USUHS--->Places to live.

[jjhollin]

I am wondering where most USUHS students live. I want to live as close as possible to the campus without spending my whole paycheck on rent. What about living in Northern Virginia? Is it possible to rent a house with a yard within a 20-30 minute drive? I am planning on flying out there to look for places, but I wanted to some research first. Oh yeah...and I have to wait for my acceptance, which hopefully is coming this week. I interviewed there on Nov. 21. Thanks for the help in advance.
~Jake

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[abw]

jake -
i sent you a pm.

 

[republicandr]

Jake,
My wife and I spent over 100 hours researching places to live. The bottom line, we are interested in buying a house in Gaithersburg or in Germantown. They are townhouses with a small yard.

But, I am going to fly out there in May to check out different areas. It may turn out that I prefer a different town. Most medical students that I spoke with at USUHS, and those who graduated from there live(d) in Gaithersburg. The community is relatively safe and the schools are excellent (as rated on realtor sites).

 

[Caffeinated]

Gaithersburg is a pretty nice area to live. Yes, it is possible to live in Northern VA. I am living in Sterling, VA right now, and I commute to Walter Reed every day. It's about 30 miles, and it takes 45-50 minutes on a good day, and about 1 hr, 10 min on the way home. When I start USUHS, this will shave about 10-15 minutes off my commute each way.

The drawback to Northern VA is the cost of homes. I live in Northern VA because it is close to my wife's work. We bought our house in March 2001, and there is no way I could afford to buy a similar house in my neighborhood at this point; they are going for about $50k more than when I bought. The market here is way inflated. I mean, jaw-hitting-the-floor inflated. So if you have never been to this area to check out homes, brace yourself. It can be done, but it can be quite a jolt when you see what your money will buy. Coming from Ohio, we got pre-approved for a home loan of $150,000, and when we called a realty office in Northern VA, they wouldn't even give us a realtor to work with. They gave us an APPRENTICE!

 

[Caffeinated]

For some reason my last post isn't showing up...Maybe it takes a few mintues.

Anyway, if anyone is interested in living in Northern VA for whatever reason, I can give you some input. I live in Sterling, VA, and it's a beautiful area. Just like the rest of Northern VA, it's an inflated market that just keeps on growing.

 

[jjhollin]

Any opinions of Rockville? Rent vs. Buying?

 

[rotatores]

Stay away from Silver Spring!!! Rockville is nice, plus it's a short distance from school.

It you're interested in buying a house you're looking at 160K plus for about 1700 sq. ft. in areas such as Gaithersburg and Germantown.

Renting in this area is basically throwing your money away. I pay about 1100/month for about 900 sq. ft. (Silver Spring).

If you want to live in the city you're gonna pay even more.

Bethesda is also prettty expensive.

 

[CRAZYTERP]

Originally posted by rotatores
Stay away from Silver Spring!!! Rockville is nice, plus it's a short distance from school.

It you're interested in buying a house you're looking at 160K plus for about 1700 sq. ft. in areas such as Gaithersburg and Germantown.

Renting in this area is basically throwing your money away. I pay about 1100/month for about 900 sq. ft. (Silver Spring).

If you want to live in the city you're gonna pay even more.

Bethesda is also prettty expensive.

Bethesda isn't too expensive actually. It all depends on what you want. If you are relatively young and don't mind living in an apartment Bethesda is definitely the place to be. You are basically within walking distance of USUHS and during the evenings when you do have time to relax there are tons of great restaurants, bars, pubs to enjoy in Bethesda. Plus you are only about a 20 minute metro ride into the heart of DC. Having grown up and lived in the surrounding areas of Rockville and Gaithersburg my whole life I have tons of friends who are living in Bethesda. If you are married you can prob get a decent one bedroom for about 8-900. If you want something really nice u will have to pay for it.

Now if you want to live in the burbs, I see no reason to move to Northern VA. Rockville, is just down the street from Bethesda (literally) and for a 20-30 mintue commute Gburg isn't bad either, although I would suggets living west of 270(the local highway, just a preference). Also if you have children, Montgomery County, MD has one of the best school systems in the country. Good luck house hunting. Pm me if you have any further questions.

 

[republicandr]

Originally posted by CRAZYTERP

Also if you have children, Montgomery County, MD has one of the best school systems in the country. Good luck house hunting. Pm me if you have any further questions.

Hi there- I am "republicandr's wife" and it looks like we'll be moving to the area in August when my husband starts at USUHS. We have a 7-yr-old (she'll be going into 2nd grade). I'm just curious as to what makes the schools in Mont cty rank so high? Do they just teach with the goal of getting high pass rates on standardized tests??? Are there still other programs outside of the basics (like art, music, PE?)

Also- does anyone know how long they give you to move over to USUHS after the end of OBC? I know from a previous post on another thread that the Brigade is basically an inprocessing time- does that mean that when you are moved over you just show up to the school to be inprocessed, or is there a specific date by which you need to report during this Brigade time???

Probably all this will be clarified in the "relocating packet" they'll be sending, but anyway any practical help would be appreciated!

As always, thanks for all the input!

 

[rotatores]

We got about 4 weeks to move in after OIS (Navy). It should be about the same amount of time for Army.

CRAZYTERP

I'm not quite sure what you call expensive, but you're looking at about $900/month for a small 300-500 sq. ft. studio apt. in Bethesda. Pretty expensive if you ask me.

It is a little cheaper if you go up a few miles into Rockville.

 

[geldrop]

check out kentlands, its pretty nice. Some new places they are building off great seneca highway.

 

[republicandr]

Where are the Kentlands?

 

[geldrop]

Kentlands is off exit 6 on I270, about 20 minutes to USHUS. However If i were you people I'd just live on the metro line somewhere or even in DC and just hop on the metro to the hospital.

The traffic can be horrible.

Kentlands Link

 

[republicandr]

Thanks for the links- with kids and all we don't want to live in the city. I think it'll probably be easier for my wife and kids to get around in the Gaithersburg area for their day-to-day stuff? Any opinions?

 

[Caffeinated]

Gaithersburg is nice, and there seems to be easy access to whatever you need. However, if anyone is crazy enough to move to Sterling, VA we could carpool together! Actually, Sterling is a little further from school than I would choose to live if I was moving there to attend school. But since I am already there and settled, it's easier just to stay there. I wouldn't be surprised if I were the only Virginia person in the class. I have been commuting to Walter Reed for almost 2.5 years. Commuting to USUSH is going to be a shorter drive, and boy am I looking forward to that. I wouldn't worry about the traffic too much--it sucks wherever you live. You just have to time it correctly. You will learn quickly.

 

[pathdr2b]

Originally posted by geldrop
check out kentlands, its pretty nice. Some new places they are building off great seneca highway.

I curently live in the Kentland's and I can tell you for a fact that you won't find a better place to live in Gaithersburg. The elementary school my daughter attends is ione of the best in Montgomery County. BUT, rent on a 2 bedroon runs about 1500/mos and single family homes average about 400K. YOu MIGHT be able to get a townhouse of 350K IF you're lucky. The condos are about 175k. PM me if you have any other questions about this area.

 

[Queza]

this sounds good to me. anyone planning to or already does rent an apt in bethesda? and are the 8-900 one-bedroom apts really within walking distance of usuhs? that would be perfect.

Originally posted by CRAZYTERP
Bethesda isn't too expensive actually. It all depends on what you want. If you are relatively young and don't mind living in an apartment Bethesda is definitely the place to be. You are basically within walking distance of USUHS and during the evenings when you do have time to relax there are tons of great restaurants, bars, pubs to enjoy in Bethesda. Plus you are only about a 20 minute metro ride into the heart of DC. Having grown up and lived in the surrounding areas of Rockville and Gaithersburg my whole life I have tons of friends who are living in Bethesda. If you are married you can prob get a decent one bedroom for about 8-900. If you want something really nice u will have to pay for it.

Now if you want to live in the burbs, I see no reason to move to Northern VA. Rockville, is just down the street from Bethesda (literally) and for a 20-30 mintue commute Gburg isn't bad either, although I would suggets living west of 270(the local highway, just a preference). Also if you have children, Montgomery County, MD has one of the best school systems in the country. Good luck house hunting. Pm me if you have any further questions.

 

[UCLA Paratrooper]

Hey!

What do you guys think about living in the Upper Northwest part of Washington DC (Cleveland Park, Van Ness, etc.) and driving to class???

UCLA Paratrooper

 

[kcrd]

I'm in med school in philadelphia, but I lived in montgomery county for 25 years, so I thought I'd weigh in on your thread. If you are buying a house, the most reasonably priced places would be gaithersburg, germantown, takoma park, and some areas in silver spring. the traffic on 270 can be really awful, so be careful about moving to gaithersburg and germantown. someone earlier in this thread said not to move to silver spring - most areas in silver spring are very nice and I would recommend it. there is one great apartment complex in particular that I would recommend (lived there for a year) - falkland chase - that is just a few miles up east-west highway, and very close to your school.

good luck! if anyone has specific questions about neighborhoods you can pm me.

 

[abw]

Hey!
For anyone who's still looking and doesn't mind a commute, I I'm in a nice area of silver spring. The community has 4 different apartment complexes and a condo/townhouse complex. The apts. are all about 800-1000/month for a 600-800 sq ft (1 bedroom), so it's pretty good for the price. It's about 7 mi. from usuhs, but when i went to the interview, it took 20 min in the worst possible traffic. Let me know if you want more info!

 

[Natalie03]

abw,

Where is that? In the free time I used for daydreaming today, I went on www.apartments.com to find places near usuhs (even though I'm not even sure I'll be accepted, ay!). Just wondering if we saw the same place.

Nat

 

[abw]

Hey!

Try www.apartmentguide.com. choose "maryland" and "washington d.c. metro area" from the drop down boxes, then you can use the following apartment names: hampton hollow, hampton point, sheffield forest, and chase ridge. A couple of them are pretty military friendly and will cut or reduce some of the fees if you can show them your usuhs acceptance. Sometimes if you're lucky, you'll run into a deal where they'll give you your first two months free if you sign a 12,15 or 18 month lease.

 

[DanceMedic]

I have a friend who is looking for a roommate for her Bethesda condo:
Bethesda condo - on Battery Lane, Large 2BR/1BA corner unit (windows), huge new kitchen, spacious bath, walk-in closet, parking, metro, pool, balcony, storage, DW, CAC, HWF. Share w/ 25yo NSF and 2 great cats. $900/mo including utilities. Avail 7/1.

Also, we are looking for new tenants for my uncle's house in Gaithersburg. It is a single family house with a 1 car garage. 2 stories with an unfinished walk-out basement. 3BR/2.5BA. Porch, fireplace. It is in a community with a pool, tennis courts. It is located off of Rt. 124.

If you're interested in either, PM me.

Thanks!

 

[Natalie03]

Is anyone living in The Blairs or Blair Townhomes (Silver Spring)? Who else is living in Silver Spring? I have no family to support and I have an apt-mate to share the rent with, so cost is not the biggest issue for me. But I would like a location that's no more than a 30 min drive away if possible. I've got a realtor who'll show me around to see places soon, but I'm also hoping to get some insider advice about which places to avoid and which to strongly consider from those who've lived there or have already visited. I'm glad to get any comments about places in Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Rockville, and even Bethesda. (By the way, I finally got in off the waiting list!)

 

[Caffeinated]

Originally posted by Natalie03
Is anyone living in The Blairs or Blair Townhomes (Silver Spring)? Who else is living in Silver Spring? I have no family to support and I have an apt-mate to share the rent with, so cost is not the biggest issue for me. But I would like a location that's no more than a 30 min drive away if possible. I've got a realtor who'll show me around to see places soon, but I'm also hoping to get some insider advice about which places to avoid and which to strongly consider from those who've lived there or have already visited. I'm glad to get any comments about places in Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Rockville, and even Bethesda. (By the way, I finally got in off the waiting list!)

Congrats on getting off the waitlist! So which service is it going to be?

 

[Natalie03]

Originally posted by Caffeinated
Congrats on getting off the waitlist! So which service is it going to be?

Thanks, Caffeinated.

Go ARMY!

 

[Alli Cat]

Do any USUHS students live in DC and take the Metro? It seems like living around school would be so boring. Besides, from what I can tell online, DC isn't much more expensive than Bethesda.

Oh, and what time does the Metro stop running? I like to study from 9am until very late on Saturdays and wouldn't want to get stuck cabbing it back.

~Alison

P.S. That was a joke. But really, how late does it run?