Fredericksburg Commute to DC: Is It Worth It? (Fairfax, Fort Belvoir: houses, living)

[poet008]

Would it be feasible to live in a small & hopefully cheaper town like Fredricksburg and take the train to a job in DC every day?

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by poet008

Would it be feasible to live in a small & hopefully cheaper town like Fredricksburg and take the train to a job in DC every day?

You probably should start a separate topic on this rather than piggyback on a "worst traffic" thread, but here goes:

Fredericksburg is not small. It's a suburban MECCA. Lots of houses, lots of people, lots of shopping, lots of traffic. Nice place. But it's not a "small town" by any stretch of the imagination.

Many people do take the VRE from Fredericksburg into DC so if you want feedback on that, post a topic on what that's like. Additionally, check out the VRE website and you can get timetables on the VRE for commuting purpose. You also have to factor in your drive time from your house to the VRE station.

[NOVA_guy]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

You probably should start a separate topic on this rather than piggyback on a "worst traffic" thread, but here goes:

Fredericksburg is not small. It's a suburban MECCA. Lots of houses, lots of people, lots of shopping, lots of traffic. Nice place. But it's not a "small town" by any stretch of the imagination.

Many people do take the VRE from Fredericksburg into DC so if you want feedback on that, post a topic on what that's like. Additionally, check out the VRE website and you can get timetables on the VRE for commuting purpose. You also have to factor in your drive time from your house to the VRE station.

Agreed.

Originally Posted by poet008

Would it be feasible to live in a small & hopefully cheaper town like Fredricksburg and take the train to a job in DC every day?

You could do the VRE but if it's an option I recommend just moving to PWC or Fairfax... I know some people move to Fredericksburg since your money goes a bit further there but from a commuting stand point it's just not worth it. I would rather just spend the extra $10-50K to be closer, but again I know it's not always that simple.

[FindingZen]

The previous posts were moved from another thread to increase relevancy.

[FCNova]

You would have an awesome house. Do it

[CuppaJoe]

The cost of living and housing in F-burg is MUCH cheaper than say, Fairfax County. I personally couldn't handle that brutal of a commute, but plenty of people I know do it.

To say F-burg isn't a small town and has insane traffic is not accurate. By comparison, it's much smaller than NoVA proper, and the traffic is laughable compared to near DC.

[Mnseca]

By car it would be unbearable (I've done it), but I'm not sure about the train. I guess if you check out the train ride and schedule, and then consider time to and from train stations, costs of tickets and also parking availability/cost, you might be able to do it if you're the kind of person who can relax on a long train ride every day. People around here tend not to commute that distance by train often, so I think there is probably some downside to it here that no one has mentioned, but where I am from near NYC a long train commute (over an hour) to and from the city is common. Check the schedule closely and make sure it is really workable.

[Novadhd5150]

I would not recommend it. 95 is horrible so unless you dont mind the trains then go for it.

[smarterguy]

Unless you're close to retirement and/or work a compressed schedule, I wouldn't.

Probably a personal decision since others factors come in to play, but that commute, either via train or car, sounds awful. But people do it. I know people who live in Stafford/Quantico and commute north of DC.

I do know F-burg people who work on Fort Belvoir (and that's crazy to me too) but you'd still have another 30-60 min to go.

[va_lucky]

Originally Posted by CuppaJoe

The cost of living and housing in F-burg is MUCH cheaper than say, Fairfax County. I personally couldn't handle that brutal of a commute, but plenty of people I know do it.

To say F-burg isn't a small town and has insane traffic is not accurate. By comparison, it's much smaller than NoVA proper, and the traffic is laughable compared to near DC.

Have you ever been on route 3? I wouldn't say traffic is laughable at all as compared to near DC. Having slugged back and forth for a few years route 3 was one of the worst parts of that commute.