MsPerky

Glad you chose DC...it's a great city. I live in Rosslyn, right across the river from Georgetown. The BW Pkwy/295 can be a mess to drive. My +1 usually goes up to Laurel (near Ft Meade) once a week for work. He's mostly at the Navy Yard and can take the subway. He leaves just before 7 and gets there in 45 min, usually with little traffic since most goes south in the morning and north in the evening. If you are in NW DC it may be a bit less for you. New York Avenue is a congested commuter route, also. Coming home is more of a problem because of bottlenecks (especially on the SE/SW Freeway - 695), but if he leaves at 3 he can avoid some of it and gets here in about an hour. I guess Adams Morgan is still an area for younger people, but many hang out over here in Rosslyn/Clarendon/Ballston along Wilson Blvd. Lots of restaurants for happy hour, etc.

Langelo DeMysterioso

What I found out was that DC law states they must notify you that the camera is present. If you see the sign it's a good chance there's a camera there. If you see everyone is going slow and there's plenty of room to move. You can bet the camera is on and active.

luchini

Update after one year!

Morning commute isnt terrible. Usually 30-45 minutes. Afternoon average is usually one hour. Sometimes less if I leave before 3pm which is rare. On bad days its 1.25 hours. My apartment is not too far off US-50/NY Ave. I would say as long as you live close to the highway or interstate the commute time can be mitigated. Areas in DC that dont have close access to the highway can add another 15 minutes to the commute.

Surprisingly the only speed ticket I received was from a speed camera in Laurel, MD. Everyone seems to be conscious of them in DC. Not so much in MD.

Overall like DC for the city life, museums, and restaurants. Lots of transient people like myself so somewhat easy to meet new people. Cons are the traffic, construction, and narrow roads. I rarely drive on the weekends unless I leave DC. I utilize metro and uber. For American standards the metro here is great. Great city for walking however its a terrible city for car enthusiasts. Think ive put less than a 1,000 miles on my S2000 in the year ive been here. Longest trip was to Skyline Drive which was fun.

There also seems to be some unwritten rule that the car behind you needs to close the gap between your bumper and their bumper with as little space as possible. Im sure 90 percent of the accidents here are caused by following too closely especially on 295. I also see newly abandoned cars on 295 on a weekly basis. Currently both my cars are manual transmission. Doing this commute sometimes make me consider selling them both and buying a luxury barge like a used Benz S class.

Chuck S

Commuting with a manual gearbox is a PITA. As is something as small as the S2000 in heavy traffic.

-- Chuck

e3opian

295 brings out the worst in humanity. I don't know what it is about that road. But, the lack of shoulder, narrow lanes, (relative to the speed in use) and following distance is a bad mix.