Burke: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly?

[Anonymous]

If you live or have lived in Burke, give it to me straight (please ): what do you love about it, what do you hate, what do you wish you'd known before moving there? I'm particularly interested in Burke Centre, but input on other area neighborhoods is welcome, too.

So as not to influence the responses right off, all I'll say right now about my preferences is that I am looking for a SFH, price range $450K-$600K.

[Anonymous]

Lived in Burke for 4 years then escaped. The commute into DC nearly drove us mad. If you don't have a commute into DC factor, then it's fine. Think The Truman Show.

[Anonymous]

We've lived in Montgomery County (once), the District (once) and Burke (2 times). When we move back to the area, we won't even look outside of Burke. We absolutely loved it! The schools are excellent. Crime is very low. Neighbors are much more down-to-earth and friendly. And the commute to D.C. was very easy for my husband. He took the VRE every day. Clean, quiet, and he could drink his coffee and read on the way in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lived in Burke for 4 years then escaped. The commute into DC nearly drove us mad. If you don't have a commute into DC factor, then it's fine. Think The Truman Show.

From 6 years of personal experience, I can say that this is not universally true. I ride VRE to L'Enfant, and it is a very easy and relaxing commute. The easiest commute I've ever had, even when I lived in the District.
I think it really depends on which part of DC you are going to.

We really like Burke. It's not terribly exciting, mind you, but it's quite a pleasant place to live.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the replies so far! Neither of us will be commuting into DC, but it's good to know that the VRE is a relatively pleasant option if we need to use it in the future.

[Anonymous]

NP here. We've lived in Burke for the past 6 years or so, and before that, West Springfield very close to Burke. My husband commutes into DC, but he slugs and is able to get door to door in about 45 minutes. I'm sure if you are driving by yourself during rush hour it takes longer. I commute to Mclean, and that isn't bad at all.

What we love about Burke - diversity in our neighborhood, safety of the area, and down to earth people. Our neighborhood has roving bands of children that are just out playing like the old days - kickball, softball, looking for worms, playing at the neighborhood tot-lots, etc. There is good shopping nearby - Whole Foods, Giant, etc. Plenty of places to eat, although probably not the type you are looking for if you are a foodie.

Also, most of the HOAs out here have their own pools. No wait list, no extra fees or costs. So uncrowded swimming for free in the summer!

Also - and this was a biggie for us - EXCELLENT schools. Even pre-schools! The preschools out here are second to none in DC, but don't have all that crazy comptetive crap to go along with it. No parent interviews, no child evaluations, no testing, etc.

The cons:
If you have to drive into DC on the regular lanes during rush hour, it would probably take about an hour.

It isn't urban feeling, if that is what you are looking for. You will probably have to drive to most shopping areas.

Another con is that there is some real money in Burke. This isn't unique to Burke, but your child will likely to go school with kids that live in apartments, townhouses, single family homes, and huge McMansions with private pools. I know two girls from our church who both got matching RAV4s for Christmas one year. So there is that.

[Anonymous]

We lived in Burke for about 10 years before completely leaving the area this past summer. We were generally happy with our neighborhood (Not Burke Centre, something else), our pool, schools, etc. We both drove into Arlington and it was averaging me an hour door to door after I dropped my kids off in the morning. I went every route imaginable and stayed off of 395 most of the time, unless I heard the “back roads” were particularly clogged. The restaurant choices are pretty slim, but what is there is generally kid friendly. Pohick Library always had a good selection of books on the shelves and you have Burke Lake Park nearby. I was able to find lots of friends that were working moms, but there is a large portion of SAH moms too. So you should be able to find your niche. Kiddie Country is a great (if expensive) preschool, and the parents there are open to meeting new people. We had 2 kids in their program. If we hadn’t left the area I may have entertained moving into a smaller home closer in, just based on our lives in NoVa. Outside of rush hour and on the weekends, the drive into DC is much quicker. As far as people having money there, yes some do but it's Northern VA, you can escape extreme wealth in most areas.

[Anonymous]

We have lived in BC for about twelve years and we really like it. We are actually city people from the West Coast, but Burke is more family friendly. We like the preschools, schools, the pools in the summer and there are quite a few options for grocery shopping and dining out. Now, they won't compare with DC, but when you have little ones (like we do), you are not necessarily going to dine at Citronelle on a Friday evening. We love our neighbors and our kids have plenty of friends in the neighborhood. There are lots of walking/biking trails and plenty of playgrounds/libraries. I used to work in Arlington and it took me about an hour to get to work. I slugged and it was pretty stress-free. Now I work in Alexandria with a more flexible schedule and it is fine. DH works in the Reston area and his commute is okay on 7100 when he leaves around 6:30 AM. If you work in DC, you can slug, take the bus/metro or the VRE. There are plenty of options.

We miss city life and we spend lots of weekends in DC (which we love...), but we also like the quieter life in Burke. We bought our home when prices were low-low (almost 13 years ago) and our home has basically tripled in value and no, we are not selling any time soon.

[Anonymous]

We have lived in Burke for 10+ years- military move originally, ended up staying. We like the mix of people here- for our kids , having other kids around who moved a lot made it easier to make friends.
There's a good mix of housing here in your price range: colonials, split levels, ranches, townhouses. A lot from the 70's and early 80's and then some more recent infill in various places. I am seeing a number of original owners in my neighborhood selling their homes to retire to warmer places, so those houses are coming on the market. Some of these have already been updated and will command a higher price; some have not, so you might get a better deal if you are willing to do some renovation.
We have been very happy with the schools here. Lake Braddock is big, but a very good school and is the middle school GT center for the area, if that matters to you. The families here care about education, so there tends to be a lot of parent involvement in the schools.

We love Burke. I actually prefer Burke to Burke Centre, only because Burke Centre HOA's can be very restrictive about any decorative changes you might want to make to your house. Some people find that a plus though, so it depends what you like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've lived in Montgomery County (once), the District (once) and Burke (2 times). When we move back to the area, we won't even look outside of Burke. We absolutely loved it! The schools are excellent. Crime is very low. Neighbors are much more down-to-earth and friendly. And the commute to D.C. was very easy for my husband. He took the VRE every day. Clean, quiet, and he could drink his coffee and read on the way in.

Always find this funny. SAHM touts the simplicity of the commute her husband has to undergo twice a day. And we're all stunned when Salaryman turns into a emotionally closed-off cheater who's alienated from his family.

[Anonymous]

WOAH

[Anonymous]

OOPS... WOAH there 12:44 -- chill out dude.

#1 It seems to me that her husband was fine with the commute

#2 I find it so sad that, THAT (cheating/alienated family etc) is the FIRST thing that pops into your head here.

#3 Was your comment neccesary? I really just don't understand why in the world you would even post this. Just to be cruel? How sad...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Always find this funny. SAHM touts the simplicity of the commute her husband has to undergo twice a day. And we're all stunned when Salaryman turns into a emotionally closed-off cheater who's alienated from his family.

You know, this really isn't the place for you to work out your personal problems. Get some therapy if you need it.

The first step is realizing that some people are happier living in Burke than they are in Montgomery County or the District.

[Anonymous]

There are other threads for you to work out your SAHM/WOHM issues. Plenty of them. No need to convert this one.

[Anonymous]

There is one poster who always comes on the Burke threads and goes a little bonkers about the commute - she's usually pretty hostile, accusing people of lying about commute times and whatnot. That is probably 12:44.