I used to live relatively close to there.
For starters, the Sligo Trail goes for a long time and has some linkups too. It starts near Wheaton if I remember right and goes down to Brentwood where it hits up with Anacosta-related trails. As many have suggested, your best for living would probably be Silver Spring.
Silver Spring-Be forewarned that rental properties in ‘Silver Spring’ will actually bring up a ridiculous set of areas ranging from near-Ashton (a good 15-20 miles north and west) and straight up 29 as far as Cherry Hill (sort of north of College Park), neither of which are really ‘Silver Spring’ that folks are referencing. I have absolutely no clue why everything in MoCo (acronym for Montgomery County) tends to have a Silver Spring zip code. Similarly in Virginia, I swear Alexandria is the all encompassing zip code. I tell people I live there and they start thinking everything from Arlandria down to Mt. Vernon. Anyway, there is a fairly decent youthful crowd to SS. If you move there or when you’re visiting, look for an underground burger/dive-bar called ‘Quarry House’ (underneath an Indian restaurant) and you will not be disappointed. The main stretch of stuff is over near Ellsworth. They have a big movie theatre, Irish bar, pool hall, there is pirate bar not too far away, and a few other places. Silver Spring will be moderate/moderate-to-high pricing for the area. If you want, I can go into a lot more detail about this area.
Takoma–There are some new nice looking condos right by the Metro. Otherwise, there aren’t a lot of apartment buildings that I would recommend living within there. You may be able to live in a group house with roommates nearby. A lot of folks will confuse the apartments along Sligo Creek Pwky with Takoma, but they’re actually considered Silver Spring. They have mixed reputations from what I gather, but they’re safe. Takoma is more coffee-shop nightlife. On the DC side you will find a bar or two that are decent and a good bbq place. In between Takoma and Silver Spring is a great local pizza joint (Ledos) along Georgia Avenue.
Bethesda–This may give you a decent commute into work. The problem here is that Bethesda housing is very expensive. However, they have some good bars/nightlight, also right off the metro and they have a good slieu of restaurants. You could probably also live a little further up in Grosvenor and take Beach Drive to the CCT I think. (Oh, in Bethesda–Bethesda Bagels–awesome)
You could also live in a lot of the eastern edges of NW quadrant of DC. Someone tossed out Petworth–sort of up and coming. The nightlight side is better over at Columbia Heights. If you live in these areas, I would suggest taking the back streets rather than the big ones on your commute. It’s basically a grid (letters e-w, numbers n-s, states-diaganal) divided into four quadrants. NW, NE, SE and SW. But since it was originally designed with Alexandria in it, SW is pretty small.
White Oak–lot of housing (this will be called Silver Spring), but I don’t know if I would recommend it. Would make for a fairly easy commute.
Ok, I’ve written more than enough. If you want more, let me know or just ask specific questions.
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