Burke to Ballston? (Alexandria, Reston, Woodbridge: townhouses, to buy, good schools)

[novanoob]

Sorry about yet another one of these living/commuting questions!

But, I wanted to see if anyone had any ideas. I am looking to buy a townhouse in the $200s. Burke seems to have plenty of townhouses in my price range, and otherwise looks just about perfect for my needs. (I have a small child, so good schools and a family-friendly atmosphere are very important. Nightlife is not, sadly!)

But I can't figure out a good way to get to Ballston from Burke using public transportation. I've planned the trip on the Metro website, and they tell me to take the Metrobus to the Blue Line, then go out to Rosslyn and catch the Orange Line. It is doable, but I hate the thought of going past my destination and then backtracking, you know? The VRE is no better, because I'd still have to go up into the city, and then catch the Orange Line back out to Ballston. Either way, the commute is needlessly long and convoluted - it's just not efficient.

It blows my mind that Burke doesn't seem to have ONE bus route that goes directly to the Orange Line. Even people way out in Woodbridge can get to the Orange Line on OmniRide! Am I missing something? Would you just suck it up and drive (or slug?)

Alternatively, the commute from Reston seems pretty sweet. They have frequent busses to West Falls Church, then it's just a quick skip to Ballston. I also like Reston, because it's pretty walkable. But all the townhouses I can afford out there feed into Dogwood Elementary, and that school seems to have a terrible reputation...

[MacUser85]

Yeah Ballston is a bit tricky, but many folks from the southern Nova suburbs (Alexandria, Springfield, Burke and south/southwest) do the bus to Pentagon, Blue line two stops to Rosslyn and then the several stops west on the Orange line to Ballston. The good thing is that the express buses to the Pentagon and the trains are reliable and the trains run frequently during rush hour.

Good luck to you.