Moving to Dulles/Sterling, VA (Arlington, Alexandria: 2014, apartment, renting)

[pvgelder]

Hi all,

I was advised to move this post from the general Virginia forum to this particular forum, my apologies for those who read both :-).

My wife and I will be emigrating to Dulles/Sterling, VA, from Europe, and we will be offered a one-week house hunting trip.

I was hoping to find some suggestions here for a sensible itinerary to get a good feeling for places where we would enjoy (affordable) living.

We are considering the following:

- Work will be in Sterling
- Will be renting, hoping for 1500 USD (willing to go up to 2000 USD (incl.))
- No kids
- Ideal commute less than 30 min
- Initially, my wife will be jobless, so looking for places with
** social opportunities (i.e., no suburb, walking/cycling distance to a decent-size downtown with at least some shops/bars/cinemas/restaurants, pedestrian area would be excellent)
** access to public transportation to Washington DC to maximize educational and/or jobfinding chances for my wife

(For weekends/spare time, we enjoy hiking and sailing , but that is not really a decisive factor.)

Thanks much for your time!

paul.

[Lebowsky]

Sterling is already a suburb, so you would have to choose another place to live:

- Reston: Look for places close to the Reston town center. The town center is pretty, not huge but decent. No metro

- Tysons/Falls Church: Look for places between the Tysons mall and one of the metro stations (west falls chuch/dunn loring) of the orange line. Close to the metro and the mall and shops. However it doesn't really feel like a town center in my opinion and distances already feel long for walking

- Fairfax City: Close to the metro and has restaurants and shops scattered around. Also close to GMU.

- Arlington: Somewhere around the Clarendon metro station sounds like what you are looking for, but it definitely gets out of your commute limit...

Other than this, I would rule out places like centreville, chantilly, herndon, annandale, arlington as they do not have metro stations close by, or feel too suburban, or are not very pedestrian friendly, or are starting to get out of your 30 minute limit. .

For 1500-2000 you can get a good 1 bedroom apartment, or a 2 bedroom a little less pretty. Except Arlington which will be a little more...

[stpickrell]

Originally Posted by pvgelder

Hi all,

I was advised to move this post from the general Virginia forum to this particular forum, my apologies for those who read both :-).

My wife and I will be emigrating to Dulles/Sterling, VA, from Europe, and we will be offered a one-week house hunting trip.

I was hoping to find some suggestions here for a sensible itinerary to get a good feeling for places where we would enjoy (affordable) living.

We are considering the following:

- Work will be in Sterling
- Will be renting, hoping for 1500 USD (willing to go up to 2000 USD (incl.))
- No kids
- Ideal commute less than 30 min
- Initially, my wife will be jobless, so looking for places with
** social opportunities (i.e., no suburb, walking/cycling distance to a decent-size downtown with at least some shops/bars/cinemas/restaurants, pedestrian area would be excellent)
** access to public transportation to Washington DC to maximize educational and/or jobfinding chances for my wife

(For weekends/spare time, we enjoy hiking and sailing , but that is not really a decisive factor.)

Thanks much for your time!

paul.

Hi Paul,

Sterling is a fairly distant suburb of Washington, DC.

I'd be looking in around the City of Falls Church. Not quite as expensive as the Orange Line area of North Arlington, and closer to your work. I think nearly all the city is within 1-2km of a Metro station for your wife.

Reston will fit your price point, more than likely. Areas within walking distance of the Town Center will fit your social needs and your commuting needs, but public transit out this far is still rudimentary (will probably get better after the new Metro line opens, see below.)

The Orange Line area of North Arlington (East Falls Church/Ballston/Clarendon/Courthouse/Rosslyn) might be too expensive for you and/or too far of a commute for you.

The Town of Vienna is more geared to families, but it has a decent downtown section, both along Church Street and along Route 123, and decent access to public transportation.

The area around downtown Herndon might be to your liking. It would be cheaper than Falls Church and closer to your work; on the downside, it may be too far out for your wife.

Fairfax might be too far out for your wife.

Shirlington/Pentagon City/Crystal City/Del Ray/Columbia Pike/Old Town Alexandria may be to your liking but probably too far of a commute for your tastes.

How long do you plan on being in the area? A new Metro line is opening around 2013 or 2014 and that will service out to Reston, making Tysons Corner/McLean more attractive.

[cdmurphy]

Reston Town Center is probably your best bet, although I'm not familiar enough with the housing to know if your budget lines up with it. Further in would be really pushing the 30 minute commute to Sterling. As others have mentioned, the Metro is coming to Reston in a few years, but in the meantime there are bus routes from Reston to the Tysons Corner and to the West Falls Church Metro.

Will you have a car for your commute to Sterling? Because public transportation is less prevalent in Loudoun County than in Fairfax County.

[Caladium]

All of northern Virginia is suburban. Reston has a relatively urban town center, but it's still very much a suburb.

Here are some photo tours of a few areas within a 30 minute commute to Sterling that might possibly work for you. But be warned, they might be way too suburban for your taste. I've included Fair Lakes and Fairfax City, but they're also fairly far from Sterling and might not have great commutes.


Fair Lakes

Fairfax City

Falls Church

Herndon

Reston-South Lakes

Reston-Town Center and Lake Anne


There really isn't much else that's "urbanish" within a 30 minute commute of Sterling, and right now public transportation consists of bus lines that travel just once or twice a day. You could try Falls Church or other areas closer to DC, but the commute would be bad because you'd have to travel through a heavy construction zone while the metro is being built.

Hope this helps! If living in an urban area is strongly important to you, you might want to think twice about taking a job in Sterling. I love living here, but it's not at all urban.

[South Jersey Styx]

Nearly everything on east, west, and north of Sterling will be the suburbs. Sounds like you want some kind of historic, old-town, walkable, etc.? There is no real downtown in Sterling.

I'd choose Herndon.

It's right next to Sterling. There is an old town-type section with pubs, restaurants, bread store, etc. The nearby shopping centers have supermarkets, movie theatres, etc. The cycling trail is right there. There are bus routes, close proximity to metro and major highways--accessible to Washington, DC and other social areas. And it's location will save you in both time and money as far as commuting from elsewhere. Personally, I wouldn't live in Falls Church, Arlington, or elsewhere because I think it's a waste of money and time to travel that distance to your job.

BTW, not sure where you're coming from in Europe but the traffic is atrocious.

This would help in getting used to the area, search for employment, and just generally acculturated. Good luck and Welcome to the USA!

[Margery]

I would second Herndon as a good choice. The area near where Spring St intersects with Elden would be my choice. Many attractive older homes, Victorian styles with large porches and walking distance to restaurants, shops. It has a real "town" feel and is right next door to Sterling for an easy commute.

[stpickrell]

Originally Posted by South Jersey Styx

Personally, I wouldn't live in Falls Church, Arlington, or elsewhere because I think it's a waste of money and time to travel that distance to your job.

BTW, not sure where you're coming from in Europe but the traffic is atrocious.

This would help in getting used to the area, search for employment, and just generally acculturated. Good luck and Welcome to the USA!

Agreed, welcome to America

I am guessing from the name either the Netherlands or Flanders.

Falls Church and Arlington may be better as they are more Metro accessible and hence better for the wife's generic commute. 267 to 28 to whatever road is needed may well be under 30 minutes for OP from Falls Church City. Arlington might be longer as 66 inside the Beltway is a pain for reverse commuting.

[sportsterjohn]

I think Herndon (old town area) or Reston would be a good choice. Herndon has a little downtown with some places to eat and drink. Reston has a large entertainment area. There is a park and ride in Herndon which will get you directly to DC or to a metro station. As far as your wife job hunting, many good jobs are found along the toll road between DC and Sterling so it's a good chance she won't end up working downtown.

[pvgelder]

Hi all, thanks for the welcome and for the very useful information!

Also thanks for the photo tours, they gave a good first impression and it's good to see that there are places where people eat & drink outside, I think that's the atmosphere we're looking for.

Initially, we plan to stay for 2-3 years, so I guess we'll miss that new Metro line. I will definitely buy a car, and if practical, use it for the commute. (I might consider biking in the summer if there are safe bicycle paths.) Depending on the cost of living etc, we may be able to buy a second car for my wife, but she prefers to cycle/use public transportation.

It seems I may need to consider a longer commute. But Herndon is really close, we'll definitely add that to our itinerary.

And, yes, I am originally from the Netherlands, but am now living outside. The Dutch eat traffic jams for breakfast, so I hope I will be able to deal with Northern Virginia traffic :-)

Thanks again!