Commute: McLean --> DC? (Arlington, Chester: townhouse, neighborhoods, new construction) - Northern Virginia - Virginia (VA) - City-Data Forum

jaydreb · 03-29-2010, 09:26 AM

My wife and I are currently looking for a new house. We have a 3-year old son and a baby due in June. We currently live in a townhouse near the Ballston Metro station in Arlington. We like the house and location, but it's just going to be too small for a family of 4.

So we're looking at SFH's in N. Arlington, parts of Falls Church (H-L-M pyramid) and have recently expanded our search to McLean. The reason we have expanded to McLean is because we like the larger lots and the schools. Our budget is around $1 to $1.1 mil.

We both work in downtown DC. Having lived in Arlington for 10 years, I'm pretty familiar with the commuting times and routes in N. Arlington. It takes about 30-40 mins to drive door-to-door from our current house during rush hour (non-rush hour would take like 12 minutes).

The area of McLean I'm talking about is zip code 22101. Inside the beltway, near the intersections of Old Dominion and Chain Bridge Road or Dolley Madison. I have no idea what these roads (Dolley Madison, Chain Bridge Road, etc.) are like during morning rush, but I can imagine they're not good.

Another area is Pimmit Hills.

We were looking at a house near McLean Central Park and the seller's agent claimed it's a 30-minute commute. I know she's nuts b/c it easily takes 30-mins to drive from Ballston, so I think we're probably looking at an average of 45 mins from that part of McLean.

I apologize if there's another thread on this topic, but I didn't see it in the search.

buildinginva · 03-29-2010, 10:17 AM

Obviously a lot depends on your schedule. We live near WFC metro (Haycock elementary) and it takes about an hour in the morning (8:30) and 45 minutes on the way back (6:30) to get downtown (on the Hill side). 30 minutes is not doable from McLean unless you go very very early or very late. Be aware that if you are on Old Dominion and plan to take Kirby Rd to get on GW Parkway, there may be some delays during school bus times (several schools along that road). Pimmit Hills doesn't offer any benefits other than better values, if you are going to be happy with the Marshall pyramid. FWIW, I really like our location and take the metro from WFC, parking there is not bad, if it factors into your decision. We went through a similar search as you a couple of years ago and are glad we ended up near the metro.

jaydreb · 03-29-2010, 10:27 AM

Thank you for your reply. I'm glad to hear that parking isn't bad at WFC. I had assumed otherwise.

We like the Haycock area and are considering it, but there's not tons of houses out there right now.

JD984 · 03-29-2010, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaydreb

My wife and I are currently looking for a new house. We have a 3-year old son and a baby due in June. We currently live in a townhouse near the Ballston Metro station in Arlington. We like the house and location, but it's just going to be too small for a family of 4.

So we're looking at SFH's in N. Arlington, parts of Falls Church (H-L-M pyramid) and have recently expanded our search to McLean. The reason we have expanded to McLean is because we like the larger lots and the schools. Our budget is around $1 to $1.1 mil.

We both work in downtown DC. Having lived in Arlington for 10 years, I'm pretty familiar with the commuting times and routes in N. Arlington. It takes about 30-40 mins to drive door-to-door from our current house during rush hour (non-rush hour would take like 12 minutes).

The area of McLean I'm talking about is zip code 22101. Inside the beltway, near the intersections of Old Dominion and Chain Bridge Road or Dolley Madison. I have no idea what these roads (Dolley Madison, Chain Bridge Road, etc.) are like during morning rush, but I can imagine they're not good.

Another area is Pimmit Hills.

We were looking at a house near McLean Central Park and the seller's agent claimed it's a 30-minute commute. I know she's nuts b/c it easily takes 30-mins to drive from Ballston, so I think we're probably looking at an average of 45 mins from that part of McLean.

I apologize if there's another thread on this topic, but I didn't see it in the search.

From Old Dominion/Chain Bridge, it takes about 20 minutes on the weekends to get to downtown DC. During the work week, it might take 35-40 minutes if you leave early, but it's more likely to take 45-55 minutes. The main options are either to take 123 to the GW Parkway to Key/Roosevelt Bridge, or take Old Dominion to Lee Highway to Key/Roosevelt Bridge.

In that part of McLean, $1-1.1 million won't get you a new house, but there are usually older houses in that price range in both the Langley or McLean pyramids.

Pimmit Hills is an older neighborhood of small homes near Tysons with a small number of more expensive infill properties. If you have $1-1.1 million to spend on a house, it really doesn't make any sense to look there, though you certainly could do far worse than Marshall HS (which, using Arlington as a baseline for comparison, falls between Yorktown and W-L in terms of diversity, test scores, etc.).

jaydreb · 03-29-2010, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JEB77

From Old Dominion/Chain Bridge, it takes about 20 minutes on the weekends to get to downtown DC. During the work week, it might take 35-40 minutes if you leave early, but it's more likely to take 45-55 minutes. The main options are either to take 123 to the GW Parkway to Key/Roosevelt Bridge, or take Old Dominion to Lee Highway to Key/Roosevelt Bridge.

In that part of McLean, $1-1.1 million won't get you a new house, but there are usually older houses in that price range in both the Langley or McLean pyramids.

Pimmit Hills is an older neighborhood of small homes near Tysons with a small number of more expensive infill properties. If you have $1-1.1 million to spend on a house, it really doesn't make any sense to look there, though you certainly could do far worse than Marshall HS (which, using Arlington as a baseline for comparison, falls between Yorktown and W-L in terms of diversity, test scores, etc.).

Thanks for the info. And by "new" house, I didn't necessarily mean new construction. I meant new for us.

JD984 · 03-29-2010, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaydreb

Thanks for the info. And by "new" house, I didn't necessarily mean new construction. I meant new for us.

It also occurred to me that, when you mentioned Pimmit Hills, you might be describing some of the neighborhoods in Falls Church/22043 near Idylwood that feed into Lemon Road/Longfellow/McLean. They are close to Pimmit Hills, but if you told the residents they're in Pimmit Hills they'd probably go into cardiac arrest!

claremarie · 03-29-2010, 11:41 AM

Ballston isn't so far from McLean. Just get up early and try out the commute from these different neighborhoods you are considering. We lived in the Chesterbrook part of McLean, and could get to the State Dept in under 40 minutes during the peak of rush hour, IF there were no construction or accident delays on the GW Parkway. But that's because our driveway was about 5 minutes from the Parkway entrance. A lot depends upon exactly where the house is in relation to the major commuting routes, and exactly where the downtown destinations are. The only way to know for sure how the commute might be is to try it.

JD984 · 03-29-2010, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by claremarie

Ballston isn't so far from McLean. Just get up early and try out the commute from these different neighborhoods you are considering. We lived in the Chesterbrook part of McLean, and could get to the State Dept in under 40 minutes during the peak of rush hour, IF there were no construction or accident delays on the GW Parkway. But that's because our driveway was about 5 minutes from the Parkway entrance. A lot depends upon exactly where the house is in relation to the major commuting routes, and exactly where the downtown destinations are. The only way to know for sure how the commute might be is to try it.

My estimates were based on travel time in 2010 from Old Dominion/Chain Bridge to downtown DC (FBI/Dept. of Justice area on Penn. Avenue) at rush and non-rush hour.

If the OP is driving at rush hour, driving to downtown DC from either Old Dominion/Chain Bridge or McLean Central Park could take another 5-10 minutes compared to the parts of Chesterbrook that are either very close to Kirby/GW Parkway or Arlington. In addition, the State Department is closer to McLean than the downtown areas (either Farragut Square or Penn Quarter).

I will say that, other things being equal, a drive on the GW Parkway is much more pleasant than a drive on Route 66, although the limited number of exits can be frustrating (once you've opted for the Parkway, "Plan B" isn't really an option).

buildinginva · 03-29-2010, 11:52 AM

True what Claremarie said about exact locations. I think there are some streets right around the entrance to GW Parkway that are very convenient. For example: Moderator cut: Please send properties not from a generic MLS source via DM. Thanks

jaydreb · 03-29-2010, 12:21 PM

I think it's safe to assume I'll be driving during rush hour. My destination would be Union Station (not truly "downtown") - so tack on another 10 to 15 mins to the times provided.

I know what 66 is like during rush hour. Sounds like GW Pkwy isn't too horrible; it's just a matter of getting to it.

This has all been very helpful.