# Looking for advice on move to D.C. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 11, 2004, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508 "2004-07-11T01:10:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/61 "2004-07-13T23:39:19Z")
Well, with regards to Takoma Park, I really don’t mind a lack of night life. Or shopping. For the last five years I’ve lived a half hour drive from the nearest Wal-Mart (not that I really minded). And I have NOT lived in the same city for the last five years. I point this out because I am used to driving everywhere that I need to go. Also for the last five years, I have lived an hour from the nearest mall. Currently I drive two hours twice a week to get other things done, so a commute, in and of itself, doesn’t bother me. It’s the traffic and/or people that I expect to bother me. I may have to drive a lot to get anywhere, but there isn’t a ton of traffic they way everyone has described the D.C. area. Hopefully, I won’t have to drive much anyway. Yep, I’m a bit of a hermit (with regards to strangers at least). And who knows, it might be cool to live in a “Nuclear Free Zone.” But if **Madmonk28** is right and we can’t grill outside…that might be a problem. With regards to the robberies, **Reepicheep** , can you give me statistics or something about them? How violent, how many, what times of day? I’d like to know, and Mr. Kangaroo would be very upset if I didn’t ask. I’m not too worried about it, but it’s a good idea to know as much as you can before walking into a situation. ---
**Author:** ![Reepicheep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@Reepicheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reepicheep)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/62 "2004-07-14T00:12:04Z")
I was listening to Channel 8, Comcast cable’s new station, last Thursday around 7:30ish, so I am reporting this from memory. In the last two to three months there have been 12 or so robberies of single women (women standing by themselves) at the Tokoma Park metro station. Some of the women, but not all, were sexually assaulted as well as robbed. They did not say that these robberies happened in the parking lot or on the platform, just at the metro station. For some reason the police did not think these robberies were being committed by the same person but now they do. They showed a police sketch of a Latino male in his 20s. The report did not mention time of day of the robberies. The report kept saying robbery as opposed to assault, which is how they normally refer to rapes. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/63 "2004-07-14T00:17:10Z")
It’s worth mentioning that Silver Spring is a rather large area and doesn’t refer to simply the city itself (where the Silver Spring Metro station is, the AFI Theater, and other landmarks) but also such localities as Glenmont, Wheaton, Aspen Hill, and Layhill. (Remember those sniper shootings in the DC area? A lot of them took place in the Aspen Hill area.) ---
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/64 "2004-07-14T00:37:08Z")
Thank you **Reepicheep**. Sexual assault does up the ante. However, if it is just one person, I can hope that he’ll be caught before we move into that place (assuming for a moment that we do). ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/65 "2004-07-14T03:20:17Z")
dantheman writes: \> (Remember those sniper shootings in the DC area? A lot of them took place in \> the Aspen Hill area.) Well, some of them did. The sniper shootings were all over the place. Some of them were 90 miles from D.C. Some of the ones that happened before it was even realized that there was a spree going on happened in other parts of the country. I always thought that it was somewhat deceptive to refer to the shooting spree as the “Washington area shootings.” It was only in a really strained sense that the shootings could be said to have happened in the Washington area. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/66 "2004-07-14T03:28:06Z")
More than half of the shootings (8 of 14) took place in the same general area in Montgomery County. I’d say that’s “many,” especially since the others were in Fairfax, Manassas, Bowie, Ashland, and Fredericksburg. Considering that each of these places is considered to be a suburb of Washington, it is well within reason that the killers were called the “Washington-area snipers.” No strain is needed to make the connection of these locales to Washington. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/67 "2004-07-14T04:53:39Z")
There were 20 shootings and 13 deaths. Before getting to the Washington area, Malvo and Mohummad had shot people in Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana: [http://www.detnews.com/2003/nation/0307/04/nation-208284.htm](http://www.detnews.com/2003/nation/0307/04/nation-208284.htm) Of the shooting that took place after they reached the Washington area, only six took place in Montgomery County, so certainly no more than that could be said to be “near Aspen Hill”: [http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~kjoh/206A/final.html](http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~kjoh/206A/final.html) Two of the shootings were in Fredericksburg, which is further from Washington than Baltimore is. Only by a real stretch of the imagination could it be said to be in the Washington area. One was in Ashland, which isn’t in the Washington area by anybody’s definition. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/68 "2004-07-14T10:44:46Z")
Obviously, the shootings in Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana aren’t considered “in the Washington area” - they are also not considered to be part of the same shooting spree as those in our area. So there’s no need for you to include them, since no one else does. Malvo and Muhummad were linked to those other shootings, but that’s the only link between those shootings and the ones in this area. The killings in those other states and the ones in this area were two different shooting sprees. Second, > [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > Of the shooting that took place after they reached the Washington area, only six took place in Montgomery County, so certainly no more than that could be said to be “near Aspen Hill”: Wrong. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/daily/oct02/snipershootings.htm](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/daily/oct02/snipershootings.htm) Eight: 1. Georgia Ave and Kalmia Road 2. Knowles and Connecticut Aves 3. Rockville Pike (Fitzgerald Auto Mall) 4. Randolph Rd. (Shoppers Food Warehouse) 5. Aspen Hill Road and Connecticut Ave (Mobil Gas) 6. Georgia Ave. (Michaels store) 7. Grand Pre Road 8. Rossmoor Blvd (near Leisure World) Not all eight are in the Aspen Hill area, but I meant the general area. > [@](#): > > Two of the shootings were in Fredericksburg, which is further from Washington than Baltimore is. Only by a real stretch of the imagination could it be said to be in the Washington area. One was in Ashland, which isn’t in the Washington area by anybody’s definition. If the majority of the shootings take place in one area, and a few others are just beyond that area, it’s certainly not beyond the realm of all possibility that they’re all lumped in as having taken place in the same general area. Technically, Fredericksburg and Ashland are part of metro DC; this area stretches as far north as the southeast corner of Pennsylvania. Urban sprawl, you see. ---
**Author:** ![Miabella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@Miabella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miabella)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/69 "2004-07-14T13:30:57Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > a pretentious video store Video Americain, where the videos are arranged alphabetically by director rather than title. 😛 Actually I kind of liked it, but I won’t deny it’s pretentious. I live on Capitol Hill now, but I miss Takoma Park. I’m not an ultra crunchy left winger type, but I enjoyed the feel of the place. I would move back there if my husband didn’t work way out in Fairfax County. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/70 "2004-07-14T13:36:43Z")
**Miabella** I kind of like that video store too BECAUSE it is so pretentious. It’s like an entire community of comic book guys. I don’t think TP is dangerous, just a fair amount of pain in the butt petty crime like car thefts. In general I think people overestimate crime in DC, particularly in South East, parts of which is rapidly developing into very liveable neighborhoods. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/71 "2004-07-14T13:38:56Z")
> [@dantheman](#): > > Technically, Fredericksburg and Ashland are part of metro DC; this area stretches as far north as the southeast corner of Pennsylvania. Urban sprawl, you see. Technically, there not. The Washington DC MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) contains Fredericksburg, but not the Town of Ashland. Ashland lies in the Richmond-Petersburg MSA. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/72 "2004-07-14T13:40:03Z")
and “there” should, of course, by “they’re” Planners may know the Census statistics backwards and forwards, but we can’t spell for shit. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/73 "2004-07-14T14:29:19Z")
Shooting number 7 was just barely within the district line, so it’s not part of Montgomery County. The map that I consulted left out one of the seven in Montgomery County for some reason, which is why I only counted six. As for the other objections, I think this has now passed beyond the point of rational discussion. If you’re going to claim that Ashland is within the Washington metropolitan area and that a shooting spree turns into two shooting sprees because the shooters travel in the midst of the spree, there’s no point in continuing this discussion. ---
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/74 "2004-07-15T14:28:23Z")
Thanks everyone. The house in Takoma Park fell through, so I’m sure I’ll be back later with questions about other neighborhoods. So…I’ll be on my way in just two weeks now! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/75 "2004-07-21T14:37:22Z")
> [@BlueKangaroo](#): > > my husband has two Bachlor’s Degrees, on in Physyics and one in Math. How’s his job search going? [There’s going to be a job fair here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=267556) in two weeks. Those degrees might get him an interview. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/76 "2004-07-21T15:13:21Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > How’s his job search going? [There’s going to be a job fair here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=267556) in two weeks. Those degrees might get him an interview. What a really nice thing to post for her! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/77 "2004-07-21T15:24:41Z")
Let us know when you arrive, BlueKangaroo, so we can put on a nice welcoming Dopefest. ---
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/78 "2004-07-21T18:24:20Z")
**Jeff** , now _you_ are my new hero. This is especially welcome because I don’t think that the job search is going well. Not well at all. Yesterday Mr Kangaroo was excited because he got a **rejection** from someone. It meant that someone was looking at the applications. Except for that and a little e-mail “interview” he’s got nothing. Today he applied at Radio Shack. I don’t know if we can live off Radio Shack and my stipend, but we’re getting worried. And, **Wendell** , I will let everyone know when I arrive. It’ll probably be a “Who wants to help me unload my moving van” thread. 😉 Seriously though, I will be posting something to let everyone know that my new location is…wherever. Thanks again **Jeff**. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/79 "2004-07-22T15:10:48Z")
Quite welcome. Wouldn’t hurt to see what’s open in [the rest of the Government](http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/jobsearch.asp?q=&lid=17514&salmin=24000&salmax=32000&FedEmp=N&sort=rv&vw=d&brd=3876&ss=0&FedPub=Y&SUBMIT1.x=63&SUBMIT1.y=9) and there’s also local governemnts to consider. These will get you started: [Arlington County](http://agency.governmentjobs.com/arlington/default.cfm?lnsLinkID=1157) [Montgomery County](http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/ohr/career/) [Prince George’s County](http://www.co.pg.md.us/Employment/CurrentOpenings/index.asp?h=70&s=20&n=0) [Fairfax County](http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/living/employment/) [City of Alexandria](http://ci.alexandria.va.us/city/city_employment.html) ---
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508/80 "2004-07-23T04:26:44Z")
Thanks, **Jeff** , I appreciate it. He is looking there too (now). I’m hyperventilating about money again. I’ll get over it, but right now I’m still in a New Mexico frame of mind. I’ve adjusted to the rent, but now I’m trying to figure out about Metro Costs. Mr. Kangaroo is calculating as much as $150/month to get me to school. This is from Alexandria. He seems to have settled on an apartment complex. But, we’ll see. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-advice-on-move-to-d-c/254508.md?page=5)