Burke or Springfield? (Arlington, Reston, Chantilly: house, safe neighborhood, to buy)

[mlv311]

What can you tell me about Burke versus Springfield? My husband is working in downtown DC (Capitol Hill). Our temporary quarters are in Herndon and the commute has been horrific. Looking online, we have found affordable single-family homes in those areas, but we'd like to hear from others familiar with those areas. Ideally, my husband would like to have the option of catching the VRE or driving to a metro station rather easily. I'll be a SAHM so I'd like a family-oriented, safe community to raise our child.

Thanks in advance,

Maggie

[saganista]

Hmmm. Herndon to Capitol Hill. Very bad. Between Burke and Springfield, there isn't such a whole great deal of difference. Springfield is a little more densely populated, but there are some great areas there for young families, and you'd have access to Metro. It's 45 minutes to Capitol South, which is a block from the House office buildings. As for Burke, it's pretty close to classic suburbia. VRE is an option alright, and for some people it's the best option, but it simply isn't (yet) the full-service operation that Metro is. Scheduled run-time from Burke to Union Station is 50 minutes. Last inbound train is at 8:13am, last outbound is at 6:50pm. There'd be a 15-minute or so walk to/from the House Office buildings, the Senate ones, maybe half that. If you could tolerate the more urban setting of a place like Pentagon City, you could cut the overall commute time in half, but it isn't the kid-friendly area that either Burke or those selected areas of Springfield would be. There are other options beyond those two communities, of course. I assume you've considered many of them. At the risk of starting to sound like an ad-man for them, some time perusing at www.trulia.com might pay off. They list the details of just about every property currently on the market almost anywhere, and you can get a very good idea of what your money will get you where, and also stand a good chance of bumping into some of the better bargains that are out there. It's a very worthwhile resource...

[mlv311]

Thanks for your input. We are open to considering other communities that meet our primary requirements. Other than Vienna, Oakton, Dunn Loring...are we missing other areas that would be family-oriented and easier to commute into DC? We'd like to buy a single-family home with a minimum of 3 bedrooms. Any particular zip codes we should look into?

Thanks,

Maggie

[saganista]

Originally Posted by mlv311

Thanks for your input. We are open to considering other communities that meet our primary requirements. Other than Vienna, Oakton, Dunn Loring...are we missing other areas that would be family-oriented and easier to commute into DC? We'd like to buy a single-family home with a minimum of 3 bedrooms. Any particular zip codes we should look into?
Thanks,
Maggie

Well, those would be three prime areas to rule out, as they all meet the safe, kid-friendly, and convenient to Metro objectives. So would most of the western portion of Falls Church, southern McLean, and some areas east of Fairfax City. Far North Arlington would also qualify, but as you get in there you may start adding a good deal to a drive to Metro. Down south, Franconia and Kingstowne are good alternatives just east of Springfield. North Springfield is served by the Backlick Road VRE station, but it's not an area that I'm familiar with, so I can't give it either a thumbs up or down.

Zip codes aren't as easy to work with in my view. Kingstowne for instance is all in 22315, but Franconia is partly in 22315 and partly in 22310. Springfield is in 22150, and the Franconia/Springfield Metro station is just about at the point where those three zip codes meet. Up north, it's even worse, as there are many zip codes that serve the areas I mentioned. 22180, 22181, 22182, 22027, 22031, 22042, 22043, 22046, 22101, 22213...I probably missed a couple...

[rubytue]

Between Burke and Springfield, I'd suggest Burke for a very family oriented atmosphere. That said, there are areas of "Springfield" that are closer to Burke than what most folks thing of as Springfield. In my mind, "Springfield" it the area right around the mixing bowl, the mall (which is scary) and that general area. But if you go out Old Keene Mill Rd, Springfield gets very nice. I have some friends who live of Rolling Rd and LOVE it. They do most of their shopping and socializing in Burke. The strip malls in Burke are very family oriented. I met some friend there for dinner one night, and while I was waiting (30 minutes b/c I got the time wrong!), I didn't see one group of only adults walk by. It was either a group of giggling pre-teens or a family.

[mlv311]

Thanks for the feedback on both areas. We'll have to go sightseeing around the areas and try out the morning commute from Burke. I appreciate your input on different parts of Springfield.

Saganista: Thanks again. Trulia is a neat site. It's been very helpful.

Anyone else has any suggestions?

Regards,

Maggie

[vasinger]

It may sound crazy, but why not just live in Washington, DC ?

[mlv311]

If we could find and afford a single-family home of the size we need in a safe neighborhood in DC, we'd do it.

[dullnboring]

One way to think of the two areas in reference to Herndon is that Burke is generally similar to the outskirts of Herndon, those areas on the town's periphery going towards Reston and Chantilly (i.e. Floris, Oak Hill, Franklin Farm, etc.) whereas Springfield is similar to the actual town limits of Herndon, in being a bit older and grittier in parts in comparison to Burke's squeaky clean quintessential suburbia. I recommend checking it out one weekend since you're only around a 35 minute drive away, and comparing the two. Springfield is closer in and has better access to D.C. as others have said.

[claremarie]

DC is not a viable option for a family, unless they are either prepared to pay for private schools or so devoted to public education that they are willing to put up with the abysmal DC public school system.
My sister lives in Burke, near the Rolling Road VRE station. She works near GWU downtown, and has had a good experience with both the VRE and the Metro station at Springfield. However, she works very regular, predictable hours, so the limited VRE service works well for her. The high school is Lake Braddock (it actually is a secondary school that begins in grade 7). There is a somewhat aging but still nice rec center with an Olympic-size indoor pool nearby on Braddock Road (Wakefield/Audrey Moore), which also includes extensive ball fields and a new skateboard park. Plenty of shopping nearby, though my sister usually travels to Tyson's rather than the rather dismal Springfield Mall.