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Old 06-01-2015, 01:10 PM
 
Location: Gainesville, VA
274 posts, read 348,536 times
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Yes I agree there are some nice smaller town feels, but they will all put you at 1.5 hour commute during normal rush hour. If you both work off hours, then you have more options. I would say Burke is a suitable option that would put you within the 45 minute commute. Possibly even parts of Centreville, but that would be a longer commute. If you go further out then Gainesville, Haymarket, Bristow, Warrenton would give you the smaller town feels and fit your budget better (more like the 2000 a month range for a townhouse or possible a small single family home).
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Old 06-01-2015, 01:27 PM
 
9,879 posts, read 14,125,760 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashley Tauzier View Post
Yes I agree there are some nice smaller town feels, but they will all put you at 1.5 hour commute during normal rush hour. If you both work off hours, then you have more options. I would say Burke is a suitable option that would put you within the 45 minute commute. Possibly even parts of Centreville, but that would be a longer commute. If you go further out then Gainesville, Haymarket, Bristow, Warrenton would give you the smaller town feels and fit your budget better (more like the 2000 a month range for a townhouse or possible a small single family home).
One of her main "smaller town" requirements was less traffic. Out of the places you listed, only Warrenton is giving you less traffic.
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Old 06-01-2015, 04:42 PM
 
Location: Silver Spring, MD/Washington DC
3,520 posts, read 9,238,926 times
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If you are willing to use transit and/or have telecommuting options, Fredericksburg or Ashland (the latter of which is much smaller than Fredericksburg) south of the DC area could work for you. Fredericksburg is served by the VRE and Amtrak, while Ashland has Amtrak service. Both VRE and Amtrak stop at Alexandria Union Station, which is adjacent to the King Street WMATA Metrorail Station. Both towns have small, liberal arts colleges (Mary Washington in F-burg, Randolph Macon in Ashland).

Fredericksburg is about halfway between DC and Richmond (albeit on the very congested I-95 corridor), while Ashland is about 15 miles north of Richmond.
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Old 06-01-2015, 04:51 PM
 
9,879 posts, read 14,125,760 times
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Originally Posted by CHIP72 View Post
If you are willing to use transit and/or have telecommuting options, Fredericksburg or Ashland (the latter of which is much smaller than Fredericksburg) south of the DC area could work for you. Fredericksburg is served by the VRE and Amtrak, while Ashland has Amtrak service. Both towns have small, liberal arts colleges (Mary Washington in F-burg, Randolph Macon in Ashland).

Fredericksburg is about halfway between DC and Richmond (albeit on the very congested I-95 corridor), while Ashland is about 15 miles north of Richmond.
Commuting via Amtrak is cost prohibitive to most everyone. It would cost $60/day per person for them to commute from Ashland to Alexandria and the train ride alone is almost 2 hours. Not really an option.
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Old 06-01-2015, 06:13 PM
 
Location: Silver Spring, MD/Washington DC
3,520 posts, read 9,238,926 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by spencgr View Post
Commuting via Amtrak is cost prohibitive to most everyone. It would cost $60/day per person for them to commute from Ashland to Alexandria and the train ride alone is almost 2 hours. Not really an option.
I know at least one person who works for the same broader agency that I work for that lives in Ashland, commutes via Amtrak three days per week, and telecommutes two days per week. (She used to work in Richmond, and chose not to move when she got her job in DC.) I'm pretty sure Amtrak offers both monthly passes and 10 ride passes for their Virginia Service routes.

I also know at least other person who used to work in DC and lived in Richmond. He commuted to DC twice a week and telecommuted three days a week. (He also worked an early-bird schedule to avoid the DC traffic when he did commute.)
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Old 06-02-2015, 02:45 PM
 
1,529 posts, read 2,264,317 times
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At this point in your life (no kids) I would actually go the other route. Look for most walkable/dense neighborhood you can afford. I get your pain and when my family moved to western Prince William County, I loved that I could actually drive 5 miles from my house and it took about the same amount of time. Even western PW has gotten more congested
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Old 06-02-2015, 04:52 PM
 
Location: Upper Marlboro, MD
133 posts, read 257,108 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ThisLady View Post
Right now our rent is $1400 with utilities included and we'd definitely like to stay in that price range, though going up to $2000 could potentially be doable in the future. We wouldn't want to travel more than 45 minutes to and from the Old Town area, as that is where our jobs are located.

Any and all suggestions are welcome!
Are you set on living in VA? Or is MD an option for you?

If the latter, then you might find some affordable places in an area like Clinton or its surroundings.

It's only about 15 miles to Alexandria, but since the Wilson Bridge would be your only drivable option - and the main bottleneck - the one-way drive could/would approach the 30 to 45 minute mark during rush hour.

If you could vary your work hours a bit, you could conceivably reduce your travel time to 20-30 minutes one-way.
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Old 06-02-2015, 05:32 PM
 
2,262 posts, read 2,399,652 times
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Not to sound pessimistic but this thread gets posted at least every other week. There are no small towns in DC/Northern Virginia. There is essentially no part of NoVA that is not congested, overcrowded, urban, etc. And the smallish towns on the outskirts of NoVA will be a commuting nightmare so that's that.
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Old 06-02-2015, 06:28 PM
 
9,879 posts, read 14,125,760 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NOVA_guy View Post
And the smallish towns on the outskirts of NoVA will be a commuting nightmare so that's that.
Commuting nightmare to this particular OP who works in Alexandria and wants a commute under 45 minutes? Absolutely.


Commuting nightmare to other people who have a longer tolerance or have a different work location? Likely, but not necessarily.
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Old 06-03-2015, 04:08 AM
 
Location: Alexandria, VA, USA
1,110 posts, read 896,439 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ThisLady View Post
Hello! My boyfriend and I recently moved to the Alexandria/Arlington area for work and so far are loving it! We're both from midsized towns by the beach and know that we will eventually be interested in more of a smaller town feel as opposed to the city. Obviously we both realized that this area is way busy and way populated before moving here, but I thought that I would pose the question since we'd like to buy/rent a house and start a family someday. Our jobs are pretty stable and I don't see us moving from the area any time soon. Right now are rent is $1400 with utilities included and we'd definitely like to stay in that price rage, though going up to $2000 could potentially be doable in the future. We wouldn't want to travel more than 45 minutes to and from the Old Town area, as that is where our jobs are located.

Any and all suggestions are welcome!
I was going to suggest the Del Ray part of Alexandria, but schools are not so good in Alexandria. Why not try DC/MD? Takoma Park is very cute. Also, consider Severna Park, near Annapolis. Spend your weekends getting to know this region. Anywhere that is cute and affordable will be a long way out for the most part.....
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