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<p>But not on a Friday night. If we go to something at the Kennedy Center on a Friday night, the tension in the car is palpable!</p>
<p>If the OP’s D lives in Germantown, Gaithersburg, or Rockville, the way to go into to DC on Friday night–or any other night–will most likely be by Metro. This is why I think she should try to live somewhere not too far from Metro.</p>
<p>The Kennedy Center is not well served by Metro, but it’s probably not the main destination for youngsters.</p>
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<p>Not unless they have a mind-boggling amount of money to spend.</p>
<p>One can acquire a dose of culture much less expensively at Strathmore (a concert hall in Montgomery County, right next to a Metro station) or Wolf Trap (a semi-outdoor theater with lots of summer performances of all sorts, in Virginia but within reasonable driving distance of the area we’re talking about).</p>
<p>Rockville Town Center is great</p>
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<p>As a place to go and do things, yes.</p>
<p>As a place to live, I’m not so sure. I have heard that a lot of people who moved into the pricey condos and apartments there were upset about the loud noise from the nearby Metro trains.</p>
<p>real DC natives know all the backroads through Rock Creek Park to get to where they need to go downtown with very few lights and little traffic!</p>
<p>[BlackRock</a> Center for the Arts](<a href=“http://www.blackrockcenter.org/]BlackRock”>http://www.blackrockcenter.org/) Right smack in “downtown” Germantown, next to the library, across from the sushi place and the liquor store. I think there is a bar down the block as well, but Happykid is under-age so her stop is Chipotle.</p>
<p>Germantown is 15 minutes or so by car from the Shady Grove Metro station, but some neighborhoods have bus routes that run there, and there is an express bus (Ride-on #100) from the transit center in the “downtown” near the movie theater complex. Most of Gaithersburg is not all that convenient to Metro either, and I’d estimate a minimum of 10 minutes by car from the closest neighborhoods to the SG Metro.</p>
<p>Metro to DC from out here is do-able, but if someone has a car it is likely to be faster and more convenient just to drive - My advice would be different from Rockville or Bethesda. In fact Happykid and I will be doing just that shortly. We have a summer-camp pal’s high school play in DC tonight and will drive in. Cheaper to drive and park with two people, and on top of that the Red Line is under repair this weekend starting just about when the play will end. If I’ve gotta drive to Grosvenor or White Flint, I’d just as soon drive clear into town.</p>
<p>Metro to the Kennedy Center is easy: Blue line to Foggy Bottom and then the free shuttle bus. Happykid and her buddies do that fairly often. For cheap tickets there, watch for discount offers at [Washington</a> Show Tickets and Information](<a href=“http://www.theatermania.com/washington-dc/shows/]Washington”>Shows Added to Jackie Hoffman’s Holiday Stint at Joe’s Pub) or get them through [TICKETPLACE</a> DC Discount Tickets to Theatre and Arts](<a href=“CULTURAL-ALLIANCE.ORG”>CULTURAL-ALLIANCE.ORG)</p>
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<p>Well, that’s a fair point. But the Kennedy Center thing does illustrate that many parts of the District, including Georgetown, are not well served by Metro.</p>
<p>OP’s D is going to have a car, so she’s going to want to drive to work. To me, that suggests living somewhere not too far from where she works, and also living somewhere that has decent, preferably free, parking. She should think about that as she’s looking around. That would be another reason, for example, that she might not want to live in the apartments in Rockville Town Center.</p>
<p>That makes a lot of sense.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROIDX using CC</p>
<p>Time for my regular dose of “Thank You” to all who have given some input. I really appreciate it. Good point about parking. Coming from a rural environment, it’s not something that we’d even consider - but will be important since she most definitely will be commuting via car. We’ll probably start out looking in Rockville and go from there. (if anyone has more specific rental recommendations, feel free to post her or PM me 
) I totally agree, I’d rather see her daily commute a little easier - but still be able to hop on the metro for an occasional trip downtown if she wants to…I’m hoping that Rockville fits that bill.</p>
<p>She should know more about the Baltimore option next week…</p>
<p>:D The Baltimore opportunity is a go!</p>
<p>The initial salary offer is lower than the Germantown job, however I think they might up it to be more comparable (still a bit lower though). I’m thinking about cost of living and figuring that end the end, the $$ will be close enough that it won’t be the deciding factor.</p>
<p>Time to pick your brains for info on housing in the Baltimore area. Using Google Maps I find the office on the west side of 695, near Woodlawn. Any suggestions on where to start? (Again, we’re talking about a young female professional here) Can anyone weigh in on the cost of living difference in Baltimore vs Rockville/Bethesda?</p>
<p>Just guessing, but I’d say the cost of housing is about 10% less in the Baltimore area. Everything else (food, utilities, etc) might be about 5% less. </p>
<p>Like I said a little ways upthread, she wouldn’t want to live in Woodlawn. </p>
<p>For city action, I’d suggest the following sections of Baltimore: Federal Hill, Canton, Woodberry, Mt. Washington. </p>
<p>For suburbs, I’d suggest Towson, Ellicott City (pronounce that o like a u, if you please ), or Columbia. Owings Mills is OK, but it lacks a city center/mainstreet charm of the other 3. </p>
<p>Maple Lawn is a new community in between Balt and DC. It might be convenient. But, I don’t know what they have in the way of rentals, if anything. </p>
<p>Congratulations to your D.</p>
<p>Congrats to your D on getting the offer!</p>
<p>I think that DougBetsy is probably right about reduced costs in Baltimore. </p>
<p>I also agree that she won’t want to live in Woodlawn. All the kids that age that I know live in downtown Baltimore in the Federal Hill, Canton or South Baltimore area. That gives you walking distance to restaurants, bars, and shopping. If she’s into sports, it’s also walking distance to Oriole Park and the Ravens’ stadium. The area really hops on game days. On the other hand, you have the disadvantages of city living. Mt. Washington is actually more suburban and used to be very popular with 20 somethings, but I’m not sure if it still is.</p>
<p>If she’d prefer the suburbs, she should look at the places DB suggested. Ellicott City/Columbia are more family oriented, but have nice ammenties. That would be the best location for her to drive to the metro and visit friends in DC. Maple Lawn has a nice town center, but it’s new and pretty expensive.</p>
<p>Her easiest commute would be from Owings Mills or Ellicott City.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Rockville/Bethesda is much more expensive than Baltimore.</p>
<p>Baltimore has some wonderful city neighborhoods. If I were young and single, I’d definitely want to live in the city, and not in the 'burbs.</p>
<p>The commuting in Baltimore will be a lot more manageable.</p>
<p>I know I can’t speak for all of Maryland, however it is much more thriving and urban and young outside DC than it is outside Baltimore. B’more is more blue collar, family oriented and older, in terms of population and buildings. It doesn’t mean young people don’t live there, of course they do, I just think it’s more vibrant on the other side. </p>
<p>Would Columbia be an option for distance? Westminster is a cute older town on the west side, Towson is a little north and with the university there it has a younger crowd. </p>
<p>I don’t know that I believe the cost of living will be significantly lower outside Baltimore.</p>
<p>Baltimore folks - is the Woodlawn area served by mass transit? Rail or Bus?</p>
<p>What about the Remington/Charles Village area, where Charm City Cakes is? Since it’s just off I-83, would that be an easier commute for her?</p>
<p>Check this out:</p>
<p>[Transit</a> Maps | Maryland Transit Administration](<a href=“http://mta.maryland.gov/content/transit-maps]Transit”>https://www.mta.maryland.gov/content/transit-maps | Maryland Transit Administration)
[MARC</a> Train | Maryland Transit Administration](<a href=“https://www.mta.maryland.gov/marc-train%5dMARC | Maryland Transit Administration”>Schedules | Maryland Transit Administration)</p>
<p>The only mass transit to the Woodlawn area would be a bus, and I don’t think it would be very convenient. She’ll most likely have to drive to work. </p>
<p>Charles Village is worth considering. It would probably be about a 30 minute drive to Woodlawn. It’s the area around JHU, so there are lots of young people and appropriate ammenities in the area. It’s urban but has pretty tree-lined streets and a big park nearby.</p>