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Family member looking at a likely relocation to a new work opportunity in Reston VA. She is in her sixties and so they are looking at moving to a place to stay past retirement.
Right now the work opportunity is two days a week in person and three days a week work from home - that could change or could stay the same.
They are seriously looking at buying in Jefferson County and "sucking it up" on her commute for a few years. Housing is much more affordable in Jefferson County than across the state line in Loudoun County VA.
Apparently it is not uncommon to do the Jefferson County to NoVa commute! If you have insights into their situation, I would love to hear them! Also any thoughts on Jefferson County in general, regardless of the commuting issue, as their considerations are primarily long term for retirement and not just for the commute. Thanks in advance!
Both me and my husband (any guessing 90% of my neighbors) commute into NOVA. It's not too bad. I have to be at work at 9am so I kind of miss some of the heavier traffic and when Loudoun has school breaks, it's almost no traffic at all. I don't go as far as Reston though. I love living here
Family member looking at a likely relocation to a new work opportunity in Reston VA. She is in her sixties and so they are looking at moving to a place to stay past retirement.
Right now the work opportunity is two days a week in person and three days a week work from home - that could change or could stay the same.
They are seriously looking at buying in Jefferson County and "sucking it up" on her commute for a few years. Housing is much more affordable in Jefferson County than across the state line in Loudoun County VA.
Apparently it is not uncommon to do the Jefferson County to NoVa commute! If you have insights into their situation, I would love to hear them! Also any thoughts on Jefferson County in general, regardless of the commuting issue, as their considerations are primarily long term for retirement and not just for the commute. Thanks in advance!
Welcome! You're right, this is super common. I'd confidently say the majority of Jefferson and Berkeley counties communte to Nova, DC or Maryland for work. The increased availability of hybrid and remote jobs has helped this trend continue to grow post-Covid.
Reston isn't too bad of a commute from Jeff Co, especially if they'll be close to Route 9 or 7. There is a toll road (don't remember the cost) from Leesburg to Reston (and onward toward DC) that has very little to no traffic despite being 3-4 lanes in each direction.
This is a wonderful area if they like being close to the rush of DC/Nova while also having gorgeous scenery, outdoor recreation and history in their backyard. It truly is the best of both worlds. Charles Town is a neat downtown with locally-owned shops and restaurants. Bushel & Peck is a nice local market. There seems to be an upswing in new business in town, with a few opening recently and more on the way. Charles Town/Ranson are also where you'll find some chain stores and restaurants (grocery stores, Kohls, Marshalls, etc.).
Harpers Ferry and Shepherdstown are quaint, historic and beautiful in their own ways. While Harpers Ferry is more of a tourist destination (packed on summer weekends), Shepherdstown has a younger, hip vibe thanks to Shepherd University. Both are wonderful communities.
Is there anything specific they are interested in? Happy to answer other questions you may have!
I commute into Herndon from Charles Town on a daily basis. I'm fortunate to have a gym close to my work location and I'm generally up and out of the house by 4:30 am. I travel on rt 340 south to rt 7 east and it's an approximate 1 hr drive to Herndon. I generally do not take the Greenway toll road on my commute to work, but i do travel home using the Greenway. I think that the toll is around $6.50 in each direction. Traffic at this point is pretty light and it is generally flowing at around 65 mph. Should I opt to skip the morning gym and leave home closer to 5:30 am, traffic is much heavier flowing at a slightly higher mph.
Rt 9 is probably a few miles of a commute for me, but it's a windy two lane highway and I always seem to take longer on that route.
Had you said that your family member was much younger, I would have advised you to suck up the inflated NOVA costs and live closer to work. The commute is grueling week after week. But since it's only a couple of days a week for only a couple of years, coming into WV is a good move, IMHO. There is certainly more shopping in NOVA than here, but we have a couple of decent grocery stores and restaurants here. NOVA is close enough that any shopping you want to do there is feasible. We spent yesterday at the museums in DC. Winchester, Martinsburg and Hagerstown are all larger and fairly close.
Are there any places to avoid or issues to be aware of re housing in Jefferson County?
They will be having to make decisions fairly quickly if all shakes out as expected, and have not even made their first trip to the area due to other work expectations in Texas!
It looks like they have found a house in Bolivar WV. Thanks again for those who offered thoughts!
Wonderful! Please tell them welcome to the area for us. So happy we could help
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