Moving to Northern Virginia, working near Bolling AFB - where to live? (Arlington: townhomes, neighborhoods)

[LonesomeHobosCall]

I have a job offer at Naval Research Laboratory in DC (in between Bolling AFB and Blue Plains). Currently living in another state and trying to figure out where we could buy a house. We are a family of four with two kids under 5.

Here are the parameters:
- Maximum budget $900k.
- 3BR or larger single family home or town house, but it needs to have a yard (at least a small one!)
- Ideally zoned for a good elementary, middle and high school so we don't have to move for better schools in a few years
- Rush-hour commute generally under 40 minutes
- There is decent parking at work, but no good Metrorail access. I would be driving alone to work, so no HOV for me.

The combination of schools and commute time are making this difficult.

I am, unfortunately, evaluating schools from afar based on Greatschools ratings, and I know that this doesn't give a very accurate picture of the quality of a school. Please take my comments on schools below with a big grain of salt.

Here are some places we've considered:
- City of Alexandria: great city to live in, pretty short commute across the Wilson bridge, but the reputation of the schools isn't great.
- Springfield, West Springfield, Annandale: good schools, commute on 495 to the Wilson bridge is not too bad, but my wife thinks these towns are "boring" and too far from DC.
- Arlington: Some parts of South Arlington would have an okay commute, but the schools mostly get mediocre ratings. North Arlington is a longer commute and barely affordable.
- Falls Church City: Good schools, nice town, long commute, may be unaffordable for us.

Can anyone give some local insight into this? Is there an area or neighborhood that I'm overlooking that would have a decent commute time? Are some of the schools that I'm neglecting based on their ratings actually great places?

Thank you so much!

[Mnseca]

I don't know about the commute, because I don't drive to DC, but you should know that most of NoVa is boring. It's a suburb. Your wife may have to just accept that. The least boring places on your list are Falls Church City and Old Town, Alexandria City (NOT the rest of Alexandria - that's also suburban).

You can probably cross off Old Town because it's hard to find 3 bedrooms for less than a million in a liveable home, and yards are scarce or nonexistent. Parking, too. You have to love city-living and be willing to make those sacrifices for Old Town. Also, you'd probably have to send your kids to private school if you want really good schools.

I don't know much about Falls Church City, but that seems worth investigating if the commute is reasonable for you.

Another "interesting" place is Vienna. They have a metro and a nice downtown, and a lot to do for families. Again, not sure about the commute, but schools there are good.

West Springfield is popular with families, has good schools, but it's very suburban. Boring. Annandale is even more boring, and the schools are not as good, nor the neighborhoods as pretty as the other places on your list (although Annandale is sort of eclectic and has a lot of different types of neighborhoods and landscapes smushed together, so there are exceptions).

Also, have you considered Bethesda, MD? I think the commute is about 40 minutes, although I've never actually tried it, and it's got good schools and is a great small city. Not sure about housing prices, but your max is pretty high so I think you might find something. If I could live there, I would.

[Dmvwhatup]

I live in National Harbor, MD(Potomac Overlook) and a lot of my co workers work at Naval Research Lab. You can get a brand new townhome for 700k that would be over a million across the river. Your wife would be a short commute for the Navy Yard in DC and the new wharf development. The townhomes don't have yards but multiple parks in the community.

[OutOfPlaceInDC]

Originally Posted by Dmvwhatup

I live in National Harbor, MD(Potomac Overlook) and a lot of my co workers work at Naval Research Lab. You can get a brand new townhome for 700k that would be over a million across the river. Your wife would be a short commute for the Navy Yard in DC and the new wharf development. The townhomes don't have yards but multiple parks in the community.

There's are good reasons it's so much cheaper on the MD side, especially if you have children.

[farplaner]

I think you're pretty much limited to Burke/West Springfield based on the schools + commute requirement.

[LonesomeHobosCall]

Thank you for the responses so far - they are pretty much in line with the research I've done.

May I ask about a couple of other specific areas? The part of Arlington in the 22205 zip code (Madison Manor / Dominion Hills) seems to be generally a bit less expensive than other parts of North Arlington, it's zoned for good schools, it's reasonably close to the Metro, and the commute on Rt 50 might be just barely liveable. Does anyone know about that area?

The second area I wanted to ask about is the Mantua area of Fairfax county (22031, close to Little River Turnpike and just outside of the beltway). I've seen posts saying that this area has more of a "neighborhood" feel than much of Fairfax county, but I don't know why that would be. It would be an okay commute because of the proximity to the beltway, and the houses seem like a pretty good bargain. Any comments on Mantua?

Thanks again - I can't tell you how helpful it is to talk with people who actually live in the area.

[LynchburgLover]

Maybe if you give an idea of your wife's activities, people could make suggestions where those could be found. Is she into yoga? Art galleries? Roller Derby? Idk but some places are better for some activities. Montomgery County, for example, has a ton of country clubs close in if she plays tennis/golf. Vienna has a very good gourmet cooking school. Etc.

[gomason]

22205 is a great neighborhood. One of our longtime posters, Carlingtonian, is a resident I believe.


From my sense (and his complaining about kids), it's a very family-oriented neighborhood. Mostly single-family homes. I wouldn't really say it's exciting per se but it's very close to tons of restaurants/bars near Ballston/Clarendon and Downtown Falls Church. Also, if you like Italian food, the Italian Store and Pupatella's are two of the most popular Italian places in the entire DC area FYI. It's also very safe.

[LonesomeHobosCall]

Originally Posted by LynchburgLover

Maybe if you give an idea of your wife's activities, people could make suggestions where those could be found. Is she into yoga? Art galleries? Roller Derby? Idk but some places are better for some activities. Montomgery County, for example, has a ton of country clubs close in if she plays tennis/golf. Vienna has a very good gourmet cooking school. Etc.

Thanks for asking - I think that the "boring" comment came about mostly because my wife telecommutes from home, and wherever we live, she will spend a lot of hours at home. We don't need to live in downtown Bethesda or any place like that, but if we were walking distance to something with people - a coffee shop, a restaurant, a library, a community center - she would feel less cooped up during the day.

Montgomery county is great, but I'm afraid that the commute to work at the southern tip of DC would be ugly.

Originally Posted by gomason

From my sense (and his complaining about kids), it's a very family-oriented neighborhood. Mostly single-family homes. I wouldn't really say it's exciting per se but it's very close to tons of restaurants/bars near Ballston/Clarendon and Downtown Falls Church. Also, if you like Italian food, the Italian Store and Pupatella's are two of the most popular Italian places in the entire DC area FYI. It's also very safe.

This sounds like a good area to explore, then. Thanks! I think that the houses we could afford might be smaller and older, but it may be a worthwhile tradeoff vs living farther out. Does anyone have any feelings about the commute on Rt 50 -> Washington Blvd -> 395 into the city? It looks like 395 would be the worst part of that commute, but at least it's a fairly short stretch of really bad traffic.

[ChristineVA]

Just throwing this out there because I don't know much about the schools but what about down the GW Parkway towards the Ft. Hunt area. Everyone I know who lives there LOVES it and it's a pretty sweet ride to NRL.