The posted house in Manassas had a walkable score of 91.

Anonymous wrote:even ballston to manassas sounds horrible. I used to do Arlington to Ashburn "reverse" commute and that was bad,even 5 years ago...

Is the DC person ever thinking of moving to a job further west?

OP- no, sadly almost everything in my industry is in the district or closer in (Alexandria)

My friends are spread out pretty well across NOVA and MD suburbs (chevy chase/bethesda)- none of my friends are in the 500K HHI plus range, so when they started having children and wanting to own something bigger than their smaller condos, no one stayed in our prior areas- Logan, Dupont, AM, etc.

I like the areas of Arlington (I know there are haters) that are walking neighborhoods. Neither of us particularly like Manassas. Are there walking areas of Vienna?

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Manassas. The Owens Wood and Robnel neighborhoods are very nice and very close to VRE. Haydon was the best elementary school back in the olden days but who knows now?

Your money goes pretty far out there:
http://franklymls.com/MN7985221


Your DC friends will never, ever come visit you, though. Unless you buy a house with a pool or something.

Wow, that house is REALLY cute! And almost an acre - holy cow. I would live there But I live in Chantilly already, so there you go

I live in Arlington and commute to Reston a couple times a week. "Beyond Ballston" ie nearer to East Falls Church is smart because the west bound morning traffic is heavy to that point but improves once you add that third lane before the Beltway/toll road. The hardest part is getting on 66 but once you are on west bound is usually a breeze. Same with east bound at the end of the day...it backs up in that location, where 66 squeezes back down to 2 lanes ahead of the Ballston exit. I would try to live in that area near East Falls Church so one could take Mtro and the other could reverse commute.

there really isn't a reverse commute in DC.

I-66 does not have a "reverse commute" option. It's awful both ways. Can you make VRE to DC work? I'm pretty sure VRE only goes inbound in the morning and outbound in the evening.

even ballston to manassas sounds horrible. I used to do Arlington to Ashburn "reverse" commute and that was bad,even 5 years ago...

Is the DC person ever thinking of moving to a job further west?

Anonymous wrote:As a "reverse commuter" I can tell you that excepting small clear pockets, there really isn't such a thing in DC- going WB in the AM (NoVa) is absolutely better than EB but it still sucks.

Starting in Arlington heading west is not much better than east-bound. You definitely have to be past the intersection with the beltway for it to improve.

I grew up in Manassas. The Owens Wood and Robnel neighborhoods are very nice and very close to VRE. Haydon was the best elementary school back in the olden days but who knows now?

Your money goes pretty far out there:
http://franklymls.com/MN7985221


Your DC friends will never, ever come visit you, though. Unless you buy a house with a pool or something.

As a "reverse commuter" I can tell you that excepting small clear pockets, there really isn't such a thing in DC- going WB in the AM (NoVa) is absolutely better than EB but it still sucks.

I would maybe do something near 66 and metro in Fairfax, like around 22031 or Oakton. Not sure how bad the reverse commute to Manassas on 66 would be, but the DC commuter could hop on metro and be downtown in under 30 minutes most days. (when i lived there, I commuted to Tysons, Arlington and DC and was pretty happy with the commute by metro. Car - not as much.)

I agree with 12:39--I would live in downtown/old town Manassas within walking to the VRE if schools are not an issue, but your phrase "beyond Ballston" like its the last outpost before Here Be Dragons territory concerns me. Manassas is pretty far out there--as far as a commute in from Manassas is concerned, Ballston and anywhere else in N. Arlington/western DC are pretty even. That's how far out it is.

Anonymous wrote:Actually it might make the most sense to live near Manassas and have the other person ride the VRE to DC.

+1

Trying to live in the middle gives both of you long commutes, better for at least one of you to have near-home flexibility.

Actually it might make the most sense to live near Manassas and have the other person ride the VRE to DC.

Looking for opinions on how far most would want to reverse commute (by car). One works in DC the other just took an amazing opportunity near Manassas, VA. Commute would also be on top of what is bound to be long hours. Not married to staying in DC, particularly not at the cost of my partner having this horrific commute. N. Arlington, beyond Ballston? closer in? Farther out?