Moving to Reston or surrounding...FRANTIC (McLean, Oakton: middle-class, apartment complexes, leasing)

[Uhaul Is My Friend]

My fiancee just took a job offer in the area and we will be moving in 2 very short weeks. I am trying to learn as much as possible about the area of Reston/Herndon and possibly even as far out as Sterling/Ashburn. His job will be in southern Bethesda and we are well aware of the nasty commute he will be taking on. He wants to live in NoVA, not MD.

We are looking to rent before we look to buy. We need a pet friendly 2br/2ba with garage. I have found a few communities in Herndon but really would like to be in Reston if at all possible. (I am a petite female who is VERY nervous about being in a safe area due to being a survivor of a violent assault so my sense of safety will be paramount)

I have read so many mixed views about Herndon that I am just lost at this point and desperately need to narrow my choices down to a handful of properties so we can visit them all in one day.

If it helps, we are moving from Ann Arbor and are very nature oriented and environmentally aware. I know there is a Whole Foods and a Trader Joes in Reston...another reason I would love to be there over Herndon.

The properties that I have found in Herndon:
Lionsgate
Dulles Green
Van Metre Woodland

ANY advice would be so appreciated. (Advice on the above properties, anything you can recommend in Reston or surrounding communities, safe neighborhoods that do not frown on eco granola types...lol)

My stress level is through the roof. I do not want to make a bad decision.

Sorry for the long post. Thanks to everyone in advance for taking the time to read and reply if you can!

Joy, in Ann Arbor stressed to the max

[normie]

You said safety was paramount, so using that as the gauge I'd recommend Reston over Herndon, North Reston over South Reston, and Cascades over any of those. My neighborhood is Lowes Island in Cascades and it is so safe that I feel comfortable taking long walks late at night. Even though I feel both Reston and Herndon are pretty safe, Lowes Island is the only neighborhood where I would do such a thing. Cascades is about 6-7 miles north of Reston (it's the north part of Sterling, right along the river).

Having said that, even though Lowes Island is super safe, it might not be the place for you. Lowes Island is a more suburban, family oriented area. People here are into gardening, book clubs, that sort of thing. We do have our share of eco granola types, but not as many as Reston. We have a group called the Green Team which is pretty active http://www.cascadesva.com/docs/EnvironmentalDates.pdf (broken link). But Reston is more artsy and appeals more to younger people and to singles.

No area in NOVA is really that dangerous. But some areas have petty crime, which can make you feel a little nervous if you've been a victim of a crime before. IMO, Herndon might make you feel nervous, and possibly south Reston, too.

No matter what you choose, the commute to Bethesda will not be fun. But my next door neighbor does it, so it is indeed doable. But I repeat, not fun.

[Uhaul Is My Friend]

Thanks! I have added that area to my search. I have a lot of research to do in a very short period of time.

Joy

Originally Posted by normie

You said safety was paramount, so using that as the gauge I'd recommend Reston over Herndon, North Reston over South Reston, and Cascades over any of those.

[indie05]

If at all you decide to stay in Herndon, try looking for places in the 20171 zip code as it is suppossed to be better. Reston 20190 zip code. Anyplace around RTC is good.

[Sophronia50]

Why not Vienna, Oakton, Fairfax near the Vienna Metro? These are pretty safe areas also. But Reston is also a fine community. I hope you have someone helping you with your search. Just be careful and make sure that you know the background of the property, if you rent a townhouse owned by an individual.

[normie]

Originally Posted by Uhaul Is My Friend

Thanks! I have added that area to my search. I have a lot of research to do in a very short period of time.

Joy

No matter what you choose, you'll be ok. There really aren't any bad areas. You can always use $$$ as measuring stick. Not always reliable, of course, but in general it stands to reason that the cheapest places may be in the areas that are least desirable.

BTW, a lot of people have pets in the area around Reston/Sterling. People really love animals here. So I don't think you'll have too hard of a time finding a pet-friendly rental. There's a dog park in north Reston and another one is being built in Cascades. Also, plenty of trails where people walk their dogs. There are a number of good vets, but one in particular that I recommend is the Animal Medical Center http://www.amccascades.com/

[SteelCityRising]

Normie, as always, gave you some excellent advice. I live in the 20190 zip code of North Reston in an area sandwich by Route 606 (Baron Cameron Avenue) to the north, Reston Town Center to the west, Lake Anne to the East, and the Dulles Toll Road (267) to the south, and I feel EXTREMELY safe here. Cascades, where she lives, is very much an outlying suburban atmosphere whereas I live in a more inner suburban atmosphere. I, too, just moved here from out-of-state for a career opportunity, and I looked at two of the complexes you specifically listed (Dulles Greene and Lionsgate).

Dulles Greene was the first complex we looked at, and there were some things I liked and didn't like about it. First off was the location---a gated community where you couldn't walk to anything really. I know everyone has different preferences, but in my case it was essential to be able to walk to a park, a church, a grocery store, and other amenities because you'll tire of the traffic down here VERY quickly, especially at rush-hour. We were under a lot of "pressure" and had to put a deposit down for a unit that night "or risk losing this great deal!!!" The next day we returned to get our money back. For security purposes the fact that the community is gated in the evenings is good for your peace of mind, but it can also be a pain in the rear-end if you're like me and love to entertain out-of-town guests. The fitness center was by far the nicest here of any other complex I looked at if that's important to you (I'm a long distance runner who uses his own exercise equipment, so that's really not a big "must have" for me). We found the leasing staff to be very nice but VERY high-pressure and assertive. In a sprawling area where there's a complex with vacancies around every other corner you can't risk turning off even ONE prospective new resident. Overall I'd give a good review to Dulles Greene as it seemed to be in a safe, quiet area (with a gate), had a good fitness center, and had modern units, but just for me as a 22-year-old single professional I had no interest being in the suburbs to begin with (but couldn't afford inside the Beltway due to my low government starting salary), so being in an "island" of sorts was just not my thing.

Lionsgate is in an odd area of Herndon. We looked at both this complex and neabry Archstone Dulles, and the area just gave off a very "sterile" vibe to me. The entire surrounding area was new and neutral with wide roads and sidewalks that connected nothing to nothing, really. We looked at Archstone Dulles on a Saturday, a time when nobody was working in the adjacent office park (I think BAE was right across the street actually), and the area was painfully dull and quiet. I couldn't foresee there being any crime issues here, and if living in a literal SEA of vinyl siding where every complex looks eerily similar and "neutral" is your thing then that neighborhood is a good fit that is only a short drive to the Clocktower Shopping Center and to Worldgate (shopping/enertainment), but as an avid runner I didn't like the idea of coming out of either complex and running on sidewalks that lines six-lane roads that just weaved aimlessly past office parks and other "neutral" and bland-looking apartment complexes. We actually didn't get to tour Lionsgate because they had no 1-bedroom vacancies available, but the complex didn't seem too bad beyond the "blah" surroundings. It did seem a bit steep though on a price per square footage basis (considering I now have a nearly 1,000 square foot unit in an excellent part of Reston for much less per month than the prevailing monthly rates there for a 1-bedroom unit).

People on this forum get irked when I recommend Reston, but too bad because I'm recommending it AGAIN! I just got back in about an hour-and-a-half ago from an exhiliratingly long run along the Washington & Old Dominion Trail, which is within walking distance from me, as are several houses of worship, a park, Lake Anne, Reston Town Center, Harris Teeter, a library, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, and to a lesser extent a Target and YMCA (if I'm feeling brave enough to play "chicken" with all of those multi-lane roadways with the jerks who won't yield to pedestrians, but I digress). I'm a five-minute drive to Route 7, a two-minute drive to the Dulles Toll Road, and a one-minute drive to Route 606. I'm a five-minute drive or about a 20-minute walk to my office building. Reston is your typical poster child for urban sprawl, but, thankfully, the planners here were "progressive" and "forward-thinking" enough to plan out many trail systems and sidewalks that make accessing many amenities on foot from many parts of the community a breeze. People always say "avoid South Reston," but member JFromReston lives there and seems to be happy. My travels down there have yet to yield me anything that looked unsavory.

Herndon itself HAS had a history of dealing with illegal immigration problems and issues, and it still has a very high population of Hispanics. I did some grocery shopping yesterday at the Giant in Herndon (I think I was on the Herndon Parkway---I had to stop there anyways for the M&T Bank ATM), and the clientele of the store was very diverse. I had a bilingual cashier who said "Como estas?" to the Hispanic woman in front of me and the man behind me but pleasantly spoke English to me. Some on this forum seem to dislike the Hispanic "element" (hence why they are opposed to "Herndondez"), but in my eyes there are SOME good parts of Herndon that shouldn't make the whole town worthy of being written off due to tensions in other parts of town. The tiny yet charming "downtown" area of Herndon is nice, as is a newer shopping center I ate at a few days ago with a Pei Wei. I work along Elden Street in the same office complex that houses Thai Luang, and that doesn't intimidate me in the least bit; contrariwise I saw a man in a fluorescent vest RUNNING along the sidewalks in that area late last night.

You'll soon learn that there are a lot of "Chicken Littles" on this forum. "High crime" and "terrible schools" would be "average crime" and "average schools" by NATIONAL standards. If my car was broken into that would be NORMAL and could happen anywhere---not "high crime." There's just a lot of cutthroat behavior here as people want to do everything they can to be "top of the heap," hence why I only ever see McLean, Great Falls, or Vienna consistently mentioned on here, and all three communities are mega-$$$. My neighborhood seems to be solidly middle-class (or even lower-middle-class), and it's WONDERFUL, despite people telling me that nearby Lake Anne Elementary "sucks." You don't need to pay outrageous amounts of money to live the high life in NoVA---that's just something the people who DID buy into that mantra keep on saying to help justify their own decisions to over-pay for a home in a "gold-star" school because the home for $75,000 less in a "silver-star" district just couldn't cut it. From driving around over 1,000 miles in the past week I can safely say there are VERY FEW "terrible" areas of Fairfax County.

[terrence81]

Originally Posted by Sophronia50

Why not Vienna, Oakton, Fairfax near the Vienna Metro? These are pretty safe areas also. But Reston is also a fine community. I hope you have someone helping you with your search. Just be careful and make sure that you know the background of the property, if you rent a townhouse owned by an individual.

Well I can vouch for Oakton. It's really nice and safe. Some might say boring simply because except for a couple of strip malls it is almost entirely residential. This means a suburb that doesn't have a lot of character but at the same time it is very safe. In Oakton people keep to themselves and do their own thing. Again some might see that as a negative but I see it very positively because you can do your own thing nobody is going to care if you're an eco hippy or whatever as long as you don't make too much noise. So yeah look at Oakton also it's closer to the city than Reston or Herndon. Which is a plus for me.

Vienna is nice too. It's family oriented and has a more small town feel. They have festivals and stuff too. I'm going to guess that Oakton is safer though simply because fewer people pass through or visit (less reason to though). Vienna is going to be a little closer to Bethesda though.

At the same time Reston is a good combo because you have shopping and lots going on in your neighborhood but it's nice manicured and suburban. Which is what I've always loved about Reston it's newer and just plain pleasant. South Reston I have very limited experience with but it seemed alright to me. The area around the town center place is the most attractive as far as neighborhood amenities. Really and truly with safety being such a concern it seems just being in a more outlying area away from people might be the ticket. Maybe renting a place on some land in the country and your man just driving into Bethesda.

[stacylee926]

I had to smile because I want YOU to do that! Moving is always stressful, especially on short notice. However, if I was you, I would be glad that you are moving to a generally safe area and cannot go wrong anywhere (almost - just use common sense). I have been out of the area for 6 years now, so I cannot help with specific apartments, but as a newcomer you will find that anything you could want is very close by (limited only by traffic .

It sounds like you get to come down first to check things out - which is great. I think you will 'know' when you find the right apt and hopefully the move will be smoother once you have a feel for the area.

[Uhaul Is My Friend]

THANKS to everyone. You have all given me great amounts of info and my stress level has definitely decreased in the past 24 hours. I worked on the "hunt" for 16 hours straight yesterday. Needless to say, my eyes felt like they would bleed. BUT thanks to this forum, all of your advice and my inability to give up, I have found a few places that I am going to call today.

To the person who asked why I have not considered Vienna or Oakton, it is because I have yet to find what we need that will not stretch us super thin financially. Finding a place with a single car garage seems to be the killer.

Alas, I did find 2 places in RTC area, 1 in The Cascades, a number in Brambleton and 1 in McLean. So far, I know NOTHING about McLean and it would make his commute more tolerable. So, I am checking into that area as well.

So, any of you familiar with McLean? The property is called The Colonies. It looks very old but if it is in a safe area, I guess I could consider it since it does have garage space and would ease the commute. It will only be for a year.....