Lakeridge, Bristow,Haymarket,Gainesville/Leesburg (Alexandria, Sudley: 2015, renting, credit)

[alohapam]

Please help me narrow this list down. I realize many of these areas have been covered by other posters but I am still a bit unsure. I promise I have read and read! (leaning towards Gainsville or Bristow)
We are a military family of 5 with just 2 kids at home.We will be moving to the area the end of July. My husband will be commuting to the Pentagon with early hours. He will have to be there by 5:30 a.m. so VRE is not an option for him. We lived at Ft. Belvoir before 2 years ago so we are sadly aware of the traffic. We love the NOVA/ DC area so are also very excited about moving back. We have lived in Military housing for over 9 years at 5 differend locations. It is time for something of our own and we are in need of some elbow room. We can't afford much so that is why I chose those particular areas. I have only visited the Lakeridge area and that was what I would have chosen until I read about these other possibilities. We can afford 350K or less and would like a 4br/2ba SF home. I would love something with a decent sized yard 1/4 acre or so and a little bit of space between neighbors. I know champagne taste on a beer budget, but this appears to be the time to get what you want. I will adjust the size of home for a great area, as they say location location.
Here is my criteria:
SCHOOLS, I won't compromise on this one. I have one child starting Middle school this year so that is my focus. I believe test scores are important but equally important is a school that has sctuture and discipline as well as a caring staff. I am an involved parent so I will do my part.
Family oriented community, safe neighborhoods and outdoor and indoor recreational opportunites would be great.
A commute time of an hour or less is ideal, again hubby should avoid most of the rush hour commute.
If you have a suggestion can you please give ideal neighborhoods. I really appreciate all of you who contribute to this forum. It is incredibly helpful!!
Thank you!!!
Disclaimer: I tried to download the spell check once and lost my original post. I couldn't use spell check so please don't blast me for wrong spelling...., also, sorry this is so long winded, but trying to give as much info as possible.

[jaywallace]

I would check out the Gainesville area. Right now you can get a REAL nice brand new townhouse from the lower 300's. If you are set on a SFH you may have a harder time there. The schools are very good and the shopping is good as well. Bristow is also nice. I know Braemar (in Bristow) has some SFH's in that range. Good luck.

[fromNYtoVA]

we are also moving to the area with children. My husband will be working in Alexandria. I like the area of Bristow-Nokesville-Haymarket. THe schools look to be good (as far as you can tell from statistics). I have seen a lot of houses in your price range. I like the longandfoster.com site. You can search my school, address or by map. I also like schooldigger.com for school info as well as SchoolMatters.com. some school have a way to email parents on that one. That website also has a school ranking tab too. As a former teacher, I look for things like test schools, class size and demographics. The best thing to do is to walk through the halls when school is in session... to get a sense of the atmosphere... maybe impossible now, since school is almost out. Good luck!

[lovemy4kids]

In Haymarket, look at Piedmont and Dominion Valley, two neighborhoods that are really nice. The schools in Haymarket are considered to be very good. There are alot of folks who work in DC/Pentagon. Off rush hour, it should take less than 1 hour to get there.

[Ben 'n Jen]

Pam,

We just purchased home in Braemar in Bristow and couldn't be happier. We have several friends that work at the Pentagon and don't mind the drive at all. I-66 has been widened and is way better than 95. I also go in early to Ft Belvoir and there's almost no traffic at 0500.

Schools are great. We have 2 in middle school and will have one in elementary in a couple years. Patriot High School will open in 2011. Both of our older 2 will be going there. You'll have all the nice retail shops you can stand and he'll have lots of outdoor things to do very close by.

try www.redfin.com. zip 20136 and 20155. we used that site to find our home and saw some listings even before our realtor did. We looked all over the area for two weeks. All of the neighborhoods are nice, we just liked Braemar better.

here are two we looked at that are nice. a bit above $350 though.

http://www.redfin.com/VA/Bristow/910...6/home/9296228
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Bristow/122...6/home/9349580

PM me if you'd like to know more details.

is your man Air Force, Army, or civilian? I'm Air Force 16 yrs.

Good luck.

Ben

[Tish Thompson]

I think you'll love the Bristow/Gainesville area....but I'm partial to the area because I live here lol. Traffic shouldn't be a hassle with your husband's work schedule. My oldest daughter went to Marsteller Middle and there were some problems there, but nothing that I think makes it a "bad" school....more long the lines of "bad" parenting problems than anything. There was a kid we had problems with in the school who should have been in prison, not in the Prince William County school system, who has since been expelled. My youngest daughter will be going there in the fall. She's in Victory Elementary now and we love it. Finding housing in your price range won't be a problem. When the tax credit expires, I think a lot of buyers will get out of the market and there won't be so much competition for homes (which is the case right now). I live in Sheffield Manor, which is a nice neighborhood. The only thing I hate is that so many people don't clean up after their dogs, so enter common areas at your own peril. I absolutely LOVE Victory Lakes. Braemar in the Sudley Manor area is really nice also. If I were to live in Gainesville, I'd probably go with Morris Farm, or Piedmont South. I like Morris Farm because I'm a new home fanatic and the homes in there are very new. I like Piedmont because it's very family friendly, like the neighborhoods in Bristow.

Originally Posted by alohapam

Please help me narrow this list down. I realize many of these areas have been covered by other posters but I am still a bit unsure. I promise I have read and read! (leaning towards Gainsville or Bristow)
We are a military family of 5 with just 2 kids at home.We will be moving to the area the end of July. My husband will be commuting to the Pentagon with early hours. He will have to be there by 5:30 a.m. so VRE is not an option for him. We lived at Ft. Belvoir before 2 years ago so we are sadly aware of the traffic. We love the NOVA/ DC area so are also very excited about moving back. We have lived in Military housing for over 9 years at 5 differend locations. It is time for something of our own and we are in need of some elbow room. We can't afford much so that is why I chose those particular areas. I have only visited the Lakeridge area and that was what I would have chosen until I read about these other possibilities. We can afford 350K or less and would like a 4br/2ba SF home. I would love something with a decent sized yard 1/4 acre or so and a little bit of space between neighbors. I know champagne taste on a beer budget, but this appears to be the time to get what you want. I will adjust the size of home for a great area, as they say location location.
Here is my criteria:
SCHOOLS, I won't compromise on this one. I have one child starting Middle school this year so that is my focus. I believe test scores are important but equally important is a school that has sctuture and discipline as well as a caring staff. I am an involved parent so I will do my part.
Family oriented community, safe neighborhoods and outdoor and indoor recreational opportunites would be great.
A commute time of an hour or less is ideal, again hubby should avoid most of the rush hour commute.
If you have a suggestion can you please give ideal neighborhoods. I really appreciate all of you who contribute to this forum. It is incredibly helpful!!
Thank you!!!
Disclaimer: I tried to download the spell check once and lost my original post. I couldn't use spell check so please don't blast me for wrong spelling...., also, sorry this is so long winded, but trying to give as much info as possible.

[ngadude]

You all realize the OP who you are trying to help posted this back in June 2008?

[Ben 'n Jen]

HA!!! that's hysterical...good catch dude!

[ngadude]

Originally Posted by Ben 'n Jen

HA!!! that's hysterical...good catch dude!

Yes, it was a good thread but I figured I'd save everyone the time of replying to the OP. I live in Morris Farm in Gainesville so the thread caught my eye and I was about to reply to it, when I realized the questions were from 2008! I don't know how this thread managed to get resurrected from back then!