Moving to D.C.

AWACSEng

AWACSEng

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Bill
It looks like a move to the Washington D.C. area (specificly Andrews AFB ) is in the future for my family and I. I know there are quite a few D.C. area POAers and would like some input on the local area. Here's what I'm looking for:

-Good places to live that I won't have to worry about leaving my wife and daughter alone for a few days at a time.

-Trying to keep the commute to the base under the 1hr mark.

-I get a monthly housing allowance, so cost isn't a huge concern so I'm open to all sugestions, short of living 1000nm away and fly to work everyday ;)

-Right now we are looking in the Waldorf-Bryans Road areas. We are also interested in the Virginia side of the Potomac as well.

-Most importantly, where can a guy find a good rental/club/partnership to fly with???

Let the sugestions flow!! Thanks in advance!

P.S. This move will happen late winter-early spring of next year.
 
AWACSEng said:
It looks like a move to the Washington D.C. area (specificly Andrews AFB ) is in the future for my family and I. I know there are quite a few D.C. area POAers and would like some input on the local area. Here's what I'm looking for:

-Good places to live that I won't have to worry about leaving my wife and daughter alone for a few days at a time.

-Trying to keep the commute to the base under the 1hr mark.

-I get a monthly housing allowance, so cost isn't a huge concern so I'm open to all sugestions, short of living 1000nm away and fly to work everyday ;)

-Right now we are looking in the Waldorf-Bryans Road areas. We are also interested in the Virginia side of the Potomac as well.

-Most importantly, where can a guy find a good rental/club/partnership to fly with???

Let the sugestions flow!! Thanks in advance!

P.S. This move will happen late winter-early spring of next year.
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For safety/security sake, you either want to live on base or well away from the base.

I was stationed at Andrews from 2002 to 2005. As you've probably heard, a lot of people live down toward Waldorf. One disadvantage is the traffic. I lived in Chesapeake Beach, about 25 miles (by road) ESE of the base. It took me about 35 - 40 minutes to get to work which wasn't much more than it took the Waldorf folks because of the traffic.
 
Thanks. I've heard favorable things about Chesapeake Beach and everything in between all the way up to Annapolis. What kind of community was Chesapeake Beach? Good for kids?
 
AWACSEng said:
Thanks. I've heard favorable things about Chesapeake Beach and everything in between all the way up to Annapolis. What kind of community was Chesapeake Beach? Good for kids?
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There wasn't much to Chesapeake Beach (and the adjacent North Beach); some restaurants, a grocery store, some shops. They are busier in summer and pretty dead in winter. As for kids, I guess it depends. Little ones can be happy anywhere. We had a high schooler at the time (just graduated from college!). She wasn't too keen on the area since her friends lived in other parts of the county and she didn't have a car.

I'd consider all of northern Calvert County (somewhat rural) and southern Anne Arundel County (very rural). The area around Dunkirk would be good, but Prince Fredrick would be pushing the commute time.

One disadvantage is the distance to airports. There are no public use airports in Calvert County. The closest one is KANP just south of Annapolis. It's about 40 minutes from Chesapeake Beach.
 
In Virginia, I can recommend my neighborhood in the Greenbriar suburb of Fairfax, but I'm not sure if it meets your commute requirements as I'm not sure about mass transit to Andrews.

Airports in MD include Potomac, Hyde and College Park (the DC3) that you can use once vetted for operations in the FRZ. Outside the FRZ you have Freeway and Annapolis and Gaithersburg

In Virginia, Manasass and Leesburg are the convenient GA airports.

Feel free to PM or email me if you want more info on Virginia
 
Fleeing is not an option, I fought tooth and nail to get this assignment. I've been to the area once and absolutly loved it. My wife is a city girl as well, so what makes her happy will make everyone happy.

Tim, thanks for the info. I have been doing a little research of the Alexandria/Woodbridge/Springfield areas. Not too worried about mass transit, I'll be driving daily. Perhaps south and east of Andrews would be my best bet.
 
I live in Annapolis and have aircraft based at Lee/Annapolis, Tipton, and BWI. We love the area and though I work from home, I know many that commute to DC and Andrews from Annapolis. We've got a great little grass roots type field at Lee. PM me if you'd like more details.
 
I grew up in Alexandria and now live between Annandale and Fairfax.

Once the bridge construction is done, the commute from Alexandria (and points west) will be MUCH better.

If you're looking at Springfield, go a bit further to the Ravensworth/Annandale (outside the beltway)/east side of Fairfax City area. As long as you stay close to the Beltway, the commute should be OK. W.T. Woodson high school is one of the best rated schools in the area (and the country). Yes, housing will be at a premium compared to some other areas, but it's worth it for the school.

Alexandria is good - look both in the city of Alexandria and Fairfax County just south of the city. The area between the GW Parkway and Route 1 is a solid area. Schools aren't as good as they were when I was a kid, but there are options.

I'd stay out of PG County Maryland for a bunch of reasons. That area near the base is not good (as others have mentioned).

Flying options are tough with the FRZ and SFRA. You've got Potomac and Hyde (recently saw that a proposal has been made to rezone Hyde for more houses) near ADW. Beyond that, you're looking at Freeway (near Bowie), Manassas, Stafford, or Leesburg.

PM me if I can help you in any way.
 
I'd stay out of PG County Maryland for a bunch of reasons.
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Taxes and gun ownership come to mind. If you own a gun, do not move to MD. VA is much better. Not getting political, this is just a reality and the OP needs to know this, especially coming from AK.
 
Thanks for all of the info. I'll take the sugestions and do some more research and see what we come up with. I'll get about a week once I get there to do some house hunting. As we have done in the past when we moved to a new city, we will probably rent for 6mos to a year to get a feel for the area before we take the purchase plunge. Thanks again and I'll post more questions or if we decide anything!
 
We all have different views on life...I would starve before living in a city, to have a job...
In fact, the amount of mickey mouse crap that is going on at my GA field, just because it is 11 nm from a "jetport", has me seriously considering selling the twin and getting a stol that can operate off my hay field... As far as groveling to the TSA and bowing towards DC just so I can walk out to my plane; ain't gonna happen...
Grandma Char has me operating her airline moving grandchildren hither and yon every summer, but only one is still a preteen and the older ones are less and less amenable to being herded together in the summer... I suspect this is the last summer for the massive airlift making my half formed plan more likely to happen...

As long as I am giving out half baked advice; take a long look before you buy a house... The ARM's from the go-go days of 04-05 covering billions of dollars of commercial properties are going to start triggering late 09 and become a landslide in 010... Given that a high percentage of the speculators who took out those ARM's will not be able to neither pay the balloon nor refinance, the value of commercial real estate will plunge taking homes with it (again) - and the administration/congress can plan on shoveling trillions into financial companies to staunch the bleeding (again)...

denny-o
 
Sorry about the double negative in the sentence about ARM's... I assume you get the meaning...
 
mantakos said:
What wouldn't you be able to do?
-harry
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Get a concealed carry permit. By certain rifles considered an "Assault Weapon" and banned. By certain handguns where the manufacturers aren't willing to submit to the silly empty cartridge rule. Just to name a few.

Edit: Starting seperate thread in SZ to address my esteemed colleague in flight, Harry. :)
 
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