How many of you live in St. Mary's and commute to D.C.?

[Tonio]

Tommy McKay from yesterday's Enterprise:

Unlike the other counties, St. Mary's is not a commuter county for Washington, D.C., he said. "People move to St. Marys' County because their jobs are in St. Mary's County," he said.

While I don't have figures on this, I bet there are plenty of countians who make the daily trek up Route 5. Not as many as in Charles and Calvert, of course.

 

[huntr1]

I don't commute to D.C., I commute to Silver Spring.

 

[Tonio]

That still counts for me, Huntr1, since it's in the Washington area.

 

[Aimhigh2000]

Hillbilly's

I do everyday, and days like this morning can be horrid unless you know some back roads. I have said it before, we elect idiots to the BOCC. Maybe he should get up at 5 am each morning, get on the road at 6 and see how many of us from here are going to DC to work. There may be a few jobs in st mary's, but, I don't think I could support my family on 24-26,000 a year. He needs to get real.

 

[Ken King]

I would say that it is easily within the 10,000 to 15,000 range for daily commuters or 15 to 20 percent of the population.

 

[sockgirl77]

mom

Tommy McKay from yesterday's Enterprise:


While I don't have figures on this, I bet there are plenty of countians who make the daily trek up Route 5. Not as many as in Charles and Calvert, of course.

I don't but my mom has for 28 years. I know of several others. Better money up there.

 

[fddog]

mechanicsville to forestville

 

[Tonio]

Before the big growth in contracting happened in the '80s, I suspect that most of the countians commuting to Washington were black. Private employers in areas like ours had a long history of hiring blacks as only manual labor. Plus, there just weren't that many professional job opportunities here. That affected whites too, except that the whites who wanted better jobs left the area entirely.

 

[Dupontster]

I did it for almost 36 years.....Like someone said "Let him get up at 5AM" and do the ride for a couple of weeks and he'll see how many people do it....He needs to do it for a while to get the full effect of the "good" days and the "bad" days.....Sounds like today is one of the bad ones.....

 

[Danzig]

Tommy McKay from yesterday's Enterprise:


While I don't have figures on this, I bet there are plenty of countians who make the daily trek up Route 5. Not as many as in Charles and Calvert, of course.

Sounds like a good old boy who knows nothing about his constituents.

 

[crabcake]

Mechanicsville to SW DC.

There are about 6 buses that leave California's airport in the early morning, pick up more folks in Charlotte Hall and trek into the city. There are also about 15 buses leaving charlotte hall every 12 minutes (approx), picking up in Waldorf, and trekking into DC ... M-F ... The ones starting in Cali are usually darn close to full when they pick up in C. Hall; and the ones starting in C.Hall usually have at least 20 peeps on 'em when they head to waldork. So, yea, we all get on that bus or road to DC b/c the job market (and paychecks) in St. Mary's are soooooo fruitful.

 

[Hot N Bothered]

maybe someone should post a poll on the subject, or even better, on the front page of somd.com, then Tommy will have his numbers :shrug:

 

[justhangn]

Mechanicsville to SW DC.

 

[Tonio]

So, yea, we all get on that bus or road to DC b/c the job market (and paychecks) in St. Mary's are soooooo fruitful.

I can appreciate that. I assume the contracting community in St. Mary's is tough to break into if you don't have a technical or military background.

 

[justhangn]

I assume the contracting community in St. Mary's is tough to break into if you don't have a technical or military background.

Or you want to get paid more than pennies on the dollar.

 

[baswm]

Port Republic to SW DC.

 

[crabcake]

I can appreciate that. I assume the contracting community in St. Mary's is tough to break into if you don't have a technical or military background.

I was in the military. But no contractor that I've talked to would/could come within $20k of my current salary, and I have long-term financial goals that -- taking more of a cut in salary than that -- wouldn't be met (e.g, retirement investments, college fund for DQ, etc.). But I'm not biatching about not working on base ... I'm much happier trekking into DC for a gov't job that I know isn't going to "expire" with a contract and leave me hanging. It's a trade-off ... and it's my choice.

That being said, personally, I'm sick of commuting, but rather than biatch about it, I'm doing something about it. And staying in St. Mary's (or the DC area, for that matter) is not one of the options I'm considering.

 

[sockgirl77]

Or you want to get paid more than pennies on the dollar.

for real. my mother who has worked in DC for 28 years tried to find a job down here. she'd take a huge pay cut. even with the bus fares, she's making much much more than she could ever make down here.

 

[RoseRed]

for real. my mother who has worked in DC for 28 years tried to find a job down here. she'd take a huge pay cut. even with the bus fares, she's making much much more than she could ever make down here.

Is this your new MPD?

 

[jlabsher]

I moved here 3 years ago from the midwest with the promise of a gov't job that paid $25K more that I was making there. Moved to St Mary's cause with 2 kids and critters we weren't going to live in a townhouse or send my girls to school in PG or the district. STM seemed similar to the rural character of where we came from.

If I knew now what the commute entailed I would have stayed put and had a better life for my family. I realized yesterday that I spend more time on the bus than with my kids, get up at 4 AM daily, but would never drive it myself.

I looked at jobs on base, but going from one agency to another isn't easy. And I really don't think I would like working for DOD.

I'm actively looking really hard for a job either on the west coast or midwest, the commute has a lot to do with that. I couldn't imagine doing the commute for another 20 years.

I even am considering paying for the move myself with the equity we have gotten in 3 years here.