Leesburg?: Where to live? (Arlington, Reston: rent, HOA fees, townhouse)

[hanayoo]

Hi!
My husband took a job in Leesburg, VA and we need to move from Canada in few months.
We have three boys: 7 yr old, 2 yr old and 1 yr old, and need a safe area with good schools. Also want nice convenient location for everything: from shops, restaurants, entertainment... and of course with easy access to highways.
Would it be better to live in Leesburg or somewhere outside closeby like Fairfax or Mclean?
As I eventually have to find a job as well.... and am not sure if Leesburg is big enough to find jobs (in marketing).
We are thinking about either buying or renting a 2~3 bedroom townhouse. Can you also advise on the price range on the homes?

Thanks!

[michgc]

If Leesburg fits your price range, then look there. Purcellville, which is the next town out, is also very nice. Traffic is so bad here that there is no reason to go farther in toward Fairfax or McLean, unless one of you is commuting to DC or Tysons.

[stpickrell]

You can buy a 3BR townhouse on the edge of downtown (an easy 1/4 mile walk to the shopping, etc.) for $325,000 or so. There's a couple of duplex buildings in the middle of downtown going for under $300k -- not sure what the catch is there though. Rents are probably comparable.

I'd recommend living within walking distance of downtown -- you can walk to places you want to walk to, and you're an easy drive from the places you wouldn't be walking to anyway (and reading your post, that seems to be what you'd want.)

Leesburg is a great place to live.

I'd rent until you get a job; if you get a job downtown and his is in Leesburg, you may want to consider Frederick, Maryland (for example). If your job is in Tysons Corner, you might want to stay in Leesburg, or maybe consider Herndon/Reston.

[Caladium]

I don't know how Leesburg is for marketing jobs per se, but in general a lot of corporations are in the vicinity, so I would think you'd be able to find something fairly close. There are also hospitals, the Janelia Research Center, the National Conference Center, and possibly even the new headquarters for the FBI (they might build a new campus in Ashburn). The greatest amount of new jobs these days seem to be in the corridor between Tysons Corner and Leesburg. As long as you live on the eastern side of Leesburg you will be a fairly reasonable distance, even if you end up taking a job in Tysons. Or, you could try looking at communities at the midway point in that corridor (Ashburn/Sterling/Reston). The suggestion about renting until you get your job seems like a good one to me.

My new favorite place is Villages of Leesburg. It's new, so you won't like it if you want something older and quaint, and it might be a little too dense for a family with toddlers. But if a new town center type of development sounds appealing it's got a fantastic grocery store (Wegmans) as well as lots of other stores and restaurants incorporated into the complex. It's right off Rt. 7 and next to a big park. Lansdowne is another town center type of community that is on the very eastern edge of Leesburg, near a lot of jobs, and also has a lot of shopping within walking distance (as long as you buy one of the places that are next to the town center, of course--Lansdowne is a big development and some neighborhoods are closer to the town center than others.)

[Kembek]

I have a friend who lives in Leesburg. I love the area, but I would never live there for these two reasons: 1. the best way to go toward DC and back is via an expensive toll road, and 2. you have to pay a city tax as well as a county tax to live there.

[stpickrell]

Originally Posted by Kembek

I have a friend who lives in Leesburg. I love the area, but I would never live there for these two reasons: 1. the best way to go toward DC and back is via an expensive toll road, and 2. you have to pay a city tax as well as a county tax to live there.

Most of Ashburn and Sterling are HOAs that have virtually the same power as towns/cities, and in some cases more (and with less accountability). Don't pay your HOA fee? The HOA takes your house, the same as a city/town would for not paying RE taxes.

HOA fees are also not tax deductible. City/town taxes are.

Your point about DC is correct, though.

[hanayoo]

Thanks for the notes.
I think we will look around the leesburg area first, starting with downtown move towards Villages as advised.
And I think renting until I find a job is a really good recommendation and will keep that in mind.

One more question though: which public schools are good in leesburg? elementary to high school.

[tysonsengineer]

So are you looking for a downtown? Or are you looking for something in the suburbs? Because everything you are saying is confusing me. Like living "further out" would be Fairfax or Mclean. Fairfax or McLean would traditionally be considered closer to the city by most standards and have greater access to jobs than Leesburg.

I mean no offense Loudoun people, but you are making it appear as if Leesburg is the downtown of Northern Virginia, which any objective observer would state would be false.

If I am off base and you want to live in a place away from the city, near the foothills of the mountains, with a bit more land than living closer in then by all means Leesburg is perfect probably for you. If you are looking for a place with a quick commute to typical commercial business districts, even Reston/Herndon (the closest one) is about 20 minutes away and cost 6 dollars by toll road each way. Tysons/McLean/Fairfax would be your next option for commercial business districts with jobs, that would be about 50-60 minutes from Leesburg. And Arlington and DC... well... some people say it takes 70 minutes and to those people I ask, what is it like to watch the sunrise as you get into your office because if it takes less than 90 minutes I am amazed.

[Caladium]

TysonsEngineer, the OP is talking about looking at the various sections of Leesburg. She will start with downtown Leesburg and then head east towards the Villages of Leesburg and (I presume) Lansdowne. Since the OP's husband's job is in Leesburg, Leesburg is the center of their search and McLean would indeed be farther out for them.

By the way, if you live in Loudoun County Leesburg would indeed be considered the downtown area of Loudoun. Yes, there are plenty of corporate office parks and concentrations of stores and restaurants throughout eastern Loudoun. Still, Leesburg has a more traditional downtown area, it has the courthouse, and has always been considered the downtown of Loudoun County. There are also plenty of places to look for employment right in Leesburg.

OP, I wish I knew more about the various schools to help you. The only one I know well is Belmont Ridge Middle School. The people I know who have kids there really think highly of the school. Not much help I know--hopefully others will chime in with more detailed info. The Lansdowne area has a lot of residents who work at the Janelia Research Center. I'm not sure if that means the schools in Lansdowne have an advantage but it seems to me that at the very least science classes would be good there. But I'm guessing with this.

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by hanayoo

Hi!
My husband took a job in Leesburg, VA and we need to move from Canada in few months.
We have three boys: 7 yr old, 2 yr old and 1 yr old, and need a safe area with good schools. Also want nice convenient location for everything: from shops, restaurants, entertainment... and of course with easy access to highways.
Would it be better to live in Leesburg or somewhere outside closeby like Fairfax or Mclean?
As I eventually have to find a job as well.... and am not sure if Leesburg is big enough to find jobs (in marketing).
We are thinking about either buying or renting a 2~3 bedroom townhouse. Can you also advise on the price range on the homes?

Thanks!

False. She is clearly saying she also needs to find a job. She wants to know whether it wouldd be easier to find a job in Leesburg or else where. If you want a job in marketing I can assure you that there are not as many options in Leesburg (Image Matters LLC, Advanced Marketing Inc, Clayton Design Group) all of which are smaller firms with fewer job openings. Leesburg does have a lot of companies in it's own right, but many of these are involved in the engineering, manufacturing, freight, storage, legal, accounting industries.

If they are both planning to work, and she needs a job in Marketing, then I would say she needs to be looking at the Reston Area, which still allows her husband to have 15 minute commute to leesburg (even with all that metropolis rush hour) and for her to have many more opportunities of finding a job in Reston/Tysons/DC with a 45 minute drive or a 25 minute bus ride/metro

If she lives in Leesburg, she is not going to love her commute. These are things she needs to be advised about since she is moving 2000 miles and doesn't know this area.

Reston Marketing Firms
http://www.intermarkets.net/
http://www.rightsourcemarketing.com/
http://www.concept-solutions.com/

Tysons Marketing Firms
http://www.encstrategy.com/
http://www.theintuitivegroup-dc.com/home/about.html (Fortune 500)
http://www.activemedia.com/
http://www.imagemediaservices.com/web/
http://www.aboutsage.com/
Starband Communications

DC... I'm not even gonna list DC, but Im sure there atleast a couple dozen, maybe even a hundred firms, in DC

Again, if she wants more space and bang for the buck, she should look in Leesburg, but based on her post she said nothing about having to have any larger amount of space or anything. I have also found that most people that are not from the U.S. typically require far less space than what a typical american would say is needed. Our 2000 sf minimum concept is not shared in other countries where a 1300sf house is very often a great property. Just sayin, please dont yell at me

I think what we have here is a failure to communicate. I honestly think that the OP believes that Leesburg is the metro region of northern virginia. She should know that Fairfax is just as safe, as just as good of schools, but more importantly is unarguable more central to shops, restaurants, business, theaters. Leesburg has those things too, but come on.