Tell me about Gainesville VA (Centreville, Chantilly: for sale, real estate, crime)

[reiliz]

Hello all, I welcome any questions you may have about SE Florida (West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale or Miami) But I am considering a job in Chantilly, I was told that Gainesville and or Centreville may be options depending ony my needs. I have a wife and young daughter who is approaching kindergarden age. I have no limitations other than I want as good a school system as I can in a $425k home price range.

Thasnk you all for your suggestions.

[blossom4792]

Hi - Me again - Gainesville tends to have a lot of built communities on the "new" side - ranging from townhouses, to sfh, to estate homes. It's all family-oriented, somewhat homogenous (it seems), generally upscale, and somewhat materialistic - at least more so, in my experience, than people who choose other types of communities. It's all "Super Targets" and trendy restaurants. I actually like Gainesville, just trying to give my honest impressions. I know the schools in Bristow, Haymarket and Manassas a bit better, but I haven't heard any complaints. You could check the greatschools website.

[jmarquise]

if you want the best advice I could give you about living in that area and having the best quality of life, it's this. live where you work. the closer you live to work, the better your quality of life will be.

[HEATHER72]

Gainesville...Let's see. Small town feel with lots of new stores being built. Can you say... Wegmans? I like its location... close to the interstate, close to the battlefields, short drive to the mountains and a so so commute into DC. The commute is also short to Chantilly & Fairfax. (People will disagree with me there because they want a 5 minute commute to work) Crime is literally nonexistant. Schools are great. You can get a really nice house in a great location for $425K.

[blossom4792]

Yes, I agree with heather - for the DC area, it would be a very reasonable commute to Chantilly.

[popalnet]

Gainesville = best bang for the buck in real estate. Homes a couple of years ago that sold for 1 mill are going for 500k. Gainesville got hit hard because of the distance from DC, the price of gas, and of course the housing meltdown. Great schools in Gainesville as well.

You should also look at Haymarket, which is next to Gainesville. There are some nice back roads to Chantilly from Haymarket. That way you can avoid I-66, which can be a mess.

A bunch of new shopping currently being built and more in the planning stages.

Here are links to a few homes for sale in Gainesville:

Single Family Home - 8103 TYSONS OAKS COURT, GAINESVILLE, VA, 20155 - Realtor.com

Single Family Home - 6723 EDGARTOWN WAY, GAINESVILLE, VA, 20155 - Realtor.com

Single Family Home - 12032 PAPER BIRCH LANE, GAINESVILLE, VA, 20155 - Realtor.com

[jmarquise]

so so commute to DC? it's 40 miles from DC. that is minimum 1.5 hours unless you are driving at 3AM. can you blame someone for wanting a 5 minute commute to work? gainesville to fairfax, you are looking at 45-60 minutes.

Originally Posted by HEATHER72

Gainesville...Let's see. Small town feel with lots of new stores being built. Can you say... Wegmans? I like its location... close to the interstate, close to the battlefields, short drive to the mountains and a so so commute into DC. The commute is also short to Chantilly & Fairfax. (People will disagree with me there because they want a 5 minute commute to work) Crime is literally nonexistant. Schools are great. You can get a really nice house in a great location for $425K.

[HEATHER72]

Originally Posted by jmarquise

so so commute to DC? it's 40 miles from DC. that is minimum 1.5 hours unless you are driving at 3AM. can you blame someone for wanting a 5 minute commute to work? gainesville to fairfax, you are looking at 45-60 minutes.

A so so commute to DC from Gainesville means just that... it's so so. It's good day trip to be tourists. The OP will be working in Chantilly. Not everyone works in DC.

Regardless I still give a thumbs up to Gainesville.

[jmarquise]

gainesville is ok. I lived in PWC and had to commute to chantilly and it took an hour each way, but that was because I had to either deal with clifton, or 28. it's probably better in gainesville because you could just pop onto 66.

Originally Posted by HEATHER72

A so so commute to DC from Gainesville means just that... it's so so. It's good day trip to be tourists. The OP will be working in Chantilly. Not everyone works in DC.

Regardless I still give a thumbs up to Gainesville.

[Snickmash]

I live in Bristow which is right next to Gainesville. I drive to Falls Church for work and my husband goes to Springfield. It really isn't that bad. I leave at 6am and get to Falls Church by 6:50. (Via 29.) It takes the hubby about 60 minutes to get to work. I think it is worth the drive to live here. I love it. I feel safe and the neighborhood is clean and friendly. The homes are priced nicely and it is quite. I moved here about 6 months ago. I think it is a great area. The only complaints about traffic are the Nissan Pavilion traffic and the Beltway. Both of which are avoidable. I really don't fee like traffic is as bad as people make it out to be.