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[quote=Anonymous]I work at the Pentagon. I've been here 4 years. I started out in Woodbridge. A 3000 sq ft home on 2 acres of land for $2500/month. Commute was draining the life out of me, though.
So we moved to Springfield. 4000 sq ft home, 1/2 acre, lawn maintence included, $3100/month. Commute was a lot better, with options. I could pick up slugs and get on the HOV, or use the Springfield metro. Nice neighborhood, but no nearby stores (not walkable, unless your talking an evening stroll watching the sunset).
The owners decided to sell the home, so we moved even closer in. Alexandria City, Cameron Station in particular. $3000/month for a 2200 sq ft townhome, patio for a backyard, but across from a park, 3 playgrounds in walking distance, community fitness center and pool. Super easy commute, shuttle to metro if I don't want to drive. I can walk to 3 restraurants, gymboree, home dept...I love it.
As far as preschools, the ones with super long wait lists are the elite ones. Others do have a waitlist, just not incredibly long, so get on them now so you have options when it comes time to choose. Full time preschool will run you $1000-$1500/month (not talking about the elite ones). Ours was $303/week.
On this board, you will read people bash Alexandria schools. I recommend looking at the websites and test scores. They are broken down by race and gender. You will find that test scores do not vary much between schools once you account for race. The schools that have the best scores do not have a large enough African American population to even have a category for them. I'd rather have my child go to a diverse school with mediocre scores than a lily white school with high scores.
For your budget, I'd look at Kingstowne (Alexandria, VA - but Fairfax County). The west side is near Springfield Mall (which isn't the best but ok), and the Springfield metro. Homes here are older and cheaper. The east side is closer to the Van Dorn metro station, and all the newer shops & restraurants. Homes are nwere but cost a little more. Almost all neighborhoods in Kingstowne have a pool and multiple playgrounds. Schools are Fairfax County and generally good.
You can also try Mt. Vernon area. Their schools get a bad rap too, but they are not as bad as the talk is. Most homes are older, but have nice yards. You can easily commute up GW parkway or metro from Huntington metro station. In general, the closer to Mt. Vernon proper and the water, the nicer the neighborhood. We almost bought there, so we tried the commute. It was 25-30 minutes from just south of Mt Vernon actual to the Pentgaon using GW Parkway leaving at 7:30 AM.
As other PPs have written, fed offices are all over the place. So you need to figure out exactly where in order to make the best decision for your family.[/quote]

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