Vienna vs. Burke

[Anonymous]

I live in Vienna and like it, but if commute were no issue I'd likely live in Burke where DH grew up. I feel you get more for your money and the schools seem less high strung. I find both difficult to get around: Vienna is congested but small and pretty much a grid; Burke is maybe less congested (depends) but sprawling with few direct routes to anywhere.

I live in Burke, but work in Vienna. I find Vienna more difficult to get around. Yes, Vienna has more local restaurants, but if you work in DC maybe you will go out to eat there sometimes?

If you want to save $$, Burke is better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Sorry for my ignorance on the matter; what makes the VRE nicer than the metro?

Cleaner, less crowded, and you get a seat.

Your fellow passengers are suburban, middle class, and gainfully employed. Everyone is quiet and polite, and you'll always have a seat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Sorry for my ignorance on the matter; what makes the VRE nicer than the metro?

Cleaner, less crowded, and you get a seat.

Your fellow passengers are suburban, middle class, and gainfully employed. Everyone is quiet and polite, and you'll always have a seat.

Yeah, but it's for worker drones with regular hours, and many still have to take Metro after the VRE comes into Union Station.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Vienna and like it, but if commute were no issue I'd likely live in Burke where DH grew up. I feel you get more for your money and the schools seem less high strung. I find both difficult to get around: Vienna is congested but small and pretty much a grid; Burke is maybe less congested (depends) but sprawling with few direct routes to anywhere. [/quote

I see mixed responses; what make Vienna better for commute over Burke?

I'm the quoted PP. In general, Vienna is the better commute to downtown DC although of course everyone's locations vary. DH works near an Orange Line Metro stop in DC, and I commute by either 66 or 495 to a place in DC that is not near transit so I'm driving no matter what. We live near access to 66, 495, the Dulles Toll Road, etc. Right now we're able to live with just one car and DH takes Metro when he doesn't carpool with me; in Burke we would need two cars.

Also, if ever we manage to change jobs out of DC, Tysons is the most likely alternative location and Vienna works better for that.

[Anonymous]

66 is just about the worst commuting route in and out of DC (especially from 28 through Vienna to the beltway.

66 is a direct commute but not an easy or fast commute if you live outside the beltway.

[Anonymous]

We live east of Rolling, in West Not Burke. The Pentagon Express bus makes the commute into DC easy and fast. Another option for commuters to consider. Also slugging, but DH couldn't get on board with that idea.

[Anonymous]

^^^ West Springfield not Burke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:66 is just about the worst commuting route in and out of DC (especially from 28 through Vienna to the beltway.

66 is a direct commute but not an easy or fast commute if you live outside the beltway.

Just hop on the vienna metro! Dumb to drive into dc from vienna!

[Anonymous]

I don't know why people are saying that Burke doesn't have competitive mean girl mom schools. Isn't Keene Mill in Burke where they have the Al Fresco outing where only the AAP kids get to go? Probably the worst example of an AAP center in the county, even Mclean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why people are saying that Burke doesn't have competitive mean girl mom schools. Isn't Keene Mill in Burke where they have the Al Fresco outing where only the AAP kids get to go? Probably the worst example of an AAP center in the county, even Mclean.

That's a Springfield school fwiw

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Sorry for my ignorance on the matter; what makes the VRE nicer than the metro?

Cleaner, less crowded, and you get a seat.

Your fellow passengers are suburban, middle class, and gainfully employed. Everyone is quiet and polite, and you'll always have a seat.

Yeah, but it's for worker drones with regular hours, and many still have to take Metro after the VRE comes into Union Station.

It's such a virtue to work irregular hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New poster here. I live between Burke and Vienna so I'll try to split the difference more objectively. They both have things going for it.

Schools: Vienna has better rated schools, that's just being objective. That doesn't mean they'll necessarily be better for your kids. Vienna schools have higher test scores, etc. while the Burke schools are also very good, and have the reputation of being a bit less stressful. But that's just a generalization--FCPS schools are large and your kids can find their own niche anywhere. But objectively, Vienna schools are more highly rated.

Location: Vienna is much better located for metro, Burke for VRE. VRE is nicer than metro, but your options in terms of where they run and how often they run are more limited. In terms of driving, most of Vienna is closer to the beltway. While certain parts of Burke are close to the Beltway, many areas are not. Overall, due to its proximity to Tysons and the fact that the western part of DC is more built up than the southern part, Vienna is usually considered a better location.

Amenities: Both the pro-Burke and pro-Vienna folks are right here. Vienna has more/better restaurants and places that people will want to visit. But that also means it's more congested than Burke. If you're fine with more of the family-friendly chains, it's pretty easy to get to those places in Burke. Vienna has better restaurants, but in general it's not going to be as convenient to just find a simple, quick place to eat with lots of parking, less traffic, etc. As for stores, Burke has more of the big box types with lots of parking, etc. Both areas have plenty of nice parks, trails, etc. A lot of this has to do with the fact that Burke is a much larger area than Vienna.

Community: Vienna is an actual town and those who live inside it like the community atmosphere of living there. Burke is larger and is more subdivided into separate communities. This is just my opinion, but I think Burke is more of your traditional suburban community, in a good way. Vienna is a bit more higher income with all the things that you may like or dislike about it. I think both communities are great, though. As for diversity, both areas are fairly diverse racially, but Vienna is a bit less diverse socioeconomically, which leads to:

Price: Without a doubt, Vienna is going to be more expensive. But consider both sides of the argument here. You're going to get more for your money in Burke. But Vienna is generally a better investment. I mentioned that Vienna has a better location for most people so the first three rules of real estate apply here. Since commute doesn't matter to you, you'll have to decide how important resale value is to you.

+1

Sorry for my ignorance on the matter; what makes the VRE nicer than the metro?

I said that VRE is nicer than metro in the sense that it is more comfortable like a train as opposed to a subway like metro, and it is generally more punctual. But the downside that I mentioned is that it's not nearly as flexible as metro. VRE only has a few stops in DC and does not run very frequently. Also, as far as I recall, you can only ride the VRE into DC in the mornings, and out of DC in the afternoons. I'm not positive about that, though. So VRE is nicer if you work near L'Enfant or Union Station, but I personally would rather deal with metro if I worked anywhere else. FWIW, I see some comments regarding the fellow metro riders, but I've never had an issue with that in over 10 years during commuting hours. Most people just zone out and read/listen to music, and no one bothers anyone else.