Alexandria, VA area (Arlington, Burke, Springfield: best neighborhoods, apartment, to rent)

[ArmyWife86]

Hi Guys,

My family and I are thinking about relocating to the DC metro area. I would appreciate any info on the best neighborhoods. My husband would work at Ft. Belvoir or the Pentagon so we'd prefer something close to those locations. We are interested in single-family home neighborhoods. I am open to any city, not just Alexandria.

I know the traffic is pretty bad over there and many people say it is just getting worse and worse. Do they have a lot of accidents on the roads? Mostly minor ones or major ones? How are the drivers there? I am asking this because where I'm currently at, most drivers are so horrible that I have never seen anything like this before and I just had a major accident because of one of them. I would like to move to a safer area. I was looking at the statistics and it doesn't seem like this dense DC metro area has more accidents than anywhere else in general.

[g3org3]

If you post in the Northern Va forum and you'll get more responses. Be sure to include whether you're looking to rent or buy and a budget. www.homesdatabase.com/ is linked to the local MLS.

"Alexandria" can refer to the City itself or the areas that have that mailing address that are actually in Fairfax County to the south (and west to a lesser extent). Alexandria (either) in general would be a decent place to live for either work location -- not too far from the Pentagon and a reverse commute to Ft. Belvoir. If public schools are an issue, Alexandria might not be your first choice.

As for traffic, yes we have plenty. I don't know the statistics, but based on the volume, there don't appear to be any more accidents here than elsewhere, but even fender-benders will cause delays during rush hours. If you took a poll in the NoVa forum, I think you'd find most people say the drivers here suck. Again, I don't know if they're worse than in other areas of the country, but given that there are many transients and lots of road construction, the effect is that many people are driving on unfamiliar roads.

[Gourmette]

Hi ArmyWife,

Picking Alexandria or Arlington would be good choices if he is either at Belvoir or the Pentagon. If you try and find a house near the metro line -- it will also give you guys more housing. (The parking wait list at the Pentagon for at least O5s and belows are ridiculous -- so having a metro option is good.)

I know you are interested in single family homes, but they are harder to come by (and terribly expensive) in safe neighborhoods near NOVA metro. If you're willing to go with a condo or townhome, I would recommend Cameron Station -- www.cameronstation.org. For single family that's closer to the Pentagon, you should check out the Del Ray neighborhood in Alexandria or something near Kingstowne or off Telegraph road for Ft. Belvoir.

Expect housing to be 2-3 times more expensive for housing in the rest of the US and fewer new housing developments -- especially within the beltway.

We live about 10 miles from Ft. Belvoir and it routinely takes my husband 40-50 minutes to get home on a Friday with rush hour traffic. Unless you have metro access or are close to your worksite, prepare yourselves for incredibly long commutes.

Traffic takes a lot to navigate. Most of the accidents are due to DCers swerving to get around traffic just to be a few feet ahead or people talking on cell phones (or zoning out) during the drive. In over 20 years of driving, we've never been in accidents before DC. But, in our past four years here, we've been 'hit and run' twice and my husband rear ended a car once. So, you really have to pay attention and not get complacent. (And, be sure you have good insurance because there are a lot of uninsured drivers in the area.)

Good luck with the transition!

[ArmyWife86]

Thank both of you for the informative answers!

[Kembek]

I suggest looking in the Springfield or Burke areas.

[Barberino]

hi people,
my wife will be working in downtown D.C.? (FAA hq)...fairly young couple, not into the social night life scene, looking to rent an apartment for the foreseeable short term future. picked out Alexandria and Arlington randomly and found some that look good online, but have no idea as to the neighborhoods there. any suggestions? thanks....

[Flamingo13]

Read the Northern Virginia section.

[ersatz]

Armywife86/Barberino -

As other posters pointed out, you need to be looking in the Northern Virginia forum. I have asked a moderator to move this thread there.

Armywife - This area has been consistently voted one of the worst for traffic gridlock and it is bad for accidents. I suggest that you start looking regularly at traffic on WTOP.com - Washington, DC News, Traffic & Weather - WTOP.com in order to get an idea of how it goes. Personally, I drive thirteen miles each way and it typically takes me a bit less than an hour to go those 13 miles. I have only had one minor accident in two years, but I have at least three close calls per week.

The neighborhood/housing available to you will depend on your budget. The choices open to you are quite different for a junior NCO wife versus the spouse of a flag level officer.

Barberino - City-data provides more than just forums. Go back to the main site www.city-data.com and feed in the zip code for the neighborhood you are interested in. You will find a wealth of information. Also, use Get Your Walk Score - A Walkability Score For Any Address and type in the specific address. It will give you a map of amenities near the address and even provide a rough idea of commuting time (though this will vary depending on local traffic conditions.)

[FindingZen]

It would appear that the OP (ArmyWife) has made their decision since first posting four months ago.

Barberino, I would agree with the suggestion to post in the Northern Virginia forum. Just back up to the main forum page and click on the Northern Virginia link under Virginia.