LAMP--Alexandria and Fairfax VA

[Ghost of BiB]

Looking at my atlas it seems as though Woodbridge and Quantico are a decent  commute each day--about 45 mins?

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By helicopter. Like Bill said, depends a lot on timing...and accidents. As a recruiter, you have to be reliable about your time. It's not unusual at all to get trapped in traffic.

[VABills]

Looking at my atlas it seems as though Woodbridge and Quantico are a decent  commute each day--about 45 mins?

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No, Quantico to Franconia, without traffic is about 20 miles. Woodbridge is about 10 miles. Off peak those are doable in under 20 minutes. During rush hour, 45 minutes from Quantico, and about 25 from Woodbridge. For the Quantico drive it depends on accidents and how badly it backs up at Dale City.

[Navy Chief Navy Pride]

By helicopter. Like Bill said, depends a lot on timing...and accidents. As a recruiter, you have to be reliable about your time. It's not unusual at all to get trapped in traffic.

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damn it

[VABills]

By helicopter.

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Stop it isn't real bad until you get to the beltway. Unless there is a bad accident. The Franconia is nice because there are seven or eight alternates.

[Navy Chief Navy Pride]

No, Quantico to Franconia, without traffic is about 20 miles.  Woodbridge is about 10 miles.  Off peak those are doable in under 20 minutes.  During rush hour, 45 minutes from Quantico, and about 25 from Woodbridge.  For the Quantico drive it depends on accidents and how badly it backs up at Dale City.

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Besides 1am til 4 am what else is off peak?

[Navy Chief Navy Pride]

Well I guess this will all rest in the hands of my wife now.

 

I dont see a problem with it seeing as it outs us 6 or so hours from Buffalo and 3 or so hours from Portsmouth.

[Ghost of BiB]

It's really going to boil down to what you want - what your personal preferences are, and a lot of that will be centered on your commute. I'd rather be closer in and not have a 40 minutes - hour each way driving. Bill knows the Quantico area well, some of us know Alexandria/DC. If you are thinking about coming down, it probably wouldn't hurt to come here for a couple-three days and look the area over to get your own feel. Were it me, unless the housing costs are that radically different, I'd be closer to the city, especially if the gas prices don't straighten out soon. Saving 200 on rent could be more than lost in the fuel tank.

[VABills]

Besides 1am til 4 am what else is off peak?

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South of the beltway, you have to deal with the crush in the morning, going to the Pentagon. That is usually from about 0600-0730. It clears south of the beltway after that, and you figure you'll do 30+ mph on the highway after that. In the afternoon the crush start about 1600 and last until about 1800. Before or after that isn't bad. I live near Quantico, and take the train. My wife works a modified schedule 1030 - 1900 in Alexandria and for the most part gets to and from work in 30 minutes or so.

[VABills]

It's really going to boil down to what you want - what your personal preferences are, and a lot of that will be centered on your commute. I'd rather be closer in and not have a 40 minutes - hour each way driving. Bill knows the Quantico area well, some of us know Alexandria/DC. If you are thinking about coming down, it probably wouldn't hurt to come here for a couple-three days and look the area over to get your own feel. Were it me, unless the housing costs are that radically different, I'd be closer to the city, especially if the gas prices don't straighten out soon. Saving 200 on rent could be more than lost in the fuel tank.

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Actually I am pretty familiar with more than Q town area. The wife has relatives in Lake Ridge and Lorton area, so we scoot around there a lot. Plus the wife works in Alexandria and I get up that way on weekends about once a month.

[cåblelady]

My wife works a modified schedule 1030 - 1900 in Alexandria and for the most part gets to and from work in 30 minutes or so.

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I'll keep my 5-minute drive.

[BuffalOhio]

Well here is my situation--I am an active duty Navy recruiter looking to take over either the Fairfax or Alexandria Navy Recruiting Stations. The Navy is going to give me an extra 1758.00 per month on top of my regular pay to offset the rent or mortgage (prolly rent). Will this be enough to cover a decent house (not apartment) in that area? Keep in mind that I am looking far a low crime,low commute, good school system area to live in.

 

Tryin to get a good feel for the area before I obligate myself to 3 years there.

 

Thanks again-----Steve

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Judging from your housing allowance, you're an E6. You should look into getting housing on Fort Belvoir. They're building some really nice, brand new housing on the base there. You should be able to rent something for your housing allowance, but if you want safety and security, the base is the way to go. There's a lot of gang activity in Fairfax County and Alexandria. Keep your kids away from that crap.

[BuffalOhio]

For the Alexandria station, it might be possible to rent a nice place in the Hybla Valley area. There is what I have heard is a decent elementary and middle school on Telegraph Road not far from the new Van Dorn extension. (You could be within 5 miles or so of the school) I'm not certain, but I think the Navy recruiter is on Route 7, so it would be a quick commute.  I work for a Defense Agency that has a lot of active duty military, many places will be available for rent when the next major PCS turnover happens. Peruse the fort Belvoir website for non-agency rentals. Hybla Valley is a lot more rural/sub urb than being up in the high rise areas. I'll check with some folks at work tomorrow.  When do they want you to move?

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Hybla Valley is a dump. Dude, read the Fairfax County crime reports. Lots of gang activity in Hybla Valley - stay away from there.

[BuffalOhio]

Another point on hybla Valley, you have access to all the facilities at Belvoir. Shopping at the commissary can save you some bucks, for example.

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I live in Lorton. I routinely go right near the mall to go to Home Depot. Never takes me more than 15 minutes, no matter what time of day/traffic. Lorton has its problems, but it's a decent place to live. You can buy a townhouse here for around 400-500K. Got cash?

 

Fort Belvoir is the way to go for you. You should check out the housing there.

[BuffalOhio]

I'll try to answer alot of stuff here:

 

1758 is bah (old BAQ) there is no cola.. but there is another program where I could have the Corp of Engineers find and pay for a house and utilities minus phone and cable(just like base housing).

 

My kids are 7 and 9 years old and are active in most sports.

 

Backroads would be great to get to/from work

 

Would my wife be able to shop and work and run daily  errands without hittin the highway? I like it better when she drives with her eyes open

 

I am due to transfer in May but they asked today how soon I could get there so that could dhange.

 

I have never owned a house and would prolly still rent since I would be leaving in 3 or 4 years.

 

Any info on the housing subject would be great!!

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If you worked at the Springfield Mall Station, living in Lorton or Springfield would work for you. If you can get the Army Corps to pay for a house, then do it.

 

I'm an active duty USCG CWO and have lived here for four years. I bought my first townhouse in Springfield in 2001 and sold it for $160K more than I paid for it in 2004. I bought my second townhouse in Lorton last year and it's already gone up over $100K.

 

PM me for more information.

[BuffalOhio]

We'll look out for you, Bro. I can tell you right now that $1758 is not going to touch much within range of what you want, single family home wise. That is, worth living in. There are some very nice, roomy 3 bedroom townhomes you might get closer too. I'd seriously pursue the military to miltary connection around Belvoir. May is the late spring PCS cycle, and someone could be looking to rent their place out to someone responsible at a lesser cost than something managed through a realtor. Since everything is Joint Operations around here, no one looks cross eyed at squids on post.  If you get lonely, the Coast Guard station is just up the road about a mile. 

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Hey, I'm typing this message from that VERY Coast Guard Station. I just transferred here from HQ (Downtown - yuk!). I have a 5.5 mile commute. Woo hooo!

[plenzmd1]

Do your self and the kids a favor and move into the district. If only here for a few years, will be a great experience for all of you. You can live in a stinkin suburb anywhere, ( i know, I live in one now after living in the district for 14 years, and it just sucks), but the district is a unique place with tons to offer. So many of the areas are now getting gentrified that you can look outside of the traditional NW corridor. Also, reverse commute. I did that for 14 yrs, really not bad. You will hit a little traffic coming into town in the afternoon, but not bad atall

 

I know people will rant some about rent prices, crime and school quality, but alot of those are just based on several years ago. There are some quality public schools in the district, but there are several horrible ones as well. Crime was never an issue for me. Prices may be high to but, but I'm guessing with all the real estate speculation going on now, rental stock is way up, so prices may be surprisingly afforable.

 

Forgot to put in your wife will never even have to get in a car if she doean't want to. Walk to the grocery store, dry cleaners, bank, etc. Many a wekkend never unlocked my car door.

[BuffalOhio]

Amazing how many people on the board seem to live right around the corner...

 

Nobody has mentioned the Metro as an alternaitve to driving - if you're working in DC that might be a good option.  I get to downtown DC from Alexandria in roughly 30 minutes, daily. It'd be difficult to do that driving.

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That's because Metro sucks and is ridiculously overpriced and undermanaged. Paying for parking. Are you kidding me?

 

Somebody had to say it.

[VABills]

Do your self and the kids a favor and move into the district. If only here for a few years, will be a great experience for all of you. You can live in a stinkin suburb anywhere, ( i know, I live in one now after living in the district for 14 years, and it just sucks), but the district is a unique place with tons to offer. So many of the areas are now getting gentrified that you can look outside of the traditional NW corridor. Also, reverse commute. I did that for 14 yrs, really not bad. You will hit a little traffic coming into town in the afternoon, but not bad atall

 

I know people will rant  some about rent prices, crime and school quality, but alot of those are just based on several years ago. There are some quality public schools in the district, but there are several horrible ones as well. Crime was never an issue for me. Prices may be high to but, but I'm guessing with all the real estate speculation going on now, rental stock is way up, so prices may be surprisingly afforable.

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No offense but the public school system in DC is the bottom of the barrel. Makes Mississipi schools look like Harvard. Crime is horrendous unless you live in the "closed" neighborhoods where the politicos live and then you're looking at million dollar homes or more.

 

DC over all is a blight. Except for a couple of over priced areas.

[Ghost of BiB]

Well, I'm sure this whole thread is turning into a lot of help.

 

Like anywhere else, there are good spots within bad spots and bad spots within good spots. I go back to doing some research, and making a trip to see for yourself. I live in Olde Towne on the south side renting for $1450 a month. 2 BR/2BA with a finished basement. Too small for you, but deals are doable. Not easy to find, but can be done if you take the time to look.

[plenzmd1]

No offense but the public school system in DC is the bottom of the barrel.  Makes Mississipi schools look like Harvard.  Crime is horrendous unless you live in the "closed" neighborhoods where the politicos live and then you're looking at million dollar homes or more. 

 

DC over all is a blight. Except for a couple of over priced areas.

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No offense VA, but have you EVER lived in the district? Number one, no such thing as closed neighborhoods. I lived in 5 differant houses in 5 differant neighborhoods. Lived, played, and worked(sales call) in the district for 14 yrs, never had one iota of trouble with crime. Schools can be dicey, but there are quality public schools that are doing great things in the district, but I agree you need to look.