Use the public transportation once a week right now! Or consider if you can go car-free on a non-work day. So, it’s inconvenient. Boo-hoo. Will your life be in danger by this? I doubt it. Will your life be enriched by getting a personal look at people you wouldn’t ordinarily think about? There is a micro-possibility that it will.

Public transportation is a step-child even in New York City, as much of the rest of the state doesn’t want to contribute money to them weirdos in the city. But the mere fact that many middle-income people do in fact use the public transportation options here gives us a heads-up because these people talk and vote “public commutation.”

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I have to second Addie about the crappyness of the public transportation options.
I’m on the red line, so the nearest stop to G-town is Dupont Circle. There is a bus that’s free, but it’s been rerouted recently (due to noise complaints), so it now adds a forty minute chunk of time to my commute (assuming I don’t have to wait…and wait…and wait for it, as I so often do)–it’s actually faster to walk.

The point isn’t that there aren’t public transportation options, but that there aren’t enough _good_ ones. And this is a bigger problem than just DC (which relative to other US cities has a fairly decent one); the US hasn’t invested in its public transportation the way they have in Europe and much of Asia.

Great post, Nina-look at all the debate it’s generated!

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An hour is as long as I am willing to go on public transportation to get to a job. An hour is as long as I am willing to commute, period. I wake up at 5:30 am and I’m not home until 6:30 pm. Riding the trains means getting up around 5 am and not getting home until 7:30 or 8 pm. I want a life; I want to see my girlfriend and my dogs. So yes, I have the option to ride public transportation but it’s a crappy option.

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One major reason I do not feel comfortable there is the viciously anti-gay legislation and decision that erupts out of the Virginia legislature and courts on a predictable basis. Google “Virginia” and “lesbian” or “gay” and you will find plenty to peruse.

Maryland is far from perfect but it is profoundly more welcoming than Virginia. And not just for gay folks, Hispanic people are leaving Prince William County because of the illegal immigrant witch hunt there. Maryland has a decent chance of passing a marriage equality law in the near future. That will not happen in Virginia for generations.

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I also got rid of my car completely about a year and a half ago. The good thing about being in a city is that there are things like Zip Car for times when having a personal car is helpful. That’s why I don’t want to move. But I also don’t want to live in a 1 bedroom basement apartment forever! I want to buy a house and start a family soon. I just cannot fathom the costs of buying in my neighborhood (Takoma). I would love to stay here but can’t see how we’ll ever afford to buy something. I don’t mind small spaces, and would actually prefer a smaller house. Even so, Addie’s right – the prospect of something inhabitable for under $200,000 is a joke.

The biggest thing for me is having a short, calm commute. The absolute ideal would be a walkable/bikable one. Toward that goal, I am willing to rent longer. We may have to move to another larger rental when we have a child before being able to buy a house. But that’s OK. I’m not going to sacrifice my sanity for homeownership by buying somewhere that will cause me headaches to get to work.

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People used to be shocked when I told them my commute was about 30 minutes, city to city. Gas was cheaper then. ($2.50)

Really, I don’t think it’s the cost of gas so much as the cost of sitting in the car. I used to sit for an hour waiting to cross Key Bridge to my rental in Georgetown. Eventually I moved to VA to shorten my commute by time, and therefore by fuel.

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This a person that is not flexible in their thinking and limiting themselves with a silly whim.

As for Jennifer, renting in Silver Spring might be a pain in terms of the cost of gas, but if she moved into DC and kept her car, she’d still have the car to maintain. Often it’s not the price of gas that is most costly, but the initial cost of the car itself. If she tallies the cost of her car with the latest price of gas, vs moving into DC and a smaller fuel bill, she might find that the marginal cost between her options is quite small.

The bus in Georgetown is quite cheap. She’s not considering that the university’s blue bus costs a quarter or 50 cents and is open to the public. Why not try the Blue Bus instead? It goes from Foggy Bottom to Rosslyn, Metro to Metro.

Again, not being flexible enough. There is more than Metro in this world. There is the Metrobus, the Georgetown University Shuttle/Blue Bus, or bicycle.

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