Where to live, job near L'Enfant? (Arlington, Alexandria: foreclosures, rental, how much)

[Gahki74]

We are a young family with 2 children (ages 2 and 4) relocating to the DC/NoVa area for 2 years. We are overwhelmed with the options and opinions from various sites and are looking for some direction in our search for a home. We are looking for a single family rental home (need yard for our dog).

Our top requirements are:
-close to metro or transit as husband's job will be near L'Enfant plaza
-good elementary school as our oldest child will start Kindergarten next Fall.
Our rental range would be in the $2000-$2500 range.
I will be a stay at home Mom with our youngest child so we would love to be in an area that is family/child friendly. Our original search directed us towards Gainesville due to the newer/larger homes and lower prices. This is, however, out of the question because of the commute time to L'Enfant.

Where would you suggest we search for our rental? Any information is greatly appreciated!

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by Gahki74

We are a young family with 2 children (ages 2 and 4) relocating to the DC/NoVa area for 2 years. We are overwhelmed with the options and opinions from various sites and are looking for some direction in our search for a home. We are looking for a single family rental home (need yard for our dog).

Our top requirements are:
-close to metro or transit as husband's job will be near L'Enfant plaza
-good elementary school as our oldest child will start Kindergarten next Fall.
Our rental range would be in the $2000-$2500 range.
I will be a stay at home Mom with our youngest child so we would love to be in an area that is family/child friendly. Our original search directed us towards Gainesville due to the newer/larger homes and lower prices. This is, however, out of the question because of the commute time to L'Enfant.

Where would you suggest we search for our rental? Any information is greatly appreciated!

What is your husband's max preferred commuting time? You may find you need to compromise between land and commute in such an expensive area as this.

My best suggestion in terms of convenience would be Kingstowne (22315). It's definitely family-friendly and has all of your typical midscale shopping and restaurant chains. Your husband would be a short bus/kiss-and-ride away from two Metro stations. Actual train time would be 30-35 minutes, including a quick transfer for the Yellow Line to L'Enfant Plaza. The catch? Your budget would afford you townhomes.

A slightly less convenient but comfortable alternative might be West Springfield/Burke although I'm not knowledgeable on the rental prices for SFHs there. Burke has a Virginia Railway Express commuter train that goes directly to L'Enfant Plaza.

[buildinginva]

A friend of mine lives in Manassas Park near the VRE and says the schools are good there. It will be slightly less than an hour commute to L'Enfant and you can get a lot more for your money there.

[patriot201]

If you are looking in Prince William County, I would stick to Gainesville if good schools are a priority. Some other areas might be okay, but it is hit-or-miss.

[Gahki74]

Originally Posted by Tone509

What is your husband's max preferred commuting time? You may find you need to compromise between land and commute in such an expensive area as this.

My best suggestion in terms of convenience would be Kingstowne (22315). It's definitely family-friendly and has all of your typical midscale shopping and restaurant chains. Your husband would be a short bus/kiss-and-ride away from two Metro stations. Actual train time would be 30-35 minutes, including a quick transfer for the Yellow Line to L'Enfant Plaza. The catch? Your budget would afford you townhomes.

A slightly less convenient but comfortable alternative might be West Springfield/Burke although I'm not knowledgeable on the rental prices for SFHs there. Burke has a Virginia Railway Express commuter train that goes directly to L'Enfant Plaza.

I would say that my husband's max commute time would be 1 hour each way. With that said, we really don't know if that is a reasonable expectation? Is there an average "rule of thumb" commute for the area? Obviously he would rather have the shortest possible commute but I guess finding the perfect balance is what we are hoping for.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions and pointers. Keep 'em coming!!

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by Gahki74

I would say that my husband's max commute time would be 1 hour each way. With that said, we really don't know if that is a reasonable expectation? Is there an average "rule of thumb" commute for the area? Obviously he would rather have the shortest possible commute but I guess finding the perfect balance is what we are hoping for.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions and pointers. Keep 'em coming!!

There are a number of families here, often with a stay-at-home spouse, who desire a newer single family home with a "typical" amount of suburban spaciousness. Such families often find themselves in Loudoun or Prince William Counties, which are definitely over an hour commute from DC, even by train.

Loudoun, which has the Dulles Airport/Tech Corridor and Tysons Corner job/retail center nearby, is generally more expensive than PW but still less than comparables further in Fairfax/Alexandria/Arlington.

Prince William, which is far from most job centers and has the notoriously slow I-66 and I-95, also has a relatively high number of foreclosures. That doesn't mean that there aren't nice places to live here.

As mentioned before, the Virginia Railway Express will mitigate the commute from PW. If he wants/needs to be in his car, he should either negotiate a flexible schedule to arrive at work before 7:00 or after 9:30... or learn about the slugging (http://http://www.slug-lines.com/ - broken link)lifestyle.

From Loudoun, his best bet would be to take the county's express commuter bus into DC. He may have to hop on the Metro briefly (<10 minutes) after that.

[akorosdc]

Originally Posted by Tone509

From Loudoun, his best bet would be to take the county's express commuter bus into DC. He may have to hop on the Metro briefly (<10 minutes) after that.

If I remember I could take a look at the route number, but a Loudoun bus passes me every morning on my way to work, as I'm crossing Independence Ave near L'Enfant.

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by juniperbleu

If I remember I could take a look at the route number, but a Loudoun bus passes me every morning on my way to work, as I'm crossing Independence Ave near L'Enfant.

Oh that's good news for the OP then!

[robbobobbo]

It depends on how much yard and how big of house, and how new of house, you want. I, for one, value not having to commute an hour each way to work and it boggles my mind each time I see people recommend Manassas, Gainesville, or Loudoun county to someone who will be working in downtown DC. And then we get to have more threads about how terrible traffic and commuting is in Northern Virginia.

There are plenty of family friendly places nearer to DC. You'll get less housing space, smaller closets, etc, for the money, but you won't be spending as much money or time commuting. Most schools in Northern Virginia are good, and you stated your oldest is starting kindergarten next year, and you're only staying in the area for 2 years? So your child will get only to 1st or 2nd grade by the time you leave for another location? In that case, I wouldn't get too concerned about school A versus school B.

I think the Kingstowne suggestion is a good one.

[adolpho]

Originally Posted by robbobobbo

it boggles my mind each time I see people recommend Manassas, Gainesville, or Loudoun county to someone who will be working in downtown DC. And then we get to have more threads about how terrible traffic and commuting is in Northern Virginia.

It's a viscious cycle. LOL! They sound like 22152 folks to me. The school and commuting options (especially to L'enfant) will be extremely difficult to beat, especially for the money.