Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Virginia > Northern Virginia
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 09-16-2010, 01:16 AM
 
5 posts, read 9,637 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

I will be coming from the west coast, and have little clue about the area. I originally thought my husband would be getting a job in Maryland, and really liked the Odenton area. Would that be a horrible commute?

A little background, we are a young couple, without children so schools aren't a factor at the moment. We are looking for a 1 bedroom apartment around $1,500 a month give or take. We both enjoy jogging, and the outdoors, and would like a safe community to walk our dog in. We would prefer a more suburban area, than a downtown scene.

If you have an advise, please let me know, thanks!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 09-16-2010, 05:47 AM
 
Location: Reston, VA
2,090 posts, read 4,226,617 times
Reputation: 1330
Welcome to Reston . . . 55 miles of maintained trails to walk and jog . . . one bedroom apartments in your price range . . about 20 minutes from McLean if you take the toll road.

Welcome to Reston Association
http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...uth-lakes.html
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-16-2010, 05:48 AM
 
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,764 posts, read 15,705,464 times
Reputation: 10850
If working in McLean, I would stay in Virginia unless there is a compelling reason to live in Odenton. For your price point, you could live in any number of NOVA suburbs and still have a decent commute to McLean.
Arlington - more urbanish, mix of young single areas and families - most expensive
McLean - upscale town (along with Arlington the most expensive)
Falls Church - a bit on the urban side
Vienna - family friendly town - not too many apartments
Fairfax - parts surburban and parts urbanish
Annandale - mix suburban / urban (more inside the beltway)

For more of suburbia, you can look farther out but you'd be adding on to your commute.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-16-2010, 05:56 AM
 
12,905 posts, read 15,577,829 times
Reputation: 9392
If you are working in VA, I would try to stay in VA. Your state taxes pulled out of your paycheck are going to be a lot less in VA than in Maryland. When I moved from MD to VA, I got a nice "raise." Of course, you do have to pay personal property tax on your car(s); however, it is still cheaper than the MD payroll taxes.

It would also not be fun to drive the upper portion of the beltway everyday getting to and from VA/MD when you don't *have* to.

Look in all the areas mentioned by the previous posters.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-16-2010, 05:57 AM
 
219 posts, read 470,275 times
Reputation: 154
applespice, traffic here is really very bad. Odenton to McLean would be a really horrible commute - almost beyond-my-imagination horrible.

Because traffic is such an issue, my advice is to look near McLean. I commute to McLean from Reston, about 6 miles down the toll road. Traffic is heavy and sometimes outrageous, but it doesn't take a huge bite out of the day.

NoVa is dog friendly in general. Reston itself has a network of walking paths that are great for jogging and dog-walking.

The old W&OD railroad line has been converted to a paved bike/jogging trail and runs through the NoVa burbs south of McLean: Map of the W&OD Trail

Here's another Reston paths site with a lot of photo tours: http://restonpaths.com/
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-16-2010, 06:08 AM
 
Location: Fairfax County
1,534 posts, read 3,712,489 times
Reputation: 509
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleSpice View Post
I originally thought my husband would be getting a job in Maryland, and really liked the Odenton area. Would that be a horrible commute?
It depends upon the definition of horrible. If a 2 hour commute one way is acceptable to you and your husband, and you do not mind adding 4 hours to each working day, where working days are long to begin with . . .

Personally, I would find such a commute horrible. I second the suggestions of Arlington, Falls Church, Alexandria and Annandale, in addition to McLean.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-16-2010, 06:52 AM
 
2,462 posts, read 8,893,305 times
Reputation: 1003
In Arlington and Alexandria, you will be paying for proximity to DC, which you do not need for commuting purposes. Both of those areas are also more urban and less suburban.
Based on what you've posted, I think that Reston would make sense for you. There are also some apartment complexes right in the Tyson's area, if you really want a very short commute. But it will be less "suburban" than many parts of Reston.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-16-2010, 07:54 AM
 
Location: among the clustered spires
2,380 posts, read 4,497,761 times
Reputation: 891
OP: You don't want to live in MD if you're going to commute to McLean. Bad bad bad idea.

Reston seems the best mix of suburbia and urban for you (too much suburban, you won't be able to walk your dog.) Fairfax (this includes Fair Lakes and Fair Oaks) would probably be a longer commute along either 123 or 66, but is just fine to walk your dog.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-16-2010, 10:19 AM
 
5 posts, read 9,637 times
Reputation: 10
Thanks for all of the great advise so far! I will definitely x out the idea of living in Maryland, and check into all of the cities listed above.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-16-2010, 12:45 PM
 
2,462 posts, read 8,893,305 times
Reputation: 1003
i'll just add that if both of you will be working, you might want to postpone your decision until you find out where the second place of employment is.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Virginia > Northern Virginia
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top