Relocating to Northern Virginia

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by Fredesch

Hmmm, to drive you would have to drive across a county with 1.1 million people, then cross a county with 220 thousand people, then cross a river into a city of 600 thousand people. Say it takes you a hour an a half each way. That would be 15 hours in a car a week, in rotten stinkin' traffic. If you are a normal person, by that I mean someone who is not currently an xburbenite, then you will be numb after your 11 hour day, 12 hour day if you take lunch.

My guess is there are zombies that do it. And feel it is rewarding for that one hour of daylight they see in the summer time in their xburb.

You can guesstimate the number of zombies in the neighborhood by calculating the number of times a family will jump in their car on the weekends- excluding shuttling the kids around. If the neighborhood has a low number of folks that drive to the mountains, theater in the district or beach on the weekend, then you may have found a zombie neighborhood, where folks do the long grueling commutes and think their ideal house/townhouse/condo is worth the effort. If that is appealing to you, then enjoy your commute. But consider taking public transportation as you can knit a lot of sweaters while commuting from Ashburn to DC.

Not so sure I'd call myself a zombie. We actually end up driving as much on the weekends, and we ain't shuttling any little tykes around.

That being said, you have a very valid point. Most people can not do what I do and still be happy. People who are contemplating the dreaded "hour plus" commute need to recognize the limitations.

[mdcrim]

Depending on the hours you have to be at work (and where in DC), your commute could be as little as 45 minutes. If you can head in very early and leave early it's perfectly doable. Or you can take the bus. Google Loudoun Transit for the schedules. Ashburn is only 35 miles from DC (and, yes, it can take two hours).

[NovaOne]

If I had to work in DC, I would live inside the beltway in VA or MD. I would not live all the way out in Ashburn.

I am not against long commutes - I had a commute of 1.5 hours each way for several years. What wears me down is traffic, and you'll see plenty of that going from Ashburn to DC.

[FCNova]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Yes. Better to work out around Dulles if you're going to live there. If you need to work in DC live near DC. Commuting an hour a day or more each way is insane and socially irresponsible.

Haha another one of those people.

OP what is your commute tolerance? It's going to be far but hard to say whether it's too far for you. Ignore the posts that provide no useful information about the commute and just tell you not to do it.