Vienna to the Pentagon on the 66? (Burke, Franconia: house, good schools, to live)

[mahjon25]

Can anyone help me please?
We are moving to the area in July and my husband will be working in the Pentagon. We had initially decided on Springfield/Burke area to live because of good schools/shopping.

However, Vienna looks good as well. Could anyone please tell me if the drive to the Pentagon is easier on the 66 vs. the 95 from Springfield?
He should be driving on "off" hours to work, so which do you think is better.
Also, any and all opinions on the Vienna area would be greatly appreciated! We are looking for good schools (elementary), shopping, and commute.

[VEIK]

I66 is HOV2, you do know that, right?

[pcity]

She said "off" hours though, so HOV may not apply. Depends on what hours.

Ease of driving is kind of a tossup if you're not driving during rush hour. I will say that in my experience, 66 gets jammed easier than 395 does, because 66 only has two lanes inside the beltway.

If you're Metroing, or you think you might switch to Metro at some point, I would definitely choose Springfield, because both Pentagon and Springfield are on the Blue Line.

Also, no one says "the" before the interstates here. Must be a Californian.

[saganista]

Yeah, we've got THE GW Parkway and THE Beltway, but just 66 and 95 and 123 and 50 and all the others. No article before the numbers.

Anyway, driving would depend on how "off" the off-hours were. If they were outside of the actual rush hour, the Pentagon would be about 25 minutes from either Burke or Vienna, a little less from Springfield. But Metro might be a better idea than the car, given that the Pentagon station is inside the building itself, and that assuming the employer is the federal government, the Metro SmartBenefits program will pay up to the first $230 per month of your Metro fares for you tax-free. The train time from Franconia/Springfield to the Pentagon is just about 25 minutes. From Vienna, you would need to change from the Orange Line to the Blue Line at Rosslyn. Total train time would be about 30 minutes, assuming the change of trains went well, which it should at most hours.

Both the Burke and Vienna areas are meanwhile very nice. I live in the Vienna/Oakton area so am maybe a little partial to that, but really that whole outside-the-Beltway (I-495) swath that runs from West Springfield through Burke and on up through Vienna is pretty similar territory in most regards. I kind of like the proximity to Tysons Corner that being in the northern part of that swath provides, but then you've got Tysons traffic too, so it's not all sweetness and light. Still, you'd likely have to do something really wrong to mess up in either of these areas...

[terrence81]

I second saganista. Live in the same area and love it. So Vienna is tops with me. However, I'm thinking the commute from Burke would be easier because you can just get on 395 which is an overall better freeway than the joke known as 66. Neither will be pretty though. I'm thinking it'll be about 45 minutes to an hour give or take in rush hour. Depends on what you call off hours, if you're talking just getting up early like leaving the house at 5 then 66 still won't be an option because it turns into HOV pretty early at least by 6 am but maybe by 5 am, don't quote me.

Either one will be good and either one will have about the same commute. Good luck and welcome to VA.

[mahjon25]

Thanks everyone! Sorry about my "the" before freeways! Actually we are from Texas...not California!
I think we will stick to the Springfield/Burke area then since we will also have a really good train option like you said!

[saganista]

HOV hours on 66-East inside the Beltway are currently 6:30 to 9:00 and haven't changed in a good while. You're supposed to be off of it by 6:30, but from Vienna, you should be if you left at 6:00. In fact you should be looking for a Pentagon parking spot by then. The run on 66-East from the Beltway to 110-South is maybe 10-12 minutes at a speed limit pace. I haven't done that trip at that hour in a long time, but I never had problems with it when I did. I've never had to use 395 to commute at all. Just very used to hearing on the radio that the backups northbound begin already at Newington or Occoquan. That can't be good!

Still very worth exploring the suitability of the Metro option from either area. SmartBenefits basically makes the trip free except for parking at or near a Metro station. Hard to beat free...

[mahjon25]

Thank you so much!

[Denton56]

If you live near Vienna metro, you will have the best of all world's for commuting to the Pentagon. It's about 30 minutes by car, or you can just jump on the metro.

[normie]

Originally Posted by mahjon25

Thanks everyone! Sorry about my "the" before freeways! Actually we are from Texas...not California!
I think we will stick to the Springfield/Burke area then since we will also have a really good train option like you said!

LOL, not a problem. Anyway, just wanted a chance to say welcome to VA. By the way, what part of Texas are you in? I lived in Houston a long long time ago. One thing my Texas friends get a kick out of is when the grackles fly through in late October. They're only here for a few days, and for some strange reason they only fly through in the fall on their way down to Texas. The spring migration takes a different route, apparently.