Fredericksburg Commute to DC: Is It Worth It? (Leesburg: quality of life, live)

[erock139]

hello all,
it's been quite some time since the last post. I wanted to revisit this thread and curious if there are any updates since 2014. My wife is expecting baby #2 and due to COL standards in Nova (currently Springfield), we are tossing around the idea of moving to Fredericksburg. She wants a SFH and the cost of buying one up here is a little wild.

Is anyone still commuting to DC from Fredericksburg? Or have you moved back up? Have the new HOV/HOT lanes helped the commuting situation?

thanks,
e

[MixxDiddy]

I, personally, wouldn’t do it. What’s the use of buying a SFH that you’ll barely be in? You’ll be at work for at least 8 hours and in traffic for almost 3 hours (maybe 4 or more some days), you’ll be shelling out so much money in gas, etc. why do that to yourself? I say it’s better to either bite the bullet and get a more expensive home closer to DC, or move to a less expensive metro area.

[NOVA_guy]

I'll give you the same advice I gave the person on page 1 -- not worth it. Your quality of life suffers commuting all the way out there, I don't know how people do it.

[HokieFan]

Originally Posted by erock139

hello all,
it's been quite some time since the last post. I wanted to revisit this thread and curious if there are any updates since 2014. My wife is expecting baby #2 and due to COL standards in Nova (currently Springfield), we are tossing around the idea of moving to Fredericksburg. She wants a SFH and the cost of buying one up here is a little wild.

Is anyone still commuting to DC from Fredericksburg? Or have you moved back up? Have the new HOV/HOT lanes helped the commuting situation?

thanks,
e

I think commuting that distance would be best by using VRE. I know people who choose to have that type of commute, I even know of people who commute from farther away. They are somehow able to make it work but personally, the negatives of that commute would far outweigh the positives.

[ChristineVA]

You don't say if your wife works or not.

I would consider it if one person worked outside the home and one was a stay-at-home parent. With both parents working, would not EVER consider it.

[aklymchuk]

Sameride Commute https://www.sameride.com is an option to commute between Fredericksburg and DC for free with mobile app for on-demand carpool along express lanes.

[erock139]

just a heads up gang, as others might inquire later. We purchased in Stafford (exit 140) directly east off of Courthouse Road. The area is booming and exit 140 will have an HOv exit. We both work in DC and neither of us can afford to “lean out” at this time. We will either all drive on the HOV (babies are in daycare in dc) or some combination of vre and slug lines, depending on who has to arrive at what time to the office.
We were able to buy a new sfh for about the same price as the townhome we sold in Springfield. We just hope home prices continue to rise. I work in IT and perhaps will start looking for other options in Stafford/quantico/f’berg after we have officially moved in. The schools aren’t Fairfax county but they’ll get there as the area continues to attract talent.

If anyone has any questions please reach out. It wasn’t an easy decision but with the new baby we just weren’t going to fit in the TH and we don’t like having neighbors attached.

E

[mumodragons]

Originally Posted by erock139

just a heads up gang, as others might inquire later. We purchased in Stafford (exit 140) directly east off of Courthouse Road. The area is booming and exit 140 will have an HOv exit. We both work in DC and neither of us can afford to “lean out” at this time. We will either all drive on the HOV (babies are in daycare in dc) or some combination of vre and slug lines, depending on who has to arrive at what time to the office.
We were able to buy a new sfh for about the same price as the townhome we sold in Springfield. We just hope home prices continue to rise. I work in IT and perhaps will start looking for other options in Stafford/quantico/f’berg after we have officially moved in. The schools aren’t Fairfax county but they’ll get there as the area continues to attract talent.

If anyone has any questions please reach out. It wasn’t an easy decision but with the new baby we just weren’t going to fit in the TH and we don’t like having neighbors attached.

E

Thanks for the update. We are looking to purchase in Stafford area and my husband would commute to DC 3x/week. He has a flexible-ish schedule and I stay home with our kids. Do you think the VRE would be truly horrible in our situation? He is the one who is pushing for Stafford - he wants more space.

[e2ksj3]

I have family in Fredericksburg and it is a nice area, that being said I would never live there if I had to make the trip to DC or NoVa via I-95. There is just too much traffic and it is usually unpredictable even working only 3 days a week. I would rather live along I-66 corridor or look out in WV, or consider MD if I wanted a newer inexpensive SFH. There is just too much thru traffic in 95 corridor with too few options.

[erock139]

F'Burg and Stafford are about 18 miles apart. The exits are about 10 miles apart, also depending whereabouts on Route 3 or Route 17 in F'Burg (both with crazy traffic). We spent a night in F'Burg just to try it out, and so long as your near 95 AND HOV, it's doable, but still ~48 mins on a good day with HOV. We were close to 95 when we tried it. Remember, you're always sacrificing one thing over another.

We settled on Stafford, exit 140, which was (again) 18 miles further north. There will be a commuting lot there, and it's very accessible to the VRE (check the times and schedules). For a SFH, I'd do anything only three times a week. At the end of the day, if HE'S the one doing the commute and is ok with it, then great. While he's doing the commute you'll be with the kids and in charge at home until he arrives. Something to think about. It'll be close to a 10 hour day for him, not counting if he needs to stay late.

One last thing why we decided on Stafford, against anything along route 66. There are only 2 lanes leaving DC out west along route 66. It opens up a little later, and you can always pay tolls to ride faster, but the bottleneck is no joke leaving DC along Constitution Ave. Drive each of them at peak time and see how it feels. Don't make a decision whiteout testing it out.