Where are the "not so good" places of Herndon? (Reston: apartments, rentals)

[csmartinez750]

I will be moving to Virginia in August and I'm leaning towards Herndon and Carson Middle School. What places should I look for renting? What are specifically the "not so good" places I've read in other threads?

[Dingler]

Anywhere near Apartments and Noth of the Toll Road. South of the Toll Road has more Single Family Homes and less ILLEGALS

[mlv311]

I hope you are planning a trip to see the area before you rent just so that you can get peace of mind. Frankly, even the "bad parts" are not horrendous. We are not talking about drive-by shootings, open air drug markets; it's not like a "caserio" in PR. It's more break-ins/thefts, sometimes assault, which obviously aren't pleasant either. But if you are looking into areas under Carson Middle School/Oakton High School, you should be fine.

[dullnboring]

I concur with mlv311. The "bad" parts of Herndon really aren't that bad at all. Northern Virginia as a whole is almost universally safe, so "bad" is a very relative term. With that said however, these "bad" parts of Herndon are generally located within the town limits of Herndon, and if you are looking to send your child to Carson Middle School, you will not be looking in those areas as they are outside of the school's boundaries.

I remember you stating in an earlier post that for at least the first few months here you will not have a car. I wasn't certain if you meant that you personally will not have a car, or if no one in your family (i.e. husband) will have a car, but whatever the case may be, it would be wise to look for places within walking distance to a large shopping center so that you can meet most of your daily needs so far as grocery shopping, the bank, barber shop, drugstore, etc. and of course a bus stop nearby as well. With all of those things considered, I think that you should really concetrate on the areas around the Clock Tower Shopping Center just south of the Dulles Toll Road in Herndon. I'm actually not certain if it's officially called the "Clock Tower Shopping Center" but that's how everyone knows it. Around this shopping center are hundreds of apartments, townhouses, condos and single family homes. I can't recall off-hand the names of any of these particular apartment, townhouse communities, but maybe some other locals can chime in. You would be within walking distance to the shopping center, within the boundaries of Carson Middle School (and these areas also eventually will funnel into Westfield High School, although boundaries may change), and have multiple bus stops which can zip you into Reston (for your job) in no time. Also, I may be mistaken, but I believe there is a Gold's Gym within the Clock Tower shopping center (and if not one there, there is one a few miles down the road on Elden Street in Herndon) where your husband could look for work as a personal trainer.

[scotty2987]

the frying pan road area has a lot of rentals if you're looking to rent. But as someone else said, anything in the Carson/Oakton or Carson/Westfield pyramid is going to be good (I work there). Try McNair farms, it's in the RCMS district and has a lot of options if you're looking to rent.

[seldomseen]

Herndon bad?? lol Herndon is a very safe, nice, and pleasant town. You really aren't going to find any bad parts in Herndon. Herndon is a very nice town to live in. You can even consider the neighboring towns like Reston, and Centreville too.

[drdash]

I am personally not a fan of the Herndon area. Vienna or Fairfax is much nicer. However, if you are set on on the Carson area try to go by what the elementary school areas are.
For example, the McNair Elementary School area is where most of the apartment and town homes are. These are nice middle class neighborhoods, so don't think "oh this is a ghetto area so I shouldn't live there" quite the contary, I think it is a nice part of town and has a convenient commute to Dulles Corner, Reston Town Center and D.C.
Fox Mill and Floris Elementary have most of the middle class homes, nice neighborhoods.
Then, there is the Crossfield Elementary area where all the white people with big homes live. Nice area but pretty isolated.

Long and short if you are zoned for Carson you aren't going to go wrong. However, if you are zoned for Herndon Middle school you might want to think twice. I'm not saying its a bad area but its probably not as nice as Carson.

[mojo_1979]

Originally Posted by csmartinez750

I will be moving to Virginia in August and I'm leaning towards Herndon and Carson Middle School. What places should I look for renting? What are specifically the "not so good" places I've read in other threads?

North of the toll road = lots of illegals
South of the toll road = upper middle class

[claremarie]

McNair was one of only a handful of Fairfax County schools with SOL test scores so low that students were required to be given the option to transfer to higher-performing schools. McNair Elementary No Child Left Behind Information
Something to keep in mind as you consider where to live.

[Margery]

Originally Posted by mojo_1979

North of the toll road = lots of illegals
South of the toll road = upper middle class

I'm sure the residents of Shaker Woods will be surprised to learn there are lots of illegals there.