Christian Family Moving to VA / DC / MD Area (Alexandria, Burke: estate, travel)

[springfieldva]

Originally Posted by JESALAZ

What do you think about Burke and West Springfield?.

I have worked in searching the "Best Places to Live"in VA and MD, using Money Magazine Information, I have also searched information on Security & Safety, comming up with the following places (please give you comments and best place that you recommend):
- Eldersburg
- Waldorf
- Crofton
- Linganore
- Centreville
- Green Valley
- Laurel
- Mount Airy
- Gaithersburg
- Rockville
- Reston
- Fairland
- Green Haven

I live in the Burke/West Springfield area and love it. This is a very safe, diverse and family oriented area. We have wonderful public schools as well as private schools. There are churches here for everybody. Check out Danbury Forest(22151), Kings Park (22151), Burke Station Square (22015), the neighborhoods around Lake Braddock SS, etc. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the West Springfield, Lake Braddock or Robinson school districts!

[Alanboy395]

Originally Posted by springfieldva

I live in the Burke/West Springfield area and love it. This is a very safe, diverse and family oriented area. We have wonderful public schools as well as private schools. There are churches here for everybody. Check out Danbury Forest(22151), Kings Park (22151), Burke Station Square (22015), the neighborhoods around Lake Braddock SS, etc. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the West Springfield, Lake Braddock or Robinson school districts!

I agree with the selections here. i also agree with staying outta MD, the traffic here is bad enough without crossing any bridges.

Also do you have any particular denomiation of Christian? I'm AG myself.

[Yankeesfan]

Also take a look at Calvary Road Baptist Church and School in the Kingstowne-Franconia area:

Calvary Road Baptist Church • • • Alexandria, Virginia

[Cathy15]

Originally Posted by JESALAZ

Thank you, do you recommend other places?.

JESALAZ - I am surprised ppl are telling you that you can't get a decent home for $350K. My brother and his wife and 2 kids just bought a home in Signal Hill in Manassas and it is 3500 finished sq feet - 6 bedrooms and they paid $337K! You can definitely get a decent home. Signal Hill is full of large Catholic families, lots of kids!

[VEIK]

now many people want to live in Manassas.... =)

[conmorave]

We live in Fredericskburg, Va and the schools here have been fine so far. We rented here for 1 1/2 years in Leeland Staion subdivision and then we bought a house right down the street. Leeland Station is right next to Conway elem. and the VRE Leeland station. I have 4 kids and 3 of them are in school. My oldest goes to Drew Middle School and it is the best kept secret as far as middle schools go here. It is the smallest one and the teachers this year in 6th grade have been great. There are only 130 6th graders in the whole school. It is really close to our house too. We love our neighborhood and our house but, we are military and we are true southerners so we are trying to move to Savannah, Ga. This is as far south as you want to be if you are going to commute to D.C. We are exit 136 on I-95. My husband does work in Arlington and he mostly commutes. It takes about 1 hour and 15 mins to carpool to Arlington for him. The VRE takes about 1 hour to get to Union station from here. I can give you more information if you'd like. We have visited lots of churches here. There are some Christian schools here. I would try the public schools 1st to see what you think. Our neighborhood is really safe. Lots of kids playing outside alot. Parks, tennis courts, pools, amphitheater, basketball courts, etc. Lots of shopping here and historical things. In the community there are also lots of activities for the kids too.

[JESALAZ]

conmorave - I see that Leeland Station is about 50 minutes from Fairfax, it seems a very nice place. Please I would appreciatte more information regarding this place, what is an Avrg. price of a single family home with 3+ beedrom & basement?. Your recommendation of trying a public school first is a good idea. Thank you.

[JESALAZ]

Originally Posted by Cathy15

JESALAZ - I am surprised ppl are telling you that you can't get a decent home for $350K. My brother and his wife and 2 kids just bought a home in Signal Hill in Manassas and it is 3500 finished sq feet - 6 bedrooms and they paid $337K! You can definitely get a decent home. Signal Hill is full of large Catholic families, lots of kids!

Manassas is 25minutes away from Fairfax!, Excellent!!!. Is it a safe place to leave?.

[TheseGoTo11]

Originally Posted by JESALAZ

Manassas is 25minutes away from Fairfax!, Excellent!!!. Is it a safe place to leave?.

It's not that dangerous, but it's not as safe as many of the areas that surround it.

Anyway, you might also want to check out Marshall, VA. It's about 35 miles west of Fairfax on I-66 in Fauquier County, and has reasonable single family homes in your price range. It's also a very family-oriented area in which you might feel comfortable.

[JESALAZ]

Originally Posted by Tone509

You don't want to commute from Maryland. On your worst days, you will spend much of those 90 minutes sitting on the Beltway. As a rule of thumb, take the number of miles between Fairfax City and your potential home and double it. That figure will be likely be the number of minutes you will commute on an average day. You will likely have a lot of "above-average" days as daily traffic snarls are inevitable.

Most of Fairfax County is sprawled-out suburbia with some outstanding neighborhoods. Gangs unfortunately exist as in most major metros but they mostly deal with each other and are easy to avoid. As it is, even in the current real estate market $350K would only get you a foreclosed SFH in this county.

I think you and your family would be happiest further west in Loudoun County towns like Ashburn, Leesburg and Purcellville(sp?) as well as Prince William County towns such as Haymarket, Gainesville and Bristow. Most of these contain planned communities that are touted for their family-friendliness. You're much more likely to find SFHs in your price range. And you will be well-prepared for the commute. There are numerous threads on the forum about the virtues of each of these towns... but I'm sure others here will share their thoughts on any questions you might have.

While Fairfax County is said to have one of the best school districts in the country, Loudoun in general and the Prince William towns I mentioned specifically are no slouches themselves. That said, people do place a value on a smaller student-teacher ratio as well as other intangibles so I can respect those who choose to go the private route.

Tone509 - Thank you for your recommendation. I see that Maryland will not be a choice for me. I will be looking for SFH on the places that you have recommended and will also take a look to their statistics.