Best area in Ashburn for commute. (Arlington, Reston: cul-de-sac, sales, renting)

[mrsp1030]

We have narrowed our search area down to Sterling, specifically Cascades area and Ashburn, looking at Broadlands, Ashburn Farm, Brambleton. Which areas offer the so called best commute into Arlington. I know Sterling is closer but is Route 7 worse off than the Dulles Toll Road?

[newnewsmama]

Route 7 is worse than the Toll Road. But Dulles Toll Road is also congested during the rush hours. The Dulles Greenway (the expensive western portion of the toll road) is less congested due to the high toll. Many folks in Ashburn take Waxpool Road as an alternative to the Greenway and get on Dulles Toll Road after passing Route 28 (that's where the Greenway ends). If you don't mind paying for the greenway, whichever house you choose that is closest to the greenway will give you the best commute. I think Broadlands and Ashburn Farm are closer to the Greenway than Brambleton. However, the difference will not be very significant. Brambleton is a great beautiful community. But it also is closer to the airport than the other two.

[KenInMA]

We lived in Belmont Ridge and the Greenway was less than a mile away from our house.

I commuted into Herndon which is only about 12 miles away, but one of the issues with NoVA is that there aren't many ways to get from point A to point B. There are few backroads that connect to make a via alternative; many eventually end in a dead end or cul-de-sac. It always took me 20-30 minutes. So the ways out of Ashburn, headed east, are really only...

1. Waxpool -> 28-> Dulles Toll Road (can be painful -- too many really long lights)
2. 7 -> DTR (painful, see above, but with more traffic)
3. 7 all the way (only if you like to make yourself angry)
4. Greenway -> DTR (expensive and often dumps you onto a very backed up DTR)

That all said, the real pain points of this commute are well outside of Ashburn, IMO.

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by KenInMA

We lived in Belmont Ridge and the Greenway was less than a mile away from our house.

I commuted into Herndon which is only about 12 miles away, but one of the issues with NoVA is that there aren't many ways to get from point A to point B. There are few backroads that connect to make a via alternative; many eventually end in a dead end or cul-de-sac. It always took me 20-30 minutes. So the ways out of Ashburn, headed east, are really only...

1. Waxpool -> 28-> Dulles Toll Road (can be painful -- too many really long lights)
2. 7 -> DTR (painful, see above, but with more traffic)
3. 7 all the way (only if you like to make yourself angry)
4. Greenway -> DTR (expensive and often dumps you onto a very backed up DTR)

That all said, the real pain points of this commute are well outside of Ashburn, IMO.

If only there was a magical system that didn't have issues with car traffic, cost less than the Toll Road and could take you to all of the employment hubs of this area in ONE corridor without needing to transfer... I would make it long so it could fit about 8000 people per trip.... and I would run it on rails instead of pavement and wheels so that it would use less energy from friction loss. I would make it centrally located to best serve a huge residential population, and just for giggles I would connect it to an airport too.

God, that would be quite the silver bullet though wouldnt it? hahaha talk about out there imagination, like there could ever be a thing for something like that. It would probably cost the public 3 billion dollars though, not 150 million which is a reasonable number.

You may call me a dreamer... but I'm not the only one... hum hum hum

[NC211]

I personally am a fan of Briadlands south of the toll road, north of Brambleton "which is very nice too." yes, the toll road can get congested. But what I've found is that even with lots of traffic, it keeps moving. It's only when you get close to Tyson's corner and the beltway does it start to become a start/stop scenario during ptypical rush hour times. At the end of the day, factor in $4,000 a year in commuting toll charges for an easier commute, or save the money and battle the crowds even more, like route 7. There is a guy with the best license plate around here that says H8 RTE7, for a reason. Course, I also saw one the other day that said H8 Toll. It is, what it is.

[mdcrim]

Traffic from anywhere in Ashburn to the Toll Road sucks during rush hour. Honestly, unless you're willing to pay the Greenway tolls every day, I would not necessarily recommend Ashburn as a place to move anymore. I've been here for 12 years. For the past few, trying to get from Ashburn to the Route 28/toll road intersection can take from 20 to 35 minutes in rush hour. Then the real commute begins on the toll road.

[jnojr]

Originally Posted by mrsp1030

We have narrowed our search area down to Sterling, specifically Cascades area and Ashburn, looking at Broadlands, Ashburn Farm, Brambleton. Which areas offer the so called best commute into Arlington. I know Sterling is closer but is Route 7 worse off than the Dulles Toll Road?

They didn't build the toll road just to see if a few people might decide to use it I have never driven Rt. 7 in rush hour, but I can only imagine... all of those traffic lights!

There is no "good" commute to inside of the Beltway. I imagine you're looking in Sterling / Ashburn because you'd like a house with a yard for less than a million but still want to work in Arlington. The price will be horrendous traffic, unless you can be flexible... I live in Reston and had a reverse commute to Chantilly and then Fairfax, but I also dragged myself out of bed to arrive by 7AM. On the days i drove in later, even at 8AM the traffic is getting really bad.

Have you considered looking along the Metro and taking it in to work? Still probably not a wonderful experience, and won't get you a cheap house, but it's an option.

[mrsp1030]

We have looked at all options but with 3 young kids, we feel this is our best option and my husband will be out the door by 6am, he is here in Texas. Taking the vre from further out is too restrictive for him as his work schedule could have him on a last minute call at 6pm.

[NC211]

mrsp - sounds like you've narrowed your search to a few key areas, all nice too! Now, comes the tough part - finding the home. If I were you, I'd get the realtor lined up now and ask to be linked into the MLS system for the parameters you're searching for, so you can see what's out there. Realtor.com is good, but a little slow to pick up on the listings sometimes. If you're set on coming out to Loudoun, you're most likely going to face what we faced last fall - New or someone else's problem. Resale activity in this region of the country is thin, very thin. Yes, there are resales to be consider, but there are also a lot of new homes too. We had to buy new, because the resales were so few that we didn't find anything we liked. Really, the only way to find what you want, is to come spend a couple of days looking. YOu're doing it right though, by narrowing it down before coming out to look. The sooner you find the area, then it's down to the neighborhood. If you go new, be warned that there aren't a lot of "spec" inventory on the market. Most homes being built today are already sold. But, some are being built without buyers lined up. The only way to find those, is to actually talk to the sales office of that specific neighborhood, and there are many. If you find a house that is "framed", then expect another 45-60 days before you can move in. We found ours as it was being framed, and moved in 45 days later. They had to rush a bit too to make the deadline. Moving here isn't quite as easy as moving to other cities, where there is always a sizable inventory of existing homes to consider. It's a TIGHT housing market here. Rare, will you find a vacant newly built home on the market for more than a week, especially this time of year. If Broadlands is high on your list (and I would also consider Brambleton too, as it's adjacent to Broadlands), the major developers that I can think of are:

DR Horton (National), Toll Brother (National), Poulte (National), Miller & Smith (Local), Van Meter (Local), Lenar (National).

I'm sure there are others too that I can't think of, but these seem to be the biggest players in the brambleton and broadlands market right now. DR Horton has one of the nicest neighborhood setting with their Alexander Chase project. Van Meter is everywhere out here, and they build nice homes too (all of these are nice homes though in general). Van Meter was huge here during the boom a few years ago, and remain very active. Toll Brothers has a massive project called Loudoun Valley Estates. Not my favorite of the offerings though, little yards, and a massive development. Pretty pricey too for the name badge, but very nice home. Poulte has some nice stock, not sure how much is left. My favorite though, in terms of actual home design and quality, is the Miller & Smith development. Their homes have a very unique curb appeal that stands out from the masses. They straddle the $600k line, most above it ($650k will get you all the bells and whistles). Lenar has one on Belmont Ridge Road (use google earth to find it) and the toll road. They advertise like crazy, but haven't driven a single nail yet. Not sure why, but something isn't right at their site for some reason.

In my own personal opinion, my two favorites under the $600k ceiling so far is the DR Horton project (Alexander's Chase - 4,000 sf +/-) for the small neighborhood setting and topography, and the Miller & Smith project "Noble Point Collection" in Brambleton, for the archeticture (3,500 sf +/-). The site though, isn't my favorite. One thing you'll notice when you get here, especially from Texas, is the rolling hills out in Loudoun. You'll also notice the humidity of Virginia in the summer. It gets hot, it gets sticky. Keep that in mind when shopping for a house. The higher up you are on the hill, the better chance to catch those summer breezes coming over the tops of the other hills.

[mrsp1030]

Thanks for the advice on builders. I was actually born in Winchester and grew up in WV so I know all about the summers. Inventory is something we are aware of although we are considering renting for a year first. Lucky for us, we have moved a lot and have death with both market /inventory homes as well as resale and there are perks of both. In fact, I had more fun redoing a kitchen in a resale then dealing with an inventory home that was brand new and a leaking roof!!!!