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Old 01-29-2014, 10:55 AM
 
10 posts, read 20,150 times
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My husband and I live and work in the DC area. We currently live in an apartment in Pentagon city, but are looking to have a baby and buy a house this year. I work in Metro Center and he works in Fairfax. Currently he drives and I metro, but we don't have any problem getting a second car and both driving. My current commute is about 25 minutes door to door, and his is 30-40 depending on traffic.

We found a house we love in Springfield, VA, but I'm a little nervous about the commute to DC because I've heard such horror stories about 395. The house is about a mile from the mixing bowl, just outside the beltway. Elementary and middle schools are Garfield and Key. Seems like in Springfield we could afford a newly built 4 bedroom 3k square foot house, but inside the beltway if we want somewhere with decent schools it seems likely we'd end up with an older 3 bedroom. Our cap is about 775k.

Does anyone have any experience with Springfield? Is the commute into DC on 395 so terrible that we'd be better off with a much smaller house inside the beltway? Is it a reasonable commute if you you avoid the worst parts of rush hour? I'm usually out the door by 7:30 and don't come home until after 6:30, but have a flexible schedule and can adjust if needed.

I'm also a bit worried that our friends in the city and Arlington won't ever come visit us if we live in Springfield because they all seem to think it's 120 miles away instead of 12. Has anyone had that experience?
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Old 01-29-2014, 11:19 AM
 
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Move to the part of Springfield that's inside the Beltway. Lots of free lunches at Garfield.
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Old 01-29-2014, 11:31 AM
 
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I'm in Burke, just to the west by about 6 miles. Springfield is quite large, but the location you describe is really quite convenient for commuting. You're only a few minutes from the Franconia-Springfield Metro/VRE station. That's not a bad option, despite it being longer to MC than from Pentagon. I don't think I'd want to do that drive on 395 every day, but it's not the worst if you can move up your schedule by 30/60 minutes. Express buses on 395 from Springfield to Pentagon are also a pretty good option. While you are house hunting, make sure you grab a sandwich at Sandwich Republic near Springfield Plaza, just off of 644.
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Old 01-29-2014, 11:31 AM
 
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I am not sure about the drive up 395, but it seems backed up when I go by it (I drive on the beltway from West Springfield to Alexandria--which is an easy trip for me). But you can still metro from Springfield, so you don't have to drive. There is also West Springfield as well (we are close to the Metro as well--only takes a few minutes to drive there. Although I don't know what weekday parking is like since I only use the metro on weekends).
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Old 01-29-2014, 11:36 AM
 
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Is there a reason you would want to drive instead of metroing? You'd be 5 minutes from the Franconia Springfield metro station and wouldn't even have to change trains. I would think that would be far preferable to fighting 395 traffic. Your husband's commute shouldn't be too bad. I live in West Springfield and work on 50 just before Fairfax turns into Chantilly and it's not a terrible commute -- 25-35 minutes, depending on what time I go in.

Springfield's a nice place to live. And since it's easily accessible by metro I would hope that your friends wouldn't abandon you!
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Old 01-29-2014, 11:38 AM
 
Location: Northern Virginia
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You're like my husband and I were a few years ago. We had lived in Crystal City, then rented an apartment in Alexandria, then rented a house in inside-the-beltway Springfield, and finally bought a house on the edge of Springfield/Burke a couple years ago.

We had the same worries that our DC friends wouldn't come visit us. They don't. We go downtown to see them, and/or we've made "suburbs" friends who are an easier drive. It's really not realistic to get together on a weeknight with people who live downtown (unless you're already down there for work).

The mixing bowl location is actually pretty good for commuting--there are slug lines, the F/S metro, and if you head towards West Springfield there is the VRE just off Rolling Road that goes to Metro Center.

Our budget was nowhere near yours, so we were pushed out this far out of necessity. If we had a $775k budget, I don't think we would have looked outside the beltway, but ours was closer to half yours!
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Old 01-29-2014, 11:39 AM
 
Location: Chester County, PA
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My wife and I are a younger couple who bought a house in Springfield just this past year not far from where you are looking at a home (area zoned for Saratoga ES, Key MS). I work in DC and my wife works in Arlington. I use Pentagon express buses and Metro to get to work, while my wife does the drive on 395, although she is a nurse who goes in earlier than you do and comes home later than you do (her shifts are 7 am to 7:30 pm). Working the hours you do, I would say you would be much better off taking public transit into DC. The Backlick Park & Ride near the area you're looking in has several Pentagon express buses that serve it (Fairfax Connector Routes 394 and 395) that you can take to the Pentagon and then hop on a Blue or Yellow Line train. Alternatively, you are just a quick 10 minute drive to the Franconia-Springfield Metro. Depending on where you work in DC, you're probably looking at about an hour door-to-door commute. You might be able to do the drive in a similar amount of time (at least on some days), but you're also going to have those days that are pretty rough. For that reason, I would stick to transit for commutes into DC, but that's me. I know some people really prefer to drive.

Personally, I think the Springfield area overall is great. It offers a reasonable commute into DC and some more affordable housing prices, particularly compared to what you will find in areas along the Orange Line corridor. However, part of the reason for this, paticularly when you are talking about central Springfield and not west Springfield is that the area is viewed by some people to be a bit less desirable than other areas of Fairfax County. The Springfield Mall is undergoing an extensive redevelopment, but at one time, was thought to be a pretty unsafe place that catered to a lower socieconomic class. Parts of central Sprinfield have a fairly high population of ESL and low-income children that tend to depress the test scores in the Lee HS pyramid and, so, many parents with children avoid homes within that school pyramid, instead opting for homes that are in the West Springfield HS pyramid. Personally, I think these fears are overblown, but, at the same time, my wife and I don't have kids yet, so it was not the most important factor for us in buying a home. Still, to the extent we do have kids, I don't feel that there is any reason for us to move. Further, I personally feel that there is only upside potential for the central Sprinfield area given its convenient location and the development that is currently going on. With real estate as expensive as it is in this area and with younger generations valuing shorter commutes, I have a hard time seeing Springfield as an area in decline.

I can't speak to friends coming out to visit since my wife and I never lived in or close to DC, but I am familiar with the perception some people have that Springfield is somewhere way out there - most of the people I know who think this are single co-workers who don't venture outside of DC or Arlington except on rare occasion. I can say that my wife and I have not had any problem meeting other young couples in the Springfield area and we are pretty happy with our decision to buy a home in the area.

Last edited by airjay75; 01-29-2014 at 11:49 AM..
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Old 01-29-2014, 11:42 AM
 
Location: Chester County, PA
1,077 posts, read 1,775,252 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jbakerman View Post
While you are house hunting, make sure you grab a sandwich at Sandwich Republic near Springfield Plaza, just off of 644.
I second this . That is a fantastic little sandwich shop!
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Old 01-29-2014, 11:58 AM
 
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Thanks very much, everyone!

My aversion to metro from Springfield is the cost - parking at the F/S metro + the cost of the metro itself would run about $15 a day and would still take 40-45 minutes. My office offers a pre-tax benefit for parking, but not for metro, so it would be cheaper for me to drive even when including gas, insurance, wear and tear, etc. Especially if we're talking about no time difference or a small time difference.

I've been interested at the number of people I've asked at work who have said "springfield is so far, why aren't you looking in Vienna/Fairfax?". Vienna/Fairfax is just as far as Springfield! Maybe all the yuppie lawyers are just more familiar with the orange line burbs?
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Old 01-29-2014, 12:08 PM
 
Location: Northern Virginia
4,489 posts, read 10,899,395 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jennm2013 View Post
I've been interested at the number of people I've asked at work who have said "springfield is so far, why aren't you looking in Vienna/Fairfax?". Vienna/Fairfax is just as far as Springfield! Maybe all the yuppie lawyers are just more familiar with the orange line burbs?
Are these current Arlingtonians? Ballston to Vienna is much closer feeling than Ballston to the mixing bowl.

I'd take 395 over 66 any day though.
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