Possibly moving to Chantilly

[Anonymous]

OP: the area you would want is the Herndon/Fairfax/Chantilly intersection (20171). Amazing schools (Lee's corner or oak hill/ Franklin or Carson and Chantilly). Some Hispanic and AA, but mostly white and Asians of all nationalities. Very, very nice neighbors, and a great place to raise kids. Sidewalks, ballfields, neighborhood pools, etc.

I think the people who are busting on Chantilly being nowhere and a terrible commute are not thinking about the Dulles Toll Road. Right now, you wouldn't leave from Vienna for metro. You would Whiele/Reston silver line to McPhearson. Metro's trip planner tells me it's a 40 minute metro ride. But probably 20 minutes to get to the metro and park. In the next year or two, there will be a new silver line station at the intersection of the toll road and Centreville Road-- so much closer. It is also surprisingly close to Tysons and Fairfax. I go to Tysons from this area twice a week at morning rush hour peak and it's 25 minutes on the toll road. Downtown Fairfax is 20 minutes down 50 or 50 to 66, longer at peak rush hour. And going into D.C. For things like the Kennedy Center in the evenings and most weekends (counter commute) is less than 45 minutes.

Also, you are not that far from GMU. I have a kid at TJ, and take FFX County Parkway to Braddock Road past GMU the mornings I drop him off. It's probably 20-25 minutes in rush hour.

I would do FCPS Chantilly, and a Chantilly HS feeder area, probably with a Herndon or Fairfax address, and not Loudoun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: the area you would want is the Herndon/Fairfax/Chantilly intersection (20171). Amazing schools (Lee's corner or oak hill/ Franklin or Carson and Chantilly). Some Hispanic and AA, but mostly white and Asians of all nationalities. Very, very nice neighbors, and a great place to raise kids. Sidewalks, ballfields, neighborhood pools, etc.

I think the people who are busting on Chantilly being nowhere and a terrible commute are not thinking about the Dulles Toll Road. Right now, you wouldn't leave from Vienna for metro. You would Whiele/Reston silver line to McPhearson. Metro's trip planner tells me it's a 40 minute metro ride. But probably 20 minutes to get to the metro and park. In the next year or two, there will be a new silver line station at the intersection of the toll road and Centreville Road-- so much closer. It is also surprisingly close to Tysons and Fairfax. I go to Tysons from this area twice a week at morning rush hour peak and it's 25 minutes on the toll road. Downtown Fairfax is 20 minutes down 50 or 50 to 66, longer at peak rush hour. And going into D.C. For things like the Kennedy Center in the evenings and most weekends (counter commute) is less than 45 minutes.

Also, you are not that far from GMU. I have a kid at TJ, and take FFX County Parkway to Braddock Road past GMU the mornings I drop him off. It's probably 20-25 minutes in rush hour.

I would do FCPS Chantilly, and a Chantilly HS feeder area, probably with a Herndon or Fairfax address, and not Loudoun.

PPhere, if you have kids Loudoun has the better schools. Both great, but Loudoun is better.

[Anonymous]

I have nothing against loudoun, but I really think it is odd that you would try to claim that their schools are better than fairfax.

[Anonymous]

Lees' Corner area is a great place for school and value. You can find houses in the 500 - 600K range easily. The commute to DC isn't too bad. It's about 20 - 30 mins to Vienna metro and 40 mins to McPherson Sq on orange line.

Chantilly in Loudoun County is another 20-30 minutes and your life line is Rt 50 which SUCKS in the morning and evenings. You don't want to go there unless you want a new house for 500-600. It's great for raising a family but sucks for work.

Loudoun County schools are good but not better than Fairfax. You will also deal with constant border changes for elementary school until they stop building more houses in the area which is about 20 years away probably.

[Anonymous]

South Riding's Freedom High School (Loudoun) is excellent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have nothing against loudoun, but I really think it is odd that you would try to claim that their schools are better than fairfax.

+1. Nobody does this IRL with a straight face. And an Oak Hill, Franklin, Chantilly feeder gives you all GS 8 and 9 schools. Freedom may be the best of Loudoun, but Chantilly's average SAT scores were 60 points higher. And if you have an AAP kiddo, Loudoun isn't even close to FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again.

We are willing to compromise on some of our options, it's just so hard to potentially get the exact same thing we have now... for twice the price. Right now we have a 2000 sq.ft. town home that we got for under 300k at a prime location. All we'd potentially get that we didn't have before is a yard and maybe a garage. But what we have now is fixed up how we like it. I have been scrolling through Trulia and Redfin for weeks now and feel dissatisfied. Maybe I'm just hoping for too much even trying to scale back my wishes. Everyone says don't buy unless you can live with it, cause you have to. But I don't want to be doing this commute still in 6 to 12 months.

Part of the issue is I DON'T want to move. I just can't do 2 hrs in evening anymore.

DH and I are still checking out Chantilly and he may take a day off to test the commute himself to and from Vienna Metro. I'm also realizing how far it would put us away from our friends elsewhere in D.C. Dreading this process.

I grew up near Chantilly and it is perfectly nice. However, I suspect you will hate it based on your comments, OP. You don't care too much for a bigger house, and you value your great location. Chantilly will give you the bigger house you don't care for, and the commute into DC will be soul crushing, which will cause stress on the family. If I were you I'd filibuster and not agree to moving - shoot down all proposals coming your way.

[Anonymous]

Op works at Mason and her husband is the one with the D.C. Commute when he isn't traveling.

I don't think Chantilly area in Fairfax is an awful option given these circumstances. I do think Burke or closer in Fairfax addresses might be better, though.

Chantilly in loudoun, better known as South Riding, is a lovely area with good schools...but a freaking awful choice for op.

[Anonymous]

chantilly is nice to live in. I would buy into fcps schools, not loudoun. Loudoun is further from dc and south riding is also further from dc.

Absolutely have your dh or you try the commute before looking. It will be a long commute.

Has he considered finding a different job instead?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Chantilly, and am surviving to tell the tale! I commute to DC via commuter bus 3x a week. There are bus stops throughout the area. I catch one 2miles from our house at a commuter lot. I love where I live, our neighborhood has a great community feel, and I still work in DC (fed). I get to work at 7:15 when I catch a 6:30am bus, and I get home between 5:30-6:00 when I catch the 3:52-4:04 bus home. This ensures I'm still home for dinner and bedtime. If I have a trial I'm prepping for I stay until about 6:15, and get home by 7:30 on the bus. Obviously, I can work from home after that if I need to.

commuter here from Leesburg to DC its 1 hour 10 minutes. Multiple options. many sleep on way in netflix on way home its easy. A lot convenient to Chantilly might be Dulles North which is right off the back side of IAD. It's cheap too i'd never drive it.

[Anonymous]

But how long is the commute to the commuter lot? 1.10 is bus time only.

[Anonymous]

Mantua?

[Anonymous]

OP again. Thanks all - we've given up on Chantilly. Just too far. We're weighing our options for buying near downtown FFX and surrounding areas. At this point, we're just not gonna get a dream home out of the move and we have to accept it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Chantilly, and am surviving to tell the tale! I commute to DC via commuter bus 3x a week. There are bus stops throughout the area. I catch one 2miles from our house at a commuter lot. I love where I live, our neighborhood has a great community feel, and I still work in DC (fed). I get to work at 7:15 when I catch a 6:30am bus, and I get home between 5:30-6:00 when I catch the 3:52-4:04 bus home. This ensures I'm still home for dinner and bedtime. If I have a trial I'm prepping for I stay until about 6:15, and get home by 7:30 on the bus. Obviously, I can work from home after that if I need to.

commuter here from Leesburg to DC its 1 hour 10 minutes. Multiple options. many sleep on way in netflix on way home its easy. A lot convenient to Chantilly might be Dulles North which is right off the back side of IAD. It's cheap too i'd never drive it.

Commuter buses only work for people with very set schedules. One of my employees took one for a while and had no flexibility in the evenings, which stressed him out a lot. Maybe our industry is just weird, but if you sometimes need an extra 15-30 minutes to wrap up your day or a client call runs long, being stuck on the commuter bus schedule is tough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Chantilly, and am surviving to tell the tale! I commute to DC via commuter bus 3x a week. There are bus stops throughout the area. I catch one 2miles from our house at a commuter lot. I love where I live, our neighborhood has a great community feel, and I still work in DC (fed). I get to work at 7:15 when I catch a 6:30am bus, and I get home between 5:30-6:00 when I catch the 3:52-4:04 bus home. This ensures I'm still home for dinner and bedtime. If I have a trial I'm prepping for I stay until about 6:15, and get home by 7:30 on the bus. Obviously, I can work from home after that if I need to.

commuter here from Leesburg to DC its 1 hour 10 minutes. Multiple options. many sleep on way in netflix on way home its easy. A lot convenient to Chantilly might be Dulles North which is right off the back side of IAD. It's cheap too i'd never drive it.

Commuter buses only work for people with very set schedules. One of my employees took one for a while and had no flexibility in the evenings, which stressed him out a lot. Maybe our industry is just weird, but if you sometimes need an extra 15-30 minutes to wrap up your day or a client call runs long, being stuck on the commuter bus schedule is tough.

there are 11 different buses spread out over 2.5 hours that I can leave on each day..sure later meeting means I can't take the preferred route but it doesn't mean i cant get home