Best 5 Online Resources for your Move to Silver Spring, MD
1. CRIME STATS: https://www.trulia.com/
Naturally, if you move somewhere you have never lived before, or even if you have lived there before but it’s been years, people want to know how safe an area is. It’s probably top 3 most asked questions to real estate professionals; luckily there are so many resources available at our fingertips to at least get an idea of the crime stats in any given city. You can go directly to the source by visiting the local police department’s website and searching for the public crime records in the area or my favorite and semi-lazy way of researching it is by going to Trulia.com and typing in the address of the property I’m interested in or zip code and clicking on the crime tab. That will bring up a color-coded map of the area with a detailed breakdown of reported incidences in the requested territory. It’s a quick, direct, and accurate way to have a better picture of crime in the potential neighborhood you would like to move to.
2. COST OF LIVING CALCULATOR: https://smartasset.com/mortgage/cost-of-living-calculator
https://www.nerdwallet.com/cost-of-living-calculator
There are many cost of living calculators that you can use to compare the cost of living in the town you currently live in to the one you’re moving to, but what I appreciate most about smart asset’s cost of living calculator is, it includes a brief taxes as a metric in their calculator. In some of the other calculators, taxes are not included or you have to pay a fee to unlock the feature. Maryland as a whole is not the most tax friendly state, and your tax structure can vary by county. This calculator will give you a taste, it will not give you an in-depth breakdown of everything, but it will give you a comparison in the form of an increase or decrease percentage. It does not however, give you a detailed analysis, try Nerd Wallet’s cost of living calculator for more details on housing and consumer goods.
3. OVERALL CITY COMPARISONS: https://www.bestplaces.net/
This is your best tool for comparing city to city based on specific categories. Some of the categories range from demographics, like size of population to political affiliations to weather and average commute times. The site is easy to navigate and understand and will give a side by side comparison of your city to Silver Spring. You will have a gauge on what to expect based on what you are already familiar with as generally how things will be in Silver Spring.
4. LOCAL NEWS: https://patch.com/maryland/silverspring
Hands down your best resource for finding out local news in Silver Spring. The site covers everything from local real estate, community meetings, politics, to interesting facts and findings.
5. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: https://www.wmata.com/
When I was living the car less lifestyle, this app was my life line to taking buses and trains around the city. Although, D.C. and D.C. metro are not quite as walk-able as NYC, it’s one of the most walk-able cities in the country and the locals here regularly take public transportation for both the convenience and pure necessity to avoid traffic congestion in certain situations. WMATA, which stands for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, manages the metro trains and buses in and around the district. This will be an app you get very familiar with as you learn to navigate your way through the city and the beltway. It’s also helpful to study the metro maps as they continue to change as the city grows and learn each line and some of the popular metro stops.