Where to live near Fort Belvoir?

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by airjay75

Call me skeptical, but I have a hard time believing that the typical commute from Lake Ridge to Ft. Belvoir is 15-25 minutes. Maybe without any traffic. OP should know that the stretch of 95 between Woodbridge and the Fairfax County Parkway is routinely very congested, as are the alternate roads one might use to avoid 95. It can also be very unpredictable - all it takes is one minor accident to cause significant ripple effects. I'm sure that can be managed, in part, if you have flexible work hours and can go in early or if you want to pay tolls to use the express lanes. Before settling on Lake Ridge, I'd check out travel times on Google Maps using their typical traffic feature and/or test out the commute yourself to see if it will work for you. Kingstowne, on the other hand, will provide you about as short of a commute as you can get to Ft. Belvoir. Your budget won't buy you as much house, so it's all about what trade offs OP wants to make. But, I think the trade-off is not just 10-20 minutes of commuting time.

I agree that it's worth checking into, but not sure the commute is all that bad.

I live 2 exits south of the Lake Ridge exit, although, I am VERY close to the exit so I don't have to deal with that Old Bridge mess; however, there are times that I have to commute to Kingstowne at PEAK rush hour. Kingstowne being farther than Ft. Belvoir. It routinely took me 45 minutes for an arrival time of 8AM. Probably could have gotten to Ft. Belvoir in 35 minutes. Leaving at 4:00-4:30, I had either a 30 minute ride home but once in awhile it was an hour.

Since I don't do this commute regularly and I'm a bit farther than Lake Ridge, I can't comment on the regularity of a 30 minute commute but I think it's very possible depending where you are in Lake Ridge.

[SNic2008]

Originally Posted by johnsonkk

Lake ridge has all the same amenities with 7 free pools, countless tennis and basket ball courts, a new astroturf rec field, two free marinas, Golf course,etc. etc.

Plus many 4 bedroom, single family homes ( not townhouses) on 1/4, to 1/2 acre lots for $2,500 rent.
Some even 5 bedroom but pushing $3,000. Elementary schools are all within walking distance.

15-25 min to gate depending on which one.

Thats great info, I will check that area out too, Thank you so much

[airjay75]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

I agree that it's worth checking into, but not sure the commute is all that bad.

I live 2 exits south of the Lake Ridge exit, although, I am VERY close to the exit so I don't have to deal with that Old Bridge mess; however, there are times that I have to commute to Kingstowne at PEAK rush hour. Kingstowne being farther than Ft. Belvoir. It routinely took me 45 minutes for an arrival time of 8AM. Probably could have gotten to Ft. Belvoir in 35 minutes. Leaving at 4:00-4:30, I had either a 30 minute ride home but once in awhile it was an hour.

Since I don't do this commute regularly and I'm a bit farther than Lake Ridge, I can't comment on the regularity of a 30 minute commute but I think it's very possible depending where you are in Lake Ridge.

Yeah, those sound like reasonable estimates to me. I certainly wasn't trying to imply in my prior post that the commute is going to be awful (by D.C. area standards), but describing the commute as 15-25 minutes struck me as overly rosy. I know from almost weekly experience what the traffic can be like just getting to 95 from Ft. Belvoir. The backup on the Fairfax County Parkway towards about Telegraph Rd. starts about 3 pm and that stretch alone can be 5-10 minutes of stop and go traffic followed by what is usually at least slow traffic on 95 southbound if not stop and go.

[Mikemapva]

I'm biased as I grew up there, but I would look in the 22309 zip code with houses feeding into either Woodley Hills or Riverside Elementary. Both of those schools have shown improvement over the last few years, and it's a very easy commute to Fort Belvoir.

[johnsonkk]

Originally Posted by airjay75

Yeah, those sound like reasonable estimates to me. I certainly wasn't trying to imply in my prior post that the commute is going to be awful (by D.C. area standards), but describing the commute as 15-25 minutes struck me as overly rosy. I know from almost weekly experience what the traffic can be like just getting to 95 from Ft. Belvoir. The backup on the Fairfax County Parkway towards about Telegraph Rd. starts about 3 pm and that stretch alone can be 5-10 minutes of stop and go traffic followed by what is usually at least slow traffic on 95 southbound if not stop and go.

Lake ridge starts at Tackets Mill on old bridge. Traveling down old bridge and jumping on 95 for one mile and immediately getting off on US1 north. That road is rarely jammed and now that US1 is practically done, it just takes10 min once on US1 to get to Tulley gate, which again is not blocked very often. If you ate traveling from Occoquan to the DAU university on Ft Belvoir, it doesn't take ver long.

You could STAY on 95 north until Newington and then fight backwards towards Ft Belvoir but nobody does that from Lake Ridge.

At 2am, for a measuring stick, door to door to DeWitt emergency room was 20 min with no traffic. Although traffic builds, it's nothing like 395 north on The morning, 66 east, etc. It just isn't that bad. Many ft Belvoir workers start at 6am or 630 so their ride is even easier.

With lower rent and more house with neighborhood amenities, 4 bedroom with yards are available for $2,500. I rented one for 4 bedroom for $2,200. The elementary schools are fine but high schools get a little dicey but certainly beat out your average high school on America. Gas is always cheaper than Fairfax county and your getting the same housing subsidy wherever you live.

Rare occasions where lake ridge beats out Burke and west Springfield and this request by the OP fits the bill. If the OP was a young couple looking for parties on the weekend, get to Kingstown or old Alexandria! Want to put a large playground in backyard and look at deer and squirrels, go to lake ridge.

[lqda4]

Another thing to think about is exactly where on Belvoir your husband will be working at (you don't need to specify it here on the internet). If it's on the north side of Rt. 1 and/or north side of 95, it's most likely no problem once you enter your gate. If his office is on the South side of Belvoir, add 10-15' to the commute time (after you are through the gates).

[slduvall]

I second Kingstowne or Island Creek. They are literally across the street from one another, with Island Creek being slightly cheaper. Both literally are minutes outside of the Belvoir gate on the north side (Beulah Rd)

Both Island Creek Elementary and Lane are great schools. My daughter went to Lane K-5 and is excelling in school where we live now. A SFH in Kingstowne runs about $3300, or used to a couple in Kingstowne are the garages (0, 1 or 2) beware the places with 0 garages, as parking is tough, even when assigned. Also Hayfield Farms and other neighborhoods along Telegraph would be close.

[johnsonkk]

Originally Posted by slduvall

I second Kingstowne or Island Creek. They are literally across the street from one another, with Island Creek being slightly cheaper. Both literally are minutes outside of the Belvoir gate on the north side (Beulah Rd)

Both Island Creek Elementary and Lane are great schools. My daughter went to Lane K-5 and is excelling in school where we live now. A SFH in Kingstowne runs about $3300, or used to a couple in Kingstowne are the garages (0, 1 or 2) beware the places with 0 garages, as parking is tough, even when assigned. Also Hayfield Farms and other neighborhoods along Telegraph would be close.

Good comparison here. Glad you listed prices. On one side there is proximity and closer to DC but at $1,000 more per month in rent. The person on ft belvoir gets a "flat rate" housing amount. If I'm paying $40,000 a year in rent, I'm not going to fight for parking spots. This isn't NYC.

For $2,500, also SFH, 2 car garage, driveway to not have to fight street parking ( really don't like fighting for street parking), and a 30 min commute in Lake Ridge.$12,000 difference per year.

Choices and choices. Why townhouses and some single family homes don't have enough off street parking is life's greatest mystery. There are communities in every county that have hundreds of trucks and cars parked on shoulders of city roads that look horrible when the parking lots could be expanded. City planners think no parking equals no one will buy cars. Crazy.