Moving to virginia August 1 (Arlington, Burke: real estate, apartments, for rent)

[skysurfer]

Can somebody help and give us some advise as to where in Virginia or Maryland would be a good city or town to move to?? My husband work as an airline pilot from both dulles and national airports and will be doing the commute to the airport once a week. We have been reserching, but it looks like we had not made any progress we are totally confused. The plan is to rent for a year or so until we can make a good decision as to where we want to live. We have a 18 year old son that will be attending community college. Any advise will help!!!. Thank you from Florida!!!

[dullnboring]

I think that the area around Dunn Loring, Vienna and Tysons Corner would perhaps be your best bet. Unfortunately, Dulles and National are about 30 miles apart from one another so no matter which way you cut it, a commute to one of them will be rough (i.e. if you move close to Dulles, commuting to National will be a nightmare and vice versa). National Airport is served by the Metro. Dulles Airport is not. There are plans to extend the Metro out to Dulles but that expansion project won't be complete for 5-10 years. I think it would be best to live close to one of the Metro stations on the Orange Line (Vienna, Dunn Loring, East Falls Church, West Falls Church). The reason why I suggest the Dunn Loring/Tysons Corner area in partially because it is essentially equidistant from National and Dulles, but mainly due to it's proximity to the Dulles Toll Road which is relatively free of the crushing gridlock that defines the rest of the area's roadways, which should ease any commutes into Dulles. Commuting to Dulles is really rough any other way. Even if you live just five miles from the airport, Route 28 (the only road that I know of other than the Toll Road that goes to/by the airport) is a nightmare. I'm assuming your son will be going to Northern Virginia Community College, and most likely attending the main Annandale campus. That's a bit of a commute. Mileage-wise, it's not that far from Dunn Loring/Tysons (maybe 8 miles or so) but it can take quite a long time with traffic.

Unfortunately, there's really no perfect location when you're looking for ideal commutes to National, Annandale and Dulles. If your husband only has to commute to the airport once a week, perhaps it wouldn't be that bad for him to have a longer commute? I think it's best though just in general for convenience's sake to live close to a Metro station. Springfield is another possibility as it has it's own Metro station, on the Blue Line (no transer required to get to National Airport) and it's not all that far from the community college as well, but with all the roadwork going on there, it can be traffic hell. The commute to Dulles would be hell but as I said, if it's only a once-a-week thing, perhaps it'd be doable? Burke, the city of Fairfax, Merrifield and Annandale all are close to the community college as well, but are a bit of a drive to the nearest Metro station and commutes to Dulles via car would be horrific. That's why I think all in all, it would probably be best to rent a place in the Dunn Loring/Tysons Corner area. It's not the perfect area by any means, but I think it's location would be the most beneficial.

[skysurfer]

Well, thank you so much for all your information. Do you think it is possible to rent a 2 bed home for $ 1600/1800 a month?. And as far the commute time we thought that a couple of hours commuting time isn't that bad since it will be done only once a week and then not even at peak traffic time. any sugestions on places a little further away from DC?

[dullnboring]

What type of character are you looking for in a community? Rural, small town, suburban, etc.? Whatever the case, you should be able to find a two bedroom home for $1600 a month. Just doing a random search on craig's list, I found a huge number of homes for rent in that price range all across the DC area, even in more traditionally more expensive locales like Arlington, and in other areas that can get you a three (or even four) bedroom the further out away from DC you go. However, the majority of the homes I saw in this price range in the immediate DC suburbs tended to be townhomes and condos with only a handufl of single family homes. That has more to due with the market at the moment however.

I'm assuming since you want to live in a community "further away from DC" that you'd be happiest in the outer suburbs or beyond. By MY definition, the DC area's sprawl sort of ends at Leesburg (to the West), just south of Manassas and Quantico (to the south), Waldorf, Maryland (to the East), and Damascus, Maryland (to the Northwest). It doesn't really "end" going North/Northeast as this is where the DC and Baltimore suburbs merge. Any communities that go beyond these points in their respective directions you'll find less sprawl, less cosmopolitan and a more rural character. Of course, there is always the threat of encroaching development and the chaos that comes with it (clogged roads not equipped to handle the traffic, subdivisions bulldozing over farms, the arrival of a Starbucks, etc.).

Gainesville and Haymarket in Prince William County are two possibilities. They are both around 35-40 miles southwest of DC and National Airport, and around a half hour from Dulles Airport. There is a branch of the community college located around 15-20 minutes away in Manassas as well. Manassas is closer to the college and Dulles Airport and in my opinion sort of the last DC suburb before the character really changes. It's growing very fast and has a lot of redneck elements to it. I don't particularly like it but I guess a lot of people do. If you're looking for even more rural, you may want to head 10 miles further south into some of the small towns of Fauquier County. Thus far, Fauquier County has largely escaped the astounding growth and development of the rest of the DC area so it retains a lot of it's rural-ish charm. Stafford County to the east of Fauquier (and south of Prince William) is developing fast but is a still much less developed and rural than Prince William. Communities like Opal, Stafford and Bealeton have good reputations although by this point even in good traffic, you're an hour's commute from Dulles and National. Even further South is the town of Fredericksburg, a cute town full of restaurants with an old historic downtown. I think that is the absolute furthest south you should look though (actually, that is REALLY far so I'd even snip my search a bit closer).

To the west, there is Loudoun County, the nation's second fastest growing county. It is where I currently live. In fact, you may want to consider Ashburn, the town (or rather, the unincorporated community) in which I live. I personally don't like it but that's because I'm young and single and a city boy at heart. It just might be what you're looking for though. It's straight-up suburbia, a mostly-planned community of artificial lakes, new strip malls, well-landscaped lawns and a mix of garden style apartments, condos, townhomes and single family homes. It's located 15 minutes Northwest of Dulles Airport. My brother commutes to Northern Virginia Community College's campus in Sterling which is a 10-15 minute commute away. National is around 50 minutes away. Some 7 miles west of here is the town of Leesburg, formerly the quaint old county seat, but now sort of the latest front of the incredible mile-a-minute DC sprawl.

[teleblazer]

Originally Posted by skysurfer

Well, thank you so much for all your information. Do you think it is possible to rent a 2 bed home for $ 1600/1800 a month?. And as far the commute time we thought that a couple of hours commuting time isn't that bad since it will be done only once a week and then not even at peak traffic time. any sugestions on places a little further away from DC?

It depsnds on what you're looking for in size, and the amount of commute and how far from DC you wish to live. The general idea is the further from the city the more affordable the home unless it has prime school districts or other ammenities that would be considered desireable.

I took the approach I know I'm going to **** away 2 hours in the car if I'm in NOVA (Northern Virginia) or I can move further out and drive 1+ hours from Southern MD and get to the same places in about the same time. I found that for not too far from my rent on a townhome I was able to build a house in MD and use my 2 hour commute to cover the mile difference. It takes me maybe 40-45 minutes to get to National with bad traffic from Huntingtown, MD. It's considerably longer to Dulles but with the toll road it's usually a breeze.

Your biggest obstacle regardless of the location you choose would be getting to Dulles Airport and I think the guidance in the previous posts in this forum is right on. What I used to do is live in Centreville, VA which was close to Dulles and I'd drive to the Orange line (Vienna Metro Stop) when I needed to go to DC locations such as Regan National Airport. That may be a good choice for you but anything in those areas of Virginia are getting really pricey.

John

[willy63]

Go aywher but Virginia.Coming from FL you won't like it there.I did it After 2 years we raced back to FL.If you do end up in VA, Newport will be the closest thing to civilization as we know it.

[dardan]

Originally Posted by skysurfer

Can somebody help and give us some advise as to where in Virginia or Maryland would be a good city or town to move to?? My husband work as an airline pilot from both dulles and national airports and will be doing the commute to the airport once a week. We have been reserching, but it looks like we had not made any progress we are totally confused. The plan is to rent for a year or so until we can make a good decision as to where we want to live. We have a 18 year old son that will be attending community college. Any advise will help!!!. Thank you from Florida!!!

Moved to Fairfax, VA from the Tampa Bay area myself in late 2002. Well, before moving to Florida, I lived in NYC, and based on my past experiance, Northern Virginia is a combination of Florida and NYC. Why am I saying that?

Well, you have New York city prices and fast-paced lifestyle. But on the other hand, you have the ability to own a car, you live in an apartment that is not as tiny as the ones in NYC, most of the apartment communities have swimming pools etc. Also, Northern Virginia has an excellent system of education.

I must add that from 2002, real estate prices have doubled or even tripled. I wish I knew to buy something at that time. Anyway, I am in Northern Virginia because my profession requires me to be here. Now, that I have kids, I may stay a little longer because the schools are great. But although it is getting more and more expensive (just like in any other metropolitan area), quality of life is better then average.

If you need to commute to the airports, I would recommend Centreville or North Manassas. You can get to Dulles Airport in under 20 minutes. As far as National, it will take you longer, about 35 minutes during off-peak hours, and about an hour during peak hours (HOV lanes).

Also, Northern Virginia Community College has multiple campuses in Northern Virginia. You have probably checked their site at: http://www.nvcc.edu