hey all knowing board...any of you live in NOVA. Do you enjoy it? Any places you would recommend living...thanks in advance.
OT: Northern VA questions...
- Thread starter Nashville Lion
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oh i am definitely aware of that. most good cities are like that these days. Atlanta is hell. nashville is hell now. at least in DC you have good options...like VRE, metro, commuter buses, the slug lines, etc
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
Yes, live there now. Pluses and minuses for sure, but the benefits (IMO) outweigh the negatives. Still, good to know what you're getting into. Let me know what specific questions I can help with!
Well, I go there often for work so familiar with the area...and so I am contemplating just move to that area...because I like idea of in state tuition in coming years for kids....the public schools for college are the best in VA. I would think the pluses would outweigh as well. So much to do up there...with sports, history, events, much closer to PSU, close to beaches like Outer Banks.
I am kind of looking in area between Burke and Centreville. Thoughts? With that said, i am open to other suggestions. I want good schools, safe area and no more than say an hour commute each way.
I am kind of looking in area between Burke and Centreville. Thoughts? With that said, i am open to other suggestions. I want good schools, safe area and no more than say an hour commute each way.
Crystal City/Pentagon area
I have some coworkers who slug in from Woodbridge.
If you will work in the city, closer is definitely better, but be prepared for sticker shock. Also be prepared for the fact that uva William and Mary dnd even va tech have become incredibly competitive to get in. (Son is a senior in hs- waiting on uva, in vatech for engineering). There are many things to do and see, and the economy is cranking. On the downside, you will get tired of 24/7 politics very quickly, and people here will first ask you what you do.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
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Okay, so working in CC/Pentagon means commuting via 395/95 from Burke, and 66 from Centreville - both are awful, but 66 isn't bad (right now) if you have at least HOV2 (the flex tolls they've installed for single passenger vehicles can get up to $46.00 one way during morning commutes!). Neither have access to Metro, and admittedly, I don't know much about Burke. When we were looking to build we checked out a development in Woodbridge that was really, really nice, but the schools and crime around the area were big negatives. Bought the same model house in Loudoun County for $100,000 more (and am glad we did). Centreville is nice but you're really forced to use 66 to get to work; if you can find a way around that or work with it, I would pick Centreville. Of course, the best public schools are in Fairfax County (McLean, Vienna, Fairfax, Fair Oaks), and that means living closer to or inside the beltway (which means a hefty price tag for homes). My kids are still pretty young but we're planning to leave Loudoun County (expanding too fast, schools are new, but overcrowded, etc.) when my daughter begins kindergarten (wife already making appointments for her to be tested for private school placement - don't ask....) in a couple years. Not sure what the in-state tuition options are for VA residents - I guess UVA and VT, George Mason, James Madison, and VCU are the most popular.
Outside of the commute, of course Burke and Centreville offer access to DC for tons of outstanding things to do, places to visit, and places to eat. Also close to Loudoun County which is a rapidly growing eco/agro-tourism economy that is heavy on breweries and wineries. I love living here but the commute is murder (though will have metro access in a few years).
Not sure how helpful that is.....
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yes, my wife is UVA alum and I graduated from undergrad at VMI...would be nice to be closer to those places as well. Oh, the sticker shock is alive and well...that was one of the considerations but I still think the quality of life and opportunity in my career will be better off. For me, it is just a matter of a transfer and then finding where to live. I refuse to do the Haymarket commute...that is too far. I also have a coworker who commutes from Fredericksburg which I think is too far. I am thinking woodbridge, manassas, Burke, Centerville as possibilities. what do you think about those areas?
That is very helpful Midnighter. Thank you. No doubt the commute is the worst part. I know from Burke to my office there is a commuter bus and there is also the VRE in Burke Centre and Rolling rock which would mean 30 mins on train. That does not sound bad to me.Okay, so working in CC/Pentagon means commuting via 395/95 from Burke, and 66 from Centreville - both are awful, but 66 isn't bad (right now) if you have at least HOV2 (the flex tolls they've installed for single passenger vehicles can get up to $46.00 one way during morning commutes!). Neither have access to Metro, and admittedly, I don't know much about Burke. When we were looking to build we checked out a development in Woodbridge that was really, really nice, but the schools and crime around the area were big negatives. Bought the same model house in Loudoun County for $100,000 more (and am glad we did). Centreville is nice but you're really forced to use 66 to get to work; if you can find a way around that or work with it, I would pick Centreville. Of course, the best public schools are in Fairfax County (McLean, Vienna, Fairfax, Fair Oaks), and that means living closer to or inside the beltway (which means a hefty price tag for homes). My kids are still pretty young but we're planning to leave Loudoun County (expanding too fast, schools are new, but overcrowded, etc.) when my daughter begins kindergarten (wife already making appointments for her to be tested for private school placement - don't ask....) in a couple years. Not sure what the in-state tuition options are for VA residents - I guess UVA and VT, George Mason, James Madison, and VCU are the most popular.
Outside of the commute, of course Burke and Centreville offer access to DC for tons of outstanding things to do, places to visit, and places to eat. Also close to Loudoun County which is a rapidly growing eco/agro-tourism economy that is heavy on breweries and wineries. I love living here but the commute is murder (though will have metro access in a few years).
Not sure how helpful that is.....
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
We did the commuter bus when we first moved to Loudoun and I didn't have any issues with it - it can take a while, but if you get on an early enough bus and don't need a lot of flexibility (ie, you can make a bus every day without having to be home or somewhere else quickly) they're pretty comfortable. You can watch videos or do work and enjoy not having to deal with other insane drivers. I have a colleague who takes the VRE to DC (she lives in Manassas) and seems to like it; I think if you don't work in DC you'd have to get off (in Alexandria?) and transfer to the Blue/Orange line to get to CC. Still pretty manageable.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
Additionally I would highly recommend checking out the NoVa City-Data forums - great place to really pick the brains of folks who are living and working in the area you're looking. Helped a lot when we were considering Woodbridge and Loudoun...
http://www.city-data.com/forum/
Hey Nashville,
I live in Alexandria just south of the Beltway. (Btw my brother lives in Brentwood). I am actually a Realtor with Coldwell Banker.
You will get more for you buck in the centerville and Burke area. You have to decide on your commute and how long of a commute. Are definitely driving or is the metro an option?
There are definitely good school districts in those areas. I would be happy to help if you’d like my email address.
Hey Rollin stone. Small world...that is where I am from. I might know your brother.
I would actually prefer to use public transportation...because then I can relax or read while getting to work. My email is:
nashvillelion@yahoo.com
Thank you
Arlington is a great area. Close to the city, multiple metro stops, easy to get into and out of the city. But it also has everything you need to stay close to home and have the nice food and cultural aspects. Lots of parks, grocery stores, top notch (in some cases, top of the country) schools. If price is an issue, South Arlington is traditionally more affordable. Good luck.
My cousin recently moved from West Virginia to Florida because he had only two state-school options for his kids.
Burke and centreville are good options. Arlington is obviously great access to pentagon, including by bike! There are some up and coming neighborhoods along Columbia pike that will appreciate. Three cheers for vmi! Love big lex!
I live in Burke near the VRE station. It's ideal because we can drive anywhere we want outside of the city, but also have quick access to get into the city. Burke is an endless neighborhood, which is peaceful and quiet. DC is 20-30 minutes to the East (traffic, barring), and there are lakes, hiking, forests, fishing, golf, etc. just a few miles to the west. The schools are fantastic in Fairfax County and Loudoun.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
And Loudon has grown too fast for infrastructure to keep up. Great think about chantilly and Burke is that much faster to the blue ridge!
We've lived in Centreville 27 years and it's a great place to raise children. Crystal city would be tough to get to but it's obviously a function of your work hours. I work 38 miles away in silver spring and it takes me 45 minutes leaving at 5:15 am. The commute home at 2:30 is tougher
I spend a lot of time fishing in the Shenandoah and golfing out that way and it's an easy drive there (hour)
Schools and youth sports are outstanding and food options are everywhere.
I spend a lot of time fishing in the Shenandoah and golfing out that way and it's an easy drive there (hour)
Schools and youth sports are outstanding and food options are everywhere.
NL -- another place to consider is the Great Falls/Reston area. If you are commuting to Crystal City/Pentagon, you can take the Metro (above ground train in the burbs) from the Reston/Wiehle stop right to Crystal City/Pentagon. You have to change to a different line at Rosslyn, but it is easy--you just go to a different floor to catch the line to CC/Pentagon. I live in Great Falls 10 minutes from the Reston/Wiehle stop. It is the last stop so you can always get a seat. I work downtown and it is a 40 minute train ride door to door. It would be 30ish minutes from Reston to Rosslyn.
I have lived in NOVA since 1980. Have lived in VA 15 years longer than I lived in PA. We love the area. Blue Ridge Mtns, Skyline drive and Shenandoah river valley to the west and Atlantic ocean beaches to the east (Rehoboth and Bethany are especially nice). Of course, like the rest of the area, you have to know when traffic is heaviest to avoid bad traffic, especially to the beaches.
Lots of history--Civil War battlefields--and of course the Smithsonian museums and monuments in DC.
I looked at some real estate ads when I was Great Falls Village today. You can get an older home (say 20-30 years old) with some land (1/2 to 1 acre), for decent prices. Of course, if you go out to Centreville you will get a newer home (though some of those neighborhoods are 20 plus years old also).
Reston has nice communities also. Having access to a Metro train commute each day, instead of the heavy traffic of I-66 or 495, would be worth it even if the REston/Great Falls area is more expensive. We went to a concert last Tuesday in Maryland (Strathmore theater) and had to use 495 N. It took 11/2 hours to go about 15 miles. Told myself I am so glad I don't have to put up with that kind of traffic daily.
We are in the Langley High district, one of the highest ranked public high schools in northern VA (together with Thos. Jefferson). A neighbor's son who went to Langley got into PSU-UP with a 3.2 GPA (he also played football and basketball at Langley, but is not at PSU). The PSU admissions folks love Langley High. They recruit there and have told the Langley guidance counselors that they consider a 3.2 at Langley to be better than a 3.5 from a number of PA high schools. If you want to consider the Great Falls/Reston area, let me know. would gladly provide more info (including back road ways to the Dulles Toll road and I-66). wddegran@gmail.com
sorry for the long note. hope it helps.
Absolutely...I hate it there...My office is there and I drive there once a month to 2 months and that is still too much..Even weekends suck!!
I live Leesburg and commute to DC. Having kids, the commute is worth it for me because of the great schools and housing. Nothing is cheap here, but definitely get more bang for your buck in Loudoun.
NL -
Sister has lived in NOVA for the last 10 years. She just moved from Manassas to Clifton in December (4 miles closer to Arlington/DC). Shaved 30 mins off of her commute into Balston. She takes 66...typically out the door at 5:15 AM. Schools are very good in Fairfax. Absolute garage in Prince William, unless you opt to go the private school route. You could always drive to the Metro stop at Vienna...not sure when the garage fills up there but I’m sure it’s early.
Sister has lived in NOVA for the last 10 years. She just moved from Manassas to Clifton in December (4 miles closer to Arlington/DC). Shaved 30 mins off of her commute into Balston. She takes 66...typically out the door at 5:15 AM. Schools are very good in Fairfax. Absolute garage in Prince William, unless you opt to go the private school route. You could always drive to the Metro stop at Vienna...not sure when the garage fills up there but I’m sure it’s early.
Lived/worked in Loudoun on 2 separate occasions- once as a single and again with a family. Everything said here is true about its rapid expansion, but I LOVED living in NOVA. I lived in Sterling both times, but have good friends in Leesburg and Ashburn. Everything there is new and expensive, though cheaper than just a quick trip up Rt 7 into Fairfax - Reston, for example is 10 minutes away but a lot more expensive.
I live in Fairfax County just south of Alexandria, north of Mount Vernon. The GWP runs right along the river from this area to Crystal City, the Pentagon and ReaganA/P. I work from home so I don't regularly have to deal with commuter traffic, but occasionally I have to go to Georgetown along that route during rush hour. It's slow but unless there is a major accident, it moves steadily. If you are much further out and have to take any of the interstates, good luck. Same with using Rt. 7 from Loudoun Co.
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I lived in Old Town and took a short bus ride or walked to Metro Blue or Yellow lines for a ten minute ride into CC. Nice thing about Blue/Yellow lines (as opposed to Orange west of city) is I could usually get a seat. Loved Old Town as it is very walkable, historic and charming but pricey and row houses can be smallish for a family. Inbetween Old Town and Mt Vernon are some nice, family-oriented neighborhoods in Fairfax County with decent schools and relatively reasonable housing costs. We ended up moving from Old Town to one of these neighborhoods, Waynewood, as the family grew. Still was able to take a bus to Metro Yellow line at Huntington and never drove into work at CC. There was also the Metrobus Express 11Y that snaked its way through these neighborhoods and then sped non stop to downtown DC.
VRE stops in CC but tracks are shared with freight and there can be delays. Coworkers in CC who lived to the south liked the slug lines better than VRE.
VRE stops in CC but tracks are shared with freight and there can be delays. Coworkers in CC who lived to the south liked the slug lines better than VRE.
I live in Springfield, and I used to commute to the Pentagon and Crystal City. Traffic is bad if you can't time it right, but public transportation is very good.
Obviously everyone has different likes and dislikes, but here is my two cents:
The Washington DC metro area is great with a couple of caveats:
1) It's expensive, so your job better pay well.
2) The traffic is atrocious, so your commute distance needs to be minimized.
3) Public transportation is great when it works, but when it breaks it can be a nightmare. Spoiler alert: it breaks a lot.
4) School quality varies wildly between (and sometimes within) districts.
I live in the District and walk to work. I love it. However, I do not have kids, so I don't have to worry about school quality, and I have a fairly well paying job (disclaimer: I bought my house in 2010 and could not afford the same house if purchased today). I can assure you that I would hate living in most places in NoVa (I might be able to stomach parts of Arlington).
On macro scale, I don't really understand living "sort of close to a city" (e.g. Burke, Loudon, Frederick) because you end up with horrible commuting times (even if it's "only" an hour each way, you are wasting 400-500 hours a year commuting) and you don't really get to enjoy the city on a regular basis (e.g. my colleagues that live in Frederick or Burke maybe come to DC for non-work events 3 or 4 times a year). And while the outlying areas discussed do have cheaper real estate, it's not a bargain by any stretch.
So unless your job is so great that cannot turn it down, and you also hate cities, then I guess NoVa might be for you. If that's not the case, have you seriously considered moving into the District (or some very close in suburbs)? Otherwise, I don't think the non-work benefits of DC outweighs the hassles (cost of living, traffic) vs living in a different part of the country.
The Washington DC metro area is great with a couple of caveats:
1) It's expensive, so your job better pay well.
2) The traffic is atrocious, so your commute distance needs to be minimized.
3) Public transportation is great when it works, but when it breaks it can be a nightmare. Spoiler alert: it breaks a lot.
4) School quality varies wildly between (and sometimes within) districts.
I live in the District and walk to work. I love it. However, I do not have kids, so I don't have to worry about school quality, and I have a fairly well paying job (disclaimer: I bought my house in 2010 and could not afford the same house if purchased today). I can assure you that I would hate living in most places in NoVa (I might be able to stomach parts of Arlington).
On macro scale, I don't really understand living "sort of close to a city" (e.g. Burke, Loudon, Frederick) because you end up with horrible commuting times (even if it's "only" an hour each way, you are wasting 400-500 hours a year commuting) and you don't really get to enjoy the city on a regular basis (e.g. my colleagues that live in Frederick or Burke maybe come to DC for non-work events 3 or 4 times a year). And while the outlying areas discussed do have cheaper real estate, it's not a bargain by any stretch.
So unless your job is so great that cannot turn it down, and you also hate cities, then I guess NoVa might be for you. If that's not the case, have you seriously considered moving into the District (or some very close in suburbs)? Otherwise, I don't think the non-work benefits of DC outweighs the hassles (cost of living, traffic) vs living in a different part of the country.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
Totally disagree about nearly everything you posted. But all good - different strokes and all. I wouldn’t use your colleagues as an adequate sample size for what folks who don’t live in the District do, and not having kids puts you at a pretty big disadvantage here. DC public schools are mostly terrible so much so the current ‘scandal’ is pretty ironic.
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