Anyone live on base at Bolling or Ft Belvoir????

[irisheyes13]

Knowing both bases and both areas, I personally would take the Belvoir housing. The drive on 395 to the Pentagon will average 30-40 minutes in rush hour as a single occupant but again he could metro, car pool and probably slug very easily. The area around Bolling is not good and just to go out to eat or shop is much less convenient.. There are many options outside the numerous gates on Belvoir..

[k8p]

I'd pick Belvoir too. We live about 10 min. north of Belvoir off GW Pkwy and my husbands commute to the Pentagon is a breeze. I would feel safer in this area too.

[brarsenault]

I lived on Bolling and commuted to the Pentagon for 5 years. I moved to Fort Belvoir in Jan 09 and really enjoyed the commute my last year there. I now work in Falls Church and traffic is still better than being at Bolling. Mt Vernon highway is the BEST option from Fort Belvoir to Pentagon. You drive thru Alexandria, but overall, the shortest and fastest route in my opinion. Fort Belvoir is also more convenient to everything in NOVA. In the evenings, you can't leave Bolling until after 700 pm. Belvoir has traffic issues, but there are more entrances and exits on the base, plus Mt Vernon highway goes straight to Walker gate which has never had more than 3 cars in line at the busiest times for me. I used to commute out to Pgon at 5 in the morning, and return at 330 in the afternoon. Traffic was always moving good with the exception of downtown Alexandria, 10 minutes to get thru on the worst days I had. Fort Belvoir is definitely the winner in my opinion. Good Luck! GB

[slduvall]

The activitiy options for your kids will be better at Belvoir. Things like Karate, gymanastics, ballet, music whatever. There is nothing...nothing..outside of Bolling except traffic. And as another poster said, you can't really leave if you wanted to just run to target after work..well there is no Target, (at least not one I would shop at) so you would be crossing the river anyway, but the traffic could be so bad it isn't worth it. Same with running out for dinner, you would be coming back into NOVA anyway. You will much happier at Belvoir.

Another question for you..why stick with the base housing option? BHA is pretty good around here.

[statecollege]

To throw a couple factors into your decision making, a new street car line under construction will connect Bolling with the Anacostia Metro, and Homeland Security is building a huge campus on the hillside adjacent to St. Elizabeth's overlooking Bolling. The impact of these on the area neighborhoods is problematic, but it certainly won't hurt.

[NavyHeloPilot]

We live east of Walker Gate (Belvoir) about 2 miles, right next to Mt Vernon. The commute up the GW Pkwy is not bad at all. Like most have said, around 495 it slows a bit, but still not too bad. I leave at 5:55am and am in my desk by 6:30am. I leave between 4-6 and the trip home has never been more than 30-40 minutes.

The location is great, and Belvoir is a nice base for PX/Comm/MWR services. I am not familiar with the housing on base, but it looks pretty nice. I would try to get as close to Walker Gate as able, all those houses look new and are convenient to leaving in the morning.

Lastly, leaving Belvoir in the morning and returning in the afternoon is opposite of most of the traffic flow, so really the gate traffic isn't an issue.

Good Luck!