Clueless about the city (how much, to buy, schools)

[Pharaoh07]

I'm going to be starting work in downtown DC and my husband will be around Quantico, VA. We're looking for a place to live between the two... neither of us are used to big city life, so are there any smaller towns that would be a good choice?? I really enjoy the outdoors and would like a dog-friendly, safe community. There are thousands of places to live and I don't know where to start!!!

[JimGriffith]

Let's start with some more criteria.

What's your budget like? Are you looking to buy or rent? How much space do you need? Any reason to care about schools?

My guess is you'll want to take the metro to work and your husband will want to drive a reverse commute down to quantico.

so i'd start with the areas of alexandria around the eisenhower metro and the huntington metro.

[MacUser85]

I would look in an area of Alexandria's 22315 zip called Kingstowne. It is a planned community and has running trails, tennis courts, swimming pools, etc. It is 5-10 minutes from the Franconia-Springfield Metro (end of the Blue line) and has easy connections to I-95 for the 30 mile drive south down to Quantico.

Small towns are not such a common thing here as development begins below Potomac Mills (Woodbridge) these days. Heck, some people even commute to DC from Fredericksburg on the VRE train!

Best of luck to you.

[akorosdc]

I agree with checking out Alexandria. The reverse commute to Quantico really shouldn't be that bad, and you'll be able to take the metro to work in DC.

[CHIP72]

Where are you working in downtown DC? That will help determine how useful VRE (Virginia Railway Express) or the various commuter buses are for your commute (though you can obviously use the Metro in addition to those services).