I'd like to make two more comments about Washington, DC before this thread gets buried. The first is that I by no means wish to discourage anyone from visiting the city. It is a beautiful city and is a good place to vacation. Many of the negative things I wrote about Washington can be found in all major cities. And more importantly, I wrote what I did from the perspective of dangers posed to those seeking a lifestyle of celibacy and poverty in imitation of Christ. That is entirely different from secular men and women who are allowed many of the things that would pose a temptation to the seminarians. I loved living there and did so for decades.
My second comment is about the seminary's distance from DC. It is a given that traffic in and around DC is horrible, especially during rush hours. It used to take me 1-1/2 to 2 hours to go each way to work and that was many years ago--way before streets were closed as they are now. It must be even worse now. Often I spent 4 hours a day in traffic when I lived just 12 miles from downtown DC. I did this for years. If you try to get into the city at the height of rush hour, you sit and wait. So, you can live very near the city and still spend hours in traffic to get to your destination. Distance isn't always a factor.
And I worked with people who lived far, far from the city who got up at 4 AM to get to work by 9 and who got home, ate dinner, and went to bed. They lived so far out because the countryside in both Virginia and Maryland is beautiful and DC is where the action is as far as high-paying jobs are concerned. I've worked with people who lived in the Shenandoah Valley and made the daily commute and many lived way down in Southern Maryland.
Given the fact that so many of DC's workers are more than willing to drive for hours to and from work daily, I do not think this seminary is all that far away. It may well be in the "boonies" but so are other cities I can think of where my friends lived and they worked in DC. You simply drive to the nearest Metro station and take that into the city. Then you negotiate the city by Metro. Northern Virginia has Metro to DC and there are Metro stations all over DC.
If you have never had to fight traffic daily, I know all this sounds horrible. But actually, you get used to it. Once you are out of the immediate area of the city, you begin to enjoy the drive while you plan the day ahead or unwind from the day's pressures. You can listen to audio books or sermons, etc. undisturbed. You can say the Rosary.
As for hazardous driving conditions, think inside the city. It's there that you'll find some of the worst accidents in winter. Many people who work for the Government have never lived where there is snow. They don't know how to drive in it. One or two inches of snow on the roads in the city causes numerous accidents. Once you get out of the city, you're into areas where people are used to the snow and their vehicles are properly equipped and they know how to drive in it. I always felt safer outside the city as far as accidents go. (The young Government employees who can't drive in the snow tend to live in or near the city.)
Another consideration is that if the powers that be at the seminary become friendly with the Novus Ordo's in Virginia and/or DC, the seminarians could easily find housing for overnight stays and make weekend trips to the city.
Many of us make a long drive weekly or monthly to attend Mass now. Many of us endure hours in traffic daily for our jobs. Maybe some of you spend most of the time just sitting and waiting like I did or you're actually moving along the road, but it's still time spent getting from point A to point B. It's part of life now for some of us. It might become part of life for the seminarians as well.