Moving to NoVa to work in zipcode 20166. Good neighborhoods around this area? (Reston: crime, houses)

[angie2012]

Originally Posted by Caladium

20166 covers a lot of territory. Can you give us a street intersection?

In general, the towns in that area are all friendly. I would avoid the area in the immediate vicinity of the Sterling Park DMV (near Sterling Blvd. and Holly), and probably also anything down near Dulles Airport.

There are lots and lots of threads on the personalities of the various communities; I'd recommend using the search function to learn more about them.

At the risk of making generalizations, here are some loose impressions. Reston is in many ways the artsiest and has the most stores/things to do. It's more or less the hub of the area. Cascades is my personal favorite and has a lot of parks and a pleasant vibe. Herndon often appeals to people who like older architecture (not that you'll find anything historic out in this part of Nova--it's all relative). Sterling Park appeals to people who like diversity. You may encounter some petty crime in some (not all) of the Sterling Park neighborhoods. It's not a bad area, per se, but don't rent here sight unseen--walk in the neighborhood first to see if you feel comfortable in it. Ashburn/Brambleton is upscale and very nice, but a little pricey. Also, it's a little bit of a drive to most parts of 20166. There are smaller neighborhoods with their own personalities, which would be easier to tell you about depending on the intersection you give us.

Your comments were very helpful and it is a great way to give us the feel for each place. I'm not sure if you are familiar with Miami, but what we are looking for is the Coconut Grove of NoVa, meaning an "artsy" neighborhood with great parks, shops and central in many ways (close to airport, downtown Miami, I-95). This type of neighborhood is usually more expensive, but we are willing to sacrifice and get a smaller place as long as we are in a good location.
The office is a few blocks South of the Dulles Town Center. Now that I am mapping it out it looks like Potomac Falls could be a great location. Any thoughts about this town? How about Ashburn? We are looking for towns a little further from the airport to avoid the noise. Thank you!

[Margery]

Potomac Falls (20165) would be an excellent location for you, close enough to be an easy commute and far enough from the airport that noise won't be a problem. The Countryside area and the Cascades area both have shopping centers and walk/jog paths thoughout the community. In addition, there is a regional park (Algonkian) on the Potomac River with access to the river for boating and a public golf course. Try Homes for Sale and Rent in DC, Maryland, Virginia | HomesDatabase.com and search zip code 20165. There is also an area in 20164 which is north of route 7, south of route 7 you are getting closer to the airport, and 20166 is very close to the airport

[JfromReston]

Originally Posted by angie2012

Coconut Grove of NoVa, meaning an "artsy" neighborhood with great parks, shops and central in many ways (close to airport, downtown Miami, I-95). This type of neighborhood is usually more expensive, but we are willing to sacrifice and get a smaller place as long as we are in a good location.

Welcome to Reston!

https://www.city-data.com/forum/north...uth-lakes.html

GRACE,About

Welcome to Reston Association

https://www.reston.org/ParksRecreati...%2fr3Xcw%3d%3d

Reston Town Center - Shopping

[Caladium]

Potomac Falls is a section of Sterling. It's the part north of Rt. 7. It's split into two big communities (Countryside and Cascades) as well as some other, smaller neighborhoods. I don't think there are any precise borders, but basically it's everything north of Rt. 7.

It's a very nice area. Miami Springs would be a relatively good equivalent (except, of course, Potomac Falls is much newer. It's also bigger, and has more shopping, much more in the way of community facilities and a community college, so maybe Miami Lakes or the nicer parts of North Miami Beach would be more accurate). Reston would be closer in personality to Coconut Grove. Sterling Park would be closer to Hialeah. Brambleton would be Miami Lakes.

Reston to Dulles Town Center would be a 10-20 minute commute, depending on what part of Reston you're in. If you choose a place in Potomac Falls your commute will be from 10 minutes to (potentially) walking distance. Although I'm not sure I'd want to walk to work if it's near DTC as the roads there are pretty busy. There are a huge number of stores and restaurants right near Dulles Town Center. A minor league stadium is being built near there, as well (although they do seem to be building is slowly ). It's not as artsy/hip as Reston but I think it's a nice area to live if you want to be right next to work.

[angie2012]

Originally Posted by Margery

Potomac Falls (20165) would be an excellent location for you, close enough to be an easy commute and far enough from the airport that noise won't be a problem. The Countryside area and the Cascades area both have shopping centers and walk/jog paths thoughout the community. In addition, there is a regional park (Algonkian) on the Potomac River with access to the river for boating and a public golf course. Try Homes for Sale and Rent in DC, Maryland, Virginia | HomesDatabase.com and search zip code 20165. There is also an area in 20164 which is north of route 7, south of route 7 you are getting closer to the airport, and 20166 is very close to the airport

Thank you Margery, this is great!

[angie2012]

Originally Posted by JfromReston

Welcome to Reston!

https://www.city-data.com/forum/north...uth-lakes.html

GRACE,About

Welcome to Reston Association

https://www.reston.org/ParksRecreati...%2fr3Xcw%3d%3d

Reston Town Center - Shopping

Thank you, Reston really looks great! One more question: looks like Reston is near the airport, any plane noises around there?

[angie2012]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Potomac Falls is a section of Sterling. It's the part north of Rt. 7. It's split into two big communities (Countryside and Cascades) as well as some other, smaller neighborhoods. I don't think there are any precise borders, but basically it's everything north of Rt. 7.

It's a very nice area. Miami Springs would be a relatively good equivalent (except, of course, Potomac Falls is much newer. It's also bigger, and has more shopping, much more in the way of community facilities and a community college, so maybe Miami Lakes or the nicer parts of North Miami Beach would be more accurate). Reston would be closer in personality to Coconut Grove. Sterling Park would be closer to Hialeah. Brambleton would be Miami Lakes.

Reston to Dulles Town Center would be a 10-20 minute commute, depending on what part of Reston you're in. If you choose a place in Potomac Falls your commute will be from 10 minutes to (potentially) walking distance. Although I'm not sure I'd want to walk to work if it's near DTC as the roads there are pretty busy. There are a huge number of stores and restaurants right near Dulles Town Center. A minor league stadium is being built near there, as well (although they do seem to be building is slowly ). It's not as artsy/hip as Reston but I think it's a nice area to live if you want to be right next to work.

I can't even imagine a commute to work of less than 20 minutes! Right now it takes us 45 minutes to 1 hour to get to downtown Miami on a good day... This is great, we went from not having any idea of where to start our search to having target communities to consider. We will definitively start our house hunting with Reston and Potomac Falls. Thank you so much for your help!

[Caladium]

Not to confuse things, but since you said you're ok with long commutes, if you really want something more urban and hip, you might want to consider Clarendon or living right in DC.

Reston is the artsy area of eastern Loudoun/western Fairfax, and it's what I recommend if you're working near Dulles Town Center. However, it's also way out in the burbs and has plenty of chain stores and things like that. I personally think Reston has the perfect combination, but there are some who look at Reston with disdain as being too suburban. You'll find more of an urban artsy vibe closer in to DC... but (and this is a big but) traffic here is really bad. An hour's drive here is more than I would be willing to tolerate. But for some people it's worthwhile.

Also, regarding the comparison of Sterling Park to Hialeah--the two are nothing alike when it comes to crime. In fact all of northern VA has significantly less crime than Miami.

One other little confusing note. The metro area out near Dulles Town Center has no city governments. Therefore borders are not exact and several names are often used for the same area. Reston is really the only area that has pretty well defined borders. You've probably already noticed that the same neighborhood may be called Sterling, Cascades, or Potomac Falls. The Post Office assigned neighborhoods to either Sterling, Ashburn or Leesburg by zip code, but the areas covered by these names are so large that it's almost meaningless so many people use neighborhood names instead. It makes sense after you've been here a few weeks but is very confusing for new residents.

[saganista]

Originally Posted by Caladium

It makes sense after you've been here a few weeks but is very confusing for new residents.

I've been here 40 years and it still doesn't make any sense.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by saganista

I've been here 40 years and it still doesn't make any sense.

Of the three, I think Sterling causes the most confusion. Basically anything east of 28 got assigned to Sterling, although these communities have very different personalities, and are geographically separated. Oh, and some areas west of 28 are apparently in Sterling too. I have to drive 20 miles to get to the airport, yet technically we're in the same town. Yah, that makes sense. The Ashburn communities are at least all near each other and have common personalities. Some of the neighborhoods that got assigned to Leesburg are odd choices. How on earth did Lansdowne get put in Leesburg when it's a significant distance from what most people think of as Leesburg, and is much closer in distance and personality to the Ashburn communities?