Possible but a long commute. I wouldn’t do it daily, plenty of people do though. Some people even do the DC-Baltimore commute through a commuter train which in some ways seems easier if you have a downtown job.

Commuting to Columbia from dc or Baltimore is absolutely possible. Using public transportation to do it is harder bc depending on your work destination you would have to transfer from the train or commuter bus. Using a car is easier, and depending on where you are coming from you may enjoy lighter traffic as more people are coming into Howard county than leave for work each day.

It'll be a bit of a drive with a good amount of traffic to commute from either Baltimore or DC. Baltimore is probably more feasible because it's closer. Living in Canton or Locust Point in Baltimore might not be a terrible commute. You'd just hop on I-95. They are trying to develop and densify downtown Columbia more but it's still a work in progress.

I commuted from Mount Vernon (downtown Baltimore) to Columbia for years. Took about a half hour door to door. Now I live in Locust Point (South Baltimore) and the commute is about 20 minutes. I personally think the commute from DC would be unpleasant but I have several coworkers who do it

Downtown Baltimore is about 20 minutes from Columbia by car most times of the day. If you live in the parts of Silver Spring nearer to US-29 you can get to work and the District within about a half an hour during work hours

You'd largely be going against the direction of traffic once you hit the interstate. There is still a good bit of traffic on 495 and 95 north to columbia, but it's not at a standstill. If you are within a reasonable distance to a major roadway you should be fine. This applies for both Baltimore and DC. As most of the traffic is going into the city.

It is possible but depends on your age and what kind of neighborhood downtown you would enjoy.

A reverse commute from DC to Columbia would become a grind most days. The neighborhoods of federal hill or Canton or locust point in Baltimore would be doable. Federal hill is mostly younger 20 something's.

When I first moved to Columbia, I was still commuting to DC everyday. It sucked, whether public transportation or by personal vehicle. I would drive to New Carrolton and take metro rest of the way. I would much rather drive to Baltimore without any hesitation.

Commuting from downtown Baltimore is fairly easy. I’ve known people do that before.

Getting from DC to Columbia will be a nightmare. Getting out of DC will be a complete pain in the ass in the morning and going back in the evening will be even more of a pain in the ass.

> If you live in the parts of Silver Spring

Why on earth would you do that? Silver Spring is just a more crowded version of Columbia. Might as well just live in Columbia.

They said they wanted easy access both to Columbia and a big city downtown. Commuting between DC and Columbia is a pain in the ass because there's no public transit and the beltway is a nightmare. In any event that's why I recommended Baltimore first. It's much cheaper and more fun to hang out in.

Because there are more housing options and more activity options? Plus access to metro and better walkability.

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You might want to try the Merriweather area for 6 months and make sure this does not have what you are looking for first? It's totally different from a big city, true, but that area is more and more walkable, happening and young these days - a reverse commute to Baltimore if done 5 days will cost you a minimum of 10 hours a week, probably more like 13. DC I don't even want to speculate on but it will take forever. I'd just see if its totally necessary first.