Commuting To Dc From Leesburg/ashburn (Arlington, Reston: townhouses, neighborhoods, buying)

[celly]

I am considering relocating to Leesburg or Ashburn Area, will be working in DC hospital. Will it be a reasonable drive? I will be working mostly nightduty 7pm to 7 am will this make any difference in terms of traffic. Which area will be better for a single woman with 2 boys 9 and 15 yrs.

[dullnboring]

Which DC hospital will you be working at? Regardless, it's a long commute from either of those two locations. The hours will indeed help a bit, although you will likely face some heavy-ish traffic at the end of your shift at 7am, at least until you get outside of the Beltway when traffic thins out in that direction a good amount.

Leesburg is nearly 40 miles from downtown DC, and Ashburn is around five miles closer in towards DC and therefore shaves a bit of time off of a commute, but even at 7pm, just with some gridlock in DC, you're most likely looking at an hour or so commuting from either location. Schools are good in both locations, but Ashburn's do perform a slight bit better, at least at the high school level (so I'm assuming that trickles down to the elementary level as well). Due to the schools and the closer location, I would recommend Ashburn over Leesburg, but both areas are perfectly nice.

[saganista]

Which hospital would be an important bit of info (as some are easily accessible by mass transit and some aren't), but as <dullnboring> said, the reverse hours, while helpful, are not going to make DC seem all that much closer to home if you are living all the way out in Leesburg. If you are working long shifts to begin with, long commutes on top of it will make things pretty tough when it comes to fitting in anything else. Leesburg and Ashburn are nice areas and they have generally good schools, but there are places that can make those same claims that are closer in and come at roughly the same cost. These might offer you and the boys an easier and less stressful lifestyle to enjoy. Several worth considering, depending on where in DC that hospital happens to be...

[claremarie]

Unless you will have someone living with you, or nearby, to help with your boys, I'd think twice about living so far from your workplace. You don't want to be 40 miles away when something goes wrong at home in the middle of the night.
Is there any possibility of working at a hospital in suburban Virginia?
If not, I would recommend finding a place to live somewhere closer to DC.

[dullnboring]

I agree with saganista and claremarie. I forgot to mention it in my post, but as a whole while Ashburn and Leesburg are two perfectly nice areas, I personally think that they're a bit too far of a commute into DC, especially when you add a 12 hour shift on top of the commute, so I would recommend looking closer in if working in DC. If set on Ashburn/Leesburg and the sort of lifestyle they afford, I would recommend looking at hospitals closer out that way such as INOVA Loudoun Hospital in Leesburg, or Reston Hospital or Fair Oaks Hospital.

[lchoro]

She'll have a lot of competition with traffic coming in and out of hubs in Tysons Corner/McLean, Herndon/Reston, and eventually Leesburg. I wouldn't want that commute. Two more major mixed-used projects planned around Leesburg, Loudoun One and Loudoun Village. Leesburg is going to become a chokepoint in a few years, if not already.

[celly]

Thanks a million this was very much helpfull, I will be working in washington medical center. Is there any place you may suggest, taking consideration of good schools, newer townhouses. I intend buying a townhouse that is reasonable priced and will be friendly for a single mom. Leesburg/ashburn was Ideal since they have new homes that are reasonably priced and at the same time DC was ideal, since nurse pay rates are better than in VA.

Again, thanks your help is highly appreciated.

Celly

[claremarie]

Do you mean the Washington Hospital Center?
If so, and you're sure you want to live in Virginia rather than Maryland, I'd suggest that you reconsider the "new" part of your wish list and look in Arlington. The schools are first-rate, the neighborhoods are very safe, and your commute will be MUCH shorter than a commute from anywhere in Ashburn or Leesburg.
The problem with the phrases "reasonably priced" and "newer" is that they virtually sentence you to a very long and unpleasant commute to DC.

[viginimomma]

We currently live in Arlington and want
to buy a larger house in Leesburg or Manassas.
My husband works in Tyson's Corner, his shift
is from 4 pm to midnight. Does anyone have an idea
about commute. How about the quality of life in these
two towns. Or any other town suggestions. We like
older homes in the downtown area.

[5stones]

From Leesburg to Tyson at 4pm wouldn't be too bad since most rush hour traffic wont start yet. But, the area around Tysons is extremely conjested (even at 2pm) But I would say about 30 min on the greenway $$$ or anywhere from 45-1hour on Rt7.
We lived in Leesburg and Hubby worked in Tysons... it has taken me over an hour to drive into Tysons to meet him for dinner before. I was shocked thought I'd have no traffic at all!!

Now comming home at midnight no problem...rt 7 45 minutes into downtown Leesburg tops.