Young family moving to Herndon Area (Reston, Centreville: 2015, rental, townhouses)

[rb4595]

Thanks in advance for any help. My husband and I are looking at relocating for his job in Herndon (on Dulles Tech Drive). We currently live in Utah (college town of about 50,000) near Salt Lake City. We have a 3 year old and a 1 year old. Just wondering where around Herndon would be a good place to live? We are looking for good schools and a safe neighborhood within a 30-45 minute commute for him. I know traffic can be terrible around there and I don't want him to be spending hours stuck on the freeway. I am also concerned about the neighborhoods as we have lived in a safe town where most people don't even lock their front doors. Any other thoughts for us? I know the cost of living is higher, so we will have to downsize from our 3500 sq ft house but what are typical housing costs out there? We have lived in Utah/Wyoming our whole lives and are nervous to move cross-country with two small children. He has other opportunities in Helena, MT and Canton, OH that we are looking at as well.
On another note: I am a speech-language pathologist and work part-time/prn at a large urban hospital on their neuro rehabilitation floor. Are there any larger hospitals nearby?

[mdcrim]

Housing is pretty expensive in this area. If you give us a budget we can help you. Single family homes range from $400k and up. So a huge difference in prices.

[FCNova]

Parts of Herndon are very nice, but as you know pricey. If you're willing to go up to 45 min commute you have options to move further out. A friend of mine lives in Lovettesville and works in Herndon and supposedly does it in 45 minutes each way, although Lovettesville is really far out so I'm kind of skeptical about that. So if your budget didn't work in Herndon you could look into Ashburn, Leesburg, Sterling, South Riding, Chantilly, Centreville, potentially Lovettsville or Purceville. Hard to say without more info like what you're looking to spend.

[nuhusky11]

you have inova health system which has a number of hospitals in the area and Reston Hospital may be another option. To put things into context, Reston/Herndon 4 bed 3 bath 1970 house thats updated will cost you north of 600K, probably closer to 650K now.

[dmv101010]

I choose montana. This is a wonderful area to live if you have the means, but a nice 3bedroom rental would be at least 2,000 a month and that is not including utilites. And living further out only equals a nasty commute so if you choose this area, live where you work.

[Old Monkey]

To echo the other posters to this thread:

Are you willing to pay between $500K -$600K for a SFH? If so, you can begin to look at schools, communities, and the other items you mention in your post. If the answer is "no," I'd suggest you take the Herndon job off your list. It sounds as if you have options.

[stpickrell]

You can get a SFH in Leesburg for $400k or so. It'll be 1960s or 1970s vintage, but it's doable. Leesburg-Herndon is not a bad commute at all.

[rb4595]

We would be looking around 400-500k. We aren't afraid of renovating, as we have bought and renovated three houses. Unfortunately, we keep moving so never get to enjoy our hard work long term. A shorter commute would be ideal, but I also want great schools- which it looks like Fairfax County does in the right area. What about Reston or Chantilly? It would be helpful to know what way the traffic flows in the am/pm commutes. I am assuming towards DC?

[JfromReston]

400-500 K in Reston is a great price range for townhomes - a little on the low side for detached homes.

[patriot201]

That budget will buy you a townhouse in Reston and Chantilly.


The commute from Reston and Chantilly typically heads mostly towards DC and the Dulles Coridor (Sterling, Ashburn, western Herndon, etc.). However, to be 100% honest, traffic in the DC area is so outrageous that there isn't actually much "against traffic" traffic.


Depending on when you're planning to move, there are some new townhouses (Ryan and NV Homes at Discovery Square) being built in the Oak Hill area, which is halfway between Chantilly and actual Herndon. Unless they change the school assignments, the assigned schools will be Floris ES, Carson MS, and Westfield HS, all of which are excellent schools. I'm not sure when those will be ready for move-in, so if those don't work for you, there are many other options available.

I would search for homes in 20171, 22033, and 20151 and see if you like what you find. You should see a WIDE range of homes available in those ZIP codes.