Tell me about Cabin John/Virginia commute/DC commute via public transport?

[Anonymous]

We currently live in Silver Spring in a walk-to-metro house that suits my needs but DH has been sucking up an Alexandria commute for a long time and that needs to change. He has identified the Cabin John area as a place that would allow him to shave a decent chunk off his commute. We have family in MoCo and an SN child so we need to stay in the county and as far as I can tell anyway there is no place in VA that would give him an easy commute that also has good schools. I like the houses in Cabin John but I'm worried about leaving metro proximity and tremendous walkability for a place that would require me to drive everywhere (that's my sense of the place) but I do think I would gain (I hope) in neighborhood feel and a sense of community--my immediate area has none. My perception is also that shopping would require longer trips--right now I can get to the grocery store, mall, my gym and any number of ethnic restaurants in about 10 minutes in the car. Where do people in Cabin John go to the gym? I hate the crowdedness of Bethesda and guess that that's where we would be going to go "out" for meals. Rockville for Target and Giant? And what about commuting into the city--right now I'm not working but if I go back probably all of my prospects would be in DC. Any ideas where we would be happy? The only other thing we can come up with is to buy a house with a detached space to make an office and have him telecommute during rush hour and put in face time from about 10-3. Our budget is around 900,000.

[Anonymous]

Bumping this in the hope that I get a response or two. For the record I did search the archives before posting but didn't find much.

[Anonymous]

We're directly adjacent to Cabin John. From our area, we shop in Bethesda or Rockville. Tysons is also not a bad drive. And commuting downtown is not awesome, but it is okay.

For 900K, you should have a pretty good selection of neighborhoods in MoCo. I don't know VA, but I'm surprised there is not a location with good schools and a decent commute to Alexandria for $900K.


"We currently live in Silver Spring in a walk-to-metro house that suits my needs but DH has been sucking up an Alexandria commute for a long time and that needs to change. He has identified the Cabin John area as a place that would allow him to shave a decent chunk off his commute. We have family in MoCo and an SN child so we need to stay in the county and as far as I can tell anyway there is no place in VA that would give him an easy commute that also has good schools. I like the houses in Cabin John but I'm worried about leaving metro proximity and tremendous walkability for a place that would require me to drive everywhere (that's my sense of the place) but I do think I would gain (I hope) in neighborhood feel and a sense of community--my immediate area has none.

My perception is also that shopping would require longer trips--right now I can get to the grocery store, mall, my gym and any number of ethnic restaurants in about 10 minutes in the car. Where do people in Cabin John go to the gym? I hate the crowdedness of Bethesda and guess that that's where we would be going to go "out" for meals. Rockville for Target and Giant? And what about commuting into the city--right now I'm not working but if I go back probably all of my prospects would be in DC. Any ideas where we would be happy? The only other thing we can come up with is to buy a house with a detached space to make an office and have him telecommute during rush hour and put in face time from about 10-3. Our budget is around 900,000."

[Anonymous]

Is there a reason you're not considering any of the VA close-in suburbs? It seems to me that N. Arlington or McLean would meet your needs, and both have excellent schools and (I imagine) special needs programs. These areas of VA aren't that far from MoCo, if staying near family is a concern.