Communities in Woodbridge?? Help is very much appreciated... (Alexandria, Dale City: low crime, townhouses)

[MovefromFla]

Hello, once again, another Woodbridge question. Does anyone know anything about the following communities in Woodbridge?

Can you please recommend any communities that we should try to avoid? We have been looking at communities in Madison Farm, Old Bridge Estates, Forest Vista, Rollingwood, Westridge, and Lake Ridge, of course..

My question is more in terms of safety, low crime, etc., family-oriented. We have a 4 year old son.

Of course we will be visiting these communities shortly, but a personal input is welcome

Any input is very much appreciated...

Wish I belonged to this forum when I decided to move from Massachusetts to Florida.... (I am not a big fan of Florida).. It has been so helpful

[jessnboys]

Hi Movefromfla...me again. I'm gonna rack my brain on Madison Farm as it sounds soooo familiar but I just can't place it. As far as Westridge, Lake Ridge, and Old Bridge Estates go it's really just one big area of Lake Ridge. The areas blend into one another and it was built prior to developers taking a patch of farm land, clear cutting all the trees, putting down a bunch of cookie cutter homes on top of each other, and not connecting it to anything else. Lake Ridge as a whole is very nice, very woodsy. Everyone I know who lives up there loves it (I used to be in the L.R. Moms Club) and although I'm not familiar with each individual elementary school, the High School is rated well. The homes for the most part are older (1970/1980's) and range from townhouses, ranch, and colonial homes. Lake Ridge surrounds Old Bridge Road which has 4 or 5 strip malls along it with your grocery stores, shops, etc but there are a lot of trees so it doesn't look as obnoxious as other parts of PWC. Westridge is on the north part of Old Bridge and runs into the Occoquan River. It's newer and in that regard perhaps a bit nicer? Old Bridge Estates is on the southern side of Old Bridge Road and there are certainly some really nice larger homes in there, but it does eventually blend into Dale City so you'll just want to be aware of which end you buy in.

I know both Madison Farm and Forest Vista are new and I'll have to do some checking to make sure I'm thinking of the right developments before I write about those. Is Forest Vista a Pulte development from about 5 years ago perhaps? Off Purcell Road? There are sooooo many new developments with nondescript names that they're easy to forget.

Rollingwood is a shopping center and I'm guessing the homes around it. Will get back to you on that too.

Good luck in your search. Lake Ridge is extremely family oriented and has a wonderful playground called Fantasy Playground that your son will LOVE. Will get you the address for that too.
Take care, Jess

[jessnboys]

Originally Posted by MovefromFla

Hello, once again, another Woodbridge question. Does anyone know anything about the following communities in Woodbridge?

Can you please recommend any communities that we should try to avoid? We have been looking at communities in Madison Farm, Old Bridge Estates, Forest Vista, Rollingwood, Westridge, and Lake Ridge, of course..

Ok, I figured out where Madison Farm and Rollingwood are. Personally, I would avoid both but you'll get a better feel when you come. Rollingwood is basically Dale City IMHO. If you're looking for Lake Ridge, this is the definite edges of it. Rollingwood falls into Dale City and the lines are kinda blurry. Not saying that all of Dale City is bad, just that if you're looking for Lake Ridge, I'm not sure this is it.

Madison Farm has always struck me as an odd place to put a development. I guess it is the exact definition of "smart growth" in that they took a very small patch of land located between two office buildings and utilized the land to its fullest. The dev't is across the street from a WAWA, a Strayer University building, Kohl's, and Home Depot Strip Mall and doesn't seem to have more than a few dozen homes. And at the non-existent entrance to the neighborhood is....a 7-11 gas station.

I know you're concerned about commuting, but if you end up looking at the southern end of PWC, take a look at the following communities: Ashland (plus Ashland Reserve and Ashland Executives), Lake Terrapin, Winding Creek Estates, Montclair (and Southlake at Montclair), and there's a handful of new home communities being built on Spriggs Road between Minnieville and 234. When you come to visit, drive down Minnieville Road all the way from Old Bridge Road in Lake Ridge down to 234 and it'll give you a good look at the county and you can compare areas.

I know we mentioned it on the other thread, but if I were moving to the area (or staying in the area), I'd most definitely consider Bristow and Gainesville.

Good luck with it all!
BTW, couldn't find where Forest Vista is. It's not the community I was thinking of. Do you have a street name for a house in that community? Then I could mapquest it and figure out where it is.

[jessnboys]

Ok, when you come to visit, make sure you give your son a break from driving around and let him explore Fantasy Playground. It's a huge wooden structure that my sons love to explore. It's at the intersection of Hedges Run and Cotton Mill Drive. Hedges Run is off of Old Bridge Road, at the Giant Shopping Center. Head north on Hedges Run, and then make your first right at the stop sign at Cotton Mill. The swimming pool is on your left and the playground shares their parking.

Have a fun trip up here!

[Tish Thompson]

Have you checked out LakeSide aka Prince William Commons? It's a townhome community right off of Prince William Commons. It's a newer community and the homes are reasonably priced.

[kenny34]

check out club potomac it's right off 95 and route 1 across from potomac hospital, brand new homes in a gated community , nice club house ,a rock climbing wall, fitness center, there's even going to be shops with in walking distance ....pulte homes has the best floor plans, and they have alot standard features that come with the house...

[MovefromFla]

Thank you Everyone. Thank you espcially, Jessnboys. This information was extremely helpful. I can't believe I did not join this forum when I was moving from Massachusetts to Florida. It would have saved me a lot of time and aggravation.

The reason I mentioned those communities is because they were all in zip code 22192, which I understand is in Lake Ridge and would shave a few minutes off my commutte.
Am I correct?
I will definitely check out the areas you mentioned! Thanks again
Please feel free to PM me as well..


-Maryland

[jessnboys]

Originally Posted by MovefromFla

The reason I mentioned those communities is because they were all in zip code 22192, which I understand is in Lake Ridge and would shave a few minutes off my commutte.

If you're set on Lake Ridge, I'd skip Madison Farm too. I'm surprised it's considered Lake Ridge to be honest. Very fringe edge I suppose but really it's attached to the Potomac Mills Outlet Mall Sprawl.

As far as commutes go, it all really depends where you're going. If you're commuting up 95 then yes, being near 95 in Lake Ridge will give you an advantage. But being on the far western end of Lake Ridge (Westridge, Old Bridge Estates), means you have to trek down Old Bridge Road before you can even get on 95 so that will add time to the commute. Unless you're going to western Fairfax County, in which case it would be better to be on the western end of Lake Ridge as you can get on the Prince William Parkway and cut through Clifton or take it up to 28 in Manassas (and from there to 66).

Club Potomac does look nice but I'd be concerned about which schools they are zoned to. The Porter Traditional School is near there (it's a PWC school but you have to apply to get in) so that would be an option for elementary school but I would guess the kids go to "not the best" middle/high schools. But for commuting purposes, yeah, you are RIGHT off 95.

Prince William Commons is very nice and is basically Lake Ridge...just extended out a bit past the edge that has Westridge/Old Bridge Estates. I was so hoping they'd build more than a handful of cute shops in there and really make the town center shopping district it originally advertised itself as. Very beautiful homes/townhomes though. Not sure where those kids are zoned to though. Perhaps Penn ES in Queensdale (Dale City) around the corner? Not the greatest. Very convienent for driving to Fairfax Cty though as it's on right off the PW Parkway.

You have a million choices in PWC, especially since it sounds like the job location hasn't been nailed down yet?

Good luck with it all!
Jess

[jessnboys]

I totally got PW Commons confused with County Center! Ignore my post above about Lakeside/PW Commons (or rather, when you read it, remember I'm thinking of County Center across from the McCoart Gov't Complex).

Lakeside is a collection of townhomes across the street from BJ's (PW Commons) on the Prince William Parkway. It's very close to 95 (and everything else at Potomac Mills) and is larger and with a nicer entrance than Madison Farms but again, I'd be concerned about schools (Gar-Field HS). It's definitely not Lake Ridge.

I read your post about Manassas...is your housing budget the same...450k? For that amount there's no need to look at townhomes (unless you really want one). There's a number of single family homes in that price range that wouldn't have been attainable just a year or two ago. I guess you're buying at the right time!

[MovefromFla]

Jessnboys, you have been so helpful.

You are correct in indicating that we have not yet nailed down a job as yet. However, at the risk of sounding overconfident, I feel comfortable that we will both find jobs (smile). The question is where.

We are both in the financial arena (accountants) and the jobs in the Nova area for that field seem to be plentiful. I guess there is a reason why I have been so anal about this move (smile). We are planning on moving to Nova to be closer to our families in Alexandria, Lorton, and Silver Springs, MD. In addition, we would like to have easier access to Massachusetts, and New York (as opposed to living in Florida) where we have family as well. We love the Nova area and we have visited many times.

The reason we selected Woodbridge is because of the close proximity to Lorton and Alexandria. In addition, all of Prince William County seems to have more affordable homes than Fairfax County.

As far as the job market, we are looking in Springfield, Ft. Belvoir, Manassas, Fairfax City, and Chantilly. I am hoping the commute won’t be too much, however, I realize now that no matter where we live in Nova, we will have traffic.

Regarding Manassas, we shied away from there because we were under the impression that it had a terrible MS-13 gang problem, and it was further away from our family in Lorton and Alexandria. Please correct me if I am wrong.

If Manassas is a better option as far as commutting, schools, quality of life, and lower crime, please, please let me know. That was actually my husband’s 1st choice instead of Woodbridge.

As far as the school system, we are more interested in the school system because of resale value. We plan on sending our son to the Holy Family Catholic School in Dale City..however, based on prior posts, and researching Potomac news, we don’t want to live in Dale City. If we live in Manassas, we will send him to private school there as well. Thanks again for all of your help..