Military couple moving to NOVA - need help on inside beltway neighborhoods (Arlington: rentals, how much)

[sheepish_lion21]

Hello!

My husband is an officer and will be stationed at the Pentagon for 2 years. I work from home and we have a 14 month child, along with 2 dogs (30# and 60#) and a cat (I know, going to be fun trying to find housing). We would like help in deciding various neighborhoods to choose a rental in as we will most likely be unable to make a househunting trip out before we transfer, so we may choose something remotely. Any and all help is appreciated.

-Where you are working? Pentagon. Want to keep commute short using public transit. Short is <30 mins and prefer no transfers. Bus or metro are fine.

-How much you are willing to spend on housing? $2500-$3500/mo for rental. Prefer lower end, but want to enjoy this tour and live in a great neighborhood so we can enjoy the city, so willing to go up to the high end.

-Wants in housing: 3 Bed w/ Den or 4 Bed. 1 car garage, or basement with easy accessibility like outside entrance. Fenced yard for the dogs and child. 1700 sq ft house would be nice. Inside beltway. <30 min commute, but willing to go up to 40 mins if right area.

- Schools are not an issue since we will transfer before that becomes a concern.

-What type of neighborhood environment you are looking for: A kid and pet friendly community. Walkability to parks, restaurants, coffee shop, etc. Sidewalks would be nice. Close to trails would be a bonus, but I know they abound in DC so not too far to one almost anywhere you live inside Beltway.

- possible neighborhoods: Aurora Highlands, Arlington Ridge - I remember these 2 being really nice areas about 8 years ago. Curious about neighborhoods along Columbia Pike: Penrose, Alcova Hts, Arlington Hts, Barcroft, Columbia Hts and even further out like Lake Barcroft and Baileys Crossroads. Also curious about neighborhoods north of 50 like Arlington Forest, but commutes get longer with metro transfer and possible bus to metro. Finally, also interested in heading south towards Old Town Alexandria like Del Ray (hear great things about) and North Ridge. Also open to other neighborhoods that I may not have discovered yet, but these are the ones we've been looking into the most.

Feedback is much appreciated.

[tysonsengineer]

God I love the military format filling out of the where to live rules. I hate when people ask for advice and dont give these basic parameters.

Just for that, I'll bite and help out (with my opinion of course)

To best optimize the shortness of the commute to Pentagon, you want to avoid a transfer from one metro line to another (or to have a bus option, of which there are many).

This means
- the areas of Burke, Van Dorn, Kingstown if you want to retain a suburban feel
- the areas of old town alexandria, braddock road, huntington if you wanted more of a quaint old town feel
- the areas of Pentagon City and Crystal City if you want city living and really short rides (though from your background it sounds like you would rather have some extra space)

For the 3br, you could probably find a larger townhome in the Duke St Alexandria, Huntington, and Braddock Road areas (again with short metro rides) and have the benefit of some nice things to do in the $3000 per month range. A lot of people love Braddock Road and Duke St because of their adjacency to Old Town Alexandria.

Walkability and restaurants vibe is definitely doable with that. You would not get that as much from Burke, and in Kingstown or Van Dorn you get a limited walkability (mostly just where there are the town center style shopping centers).

As far as the neighborhoods you noted

Columbia Heights (DC) is gonna be tough to do to Pentagon. You'd be better of if you want a walkable DC vibe to look at Eastern Market, atleast then you wont have a transfer to the blue line.

Baileys isn't very walkable. Columbia Pike is getting there, but again it isnt to the level of Arlington proper, Old Town Alexandria, or like I said in DC Eastern Market.

Del Ray is nice, its more suburban so to go into town you will likely need to use the car. Bus access is a bit tougher from there also, metro is no go without a 10 minute bike ride.

[EXIT Cornerstone]

I'd suggest Burke or Springfield. The NoVa area has an informal commuter system known as "slugging" (ostensibly because drivers going into DC proper will pick up 2 riders so they can use the HOV lanes...thus, the free riders are called slugs). I spent 3 years in the Pentagon and this was the way to go (other than the buses)...the slug lines are typically at each major park/ride spot; you stand in line...when you're first a driver pulls up, leans over and asks "Pentagon?"...your husband will say "yes!" and jump in with another rider..off you go to the Pentagon in 20 minutes ... for free. Works in reverse quite well too... Go to [SIZE=3][URL="http://www.slug-lines.com"]www.slug-lines.com[/URL] to check it out. Even if he works late, he can always take the subway to the Springfield station where you can pick daddy up...good luck![/SIZE]

[Carlingtonian]

Three colonels within two blocks of us here in 22205--but commuting via Metro does require a transfer to get to the Pentagon.

Sorry, but every single area you named other than Arlington Forest has not-so-great schools. Pentagon is on the blue and yellow Metro lines, and that's true of basically all the areas along that corridor.

I'd suggest Springfield and doing park-and-ride at Huntington. Or possibly Annandale--but that's a bus transfer.

Good luck.

[Vectorhead]

I would check out West Springfield. It has several express buses (straight to the Pentagon, 30 minutes) and you should have no trouble finding something in your price range. It's outside of the beltway but not by much. If you live in the area bounded by Rolling Road, Old Keene Mill, Carrleigh Pkwy and Forrester Blvd, I think it would meet your walkability requirement. It's not a small-town-quaint-shops type of walkable, but you can walk to the grocery store, post office, several restaurants, gym, etc -- comes in really handy during snowstorms!

[OrangeFish]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

I'd suggest Springfield and doing park-and-ride at Huntington. Or possibly Annandale--but that's a bus transfer.

Many Pentagon Express Bus options in the Annandale area.

[Fallout Zone]

I wouldn't be so quick to discount a transfer. I just plugged in East Falls Church to the Pentagon at 7:30am and got a 23 minute commute. I'd check out the listings in 22043, 22046, and parts of 22205 and 22207 for an inside the beltway but suburban feel. I guess one question would be whether your husband would drive to the metro (I believe parking at West Falls Church is easier than East Falls Church), or if the property has to be within walking distance.

Given that schools are not a problem, I don't see why areas along Columbia Pike, specifically Penrose and Alcova Heights wouldn't be a good target. The 16 buses run to the Pentagon, making an easy commute.

[slduvall]

Adding some other concerns you may not have considered.

Hospital - you will required to get your care at the nearest facility to you. (if you chose not to go off base) if you are south of Pentagon, you will be assigned most likely to Fort Belvoir (branch of service is not relavant) which has a great new hospital.

Comm/BX - There is also a new Exchange as well as a large commisary on Belvoir.

That said Kingstowne (22315) is just outside the north side of Belvoir. Full of military, with lots of TH rentals. You are in luck if you only want a single car garage, though there are 2 cars to be had as well. Lots of trails, amenties, near shopping, with a suburban feel. And a quick 5 minute away from the Blue Line at Franconia.

[Carlingtonian]

I didn't see the part about schools not being a concern. In that case, the most bang for their buck with the shortest commute would indeed be S. Arlington or Baileys Xroads; there are direct buses from the Mark Center to the Pentagon, so if you live somewhere near MC, then he could maybe walk or bus there.

OrangeFish is right about express buses; I'd thought folks had to take a bus to get to one of those express buses, but I guess it depends on where you live in A'dale.

[sheepish_lion21]

Are Penrose and Alcova Hts safe neighborhoods? I had someone warn me about living along Columbia Pike saying one street may be nice and next straight over may be sketchy. I was reading that the further West you go from the Pentagon along Columbia Pike, the less nice it gets, but also read that Columbia Pike has been in a positive transition the past several years.

How do you know if a bus is an express bus? I tried searching on WMATA and couldn't see anything that said express bus.

Where is the Mark Center? On N. Beauregard by Winkler Botanical Preserve? That's what I mapped, but just want to make sure I'm looking at the proper area.

What is Annandale like? Cute town? Walkable? It seems like you can get a lot more for your money there, but still be inside the Beltway.

Hospital/BX - do NOT plan to use military facilities. Will find off base Docs, so convenience to that and BX is not a concern. I can't really stand the produce at the BX, so usually don't shop there except to maybe stock up on canned goods every once in a blue moon.

Metro/bus accessibility - DH will walk or bus it to a metro if he needs to take the metro in as we don't want to drive to any park n' ride or Metro parking. So, that may limit our options even more when considering commute time.

Parking at Pentagon - anyone know about parking at Pentagon? Realistic to do so, or public transit the usual means? DH has his motorcycle license, so we may purchase him a motorcycle which would open up some commuting options such as parking at a metro stop/park n' ride, or driving to Pentagon. Is motorcycle parking usually easy to come by at metro parking/park n' rides?

Thanks for all the feedback!