Alexandria/Springfield/Franconia (West Springfield, Dunn Loring: homeowners association, townhouses, neighborhoods)

[chevychaser]

My sister, brother-in-law, and two little nephews are moving down to NOVA in a couple of weeks. My brother-in-law has to commute for a couple of months over to Andrews Air Force Base and then is switching positions and has to commute over to Dunn Loring area. They are thinking about S. Alexandria/Springfield/Franconia. Anyone have suggestions of places to focus on or areas to definitely avoid for a family and they also have a small dog so they are looking at THs or SFH. Want to keep the commute somewhat tolerable.

[saganista]

There are a lot of nice things about Franconia/Springfield, but I might think as well about just biting the bullet those first couple of months and looking at places in and around Dunn Loring. Would probably add 25-30 minutes to the Andrews commute, but after that, it would certainly make the on-going commute to Dunn Loring a lot easier. There are quite a number of nice spots up that way, some pretty expensive and some not so much. It's otherwise a fine area with easy Metro access, great schools, parks, sports, and all the other amenities. Might be something worth looking at...

[chevychaser]

would be probably the smart thing to do but they will only be here for a year since the Dunn Loring job is training for State Dept. Want somewhere inbetween Andrews and Dunn Loring so he can minimize time away from the kids.

[rose421]

For SFH I suggest they look at the Bush Hill Woods & Gunnell Estates community. It is very family oriented and has playgrounds and easy access to shopping, metros, highways. Same for the Wilton Woods and Clermont neighborhoods. All are off of Franconia Road in Alexandria. Nearby, off of Van Dorn Street, the Kingstown community has large townhouses as well as some SFH. Lots of shopping and restaurants. The Alexandria/Franconia area was selected as one of Money Magazine's "Best Places to Live" in the small town category a couple of years back. In Springfield, the West Springfield area has nice communities and great parks. I hope this is helpful.
Good luck to your sister and her family!

[Yankeesfan]

Kingstowne is a great neighborhood for families. There are two neighborhood pools and two workout centers included in the homeowners association dues, plus tennis courts and walking trails. There are playgroups and other hobby-type groups that meet in the community centers and a workout co-op, where some parents watch the children on a rotating basis while the others work out or swim. The other neighborhood mentioned by Rose 421 are very nice too. They are single-family neighborhoods, while Kingstowne is mostly townhouses but also some single-families.