Work in Tysons - Commute from Ashburn (Arlington, Reston: townhouses, established neighborhood)

[spencgr]

I was on the DTR at 7:30 today and stayed at 65 MPH the whole way. Boy, do I love Spring Break week!!

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by spencgr

I was on the DTR at 7:30 today and stayed at 65 MPH the whole way. Boy, do I love Spring Break week!!

Yes, you get the same for most of the summer as well.

[DCmum]

Originally Posted by tysonsengineer

From what I have heard, if you can be on the 267 toll road before 7am (ie the ramp from 28 to 267) then you can cut it down to 30-35 minutes. Of course, that is indicative of future population growth just leaving earlier which means that will continue to deteriorate just as it did in Centreville, Gainsville, Bristow, etc.

Eventually, DTR will be just like I-66 where unless you leave at 6am, you are in rush hour. Whether the Silver Line will help that issue, well fingers crossed, which is why I let the OP know that the silver line could help. But I think telling someone Ashburn to Tysons is 25-30 minutes for most people is simply not realistic and not sustainable beyond maybe the short term.

Yea but that would mean leaving my house at the crack of dawn which is not worth it for me, I enjoy those extra minutes of sleep :-) btw , it took me 30 minutes today, yey spring break

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by DCmum

Yea but that would mean leaving my house at the crack of dawn which is not worth it for me, I enjoy those extra minutes of sleep :-) btw , it took me 30 minutes today, yey spring break

May I ask (for my own knowledge and anecdotal evidence) what were your reasons for selecting Loudoun in ranked order of the following

- Bigger house
- Less Cost
- Schools
- Lifestyle
- Safety

ie re arrange the above from 1 to 5 please (1 being the biggest reason why and 5 being the least)

[DCmum]

Originally Posted by tysonsengineer

May I ask (for my own knowledge and anecdotal evidence) what were your reasons for selecting Loudoun in ranked order of the following

- Bigger house
- Less Cost
- Schools
- Lifestyle
- Safety

ie re arrange the above from 1 to 5 please (1 being the biggest reason why and 5 being the least)

I don't know if you read that I just switched jobs, reason why I have to commute to Tysons. I selected Ashburn because it was commutable to my job at the time as i was working in Herndon, so having a small child and being a single mother I was looking for a safe area not too far from my job. I did not really like Herndon ( commercial buildings and nothing else for the most part), Reston was nice I almost moved there, but got a good deal on a townhouse with a garage in Ashburn and that was only 8 miles from my job in Herndon at the time. Now, that I work in Tysons, I am ready to move. To be honest, Ashburn was a bit too suburban for me, i am a city girl and I remember the first time i drove through Ashburn I just wanted to scream ( was living in Georgetown before that , so imagine the culture shock ) . I hate not being able to walk anywhere, I wish NOVA had more walkable cities/town. I am excited to be able to move back close to the city, even though Tysons is really not my first choice as I feel it lacks a lot of culture/community feel, so I don't know yet where I am going to move, but I am not staying in Ashburn !

[stpickrell]

Originally Posted by tysonsengineer

May I ask (for my own knowledge and anecdotal evidence) what were your reasons for selecting Loudoun in ranked order of the following

- Bigger house
- Less Cost
- Schools
- Lifestyle
- Safety

ie re arrange the above from 1 to 5 please (1 being the biggest reason why and 5 being the least)

My picks:
4a: People just seem more laid back here than closer in. I'll gladly sacrifice a few points on Greatschools for neighbors that aren't busy busy busy all the damn time -- some of this might be our kids growing.
4b: I didn't like being the poor yuppie on the block and I wasn't able to sit on 100k's of home equity because I lucked out in 1998. I freely cop to the insecurity.
4c: I like being able to walk to downtown Leesburg and the things to do there, it beats "random place in Ashburn" and "random cul-de-sac in Chantilly." Either I stress out b/c of the commute or I stress out b/c of the larger mortgage. Better to have $$$ to enjoy the nearby amenities than have a primo commute but no money to enjoy anything or nothing to walk to. FWIW, my wife is blind and until the driverless car is available I have made living within walking distance of a few bars/restaurants a sine qua non.
4d: Being closer to family -- both my parents and my ILs live in the Shenandoah Valley helps.
4e: My personal preference if I were parachuting from outside the DC area entirely would be for a rowhouse in downtown Frederick but my family and I have made friends, etc., here and living in Arna Valley for six years has made my wife a determined SFH person.

2: Yes, for 400k I was able to get a 3000 sf house that was an easier walk/drive to daily errands and entertainment options, as opposed to Vienna where I was paying more for a smaller house and there's really not that much in terms of daily shopping (I ended up going to Fairfax for most of my shopping needs other than Giant). If I were to move back to Fairfax it would almost certainly be near downtown Fairfax.

5: Not really a factor. I lived in Arna Valley for six years, just about anywhere in Northern VA will have better neighbors than there. Yeah, they tore down the apartments but there's still plenty of crappy duplexes; whenever I show people on Google Maps where I lived their comment is that it's the ghetto. I never did feel personally unsafe, we were not the victims of direct property crime, but having drug dealers across the street (hell, my sister and her husband ID'd them within 3 hours of visiting us), two boarding houses with 10 or so residents within 5 houses on either side, and next-door wall-sharing neighbors that would get in 1am screaming matches does take a toll on people.

So I'll include "terrible neighbors" in the safety bit although I can see how it might be included in the lifestyle bit.

That -- IMO was the biggest financial mistake of my life -- my wife and I could have afforded up to 450k which could have gotten us something nice along Route 29 in Arlington or further out on Wilson Boulevard back in 2002. Instead we focused on saving $$$ in housing and instead of going to Vienna/Fairfax, we bought in a marginal area that didn't skyrocket the way places like Columbia Heights DC has. Yes our place went up in value but by the time we bought into better areas, the train had taken off from the station.

1: Having a larger house is nice. On the other hand, it's not a be-all, end-all. I'd adjust to whatever house size I have, although a family of 4 probably would like about 1200sf without getting really cramped. Even before kids I never really had a problem with families that wanted more space or thought they were selfish, etc.

3: Leesburg Elementary is a lower scoring and has a higher FARMS rate than Vienna ES. Both are fine schools.

[Ex bubba]

Take the metro from Herndon to Tysons

[FCNova]

Originally Posted by stpickrell

My picks:
4b: I didn't like being the poor yuppie on the block and I wasn't able to sit on 100k's of home equity because I lucked out in 1998. I freely cop to the insecurity.

Really? How would your neighbors be privy to your financial situation, i.e. how you financed your house, how much equity you have, etc.? I think a lot of the 'keeping up with the Joneses' stuff around here is self-manufactured. I'm 35 and I've grown up in Northern Virginia. Trust me, nobody else cares how much or how little money you have.

This doesn't go in the lifestyle section(4), this is in the 'bigger house,less cost' section, which is the main reason why everyone moves out to Ashburn or Leesburg. I guarantee if you polled the population and they could've gotten a similar house in Vienna, Reston, Mclean, Fairfax, etc most of them would've. You may be an exception, but I can guarantee you you are an exception.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by Ex bubba

Take the metro from Herndon to Tysons

Yes, an option 5 years from now....

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by DCmum

Yea but that would mean leaving my house at the crack of dawn which is not worth it for me, I enjoy those extra minutes of sleep :-) btw , it took me 30 minutes today, yey spring break

I have a novel concept for you. However, I know it will meet with some resistance. My teens resist this concept every day. Have you thought about going to be a little earlier? It could make a difference in how much sleep you get. I'm just throwing this thought out there. I will understand if it's rejected.