Thinking of moving to NOVA...suggestions? (Reston, Leesburg: wood floors, fit in, section 8)

[baygirl]

We are contemplating a move to either NOVA or San Jose, CA. I know that these are two very high priced areas as far as realestate is concerned, but if we are not entertaining purchasing a home...where is the best place for a family to live. Our background info is such: We are a family of five. We have a highschool daughter and two younger sons (8 and 7). My husband has been offered a job in both places. We are an average middle class family and our income will be in the range of $80,000 to $100,000. We don't want to pay anymore than $2200.00 per month for rent. We need at least a 4 bdrm, 2 1/2 bath with a two car garage. My husband's job will be in Fairfax and I can either work at Dulles or BWI. The school district is of major importance and while we currently reside in a suburb and like the ammenities that many housing subdivisions offer, we are hoping to live somewhere that encourages walking as opposed to requiring driving to grab a loaf of bread or gallon of milk. My husband likes to run and would prefer easy access to jogging trails (pretty jogging trails...not a maze of paved trails with nothing to look at but houses) and I am a hiker so would prefer access to some sizeable park or moutain trail.

I have seen that traffic is an issue in both of the areas that we are considering and neither of us work traditional hours, but will likely have to do some traveling at some point during such hours. We want to be able to go into the DC Metropolitan area and take advantage of all that the city has to offer whenever we can, but living in DC Metro is not conducive to two young boys who like to run around. In addition...we are interested in a diverse community where not only the academics of the school are good, but the athletic programs are reasonably accomplished. All 3 of our children run for a year long track club and the boys play soccer.

I understand we are asking a lot...but any insight would be helpful. We are hoping to narrow our search down to at least 5 places that we can visit in the next month and make our own conclusions. When giving suggestions, please let us know relative distance to Fairfax and Dulles airport (or BWI).

Thanks, I look forward to comments!!

[Dingler]

Move to Reston VA. A nice town half way between Fairfax and IAD (Washington Dulles). BWI is 50 miles from Fairfax.

[dullnboring]

I feel that Reston indeed would be your best bet. It's located approximately 8 miles from Dulles Airport (with access to a toll road that will zip you there quicker than the local roads) and around 10-12 miles from Fairfax, depending on where in Fairfax your husband will be working. As far as cost of living, it's quite expensive in Northern Virginia, and it may be difficult to find a rental home in your price range. You may have to settle for a townhome, generally one with three bedrooms and a finished basement that you can use as a fourth bedroom. This should lower the cost a bit and I would think would make things affordable. I would recommend using a site like Craig's List and plugging in your requirements and seeing what pops up. If you rent a townhouse, most likely you will have to compromise on the two-car garage requirement and settle for either no garage and two assigned parking spots, or a one-car garage with a small driveway. Reston isn't perfect but then again, no place is and I think it'd be very difficult finding the perfect fit in the DC area for you with the criteria laid forth....

Originally Posted by baygirl

The school district is of major importance and while we currently reside in a suburb and like the ammenities that many housing subdivisions offer, we are hoping to live somewhere that encourages walking as opposed to requiring driving to grab a loaf of bread or gallon of milk. My husband likes to run and would prefer easy access to jogging trails (pretty jogging trails...not a maze of paved trails with nothing to look at but houses) and I am a hiker so would prefer access to some sizeable park or moutain trail.

This is a hard one to fulfill. It sounds like you want more of a community with a sort of traditional downtown with great walkability. That's hard to come by in the DC area which like much of the US is sort of sprawly and geared towards the car with residential areas isolated from retail (which usually comes in the form of strip malls with chain stores and massive parking lots). With that said, Reston is a bit "better" than most suburbs. It was a planned suburb in the 1960s I believe, designed specifically for integration, both on a social level and an economic level, and it also tried to incorporate the area's nature into residents' daily lives, by leaving some trees and woodlands intact, creating manmade lakes, and installing a plethora of walking and bike trails throughout the community. It's not an incredibly walkable community, unless you happen to find a place right next to a shopping center which is a possibility I suppose, but it's better than most of the DC area in that respect. I like the area around Lake Anne.

Schools are good with a plethora of athletic programs both inside the school and on a local level.

So, no place is perfect, but I think Reston is definitely one of the communities you should check out when you're in town.

[baygirl]

Thank you for your responses. We have been monitoring Craigs list and the have found several rentals that are close to if not better than what we are looking for. Many of the homes/townhomes don't differ too much from where we live now other than the fact that we live in a single family dwelling with a good deal of open space. We own here and would like to keep our house and rent it out...just in case things don't work out. We figured if we could rent a place there for the price of our mortgage here we should be in good shape. I see Ashburn listed alot...can anyone tell me something about that area? We will plan on visiting Reston as it seems to be well recommended. The schools don't garner the best rating though. What's up with that?

[5stones]

D&B, very well put and insiteful.

a walkable community with trails not through houses but nature is kinda an oxymoron. To be able to walk to the store hte library etc... the houses are going to be closer together and the trails will wind around through them or along the streets. Reston is very nice it has shopping the town center with resturants etc... But it's older and so it has some nice wooded areas that were left in tact! It wasn't a clear cut community, alot of TH are hiden amongst the trees.
But 2200 a month for a 4 bedroom will be tough to come by in Reston.

Ashburn is a little futher out so the commute into Fairfax will be longer. But Dullas is about 10min at most away. But Ashburn is not as pretty (to me) as Reston. Yes it has trails and the rec center and shopping and alot of the TH are a walkable distant to the strip malls with grocery stores etc... BUT it is very HIGH density housing...condos, TH and single family houses packed together. It's cheaper though and with the Loudoun county market in slump you'd have a better chance at finding a 4 bedroom.

[dullnboring]

I live in Ashburn and have posted about it quite a bit here. I recommend using the search function at the top of the page to dig up some of my (and others') older posts on it.

Ashburn is....Wisteria Lane. It is pretty much quintessential suburbia. It's soccer mom central. I don't think I've ever seen so many girls named Caitlin concentrated in such a small area.

Seriously, it's pretty much your standard planned suburban community. Few things are older than 15 years old, most less than 10. It was a planned community much like Reston, but unlike Reston this planning took root in a different time period so it turned out differently. While there are sidewalks and walking paths and manmade lakes here, as well as liberally placed soccer fields and baseball field and rec centers, it's not a heavily wooded area and the housing in general is of very similar stock. You know, that suburban sort of model where there's maybe five or six models in each community? That sort of thing. Ashburn is sort of divided up into different sub-communities, each with their own shopping center, rec center (I think) and sporting fields and schools. I live in Ashburn Village. There is a large shopping center (I mean of the strip mall variety, not an indoor mall) with all of your basic daily amenities, that is actually within walking distance both to my place and a good number of single-family homes, condos and townhouses. There is more shopping of the big box variety (Target, Barnes and Noble, Wal-Mart, etc.) around 10-15 minutes away in Sterling and the Leesburg Outlets the same distance in the opposite direction, with the Dulles Town Center (a large indoor shopping mall with tons of mini-malls on it's periphery) less than 10 minutes away.

As 5stones said, Ashburn is higher-density than many other suburbs and it's also got a mixture of townhouses, apartments, condos and single-family homes, none of which seem to dominate as opposed to other suburbs which sort of tend to section off one section for one type of housing. Crime is very low. Schools are pretty good. There are TONS of kids around. It attracts more younger families than Reston which has more singles. Traffic is horrible. Pretty much any travel out of Ashburn will require a jaunt on traffic-clogged Route 7 or Waxpool Road, unless you take the Toll Road (which for both of your commutes to Dulles and Fairfax isn't really a likelihood). Ashburn is around 12 minutes from Dulles Airport in NON-rush hour traffic, but around 30 minutes during rush hour. During non rush hour, Fairfax is around 30 minutes away, while it will likely be 45-60 minutes during rush hour.

As far as the lower-performing schools in Reston, it's chiefly due to the fact that since Reston was designed with integration in mind, a certain amount of housing was set aside for Section 8 and other low-income housing (note: there are no ghettos in Reston, and this housing often is integrated into a larger nicer community and looks little like low-income housing that you see elsewhere in this country), so the schools pull from these areas where kids don't have as much parental supervision and where not as much of a priority is placed on education, so therefore, the school scores reflect this. However, the schools in Reston are perfectly fine in terms of curriculum and opportunities available. The same gifted programs and extracurriculars offered in "better" schools in the district are offered in Reston as well. Basically, if your children are geared towards academics, they will have all the tools at their disposal whether in Reston, Ashburn or elsewhere in Northern Virginia, just with varying degrees of exposure to students of different economic levels.

[baygirl]

Again, I want to thank you guys for your responsesdon't necessarily care for the walking trails to be in the actual community...just near the community. I believe we could deal with some socioeconomic diversity. Likewise, I don't think either of us are opposed to a commute of 45 minutes or so. I look forward to visiting both of these areas. As for the townhomes, are there spaces for children to play? Like a common area? We are well used to tightly put together houses in subdivisions. This is the case where we live currently and it makes it easier to keep an eye on the kids when they are at a neighbors.

Thanks again and please feel free to share any more insights.

[5stones]

yes, the townshouse "subdivisions" will all have "tot los" and community pools and tennis courts. most have small yards, some TH yards are actually bigger than some single family house yards! (like mine, we refer to 'yard" as a patch!)

[baygirl]

It sounds like a great place. The townhome communities are fairly new developments here in our part of Ohio and I'm not too familiar with the set-ups. Can you hear through the walls? Are all of the basements finished? Do any or most of them have a two car garage? I'm also looking for activities that the children might be able to be involved in to meet people. Their ages will be 7, 9, and 15.

[5stones]

Since Ashburn is newer the construction is better. The TH are VERY nice. We almost bought one but then the priced dropped on this house is in leesburg and we were able to get into a single family home for the same price.
Friends of our rent a TH in Broadlands (ashburn neighborhood) they have never complained about hearing through the walls. It's a beautiful TH cherry wood floors, granite kitchen etc...

Most of them have finished basements.

alot have 1 car garages some have 2car and some have none. If they have a 2 car then they usually don't have a basement (just a small utility or laundry room) the 0 garages have the bigger finished basement because that is where they put the garages. (understand?)

Bedroom space was what we found was lacking (we have 3 kids as well) and most of the TH were 3 bedrooms and the 2 kids rooms were small! some will have a 4th bedroom and a full bathin hte basement. That is how our house is and our 12 year old LOVES haveing her own space downstairs (away from her little sisters)

Keep checking as people are renting thier houses more frequently right now to get through the slow selling time and housing slump. (we may have to do this with our house...losing any more than 50k would kill us!)