HELP! Moving to town: avid commuter (365, rain, sleet or snow)… where to live?

[thecyclingeconomist]

Thank you all of you for your awesome responses and information… I am a total nube to the D.C. area, and maybe even blindly moving there (totally relying on tips/friends that live there to sign a lease: YIKES)

I am not completely limited to 10 miles each way, but since I plan on doing it 5 days a week and hope to do some evening legit longer rides, I think that 100miles commuting is plenty.

I do not “have” to have a detached home, but if townhouse option is what we go with, I do need a legit garage. We plan on having one car.

It looks like a pretty overwhelming positive response to go into looking in much more detail at Arlington… which is what I plan on doing this week. Thank you again, and I look forward to becoming part of the cycling community there in D.C.

I’ve been highly involved with starting and getting our local bicycle coalition running (including being a steering committee member, running our annual road-ride, and completely starting our website from scratch: http://www.mercedbicyclecoalition.org)…

The amount of cyclists in D.C. alone is amazing!

[KLizotte]

@thecyclingeconomist 15040 wrote:

The amount of cyclists in D.C. alone is amazing!

Yup, welcome to the funny farm. It’s getting worse every year too! :rolleyes:

Another possibility is Bethesda (but pretty pricey) and Aurora Hills just south of Pentagon City (an older neighborhood with a lot of starter homes and very close to the Mt Vernon Trail). One thing to consider is airplane noise if you get a place under the flight path to National Airport. I’m in Pentagon City and don’t hear any airplane noise but people in Georgetown, Rosslyn, and Old Town (Alexandria) do.

[creadinger]

Not wanting to look like an internet stalker or anything, but after having checked out Merced in google maps, it looks like you’re going to have to get used to at least 2 new things in DC – 1) Roads with turns, and 2) Hills. The hills here aren’t mountains like you have in the Sierras, or even the Appalachians, but they can be really steep and extremely numerous (e.g. this thread – http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?95-Arlington-s-toughest-hills-list).

Most of the folks here have steered you toward Arlington, which is probably the best advice, but I think Takoma Park and Silver Spring are worth a look as well. Montgomery County, MD has good schools I think and there are some decent bike routes into DC as well.

Anyway, welcome to the area, and good luck with your search!

[americancyclo]

@thecyclingeconomist 15040 wrote:

I’ve been highly involved with starting and getting our local bicycle coalition running (including being a steering committee member, running our annual road-ride, and completely starting our website from scratch: http://www.mercedbicyclecoalition.org)..

For a second, I thought you said Lake Merced. I spent 9 yrs out in the Bay Area before ending up here, although I never made it over to your side of the 5. Not that Craigslist is the be all end all, but I just did a cursory search “garage, metro, 3brd+, under 2500 in NoVA” and most of the results for are outside the beltway. Some are scary far (Sterling, Ashburn, Centerville, Manassas), but don’t let that dissuade you. I commute from West Falls Church to Capitol Hill, and it makes for a 25 mi RT commute. I usually end up taking metro one day a week to rest my legs, so I end up at that magical 100 mi/week you mentioned. I’m sure you’ve got an agent on the case, but feel free to come back here to ask about any areas. Google maps has most of the cycling routes mapped out pretty well, so you can check that against any listings.

Good Luck and Welcome!

[thecyclingeconomist]

@americancyclo 15044 wrote:

I’m sure you’ve got an agent on the case, but feel free to come back here to ask about any areas. Google maps has most of the cycling routes mapped out pretty well, so you can check that against any listings.

Good Luck and Welcome!

Actually: if any of you have a Realtor that you’d highly recommend, I’m open for suggestions. Annie’s list and google-reviews don’t exactly make me excited about randomly contacting an agent.

I’m used to huge climbs in the Sierra’s (One of my favorite routes is a 64 mile loop with 5600ft. of elevation gain), but my commute to work is flat as a pancake… To be honest, I’m looking forward to having some topography in my daily commute life.

It looks like either: Arlington/Falls Church or Kensington/South Kensington/Chevy-Chase are the two basic regions in the search…

[thecyclingeconomist]

@creadinger 15043 wrote:

Not wanting to look like an internet stalker or anything

Anyway, welcome to the area, and good luck with your search!

As long as your stalking helps me with good info/a good place to locate my family… stalk away! LOL

[WillStewart]

@thecyclingeconomist 15051 wrote:

Actually: if any of you have a Realtor that you’d highly recommend, I’m open for suggestions. Annie’s list and google-reviews don’t exactly make me excited about randomly contacting an agent.

Anyone know any bike-advocate realtors?

[rcannon100]

Realtor recommendation sent through direct message.

[adamx]

weighing in again. I live in Falls Church…not the ‘city of falls church’ but just houses out of the line. I am in Fairfax County and 13 miles from the office at 12/D SW. I am about 1/2 mile from W&OD and the office is about a mile off the trail after i hit the Jefferson Memorial. Pure commute works out to about 125 miles/week. During the winter i pretty much go direct to/from on the crossdresser loaded with lights and reflecto. During the summer i try to leave the house early and ride the hills of north arlington on the weigh in or i do the same in reverse on the way home. Roads in N. Arlington have well marked bike lanes. I can easily get a 30-50 mile ride in on the way home or even in the morning if i’m that motivated. I live in a single family home in the Poplar Heights area of Falls Church and there isn’t a garage to be seen for miles and miles. Some places have basements and some do not. I have a shed out back and it is big enough to store several bikes, a couple of trailers and a good size work stand. Not big enough to hold 11 bikes. JOHN.PLANK@Longandfoster.com was my guy and he knows the area very well.

[americancyclo]

We’re practically neighbors
@adamx 15058 wrote:

I live in a single family home in the Poplar Heights area of Falls Church and there isn’t a garage to be seen for blocks.

fixed that for ya.

[DaveK]

@thecyclingeconomist 15051 wrote:

It looks like either: Arlington/Falls Church or Kensington/South Kensington/Chevy-Chase are the two basic regions in the search…

I have some friends in the Kensington area – the houses up there are more affordable than Arlington so you can get more for your money, and I’ve been told the schools are good (I wouldn’t know). The area is far more suburban in character though, so depending on how you like to get around in your daily life that may be a factor. Biking and walking is much more enjoyable in Arlington and Falls Church than in Kensington. I don’t like to ride on the road alone in that area. Six-lane highways and grade-separated interchanges aren’t uncommon.

[WillStewart]

@DaveK 15070 wrote:

I have some friends in the Kensington area – the houses up there are more affordable than Arlington so you can get more for your money, .

Does anyone commute in from the Kensington or Silver Spring area? Are the Beach Rd and Rock Creek Parkway trails suitable to commute in on?

[americancyclo]

@WillStewart 15076 wrote:

Does anyone commute in from the Kensington or Silver Spring area? Are the Beach Rd and Rock Creek Parkway trails suitable to commute in on?

2 respondents to the Informal Survey listed kensington as one of their start/end points, and 5 listed silver spring

[jrenaut]

On nice days (like today) I do Rock Creek from about the National Zoo to Hains Point. It’s a little bumpy but definitely fine for commuting. North of the Zoo I don’t know that well – I’ve done Beach Dr on the weekends when there are no cars, but can’t speak to what it’s like at rush hour.

[rcannon100]

Depends on where you end point is. The people I know from there commute in on the CCT

[Author]

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