Moving to Va, working in Alexandria, looking Manassas (Burke, Woodbridge: rental, house)

[Monorojo13]

I am moving from a small town in New Mexico to Virginia in a few months and will be working in Alexandria. I am looking to rent a place in Manassas or Manassas Park area. I have looked at addresses on Greenshire Dr. and one on Matthew Dr. How are those neighborhoods?

I have a family of 3 kids and my wife and father. We are trying to keep the rent around 2800 or so. I have a preschooler, and (2) elementary going into 2nd and 5th grades. We don't need really anything to do as we are used to just family time, but would like some shopping and I have heard of a nice water park or two.

Also on a side note, if anyone knows the commute details I will have a supplied vehicle and will drive in daily.

[tgbwc]

I don't know much about those neighborhoods. Is there a reason for those in particular?

Where will you be working in Alexandria? I know of a few detached homes here in W. Springfield in that range and I think it would be closer to your work.

[Monorojo13]

I will be working off of Bren Mar drive. There is really no reason the area just looked nice, just looking for a place for the family and my dogs. I am open to anything in Alexandria and West. I was told going south towards Woodbridge the drive was insane.

[Chris1023]

You can find some nice SFH to rent in Manassas. May be difficult for only a few months. For commute. VRE goes from manassas to king st station. I would do that instated of driving.

[HokieFan]

Originally Posted by Monorojo13

I will be working off of Bren Mar drive. There is really no reason the area just looked nice, just looking for a place for the family and my dogs. I am open to anything in Alexandria and West. I was told going south towards Woodbridge the drive was insane.

I live in the Lake Ridge area of Woodbridge (22192) and work in Alexandria. Now that the I95 toll/express lanes have opened, my commute is about 50 minutes (before they opened, it was about 60 minutes). Occasionally, I'll pay the toll and it's a 35-40 minute commute.

I leave my house at 6:15am and get on 95 at Exit 160. I leave work around 4:00pm-4:15pm.

A Manassas to Alexandria commute will be no better than a Woodbridge to Alexandria commute.

I just did a quick a search on a website, and there are seventeen 4 BR / 2.5+ BA SFHs under your budget in the 22192 zip code. There's also one 5 BR and a 6 BR under your budget in case your kids don't share bedrooms.

[airjay75]

Unless you have specific housing requirements such as you want new or recent construction, I really don't see any reason to have a commute from Manassas or Woodbridge with a rental budget of $2800. Seems to me you could do Alexandria sections of Fairfax County, Springfield, West Springfield, Burke, rent a SFH, have good schools, and a much better commute. If you're used to living in a small town, even commuting from those areas will probably feel like a huge change.

[robbobobbo]

Originally Posted by Chris1023

You can find some nice SFH to rent in Manassas. May be difficult for only a few months. For commute. VRE goes from manassas to king st station. I would do that instated of driving.

I don't see any DASH bus (City of Alexandria) or Metrobus service going from King Street station to where OP will work.

[Deluusions]

I would rather suggest Springfield, Burke, and Lorton rather than Manassas. Better schools ultimately, especially if you live in Burke with the lake braddock pyramid.

[robbobobbo]

Several good suggestions here about other areas. It's not very typical for newcomers to think about locating in Manassas when the job is in Alexandria. Usually such a choice would be made for affordability reasons, but you're not in that situation. What looks like a reasonable distance on a map is a completely different matter in reality here in terms of commuting.

[stpickrell]

Yeah, I'd look around Fairfax City with your budget unless you insist on new construction.