In need of housing suggestions near Bethesda, MD if you please.

[Sabine]

My dh is a medical student who is also in the Navy, and although we don''t find out for sure until December, it looks pretty definite that he will be doing his intern year of residency at the hospital in Bethesda, MD. He is currently there doing a rotation, and I will be going to visit him in 2 weeks. I''m looking for suggestions of places to look at for housing if you know the area.

Here''s what we''re looking for: NOT in BETHESDA, and NOT A CITY!!! We''re looking to rent an apartment or townhouse on a place that has tree-lined streets, a local school, a library, a grocery store, maybe a mall or shopping center, and not much else...

I am a small town girl, and DH is almost as bad as me. We currently live in Hershey PA and love it.

I have never seen Bethesda, but DH tells me it''s a pretty big city. He says there are lots of other "suburbs" around there, like Silver Springs, but they still look and feel like a city.

So I don''t know if a place like this even exists, but what I''d like to find is a small town that is close enough to Bethesda to drive there every day. Any suggestions?

 

[Regular Guy]

Sabine,

Not sure how to best to help...

I drilled into google maps to find my area...here in Bethesda...which does have the characteristics you describe...save for many apartments...it is more single family homes. But...parts of Bethesda do have this.

http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=39.018584,-77.130632&spn=0.011403,0.027466&z=15

Really...I''ll bet a call to the apartment division of Long & Foster might be your best bet for info.

Silver Springs certainly possible. Frederick wouldn''t be wacky. Lots of choices, really.

Wouldn''t tend to call these places cities...though. Communities, yes, suburbs, yes...of DC, which is a city.

Best,

 

[AnitaT]

Hi Sabine,
Silver Spring has both quiet and bustling parts. Downtown Silver Spring is fun to visit, but might get overwhelming with its activity. However, if you drive along Randolph Road for about 20 minutes, you will come across more tranquil neighborhoods. You might want to also consider places like Olney, Kensington or, if you like quirky and fun, check out Takoma Park. Good luck. Montgomery county is a great area.
-pz

 

[asscherisme]

I am from Bethesda! Local girl from there. I loved the area!! I only moved away because I married a medical student and after he graduated he ended up getting a great job out of state so we moved. I grew up in Bethesda and Potomac Maryland (moved from Potomac to Bethesda as a child) But moved away 13 years ago. I will say its very very congested and super expensive. I mean super super expensive so you are better off not living in Bethesday itself. I don't know the area as well anymore since there are so many changes. But be careful where you choose to live in the the DC area. Some and many areas are very safe. But there are some questionable areas as well in terms of safety.

I think to get what you are describing, you would have to move way out. Be aware that traffic there is horrible. It was awful when I lived there and I hear from my family its just gotten worse. Its a very crowded area. I agree to avoid Bethesda itself for cost and crowded. But be careful how far out you go. When I went to school Montgomery County public schools were some of the best in the country, but again its been many years since I was in school. If I were to ever move back there, I would stick to Montgomery County schools. Northern Va. can be nice too but that would be too far of a commute.

And a tip- Its Silver Spring, NOT Silver Springs. You can always tell someone is not local because they say Silver Springs. Drop the last "s"

I love the area. So much culture, diversity, and interesting things to do and see.

2 of my favorate weekend activites were either going to great falls. Beautiful place to go for some exercise. And to the Smithsonian downtown. When I left the DC area, I missed being near some of the countries best museaums and they are free! There is a great subway system there as well.

 

[aprilcait]

North Bethesda (i.e.: of of Georgetown Pike, near Democracy Blvd, around Tuckerman, near Montgomery Mall, etc.) sounds like a good option for you. It's a tad more suburban than the heart of Bethesda. My friend and her hubby lived in a townhouse of of Tuckerman and loved it.

ETA: North Bethesda is a standard DC suburb area; it's suburban with a dose of city (i.e.: lots of grocery stores, shopping, restaurants, etc. all very close by). I am a total DC suburbs girl and can't imagine moving away, but if you're looking for quiet, rural-style living, I would suggest looking into places that are further out like Poolesville, MD; Ashburn, VA; and Mount Airy, MD. Though living out in those areas would give you the quieter surroundings you're craving, it would put your hubby in A LOT of traffic for his daily commute.

 

[onedrop]

Hi Sabine: You have already received some great suggestions. I just wanted to chime in because I am from that area as well. I was born in DC but we later moved to Silver Spring and later to Kensington. Aprilcait mentioned the Tuckerman Lane area which is exactly what I would have suggested. In that area you will find apts, condos, townhomes and single family homes. And it's almost a straight shot from there to Bethesda Naval. There is also a newish apartment complex attached to the Grosvenor Metro Station which might be of interest to you. You will experience some sticker shock, because living in this area is on the pricey side, so better to know that before you start searching.

Ira's suggestion is a good one. Realtors are really great even if you are looking to rent. Good luck with your search!

ETA: You might also try Columbia, MD which is full of planned communities, and is more *surburban* than downton Bethesda.

 

[Sabine]

Thank you for all your suggestions! I''ve passed them on to DH, who will check them out this weekend, and then we will both look further into them next weekend!

 

[Clio]

Sabine, I live in Rockville, the next town north of Bethesda, and my husband works at the Naval Hospital. Everything around there is pricey, unless you go way out. Frederick sounds like what you want, but the commute from Frederick to Bethesda would be horrendous. For a more country feel in Montgomery County, I would suggest Derwood, Olney, Poolesville, maybe even Clarksburg or Damascus.

Kensington is adorable, but it''s pretty built up. It would be a super easy commute, though.

Based on what you don''t want, I would tend to avoid Bethesda, Gaithersburg, and Germantown. Even though it''s probably more crowded than you would want, I have a soft spot for Rockville because it has a sweet little downtown that reminds me Rockville was a town in its own right before it became just another suburb of DC.

In general, I would advise staying on the west side of the county. The east/west in MoCo tends to be pretty awful. Staying in the western part would make Metro commuting shorter, too. There is a Metro station right at the Naval Hospital.

 

[pennquaker09]

I second Rockville. When Nate was interviewing at Georgetown, we looked everywhere and one of the places I really liked was Rockville.

 

[Clio]

Just to clarify because I left a word out -

The second sentence in my last paragraph should read:
The east/west commute tends to be pretty awful.

 

[onedrop]

I forgot about Rockville. Great suggestion! Definitely a small town feel but close enough to Bethesda for the commute not to be horrendous. And I love the new town center there.

 

[Clio]

The new town center is great. I love seeing all of the families out and enjoying themselves.

 

[asscherisme]

I agree about Rockville. Some nice townhomes and apartments there. Kensington would be worth considering as well.

 

[Clio]

I adore Kensington. It would be an easy commute to NNMC, too.

 

[:)]

I was going to recommend considering Rockville too!

 

[anyname]

I am currently in North Bethesda, but i grew up in Potomac, which is really close to Bethesda. It sounds like you want something very simple and laid back. Unfortunately, Bethesda and it''s surrounding area''s might seem more "city" then you are used to. Fortunately, depending how far out you want can go, you can find what you''re looking for. Derwood, Poolsville, Germantown, might be viable options, they are certainly less developed then Bethesda and Rockville (i think so anyway), but they are also pretty far from the Naval Hospital (I assume that''s the hospital you''re talking about). I don''t know if you and your husband have considered Virginia? Many people take the metro to work, if that helps at all. I hope this helps. Please let me know if you need any further information. And welcome to the neighborhood!

 

[Sabine]

I think we have a winner!

Today we found a bunch of places in Germantown that we would love to live! We''re hoping the commute won''t be too bad, but it looks like a pretty easy drive, it just might take a while if there''s traffic.

Thanks again for all the suggestions!