Work in Alexandria, Where to live with family? (Arlington, Springfield: rentals, townhouse)

[mike57]

Hi, we are relocating to take a job in Alexandria (North Fairfax Street) and need to find a place (house?) to rent. We do not know the area. We have two elementary school age children, so we would want a safe and "family friendly" area. Looking for 3 bedrooms within a one hour commute in the price range of 2000-3000. Any thoughts or ideas on where we should begin looking?

[juniperbleu]

I don't know a lot about the schools, but try looking in Alexandria (Del Ray has a lot of families), North Arlington, or maybe the Fairfax County areas of Alexandria and Falls Church. For all of those areas you'd be under an hour commute. For your budget, look at places a little further from the metro line, and you should be fine. The only thing is, you'll probably be looking at a townhouse.

[Flamingo13]

I'm in the West End of Alexandria (City) - I know our neighbors rent the house next door and I don't know what they pay but it can't be that much and it's a 4 BR (although one really should be called a den it's so small) - I'd check out Realtor.com for rentals (I'm in 22304 if that helps).

I bet many are renting out now rather than selling. Good luck and I hope you love it here (we do for the most part).

[Tone509]

I would second the suggestion of looking into the Del Ray section of Alexandria. It's a sort of "hip" area for young families and other laid-back adults. The neighborhood elementary school (Mount Vernon) and library (Duncan) are located next door to each other and I saw a lot of kids from one to the other after school. I'm fairly certain that you could rent a home in your range; in one of the coffee shops, I've seen flyers with homes for rent in the $2000's.

And of course, it's a quick commute to Old Town (N. Fairfax). If your company doesn't cover parking (which is possible) then you could take one of several buses that travel down Mt. Vernon Avenue through Old Town.

[mike57]

Thanks for the info, we will definitely check out Del Rey area. Obvioulsy we would probably be able to get more housing for the money outside the beltway, would the commute be unbearable? Outside the beltway would we would look east to Maryland, further south or west in VA or north to MD? If an hour commute is not reasonable outside beltway, what would be your suggestions for a 1.5 hr commute? Thanks for all your help. The posts on this forum have been very helpful, especially for us because we have no knowledge of area . Open to any and all ideas on rental housing that is good for family of four, older parents with twins in first grade
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[irisheyes13]

You might want to look around the Fairfax section of Alexandria (zip code 22315 for the Kingstowne/Island Creek areas) or parts of West Springfield (22153). I think that commute would still be very reasonable. You may want to consider townhomes as an option because they are plentiful in this area and free up lots of time in the nice weather because you won't need to do a bunch of yard work every Sat

Not sure if you have looked at this site but they list rentals there as well..

http://www.militarybyowner.com/states/va.html

Good luck!

[mike57]

Thanks, we will check out those areas as well.

[emmie1]

Try Waynewood (22308), which is a very family friendly neighborhood in between the GW Parkway and Fort Hunt Road in South Alexandria (south of Old Town but north of Mount Vernon). The local elementary school is Waynewood ES and has favorable reviews. Hollin Hall Village (22308, off Fort Hunt Road) would also be a good option as well, however, the homes are smaller than Waynewood. The commute up the GW Parkway would be a breeze into Old Town as well.

[slduvall]

I live in Kingstowne and there is a 3200 sq ft end unit TH for rent on my street. I saw it in Militarybyowner.com for $2700. It will be hard to find a house that big for that much with a decent commute. My husband commutes to just south of Fairfax, and if he leaves early enough and takes Van Dorn to Eishenhower over to Duke it can take about 20 minutes. Of course that gets longer if you don't leave early enough. But no need to get on the highway, which is great.