Haymarket, Ashburn or Leesburg? (Reston, McLean: townhouses, neighborhood, luxury)

[breakingbad]

Originally Posted by jillybean720

Easy. Live in Tysons!

I wish I could afford extravagance!

[breakingbad]

Originally Posted by Panu16

From Ashburn (20148), I would say that it should take 25 min to get to Tyson with no traffic. Add 5 to 10 minutes more for Leesburg. During rush hours, it could take anywhere from one to two hours to commute.

That is a pretty decent commute time. I live in Phoenix and must commute several days a week on off hours. It takes 20 minutes to get to a freeway and then 45 miles through the city. The roads are great here though and I usually travel after 9AM and before 4 PM...I can't wait to move!

[Panu16]

Originally Posted by breakingbad

That is a pretty decent commute time. I live in Phoenix and must commute several days a week on off hours. It takes 20 minutes to get to a freeway and then 45 miles through the city. The roads are great here though and I usually travel after 9AM and before 4 PM...I can't wait to move!

After 9AM is good as the HOV lane restriction (only one lane out of total of 4) on 267 is lifted after 9AM.

[TBonz]

I agree on crossing Haymarket off the list due to the commute on 66. Ashburn and Leesburg aren't too much different - maybe an extra 15-20 minutes in bad traffic if you chose Leesburg. Many of the folks in Ashburn skip the Greenway and take back roads (or Route 7) to 28 and get on the Dulles Toll Road from there. It will take longer (10-15 minutes normally), but save some money if you don't take the Greenway. You might want to consider a month to month or short lease to give you time to look around and get a feel for the traffic. Route 7 is definitely the slowest way to get to Tysons and I don't think I'd recommend it - at least not as your regular route - but barring an incident, it does move and and you wouldn't have to pay toll. Sterling would certainly be your best bet if you want to commute on 7, but not much (if any) new construction there.

[spleuchan]

Originally Posted by Middlin

Commute from Haymarket to Tysons would be in the 90+ unless you leave extremely early. No tolls currently, but will change in the future

I live in Haymarket. With no accidents, peak rush hour would probably take a little over an hour. I commute to Alexandria (and commute early, leave home at 5:35 am and work at 3:00 pm) and it takes me 45 - 60 minutes to and from Alexandria. Tysons at that time would shave 15 minutes or so.

The future tolls Middlin mentions is they are planning on making the HOV lanes of I-66 into HOT lanes. They are going to expand the one HOV lane in each direction to two HOT lanes (I think in each direction) and keep 3 untolled lanes. I have no idea how this is possible from US-50 to the beltway, since there isn't enough room for 3 regular lanes and 1 HOV lane currently. In anycase, I'm dreading 2017-2020, when they are talking about doing the construction. I could only imagine it will be a complete nightmare.

If I were you, I'd pick Ashburn or Leesburg. I'm not sure they have new construction SFHs in your price range in Ashburn, but if they did, I'd pick that over Leesburg. Further complicating things is it sounds like you need a new home that is already constructed since you don't have much time, so you might have slim pickings.

Good Luck!

[breakingbad]

Thank you all who replied to my thread. I am still undecided. I don't want to live in a home that is in need of renovation, or a place where I will spend all my free time fighting traffic. I visualize hiking with my son...exploring historical sites...eating wonderful cuisine, visiting downtown etc. I have such high hopes for Virginia that I'm certain to be disappointed!
Ashburn is more expensive than I anticipated and it doesn't seem quite as pretty as Haymarket.
I will be sure to give updates along my journey.

[breakingbad]

Originally Posted by spleuchan

I live in Haymarket. With no accidents, peak rush hour would probably take a little over an hour. I commute to Alexandria (and commute early, leave home at 5:35 am and work at 3:00 pm) and it takes me 45 - 60 minutes to and from Alexandria. Tysons at that time would shave 15 minutes or so.

The future tolls Middlin mentions is they are planning on making the HOV lanes of I-66 into HOT lanes. They are going to expand the one HOV lane in each direction to two HOT lanes (I think in each direction) and keep 3 untolled lanes. I have no idea how this is possible from US-50 to the beltway, since there isn't enough room for 3 regular lanes and 1 HOV lane currently. In anycase, I'm dreading 2017-2020, when they are talking about doing the construction. I could only imagine it will be a complete nightmare.

If I were you, I'd pick Ashburn or Leesburg. I'm not sure they have new construction SFHs in your price range in Ashburn, but if they did, I'd pick that over Leesburg. Further complicating things is it sounds like you need a new home that is already constructed since you don't have much time, so you might have slim pickings.

Good Luck!

You leave home at 5:35 AM? Ugh. I need very little sleep but prefer not to be dressed for the day at that hour. Aside from traffic are you enjoying Haymarket? Is is just another suburb now or does it still have a charming vibe? Do you have children...are schools decent?
I live in AZ right now and the schools are (in my opinion) not good. We have common core and well, in my experience thus far... it is a bit of a disaster. I am concerned that my son may be too far behind but hopeful the environment while at school in NoVA will stimulate a desire for educational excellence. I do all I can at home but it still seems like children there are better prepared to do well than here.

[breakingbad]

Originally Posted by TBonz

I agree on crossing Haymarket off the list due to the commute on 66. Ashburn and Leesburg aren't too much different - maybe an extra 15-20 minutes in bad traffic if you chose Leesburg. Many of the folks in Ashburn skip the Greenway and take back roads (or Route 7) to 28 and get on the Dulles Toll Road from there. It will take longer (10-15 minutes normally), but save some money if you don't take the Greenway. You might want to consider a month to month or short lease to give you time to look around and get a feel for the traffic. Route 7 is definitely the slowest way to get to Tysons and I don't think I'd recommend it - at least not as your regular route - but barring an incident, it does move and and you wouldn't have to pay toll. Sterling would certainly be your best bet if you want to commute on 7, but not much (if any) new construction there.

Thank you...I think tolls are unfair at some point. I live in AZ and our freeway system is unparalleled. I am grateful to be leaving though!

[Deluusions]

If you live in leesburg or Ashburn you're closer to the mountains and surrounded by more natural beauty in my opinion opposed to Haymarket. Leesburg has rolling hills and loudoun county in General is very well known as horse country and prominent for their wineries. You will be getting better schools, loudoun county public schools are second to fairfax. And the best part....the commute is shorter than Haymarket. So like everyone else said, just mark it off your list. There is really no point when you have two better locations.

[Hesky]

I agree with those recommending eastern Loudoun over Haymarket. The commute to Tysons is much more manageable and there are some really nice areas in Ashburn and Sterling . Even Leesburg is great, but that would add 15-20 minutes to your commute to Tysons (when compared with a commute from eastern Sterling).

Plus, access to metro is now not too far away as Reston is pretty close and it will be even closer in a few more years when the silver line is completed.

I can say this from experience as I used to commute from Sterling to Tysons. Now that I work in Ashburn though, I'm one of the few lucky reverse commuters.