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I've just got a new job in Georgetown and we'll be moving to the area from NJ this Summer. We have an 8 year old boy so the school district is very important to us. We would like to buy a townhouse for 350-400k so we are looking at towns that are 30-45 minutes commute to Georgetown (I don't want to have to drive all the way but I wouldn't mind driving to a metro station that's not too far...) Online we have seen some nice properties in Centreville VA - would this be a nice family oriented community? If not, what towns should we look at? Online everything looks ok but I'd really appreciate comments that could point us in the right direction.
Centreville is a nice area...lots of young families...and there should be plenty of housing in your price range, too. While the town itself goes back a long way, its current character does not. Population in 1980 was about 7,000. Today, it's over 50,000. So as you might expect, this is mostly new stuff built over rolling hills and former farm land. Subdivisions and malls are the order of the day. Even though it's only about 20 miles from DC, the real problem will be commuting. It's unlikely that you could make it into Georgetown from Centreville in 30-45 minutes. Pretty much all of the roads leading out of there in the morning are awful, even for this area, where rush hour traffic is awful in general. You might try in the Virginia forum to see if there are people who commute from Centreville into DC. Maybe they could give you some tips on that. Otherwise, there are lots of other areas you could look into. The schools in North Arlington, all of Fairfax County, and eastern Loudon County are all excellent, so there wouldn't be too much variability from one area to another. As around NYC or Philly, as you move further out, you trade lower housing costs for longer commutes, so a lot will depend on where you have more flexibility.
There is no Metro stop in Georgetown. Unless you live within walking distance of a Metro stop, taking the train to work would require driving to the station early enough to get a parking spot, looking for said parking spot and walking into the station, taking the train to Foggy Bottom, and transfering to a Metro bus or other Georgetown shuttle (or hoofing it). Probably more trouble than it's worth, unless you really hate driving, and time-consuming as well.
As Saganista pointed out, 45 minutes from Georgetown during rush hour isn't going to get you very far. Arlington would be great, but it will be difficult to find a townhouse for under $400K that is suitable for a family. You might try Vienna, which is farther out than Arlington but much closer than Centreville.
There is regular Metrobus service (and the free GUTS shuttle if you're in any way affiliated with the University) from Rosslyn into Georgetown, so while you could, you don't have to go in to Foggy Bottom and then come back. Details would depend on where in Georgetown you actually need to be.
Vienna is very nice and a lot closer in terms of travel time to Georgetown than Centreville is. Schools there (I should say 'here') are as excellent as anywhere, and while parts of town are quite pricey indeed, there are still plenty of reasonably priced homes, at least reasonable for this area...
I am moving to Georgetown in August on Wisconsin Ave. NW. My job is in Vienna right next to Tyson's Corner.. I believe I will be working starting at 8 AM and was wondering how long it would probably take me with traffic to get to Vienna.. I really have no clue and have heard anywhere from 30 min to an hour and a half and was curious if you had a better estimate... Thanks!
Also, is there anyone who lives in the Georgetown area that may work in Vienna that would like to carpool? I figure its a long shot but why not give it a try..
From Georgetown to Vienna, you would take the Key Bridge to the GW Parkway. From there, you could either get off in McLean at 123, and take that past Tyson's into Vienna, or stay on the Parkway till it ends at the Beltway (495), then take either the Dulles Toll Rd or 123 exit from the Beltway, depending upon the exact location in Vienna. There is currently a bridge construction project just after the GW Pkwy/495 N interchange, and traffic on the GW Parkway heading towards 495 regularly backs up even during odd hours of the day, so you might want to avoid that route until the project is completed in November.
In the mornings, you should be able to make the trip in under 45 minutes, particularly if you leave around 7, provided that it doesn't take you too long to get from your place to the Key Bridge. Coming home will be a different story.
From the Key Bridge to Tyson's is about 20+ minutes at 8 AM (up the GW Parkway and across 123), so the real question will be how long it takes you to get across the Key Bridge in the morning. (I live on the Hill and the total commute usually runs me about 30 minutes @ 8 AM.)
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