Oh, my GOD, can you imagine a roundtrip weekday commute from Tenleytown to Laurel? Even taking the Metro to Silver Spring, then a bus, would be a pain in the neck because you'd loop south through central DC and Union Station before heading north again.

When I first moved to the area some years ago I rented in Briggs Cheney, which is northern Silver Spring off US 29. The area equidistant between Silver Spring and Columbia has a lot of nice condo communities, you can take a fast bus down to the Red Line, and Laurel and BWI are both minutes away.

I wouldn't choose to live in Prince Georges County, sad to say.

I agree - that's the only reason I didn't include, for example, downtown DC, Dupont Circle, etc. Those are great neighborhoods but unfortunately would probably be an hour+ drive to Laurel, with the bulk of that time spent getting from the middle of the city onto the highway. So I tried to limit it to "urban" areas that were very close to a highway which would get to Laurel easily, and were on the east side of the area (e.g. Bethesda is close to the Beltway, but I would not wish a twice-daily drive across Montgomery County on the Beltway on my worst enemy)

I'm not sure how many years ago this was, but personally I think that area is not all too terrific now. (It may have been nicer in the past)

There are nice areas out US 29, but they are further out near Burtonsville. The Briggs Chaney Road area - specifically - has a high concentration of low-rent apartments, and all the associated social ills.

Also, per the OP's interests, I would not call that area even remotely "urban". You cannot walk to anything.

Two completely different alternate ideas although they would both be a little bit of a commute to Luarel. 1) Annapolis, MD and 2) Penn Quarter. Annapolis is out on the water in MD probably a 40 minute drive (maybe longer in traffic). Penn Quarter is in downtown DC near the Verizon Center where the Wizards & Capitols play and on par with Capitol Hill & Georgetown in terms of restaurants.

I don't know much about the MARC train (or Laurel), but i know it runs from DC up towards Baltimore and runs through or close to Laurel. I am not sure what the stop / station is like in or whether its possible to take that train out from DC to Luarel and then walk or bus to the office.

Another item if you are planning to buy - the real estate market here is VERY VERY slow - I don't care what the realtors or talking heads on TV say about a "leveling off" sellers are getting desperate and you should be very agressive when making an offer.

I'm sure some will disagree, but having just sold a house in suburban Virginia and bought one in DC, the real estate market here has hit a brick wall. We sold our house in March. Our former neighbor put their house on the market shortly thereafter and have not had a bite in 3 months.

I understand, but I was recommending the area due north of there up US29, and IIRC Burtonsville is only about another four minutes up the road -- it's like the next traffic light.

It's not far, true...just wanted to make sure we didn't steer the OP into the wrong location.

My current commute is 2 hrs each way. tenlytown to laurel cant be that bad :D

One thing I should add is that Laurel is served by the MARC Camden Line— which is in every way inferior to the roughly parallel MARC Penn Line. The Camden Line is slower, runs less often, and has fewer connections; it does not go to BWI and the only Amtrak connection is at the end of the line, Washington Union Station. Silver Spring is on the Brunswick Line, with comparable connection opportunities.

As far as the real estate market, well, the flip side of a slowing market is that gentrification is also going to slow, and with the recent spike in crime, the risk of speculating in a marginal area is much higher.

capitol hill was mentioned in there somewhere. I think it a good choice. it is a back commute to laural. should take no more than 30 min 4 days out of 5. wreck the other day, and take forever. I back comute from balt to cap hill to play squash and can still do that at 4-5pm in less than an hour.

friends do not tell friends to live in pg county. I have lived here since 77.

the minority management of the county has functioned in a manner such that it has terrorized every major retailer. the new demands for 30% minority contracts for a new major development have further ailenated big business.

The closest thing we have to a good restaurant is in VA. second closest set is in DC. the closest thing we have to a decent grocery story is in VA.

Forget Greenbelt. You would be best off in the Columbia area where I live.

I sent you a PM

We have some friends who live on near D & 3rd NE within walking distance of Capitol Hill and Union Station. They live in a VERY COOL refurbished townhouse dating back to the 1890s. It definitely meets your criteria of low maintenance and close to urban amenties & transportation.

I work in Silver Spring and also echo those comments as well. They are building new condos and townhouses left & right and have Yuppified the downtown area. The American Film Institute is right there as well as the HQ of the Discovery Channel.

Silver Spring downtown is a good idea. Getting to Laurel from there would be easy, most days.

Thanks to all who have replied so far. It has been very helpfull.

To clarify a point. I realize I will probably be driving into Laurel for work. I am looking for the "after work" personal urban lifestyle. I would rather not have to be driving in the car to go everywhere. I want to go home, park the car and be able to have a life after work and on weekends.

Move downtown somewhere near a metro stop. Of course, you may have trouble finding somewhere to park your car. NOt sure if you realize but, Greenbelt metro station is not exactly within walking distance of anything.

I used to live in PG county. I recommend either Montgomery or Howard county. If you want an urban environment please take a look at downtown Silver Spring, it is a really nice place. It was sleepy about ten years ago, but has been totally redeveloped, its new slogan is "silver sprung'". This comes from someone with the flyertalk name, Silver Springer.