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Relocating this summer. I'm looking at all options for housing; charles town comes to mind. Is commuting to tyson's corner twice a week tolerbable or am I fooling myself?
Thanks for any help.
Last edited by movingSomewhereThisSummer; 04-26-2009 at 06:35 PM..
I lived up in Northern VA for over 10 years, and I remember all that traffic! My family and I are down here in Lake Monticello now (near Charlottesville) and will be moving once again over to the Bridgeport, West Virginia area due to job transfer.
I cannot imagine how on earth anyone could travel even two times a week all the way over to Tysons Corner - if you mapquest it, that trip is almost FOUR HOURS EACH WAY!!! I'm sure that's only in really GOOD traffic, too! Now, if you have a helicopter....that's different!
I lived up in Northern VA for over 10 years, and I remember all that traffic! My family and I are down here in Lake Monticello now (near Charlottesville) and will be moving once again over to the Bridgeport, West Virginia area due to job transfer.
I cannot imagine how on earth anyone could travel even two times a week all the way over to Tysons Corner - if you mapquest it, that trip is almost FOUR HOURS EACH WAY!!! I'm sure that's only in really GOOD traffic, too! Now, if you have a helicopter....that's different!
You probably entered Charleston instead of Charles Town which people in Virginia always seem to confuse. Charleston is over five hours away each way from Northern Virginia.
To the OP: In terms of Charles Town/ Harpers Ferry, the two are around 55-60 miles from Tysons Corner. Your tolerance for this commute will depend on how long you like to sit in a car. I live in Northern Virginia (Arlington) and work in Tysons Corner...traffic is brutal. It can sometimes take 20-30 minutes to get through a few stoplights. I think one person at my office drives from Ranson, which is near Charles Town and it takes him about two hours usually each way if there aren't any accidents and he leaves early enough.
You have three options when commuting: Take Rt. 340 into Maryland then connect with I-270 in Frederick where you will encounter stop and go traffic sometimes all the way to the Beltway which is around 45 miles away. Once you get on the Beltway you go a few miles into Virginia where you will encounter large delays at all exit ramps heading into Tysons (150,000 people work in Tysons area).
Your other option (well it's sort of 2 options) is to take Rt. 9 into Northern Virginia and catch Rt. 7 just outside of Leesburg and head on in to Tysons. This way will take longer because of all the stop lights and VERY heavy congestion. You're looking at probably an hour to Leesburg then at least another hour (probably more) into Tysons Corner. You can shorten this slightly by exiting Rt. 7 and heading on the Dulles Greenway to the Dulles Toll Road into Tysons but it is expensive to use and I've personally seen very long inbound traffic backups on this road when I'm heading out to visit clients in the Dulles area.
Either way it won't be pretty. If your company has flex scheduling that will help but A LOT of companies do that up here which is really starting to spread the rush hours out. Traffic starts getting really heavy by 530 or 6 am and in the evenings back-ups tend to start forming on most major roads by 3 pm.
Last edited by NOVAmtneer82; 04-26-2009 at 07:24 PM..
Tyson's is apparently commutable 5 times a week. Most of Jefferson County's working population commutes to the DC suburbs or Central DC & Baltimore daily.
Personally I commuted to Gaithersburg daily in the late '80's and determined the drive wasn't worth the difference in pay. But I was in lawn care, wasn't making much money, and had to drive all day after I got to the shop.
Two days a week shouldn't be a problem at all, if, you don't mind driving. It would even be better if you had some control over your schedule to avoid the largest part of the rush hour. Maps live shows it at about an hour and 10 min but with traffic an 1:30 to 1:45 is probably more like it. As mtneer mentions above, the route you choose could have a lot to do with it. The 'northern' route shouldn't be considered because you'll encounter more bottlenecks and slowdowns. Right now the best options are 340S to Rt7 to the greenway or 9E to Rt 7 to the greenway. WVDOT has started (again)on the Mountain section of the RT9 bypass, and hopefully when that is open in a few years VA will finally get on board and do 4 lanes to 7 which would really ease the commute.
First I would weigh it out economically. Then I would consider if it is worth the total of about 6 hours in the car weekly to, I presume, make more money and have your family in a more relaxed and rural area with more affordable housing?
It is a good time to move. There is a federal tax credit this year for first time homebuyers, interest rates are low and prices are still good.
Let me know if you have any specific questions about areas in the County.
I would say doable but Reston to Tysons is usually at least another 40 minutes during rush hour and that is even on the Toll Road. A commute from Charles Town to the Tysons area simply will not be under 2 hours unless the OP leaves earlier than 530 or later than 8ish. The evenings usually always take even longer. Luckily the OP only has to do it two days a week.
You have my utmost sympathy commuting from downtown DC to Martinsburg. I've gone out of town many Friday evenings and have been stuck in traffic on 270 and 70 for hours and hours. It's gotten to the point where when I head back for WVU football games or to visit family I won't even leave Arlington until 8 or 9. There is nothing worse than being stuck in traffic for over three hours just to go 90 miles to I-68.
Ughhh.
I used to commute from Adelphi/College Park to Bethesda MD and thought that was bad. Thank God I don't have your problems anymore, lol.
My wife and I lived in Jefferson County for a while and drove to Frederick MD for work. 45minutes one way 15 years ago. Now it's over and hour and a half. Good frekin' luck.
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