Moving to Vienna, Va in July, so excited! (Arlington, Chantilly: how much, lawyers)

[Gahki74]

Things have finally fallen in to place. My family and I are relocating from Tennessee to Vienna at the end of July. Hubby will be working in DC (l'enfant plaza area). I am a stay at home Mom with one child starting Kindergarten this fall (Stenwood ES) and a 2 1/2 yr old who will hopefully be in a MDO or 2 day/wk preschool program.

Does anyone have any suggestions on where/when to shop for groceries, etc. I don't see many big box stores in Vienna (super target or Super wm, not that they are manditory but more so just convenient) Are there any close by that I could perhaps get to during the school day? What are the times to stay off the roads (rush hour traffic, etc). I will basically be running typical "mom-type" errands.

Any tips and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[brooklynborndad]

Vienna is not big box country. You will need to go to Tysons, or out 66 to Fair Oaks. And you will want to stay off those roads from say, 2 PM to 6PM

You might want to explore the smaller businesses on Main Street in Vienna.

groceries, OTOH, theres a great Whole foods right in the center of town, and theres a nice safeway at Nutley, right near the Micro Center if you crave a big box and get a sudden urge to say, buy a hard drive.

[ICS67]

The "golden hour" to run errands around here is between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Too late for breakfast, too early for lunch, and everbody's already at work or at school. If at all possible, stay off the roads during morning and evening rush hour.

Tysons is an absolute mess, more so than usual, because of ongoing construction the next couple of years for Metro's Silver Line extension and the Beltway HOT lanes. Fair Oaks Mall has tons of stores (including Sears and TWO Macys). In addition to the Safeway, there is a Magruder's supermarket in Vienna at the intersection of Maple and Lawyers; I don't shop there so I don't know how it is. Lots of nice small non-chain restaurants in Vienna as well and, as the above poster said, lots of small businesses on and near Maple Avenue.

If Hubby is taking Metro's Orange Line to commute, the trip from Vienna to L'Enfant Plaza takes approximately 40 minutes.

Good luck with the move.

[JD984]

Yes, Tysons is a mess right now, but if you're in the Stenwood ES district you won't need to go through Tysons to buy groceries, etc. When you're settled, get out a map and you'll see you can take Idylwood Road to Route 7 (where there's a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's). Or, if you want to shop in the Town of Vienna, you can take Electric Avenue (which turns into Follin Lane) to Maple Avenue in Vienna, where you'll be able to choose from Magruders, a Giant, and another Whole Foods. If you just need to go to a drug store, you might be fairly close to the CVS in the Cedar Lane center (corner of Cedar and Park in the Town of Vienna). The latter has a so-so reputation because a lot of day laborers hang out there, but it's basically fine during the day. All of these places are fairly close, and you won't have to go through the Tysons Silver Line metro construction at all.

If you're a SAHM, try to do your grocery shopping during the week; Maple Avenue can get pretty jammed during the weekend with others trying to run all their errands.

Good luck!

[JfromReston]

Originally Posted by Gahki74

Does anyone have any suggestions on where/when to shop for groceries, etc.

Wegman's - there is no other grocery store worth going to!

Locator Detail | Wegmans - Wegmans Fairfax

[bmwguydc]

The easiest Target for you, without going to Fair Lakes, will be the one on Route 50 (Arlington Boulevard) on the border of Falls Church and Arlington. It's a fairly large store, and less congested than Fair Lakes as it's in a smaller plaza with Safeway, Petsmart, and a few smaller offices/shops. It's at the intersection of Arlington Boulevard & Patrick Henry Drive.

Fair Lakes has a regular WalMart, Target, BJ's, and numerous other stores, including Bloom grocery store. Whole Foods, a much larger one than Tysons or Vienna, is just down the street. During the day, it can be busy, but Fair Lakes can be packed on a weekend.

There's also a very nice Giant in Oakton at Hunter Mill, newer and easier to navigate than the downtown Vienna store. This is in a plaza with 24 hour CVS, restaurants, and a great independent toy store. The nearest Harris Teeter is going to be in Fair Oaks, just west of the mall, past West Ox Road, right side of Route 50 after the fire station and before the hospital.

PanAm Shopping Center (Nutley & Lee Highway) has a newer Safeway, Safeway gas station, Micro Center computer/electronics store, CVS, Michael's Arts & Crafts, etc.

[JD984]

I've always found the parking lot in the Oakton shopping center (Hunter Mill/Route 123) to be a pain, with not enough spaces on the weekends, whereas the parking lot at the Vienna shopping center with the Giant/CVS/Michael's usually seems to have sufficient spaces (not to mention it's much closer to the Stenwood ES area).

Personally I couldn't imagine living in Vienna and going all the way to Fair Lakes except when I needed to make an occasional trip to a big box store. I take my car to get serviced in Chantilly every now and then and am always amazed by how much traffic there is in that area. And, if the OP's goal is to find some close-by grocery stores and the like that won't require sitting in traffic for extended periods, I think she'll probably want to stay a bit closer to Vienna/Falls Church, rather than go to Oakton or Fair Lakes. It may just be that I spend enough time in traffic commuting back and forth to work that the thought of going out of one's way for a Wegmen's or a slightly larger Giant when I don't have to escapes me.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by Gahki74

Things have finally fallen in to place. My family and I are relocating from Tennessee to Vienna at the end of July. Hubby will be working in DC (l'enfant plaza area). I am a stay at home Mom with one child starting Kindergarten this fall (Stenwood ES) and a 2 1/2 yr old who will hopefully be in a MDO or 2 day/wk preschool program.

Does anyone have any suggestions on where/when to shop for groceries, etc. I don't see many big box stores in Vienna (super target or Super wm, not that they are manditory but more so just convenient) Are there any close by that I could perhaps get to during the school day? What are the times to stay off the roads (rush hour traffic, etc). I will basically be running typical "mom-type" errands.

Any tips and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Congratulations! Vienna is THE PERFECT place to raise kids! You are right between two large malls, Tysons Corner and Fair Oaks. There is not Target or Walmart close by but lots of good grocery stores! You'll figure out the back roads and soon learn that you can get around Vienna at any time, but it's better between 10:00 and 4:00.

I might also let you know that the end of July, beginning of August, is the hottest time of year, so don't be surprised.

Welcome to a great place to live!

[Denton56]

Forgot to add, the best grocery store in Vienna is Whole Foods on Maple Avenue. Also good is Giant, a few blocks away on Maple Avenue.

[claremarie]

If your older child is in a morning K program, a great time to do errands is between 2:30-4 pm, when many SAHMs are on school pickup duty. It's amazing how empty the grocery store is around 3 pm.....