Area Manager Relocation - Multiple Office Sights (No clue where to live?) (Alexandria: sales, condominium)

[justine0826]

My husband and I will be relocating from East Bay- Northern California to Northern Virginia this July with our daughter her son and her husband and our elder son of whom lives with us. Our other son attends school on the East Coast and will be home over breaks. My husbands' mother may be joining us at some point so an in-law unit is necessary. My daughter and her husband work in pharmaceutical sales so will be driving around a lot during the day. We would like to live in neighboring towns or same town if possible. Our budget is in the $750K - $1M range. We would like a large property in a more historic town. Our daughter and her husband's budget is in the $300K - $500K range and they don't mind living in a condominium or more suburban area (good schools, low crime, safe, but also love the more historic, less crowded quaint atmosphere). Parks and community center are a must, as well as a quaint downtown with shopping, good restaurants, etc..

This is where things get tricky. My husband will work primarily from home, but oversees offices in D.C., Vienna, Fredericksburg, warrenton, chantilly, lees burg and Alexandria. He will be visiting each office once or twice a MONTH (so communting twice a week) and have monthly (at most bi-monthly) meetings in DC. We love warrentons quaint small town feel and that we can get a larger property to accommodate all our family and out of town visitors..

We've also looked at the photo tours on here and found leesburg and Fredericksburg to be quite beautiful. What are some options that leave us a bit more centrally located with the ammenities and low crime and good schools and historic feel? would the commute me manageable living in warrenton?


We'd love all the help we can get!! Thanks in advance.

[gomason]

Clifton, Fairfax, Burke, and Vienna seem like they would be the most centrally located areas with low crime. Clifton probably would be the best bet for you. They have a walkable small downtown area and the homes are on very big lots.

Warrenton to downtown DC would be an easy 2 hour drive during rush hour. Hour and a half to the more suburban places.

[justine0826]

Thank you! I appreciate the feedback. We hadn't even heard of Clifton, so will look into that.

[lqda4]

A bit further out but you might also want to look into Bristow and Nokesville. I have some friends there and they are happy with larger lots and wildlife...

[Old Guard]

Is McClean too expensive? I am would recommend McLean but there may be something I am overlooking?

[gomason]

Originally Posted by Old Guard

Is McClean too expensive? I am would recommend McLean but there may be something I am overlooking?

I thought it would be a good suggestion too but the only thing about that is McLean doesn't really have a walkable nice downtown area.

[justine0826]

About how far would the commute for Bristow and Nokesville be? McLean was a little bit pricey for what we are looking for. Downtown is a huge thing for us!

[Old Guard]

Originally Posted by gomason

I thought it would be a good suggestion too but the only thing about that is McLean doesn't really have a walkable nice downtown area.

Ahhhhh, gotcha. I agree the "downtown" is kind of interesting to me but not walkable at all. It has some interesting restaurant options that I like but I am not sure if any of them are compelling.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by Old Guard

Is McClean too expensive? I am would recommend McLean but there may be something I am overlooking?

Not sure what part of McLean screams

Originally Posted by justine0826

more historic, less crowded quaint atmosphere). .

[Old Guard]

Originally Posted by spencgr

Not sure what part of McLean screams

Thanks! I am not sure about historic but I do find parts of McClean quaint. Like their hardware store which is not part of a national chain. Certainly not walkable.

Disclosure: I have recently fallen deeply in like with McClean.