Moving to D.C.

[CosmonautLaunchPad]

Dean,

Keep us posted on when you're coming down. We'll plan a drunkening.

Do you already have a job lined up? If so, where is it located? If you can give us some information on where you will be working, we can give you some advice on where to look for an apartment.

[mikenice]

which Bevelators live in DC?

[CosmonautLaunchPad]

thedean said:

I have a few job options, depending on how the next couple of weeks play out, either in Old Town Alexandria or downtown. I've been looking mostly in and around Alexandria, although I have a buddy that's trying to lure me into the neighborhoods north of Adams Morgan (Kalorama Avenue and so forth).

I'm hoping to find a cheap place that's relatively close to a Metro stop, but we'll see how it goes. Maybe all these Republicans that now have to skip town will leave behind some decent places.

I guess it depends on what your idea of cheap is, but if I were you I would get rid of the idea of finding a cheap place. You can get a decent place for not too much if you find roomates, but if you're living by yourself expect to pay $900 + a month. Sometimes you can do cheaper if you don't mind living in somebody's basement like I did for a year. Even that cost me $750.

From somebody who has lived in both MD and VA, I would strongly advise living in VA. Safer, cleaner, and there's much more to do. Maryland isn't all bad though, I just have really preferred VA. As far as DC goes, I've heard good and bad. There are some nice areas to live in and some really bad ones. No matter where you choose in DC it will be expensive and if you have a car you'll probably end up paying an extra 200 a month for parking.

I'm sure you've already been looking, but here's the Craigslist link to apartments and whatnot:

washingtondc.craigslist.org/apa/

[rimrocka44]

admin said:

From somebody who has lived in both MD and VA, I would strongly advise living in VA. Safer, cleaner, and there's much more to do. Maryland isn't all bad though, I just have really preferred VA.

Alright time to stick up for Maryland. I will agree that there are some less than desirable places to live in Maryland, mainly the areas that border Southeast and the lower part of Northeast DC, (ie most parts of Prince George's County) but once outside this area it's a whole different ballgame.

There is just as much to do in Maryland that there is in Virginia, in fact I would argue that there is more to do in closer proximity. From where I live it takes 10-15 minutes to get to Annapolis 20-25 minutes to get to Baltimore, 20 minutes to get to DC, 30 minutes to get to Northern Virginia and downtown Old Towne What's south of Alexandria that is worth going to? We have malls, bars, restaurants, The Preakness, professional and top notch Division I athletics and the list goes on.

Traffic in Virginia is a joke, you pay more in taxes (hey nice car tax by the way) and aesthetically, Maryland is much more pleasing to the eye.

In closing I would like to state that where one lives is simply a matter of personal preference and this in no way shape or form is meant to dissuade one from living in Virginia. Maryland oftentimes gets a bad rap and I simply wanted to stand up for my state. Fear the Turtle!

[CosmonautLaunchPad]

rimrocka44 said:

admin said:

From somebody who has lived in both MD and VA, I would strongly advise living in VA. Safer, cleaner, and there's much more to do. Maryland isn't all bad though, I just have really preferred VA.

Alright time to stick up for Maryland. I will agree that there are some less than desirable places to live in Maryland, mainly the areas that border Southeast and the lower part of Northeast DC, (ie most parts of Prince George's County) but once outside this area it's a whole different ballgame.

There is just as much to do in Maryland that there is in Virginia, in fact I would argue that there is more to do in closer proximity. From where I live it takes 10-15 minutes to get to Annapolis 20-25 minutes to get to Baltimore, 20 minutes to get to DC, 30 minutes to get to Northern Virginia and downtown Old Towne What's south of Alexandria that is worth going to? We have malls, bars, restaurants, The Preakness, professional and top notch Division I athletics and the list goes on.

Traffic in Virginia is a joke, you pay more in taxes (hey nice car tax by the way) and aesthetically, Maryland is much more pleasing to the eye.

In closing I would like to state that where one lives is simply a matter of personal preference and this in no way shape or form is meant to dissuade one from living in Virginia. Maryland oftentimes gets a bad rap and I simply wanted to stand up for my state. Fear the Turtle!

I had these same arguments that you did, Rim before I moved to VA. Then I realized traffic and commuting times are almost identical.

VA restaraunts are much better than Maryland, cept for seafood if you're talking about Baltimore or Annapolis. And even VA has some killer crab houses.

You'll have a hard time getting people to back you up on the aesthetically pleasing argument. That completely depends on what areas you're comparing, but the towns in VA tend to be much more charming than most areas of MD surrounding the beltway, especially Arlington and Old Town.

And as for the car tax, because of the crime my insurance in MD was $1400 for 6 months. My car insurance in VA is $600 for 6 months. So add to it a high end estimate of $500 a year for car taxes and I still come out on top as compared to MD.

I'm not completely trashing MD. I enjoyed certain things about living there and where you live now seems like a nice area. Baltimore is great fun, and is the biggest perk to living in MD. Never been to Annapolis but heard good things. But everyone I know who has lived in MD and moved to VA wishes they had done so sooner.

[vinnypunditsheros]

I just took off December 28 and 29 for the New Years extravaganza. I should probably take off January 2 too, for the drive back.

There will be Genny.

And Cosmo, last time we went Bona Hoggin DC style I did not complete the sacred mission. Maybe this time I will be too drunk to be grossed out by some revolting slob. I disappointed myself in my failure to get hogged.

[rimrocka44]

admin said:

I had these same arguments that you did, Rim before I moved to VA. Then I realized traffic and commuting times are almost identical.

VA restaraunts are much better than Maryland, cept for seafood if you're talking about Baltimore or Annapolis. And even VA has some killer crab houses.

You'll have a hard time getting people to back you up on the aesthetically pleasing argument. That completely depends on what areas you're comparing, but the towns in VA tend to be much more charming than most areas of MD surrounding the beltway, especially Arlington and Old Town.

And as for the car tax, because of the crime my insurance in MD was $1400 for 6 months. My car insurance in VA is $600 for 6 months. So add to it a high end estimate of $500 a year for car taxes and I still come out on top as compared to MD.

I'm not completely trashing MD. I enjoyed certain things about living there and where you live now seems like a nice area. Baltimore is great fun, and is the biggest perk to living in MD. Never been to Annapolis but heard good things. But everyone I know who has lived in MD and moved to VA wishes they had done so sooner.

I will preface this by saying that we could go back and forth all day on this argument and the whole point of me formulating a response was to point out that there are areas in Maryland other than Prince George's County which is what you are basing your response on.

I don't think traffic is that comparable. While commuting time maybe pretty similar you have to consider than Greenbelt to Suitland is about 17 miles and you could make it in 20-25 minutes versus Suitland to Alexandria which is about 10-11 miles and you make it in the same amount of time.

Maryland has just as good as restaurants as Virginia, in fact they're are probably very similar. While it is true that Greenbelt and College Park may not host there fair share of delicious cuisine, the same cannot be said elsewhere. There is plenty of fine restaurants in such places as Bethesda, Rockville, Silver Spring (which has turned its image around), Columbia, Crofton, Annapolis, Baltimore all in the same vicinity. Heck even Bowie (in PG County) has a couple good restaurants.

Back to aesthetics, I agree that it depends on what areas we are comparing, but you can't tell me that if you get off 395 at King St and head west to Falls Church that its "pretty". Granted neighborhoods off this road may be, as in Shirlington and the like, but its just as nice here. Courthouse, Clarendon, Rosslyn, there is as much concrete and blacktop as you see in DC. Now I agree that Suitland is not aesthetically pleasing but like I said before there's more than PG County.

I'm surprised that you lived that close to Annapolis for almost 2 years and never ventured down. Old Towne and Annapolis are almost mirror images of each other, and Annapolis has the US Naval Academy.

When it comes down to car insurance when I moved out of Greenbelt my insurance dropped as well. Now for myself and my wife WE pay about $1400 for the ENTIRE year (or about $700 a person for the year), add no car tax and now we are on top. Again, beyond PG County.

Again the whole point of my response was to step up for the state of Maryland. If you always are looking for the bad in something you are never going to find the good. And while I know it's hard to convince Virginians that there is more to Maryland than PG County but there is. I don't blame people for living in Virginia and I don't blame people for living in Maryland, it all comes down to personal preference.

[CosmonautLaunchPad]

rimrocka44 said:

admin said:

I had these same arguments that you did, Rim before I moved to VA. Then I realized traffic and commuting times are almost identical.

VA restaraunts are much better than Maryland, cept for seafood if you're talking about Baltimore or Annapolis. And even VA has some killer crab houses.

You'll have a hard time getting people to back you up on the aesthetically pleasing argument. That completely depends on what areas you're comparing, but the towns in VA tend to be much more charming than most areas of MD surrounding the beltway, especially Arlington and Old Town.

And as for the car tax, because of the crime my insurance in MD was $1400 for 6 months. My car insurance in VA is $600 for 6 months. So add to it a high end estimate of $500 a year for car taxes and I still come out on top as compared to MD.

I'm not completely trashing MD. I enjoyed certain things about living there and where you live now seems like a nice area. Baltimore is great fun, and is the biggest perk to living in MD. Never been to Annapolis but heard good things. But everyone I know who has lived in MD and moved to VA wishes they had done so sooner.

I will preface this by saying that we could go back and forth all day on this argument and the whole point of me formulating a response was to point out that there are areas in Maryland other than Prince George's County which is what you are basing your response on.

I don't think traffic is that comparable. While commuting time maybe pretty similar you have to consider than Greenbelt to Suitland is about 17 miles and you could make it in 20-25 minutes versus Suitland to Alexandria which is about 10-11 miles and you make it in the same amount of time.

Maryland has just as good as restaurants as Virginia, in fact they're are probably very similar. While it is true that Greenbelt and College Park may not host there fair share of delicious cuisine, the same cannot be said elsewhere. There is plenty of fine restaurants in such places as Bethesda, Rockville, Silver Spring (which has turned its image around), Columbia, Crofton, Annapolis, Baltimore all in the same vicinity. Heck even Bowie (in PG County) has a couple good restaurants.

Back to aesthetics, I agree that it depends on what areas we are comparing, but you can't tell me that if you get off 395 at King St and head west to Falls Church that its "pretty". Granted neighborhoods off this road may be, as in Shirlington and the like, but its just as nice here. Courthouse, Clarendon, Rosslyn, there is as much concrete and blacktop as you see in DC. Now I agree that Suitland is not aesthetically pleasing but like I said before there's more than PG County.

I'm surprised that you lived that close to Annapolis for almost 2 years and never ventured down. Old Towne and Annapolis are almost mirror images of each other, and Annapolis has the US Naval Academy.

When it comes down to car insurance when I moved out of Greenbelt my insurance dropped as well. Now for myself and my wife WE pay about $1400 for the ENTIRE year (or about $700 a person for the year), add no car tax and now we are on top. Again, beyond PG County.

Again the whole point of my response was to step up for the state of Maryland. If you always are looking for the bad in something you are never going to find the good. And while I know it's hard to convince Virginians that there is more to Maryland than PG County but there is. I don't blame people for living in Virginia and I don't blame people for living in Maryland, it all comes down to personal preference.

I think the insurance argument is not very comparable since they give you married folks one hell of a deal.

Anyway, this argument could go on forever. You're a fan of Maryland and that's cool. Really I just wish you would move your ass down to VA so we could share 30 packs of Genny Cream Ale more often.

[vinnypunditsheros]

I wish this thread was about South Buffalo so I could join in.

[softintheo]

FYI you can also purchase 30-packs of Genny Cream Ale here in Alexandria:

www.totalwine.com/StoreList.aspx?state=VA&store=201 ------> This lame link defaults to Chantilly, you have to click on the Alexandria Landmark link on the left hand side of the page once you open it. Stupid Java script links

admin said:

I think the insurance argument is not very comparable since they give you married folks one hell of a deal.

Anyway, this argument could go on forever. You're a fan of Maryland and that's cool. Really I just wish you would move your ass down to VA so we could share 30 packs of Genny Cream Ale more often.

[CosmonautLaunchPad]

softintheo said:

FYI you can also purchase 30-packs of Genny Cream Ale here in Alexandria:

www.totalwine.com/StoreList.aspx?state=VA&store=201 ------> This lame link defaults to Chantilly, you have to click on the Alexandria Landmark link on the left hand side of the page once you open it. Stupid Java script links

admin said:

I think the insurance argument is not very comparable since they give you married folks one hell of a deal.

Anyway, this argument could go on forever. You're a fan of Maryland and that's cool. Really I just wish you would move your ass down to VA so we could share 30 packs of Genny Cream Ale more often.

They have all kinds of great beer, wine and cigars at this joint. Dirt cheap too.

The Wegmans in Fairfax also has it.