Relocating family with four small children to the D.C. area (Arlington: rental, townhouse)

[al1703]

My husband and I are relocating from Pennsylvania to the D.C area for my husband's job. My aunt currently lives in Silver Spring/Chevy Chase area and my sister lives in Alexandria, VA. Its like the Penn State/Notre Dame rivalry over where is better for us to live. We don't want to be too far out of D.C and we want an area where there is a community with young families and good schools. We are going to rent initially until we decide where we want to be. My husband works at the Navy Yard stop near Nationals Stadium. We looked at the Cameron Station complex in Alexandria and never thought about the townhouse option until we saw this community. Any suggestions?

[FindingZen]

What is your preferred rental range? Does your husband prefer to drive or is he open to taking the Metrorail?

A townhouse in the more popular areas of Arlington and Alexandria as well as Fairfax County is likely to go for more than $2000/month.

Many families looking for more value and space head out to Loudoun and Prince William Counties and often points south. The trade-off would be a rather lengthy commute of more than an hour to DC, unless your husband can request a flexible schedule to arrive before or after normal rush hour.

[claremarie]

You can find communities with young families and good schools on both sides of the river. The biggest factor in your housing search will be your budget. Commuting to the Navy Yard will be much easier from Virginia. Alexandria City schools do not enjoy the same reputation for quality as Fairfax County and Arlington County -- but be aware that some neighborhoods with an Alexandria mailing address are actually in Fairfax County. Though buying is still down the road, keep in mind that it will be difficult to get a SFH within an easy commute of DC, in a good school district pyramid, for under $500K.
As for the townhouse option -- only you can decide whether that will work with four young children.

[ChristineVA]

There have been three of my mom's co-workers who work in Silver Spring for the government. All of them took promotions at the Navy Yard. All of them left those positions as quickly as they could because the commute to the Navy Yard from Montgomery County was pretty brutal. I work at the Navy Yard and I would say that there is a real minority of people working there that come from that area. There is something about that particular commute that is not good.

So, I would have to vote in favor of Virginia.

I live in Woodbridge and commute (by myself) to the Navy Yard. I work either 6:00 a.m. to 2:30 or 6:30 to 3:00. Either shift is fine for commuting and I rarely have a problem at those hours (exception being last week when the tractor trailer accident happened in Newington. I got to work at 6:35 when I should have been there at 6:00). When I worked later hours, I made use of the slug system. Many coworkers take the bus and are very happy with that. Moving farther north like Springfield would be even better. Depends on what you can afford.

[Yankeesfan]

Yes, what is your budget for rent, and have you checked into whether your husband will be getting a transit subsidy from his employer?