Northern VA or MD (Cana: inspections, car tax, live in)

[Sportyfamilyof5]

It looks like the closest metro stop is Farragut north station. It's on Connecticut ave between L st nw and K street nw.

Thanks for all the great advice.

[Middlin]

Farragut North is on the red line. If you live in NoVA and want to drive to Vienna, Dunn Loring or take a bus to Pentagon, you will need to change trains (a pain). I used to work between L & M in that area and Farragut West shouldn't be a far walk and you won't need to change trains.


Given your kids, I would suggest Woodson HS pyramid in Annandale outside the beltway (22003). Numerous transportation options from that area. My sister has lived in Canterbury Woods for years and the neighborhood has a fabulous pool and I believe a swim team. Sports is pretty big here so I don't think you will have issues anywhere.


As others might have suggested, West Springfield HS pyramid is a good option as well.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by Sportyfamilyof5

It looks like the closest metro stop is Farragut north station. It's on Connecticut ave between L st nw and K street nw.

Thanks for all the great advice.

You could, and probably should, check out Montgomery County, MD. You're not going to get a fair assessment of there on this forum. Since the red line works best, there are good options along the red line to consider. You should ask over in the Maryland suburbs forum for their views. I lived in MD for 15 years. It has many good possibilities.

[LynchburgLover]

You really should check Montgomery County -- look in the Quince Orchard area. The schools are very good. Lacrosse is very big as it swimming and you would have easy access to the Red Line. We used to live off Jones Lane and the neighborhood was great. I'm pretty sure you can find a nice house, reasonable price.

16013 Copen Meadow Dr, Gaithersburg, MD 20878 - realtor.com®

We have some friends in the above neighborhood and it's lovely.

[lordwillin02]

if youre democrat go maryland

if youre conservative neither

[Sportyfamilyof5]

Thanks for all the advice. It looks like Farragut North station is the closest metro stop. The office is on CT Ave NW between K st NW and L st NW. This all means nothing to me. I know NYC like the back of my hand, but know little about DC.

[ICS67]

Originally Posted by Sportyfamilyof5

Thanks for all the advice. It looks like Farragut North station is the closest metro stop. The office is on CT Ave NW between K st NW and L st NW. This all means nothing to me. I know NYC like the back of my hand, but know little about DC.

Don't get hung up on Farragut North vs. Farragut West; the station entrances are literally one block apart, so that should not be a factor in deciding where you'll live. If you're on the Orange/Silver Line, the Farragut West stop at Connecticut Avenue and I Street is literally less than two blocks to your future office.

One other clarification: when I said in my first post that for 600K you could find a decent if older house in a place like Reston or Herndon, "older" does not at all imply fixer-upper or the need for extensive renovations. You may of course want to remodel or update to suit your taste, but in the 600-625K range you should be able to find something in turn-key condition.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by Vectorhead

I can't speak to the MD vs VA questions but I would encourage you to look in the West Springfield/Burke area. You should be able to find a SFH in those areas in your price range and your commute would be immeasurably easier. The houses are older but there are lots of very nice neighborhoods with well-maintained houses.

This would be an ideal area for you to consider in your price range.

If you could find something in the Robinson Secondary pyramid (parts of Fairfax and Fairfax Station), that might be worth considering as well. It might be a bit further out than West Springfield or Burke (though still much closer than Stafford County), but the Robinson lacrosse teams historically are very strong.

Given your job location, you really do not need to be closer to the Red Line (Farragut North) than Orange/Blue/Silver (Farragut West). As others have noted, the stations are literally a block apart.

[Pub-911]

Originally Posted by Sportyfamilyof5

Thanks for all the advice. It looks like Farragut North station is the closest metro stop. The office is on CT Ave NW between K st NW and L st NW. This all means nothing to me. I know NYC like the back of my hand, but know little about DC.

The office is in quite a nice part of town. Connecticut Avenue in general is known for its upscale hotels, shopping, dining, coffee shops, clubs, bars, and so forth. The street scene in the area will include a few homeless dudes and some "free spirits", along with some financial types, non-profit idealists, and many, many lawyers and lobbyists. DuPont Circle used to be HQ for the DC gay community, but that's not so much the case anymore.

As others have said, the difference between Farragut North and Farragut West is a 5-minute walk. Not a factor at all except in awful weather. The difference between the MD and VA suburbs is much larger than that. Taxes and gas prices are lower in VA and auto insurance rates are MUCH lower. MD would be like NJ in the sense of Hoboken, Elizabeth, or maybe Union. Some nice places to be had for sure, but a bit depressing overall. VA would be like NJ as well, but more in the green-scape sense of Short Hills, Chatham, or even Basking Ridge. More interesting, more pleasing topography lies on the VA side of the Potomac.

Coming from a place like Fairfield, I think I'd target something along the arc of VA Route-123 west and south from the Potomac over to Fairfax Station or so. Most of the areas on either side of that are quite nice. You may need to get used to the idea of "Census-designated places" though. The Cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, and Falls Church, along with the Towns of Vienna, Herndon, and Clifton would be exceptions, but the rest of Fairfax County's 400 or so square miles is not incorporated as anything at all. The county is the first level of government available.

If you actually like being 60 miles out, you can look along the Upper Potomac at places like Point of Rocks, MD. Beautiful rural locales. MARC commuter rail service from the historic depot there runs to Union Station in downtown DC which offers an easy indoor transfer to the Metro Red Line for the 9-minute ride over to Farragut North. That sort of thing is not for everyone, but it is an option.

[KicknDiver]

We made the move, and after a great deal of consideration and research, ended up ruling out MD. I too commuted similarly to you in CT. The Metro system here is just as antiquated and frought with tech problems as the CT-NYC lines. Hopefully the current upgrades and admin changes will improve things.
We lived in Arlington a short while before deciding it's not worth the cost.
Look further out west a bit and you'll likely find Fairfax County has a lot to offer.
Know that the real estate market here is not just outrageous, but any house you look at will likely be 50+ yrs old. Major issue here is that home-buyers compete with a massive # of builders and investors, domestic and international. The trend for many years has been to tear anything small or dilapidated or older than ~70 yrs old and build a mansion or townhouses. Virtually no one builds housing for the working class, as the domestic and international demand for housing as investments is always high in NOVA.
Best of luck.