Boarding north of Washington DC

[gypsymare]

[QUOTE=Gainer;8854123]
Take whatever time Google Maps or Mapquest give you, and double it. That will be a more realistic estimate of the commute time.[/QUOTE]

Triple it. Just to get out of the back roads of the communities in Germantown/Gaithersburg takes 30 mins. It’s crazy.

[raisethebar]

Thanks for all the information everyone Again, I am not going to be working in Arlington! My boyfriend will be and he is fully aware of the commute and traffic in the area. My plan is to find work close to where we will be living - making up for all the driving my BF will be doing

I do not plan to make his life miserable nor refuse to complain about the traffic? My drive to the barn is around 30 mins (no traffic) to 45 mins (some traffic) to an hour+ (leaving around rush hour) as it is, and that is why that would be my max… 30 mins of traffic every day to the barn. It is what it is and I haven’t complained about it yet. It is what it is and I am at a barn where my horse and I can both be successful and I am hoping to find the same type of situation (successful and happy) once I move.

Thanks again!

[raisethebar]

Also - I edited my first and second post to hopefully help clarify…

I didn’t realize traffic was such a sore subject. I am just trying to get my feelers out there! haha

[fordtraktor]

I think what people are worried about is HIS commute, which is going to be hellish from Gaithersburg to Arlington. Test drive that for a bit before you buy. You might be better off with a VA home/barn closer to his work and you doing the longer drive if you aren’t going to be going to Baltimore very often. maybe down south of town, there are a few barns down there and my horse friends living in arlington said that was a decent commute, not too far. better than middleburg direction.

[luvmyhackney]

My best advice it to stay at an hotel in the area you want to live for 2-3 days or a week is better. Drive the commute before you make a decision on where you want to live. You need to drive what would be his commute to get some appreciation for what he will be going through. Then, drive to where the barn would be and see how long it takes you.

Good luck.

[raisethebar]

Thank you for your suggestion luvmyhackney. I think that is something that we should do.

He already drives an hour to work - more with traffic. We are just not trying to make it longer than that.

Does anyone know if we would pick a house in Bowie/that side of DC if traffic would be better? I can see that it is still busy based off of Waze and the traffic apps but I wonder if it would be any better?

[Imoen]

Apologies if this has been addressed already, but I don’t understand why you want to find a barn north of DC if your boyfriend works in Arlington.

Going north through DC is hellish (as others have noted), but if you live a bit west of Arlington, you could both take the Metro to/from work and you could drive to a barn in NoVa.

I worked in DC this summer and found that commutes from Arlington to NoVa barns were manageable, but commutes from Arlington to Maryland barns were not. (I usually made the drive from Arlington to NoVa barns in less than the amount of time estimated by Google Maps, unless I left in the middle of afternoon rush hour.) Driving from one end of DC to the other really sucks and I would avoid it if at all possible. Good luck!

[IPEsq]

No, Bowie is not better for traffic, and it’s not the greatest area to live in either…not much there, and not far from some areas not known for their safety. Again, there are only so many ways to get across the river. If you go towards Bowie, you get into the southern MD commuter traffic. It’s definitely not the side you want to be on if you see yourself going to Frederick for anything. Not the worst for getting to Baltimore, though.

[raisethebar]

Thanks IPEsq- that is really helpful!!! I think the next step is me getting a job in that bubble…

Now that I have some ideas for barn/what direction they seem to be in I think we can go forward from there.

[IPEsq]

It’s been several years now since she had that job, but a friend used to live in Arlington and commute to Frederick. She did leave quite early in the morning (like 6), but she said the commute that way was not so bad in comparison to opposing traffic. So, you may want to consider living near-ish to Arlington and finding a barn in VA, which, depending on your schedule could be very doable with the drive times you want, and if you aren’t having to drive north daily, it may be a good balance with your boyfriend’s commute. Otherwise, I would not suggest going much farther out than near the Poolesville area if you want to give him hope of a commute of not much over an hour.

[Sing_Mia_Song]

I strongly recommend that you look in VA as opposed to MD if your boyfriend will be in Arlington. The American Legion Bridge is nothing short of hellacious, every single day. And that’s coming from someone who much prefers the Old Line State. Being in VA would enable you to go west toward Leesburg and Middleburg for barns.

Now, if you are hellbent on the Gaithersburg/Germantown area, look for barns in Frederick and Carroll counties to meet your price point. I am in Carroll and board in the winters at a barn much like you describe. It would be a solid hour from Gaithersburg and you would want to take back roads. I-270 to Frederick is also hellacious.

[touchstone]

Rolling Acres is wonderful, but realistically not an hour from downtown D.C. during the week–maybe early on a Sunday morning, if you’re lucky. Ditto for the other Brookeville barns mentioned, though several of those are nice places with good people.

There’s a newish barn, Summerfield, in Lothian on the way to Annapolis that may be worth adding to the list.

I also think it may be hard to hit your board target in this area for something with a good trainer, good footing and an indoor. $800 seems to be more typical for the kind of barn you’re describing.

The traffic is so much worse than you are imagining. I remember when I moved to the area: I read all the COTH threads warning me about how awful it would be. But I didn’t really understand until I lived through rush hour myself. The hotel/trial commute suggestion is a wise one.

[staceymc]

The traffic is unimaginable. I used to live on the Occoquan river and one Saturday I was driving home from Pentagon City. Should be 25 min on a normal weekend day that wasn’t a holiday, didn’t have a major sporting event, and where there were no accidents. 2.5 hours later as I finally walked in my door, I was on the phone with a realtor putting my condo on the market. I fled to Charlottesville and never looked back.

Definitely, definitely do the hotel thing and driving your work and barn commutes before you commit to buying anything. Because however bad you think traffic will be, trust me it will be way worse.

[raisethebar]

Thank you! We are looking to live around the Gaithersburg area. We are most likely going to rent in the area for 6 months/1 year and then actually purchase a house. Therefore getting a better feel and being patient for just the right house to pop up and getting a good feel for the traffic.

The barn does not have to be an hour outside of DC.

Picture Gaithersburg on the map.
Now draw about an hour radius bubble around it
… THAT is where I am looking for a barn.
Not “an hour around DC bubble”. Hope that helps and maybe opens up some more ideas!

[IPEsq]

You said your boyfriend will commute to Arlington up to an hour or so. We are telling you that’s not possible from Gaithersburg, realistically.

If you go to Frederick for a barn, you might find something somewhat close to your price range.

[phoenixrises]

Also keep in mind if he wants to take the metro he’s going to be on the Red Line coming from the North side. That is the oldest and the most oft to break down. It also takes forever to take the train in and make your changes to get back out to Arlington. If I worked in Arlington again I would follow the silver line out, in VA and then pick someplace within 15-25 min from there.

[raisethebar]

Thanks!

[JenEM]

I would not live in Gaithersburg if I was working in Arlington; I lived in Gaithersburg for several years, commuting against traffic and working in downtown DC and that was awful enough. Having to get from there to anywhere in Arlington at rush hour would be terrible.

That said, I now live right across the line from Arlington in Fairfax County, and have boarded in both VA (west) and MD (northwest and east). I’ve found, having non-traditional hours, that MD barns work best for me, but ONLY if you can go at non-peak hours. If you can work from home and have some flexibility to go ride at, say, 1PM, that would be the better option IMO, because getting anywhere out 66 is always a nightmare. Now, if you can live somewhere like Vienna/Reston/Sterling, and drive out to Leesburg to ride, and easily commute in on the Toll Rd or Silver Line to Arlington for the other half, that would really be the ideal option.

[ladyj79]

Ok…I read the thread twice to be sure I hadn’t missed anything so I’m going to ask

If your husband is working in Arlington and you want to be able to intermittently?? Be withing driving distance of frederick/dc/Baltimore, why are you not living in or around Arlington?? Why add more commute time if your husband is working in Arlington and you can get a job wherever you’re living and you can reach frederick/baltimore/dc from Arlington???

Do you need to be in Baltimore or Frederick more regularly?

If anything people on this thread are UNDERSELLING the traffic issues. A lot. And from your posts i get the impression you think posters are exaggerating the issues. Again, from what I read they are downplaying the extent of the problems.

Now if you are hellbent on living somewhere in particular, Id just repost and look for boarding suggestions in your chosen location/price point.

Anything else is just going to lead to a repeat of this conversation because the commute times just seem unbelievable to people who haven’t experienced it on a regular basis.

Commute times in and around dc are honest to god part of the reason I stopped teaching and started doing horses full time. Current research suggests long commutes are literally killing us.

[OTTBMareScare]

DC area - so many, many great options for trainers. A lot of not great, but many great. Also, price-wise I think that you are going to have to look hard to find in that price point. I left there several years ago and have not once regretted my decision. However, when I lived in Arlington, I tried to drive to that area where you want to live and it was an hour plus no matter what (to board) and anywhere in the MD area, really. Then, from Arlington to Middleburg areas, where I boarded, was an hour and a half solid every night to ride. Don’t miss it a bit. Good luck!