots of outdoor activities, beautiful parks (especially in montgomery county - wheaton regional), lots of meet-up groups. club life can get old, though. DC area has a booming economy. this is the place that has everything.
Honestly - this is a good area to live in except for 1. it's a major target for terrorism 2. commuting and parking is a major pain 3. housing is Ri-Stinking-Diculous for a single family ANYWHERE within range you are looking at at least 500K and this is for old and new. my mother in law's 60 yr old, ONE f