Woodbridge or bristow or Alexandria? (Fairfax, Gainesville: houses, buy, school districts)

[fromNYtoVA]

We're looking to relocate to nova and are looking at Bristow and Woodbridge and Alexandria... we have 3 children one will be in elementary school. We want a good public school district and a house with enough room under $375,000. We're just trying to get a sense of affordable areas that won't be unbearable for work---will be commuting to Alexandria and prefer trains or buses v. driving. Which area is best? Please help..especially those who have or have had kids in school. The area is already more expensive than where we are coming from-- so we don't want to have to do private school. Thank you!

[tgbwc]

You could take either bus or train from the Woodbridge area. Train and maybe bus from Bristow? I don't think you would get much home for a family that size in Alexandria for 375K, but could do ok in either Bristow or Woodbridge. Woodbridge and Alexandria are such large areas that communities can vary widely. Overall, the school districts of Alexandria, Fairfax County, and Prince William would be similar in quality I would think, but again individual buildings would vary so much depending upon the population. To what part of Alexandria would you be commuting?

[The Dissenter]

I'd go with Woodbridge. The houses have really gotten more affordable. I'm sure you can find a sensible commute and a decent elementary school for under $375k.

For Alexandria, i went to ACPS for two years and think is good but $375k will buy very little inside the city limits.

I have no knowledge about Bristow.

[magshepherd]

I am relocating from Missouri to Nova this fall and we are looking in the same areas you are. We ruled out Woodbridge though because the info I found on schools was sketchy.

We will take our first house hunting trip in a month or so. From what I've gathered on this message board and others is that Prince William County School District is mostly good but there are some elementary, middle and high schools that aren't performing well. I've used greatschools.net and schooldigger.com to get some good starting information on the schools. This is what I've found. The highest concentration of highly rated elementary schools are in Bristow, Nokesville and Haymarket. That is where we are focusing our search with Gainesville thrown in the mix too.

Will let you know what we come up with.

[brucewayne]

I would not recommend Woodbridge for living or schooling IMO, because the area is cheap for a reason and its a sketchy city to live in (75% of it IMO).

Alexandria - Kingstowne would be the only area that I would even remotely consider living in if you want a mid-scale to upper-scale feel. Anything other than that such as Duke St, Edsall Rd, etc. is similar to woodbridge as I dont recommend living there at all (sketchy).

Bristow seems to be the best choice, unless you can get a place in Kingstowne.

[fromNYtoVA]

What does IMO mean?

Does anyone use the VRE to get to Alexandria from Bristow?

[tgbwc]

Originally Posted by fromNYtoVA

What does IMO mean?

Does anyone use the VRE to get to Alexandria from Bristow?

In My Opinion

[jaywallace]

I'd go with Bristow.

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by brucewayne

I would not recommend Woodbridge for living or schooling IMO, because the area is cheap for a reason and its a sketchy city to live in (75% of it IMO).

Alexandria - Kingstowne would be the only area that I would even remotely consider living in if you want a mid-scale to upper-scale feel. Anything other than that such as Duke St, Edsall Rd, etc. is similar to woodbridge as I dont recommend living there at all (sketchy).

Bristow seems to be the best choice, unless you can get a place in Kingstowne.

I live in that Duke St/Edsall Rd area. I dont consider it sketchy at all.

[fromNYtoVA]

thanks for the imput.. still looking for someone who commutes on the VRE from Bristow... anyone???