From Front Royal, VA to Reston, VA (Centreville, Chantilly: apartment complex, for rent)

[Kayjpea]

Looking for a nice towns house or apartment rental. My job is relocating me to Reston, VA and my husbands job closes office is Front Royal, VA. We thought about living in the middle of both in either Marshall, Gainesville, or Haymart area. Any suggestions? We are relocating from Charlotte, NC so any help/suggestions are welcomed.

[Ashley Tauzier]

Hey Welcome to the area! I think Gainesville, Haymarket or Bristow would be a good option in the middle. Your husband will have about a 45 minute drive to work with no traffic either way on 66. You on the other hand will have traffic from that area into Reston. Depending on the time you have to be to work anywhere from 25 minutes to 1.5 hours. You really can not go wrong in any of those 3 cities. There is really only one apartment complex in Gainesville area, but there are plenty of townhomes to choose from for a rental.

[SanRemo]

That commute will be tough but tons of people make it everyday.

Ashley is right about the apartments in the area. They are few and far between but you can probably find a townhouse for rent or maybe a condo. There are quite a few in the area. I would probably focus on Haymarket or Gainesville. Bristow can be frustrating at times when you need to get to 66.

Good luck and welcome.

[Bigfoot424]

Your husbands commute to Front Royal will be a piece of cake from the G'ville/Haymarket area. Both ways actually. Yours on the other hand will be a PITA. If you can afford it you could move further east up I 66 putting you closer and he will still have an easy commute compared to yours. But G'ville/Haymarket is a good, and cheaper, area. Bristow is as well but as someone else mentioned is further from the interstate. You won't find many options in the Marshall/Plains area and it puts you even further away. I work in Front Royal as well.

[RiotAct41]

I'm in Manassas (next town over from Gainesville), and getting to Reston in the morning via 66 E / 28N isn't TOO bad, provided you leave by 6:30 AM.

[FCNova]

I was thinking the same thing as Bigfoot. Gainesville to Reston will be pretty painful unless the person leaves at the buttcrack of dawn. I still don't get how or why people do that. I would look closer to Reston, like maybe Chantilly or even Herndon. Your husbands commute will be a bit longer but he's going opposite of rush hour, so he's really going to be traveling at highway speeds so an extra 10 miles for him won't be as big of a deal as it will be for you.

[Kayjpea]

Thanks for all the feedback. I will definitely consider looking closer. I don't want an 1.5 commute by any means and don't plan to leave when it's dark out. The information is all very helpful. I considered Gainesville purely on trying to be halfway for us, also I have a former co-worker that commutes from Gainesville to Fairfax and she said it takes about 45 minutes. Does anyone have any advice on if we went farther up, say renting in Aldie? Is that a nice area or how would the commute be?

[Middlin]

No, do not do Aldie. You can search the forum for the many, many conversations about how bad traffic is on Route 50 and would not want to take 50 to 28 to get to 66. I live in Bristow and commute daily to the Fair Lakes area off 66. My exit is right after 28. My advice is to live in the Fair Lakes area (would be a breeze to Reston) or Centreville near 66.

[SteelCityRising]

Traffic in Northern Virginia is horrendous. If I was in your position I'd be looking into Centreville first and foremost. You could access Reston via Stringfellow Road and the Fairfax County Parkway. You could be there in 30-45 minutes each direction, including during peak hours. Your spouse's drive to Front Royal would be a reverse-commute on I-66, and it would be about 45 minutes each way. You'll soon learn that a 45-minute commute each way is pretty average if you live and work in Greater DC. It used to take me that long to drive seven miles between North Reston (apartment) and McLean (office).

[snowdenscold]

Thinking outside the box a little bit, but you could look at Purcellville, which would give him ~50 minute commute (no direct shot there unlike I-66), and you would have maybe a ~35-40 minute commute via the Greenway.

Yes the Greenway would be pretty expensive, but your housing will cost much less then than in Fairfax County or somewhere closer in, so that might offset. Plus it balances out the commute times fairly well and you don't have to leave the house by 6 AM.