[vpivinylspinner]

It looks like I will be moving to our Reston office next month and I could use some advice on apartments in the Reston/Herndon area or the surrounding area with an easy commute to Reston and a passable commute to D.C. Any places to avoid would also be appreciated as this will be a rather rapid move and I won't get to spend alot of time in the area before choosing a place.

 

[JahJahBinks]

I am not that familar with Reston, I live in Manassas.

 

[morphine]

I can probably help you. Send me a pm and we'll try to figure it out.

m

 

[12thgear]

If you're working in Reston I think you have a lot of options. You can certainly live in Reston, which is nice enough, and not completely overpriced given the area. It's a great area if you enjoy biking. I'd recommend someplace near the Dulles Toll Road and Reston Town Center. You're pretty convenient to Dulles and not too far from areas like Tysons Corner. Probably about 45 minutes to DC without traffic.

The other nice thing about working in Reston is if you choose to live closer in to DC you basically have a reverse commute. When I go to Reston for clients or for training, it's always been pretty traffic free and have gotten there in as little as 20 minutes when coming from my house in Falls Church.

Reston generally is a pretty safe bet but too suburban for my taste. Pretty nice area though. I think Herndon is a bit too far out personally. I live in Falls Church City and like it a lot. I also like Arlington quite a bit, but it's very hit or miss depending on the area. When I lived in Oakton I had a nice apartment and felt very safe. Very sleepy and suburban, but pretty convenient too. About 30 minutes from DC and only two exits from the Beltway.

Places to avoid: I really don't like the way Centreville is turning out. Overpriced for what and where it is. Arlington is great but you've gotta pick your neighborhood wisely. I have friends off of the main drag in Manassas and that area bums me out. The older, quiet parts of Manassas are a lot nicer, but it's still quite a ways West.

What kind of area are you looking for? Hip and vibrant? Cozy and safe? Rural and private?

 

[jpr703]

I worked in Reston about 5 years ago and while things may have changed since then, I'd highly recommend living VERY close to where you work. Commute times in that area can be absolutely insane and they depend heavily on traffic flow.

When I bought a house in West Virginia, my 45 mile commute took only a few minutes longer than my 7 mile commute from my previous apartment in Fair Oaks. Another thing you'll want to consider is tolls. Paying tolls to get to and from work can be a not some warm and fuzzy fact of life in that area.

 

[12thgear]

I will say my commuting quality of life has shot up since getting a Garmin GPS with XM traffic support. I get warned of reported traffic incidents and can detour. Or, if I'm stuck in congestion, I can tell the GPS to detour by a set distance to sneak down back roads and get around.

 

[asmox]

I've lived in Reston for about 10 years now, but I'm currently in San Diego for work related things, and I'll be here for another year or so before heading back to Reston permanently.

Traffic can be pretty bad, but it's a very nice place to live. I'd say try and get a place in Reston, if you can.

 

[vpivinylspinner]

I will be renting a short term apartment while I wait for my place in Manhattan to sell. It looks like there are more apartments in Herndon than there are in Reston so I figured it might be a good place to start. I would like to keep commute as short as possible. I don't want to spend more than $3,500 a month but have at least 2,000 sq ft and have a garage. I don't know if that is possible. I had gotten some advice about places in Reston to avoid but I have forgotten all of them. I would like to be close to restaurants, shopping etc. (10 minute drive). I am actually thinking about going down there on Friday and spending the weekend looking for a place so maybe I will have more questions once I nail some apartments down that look promising.

 

[Voltron]

Good luck with the apartment hunt Jeff. How many turntable rooms can you fit into 2,000 sq ft?!

 

[vpivinylspinner]

Well I spent my first day looking in the Reston/Herndon area. This market is a bit nuts right now. I was told that the occupancy rate is 1.4%. I looked at about 8 large complexes and found only one or two apartments coming up for rent with two bedrooms at each unit. 90% of those were on the 4th Floor of a walkup or crazy townhouses with staircases so small my speakers couldn't be carried up to the listening room. I think I will have to look for a rental house as this search doesn't seem to be getting me anywhere.

 

[slwiser]

Check out Fredericksburg or Orange County. These areas are a little out a ways but Fredericksburg is on the metro line and commuting is doable. I live in Richmond and some even go up that far from the northern parts of this area. I heard of a rumor that the metro will be extended south to the Richmond area in the future. Your problem is that Virginia has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country and certain areas are much lower than average for the state.

 

[dvallere]

I lived most of my adult life in McLean, Reston or Herndon. My last apartment complex was McNair Farms off Centreville Road in Herndon, cheap and cheerful (near the shopping basics as well as very close to the toll road entrance) but you have to be a fan of Indian food since approx 90% of residents in McNair Farms cooked Indian food every night and you could smell the curry half a mile away.

In Reston and in McLean I was renting from private owners so I can't help you in those areas. But boy, living in the Seattle burbs now, I'd give A LOT to be back in the DC metro area...if only I hadn't gotten laid off...

I would definitely choose to live "somewhere between Reston and DC" along the toll-road corridor rather than further out west past Herndon. It's too boonie out there.

 

[vpivinylspinner]

Yeah I have narrowed it down to one of two places in Ashburn which are new and very nice apartments and a place in Fairfax which is older but I really like the area. I intend to go to Mclean next to check those out. I wish I could find a newer place in Fairfax but I only really found one that is new and the rest were a few years old and sort of run down. The new Dulles Center Mall is nice and that area around Ashburn is really growing, I am just worried about having to go down Leesburg Pike as the traffic there is very bad.

 

[kamitaji]

It looks like I will be moving to our Reston office next month and I could use some advice on apartments in the Reston/Herndon area or the surrounding area with an easy commute to Reston and a passable commute to D.C. Any places to avoid would also be appreciated as this will be a rather rapid move and I won't get to spend alot of time in the area before choosing a place.

The traffic will eat a lot of your time. Two tricks to reduce your commute: (1) live close to where you work but this can be costly or (2) live where your commute would be opposite everybody else. For example, I lived in DC and worked in Tysons. Every morning and every evening, my commute was a breeze as everyone was congested going the other way. Mind you, I'm a city boy and don't have kids ... besides, I don't care for yards or trees

Good luck.

Kami

** To Stax or not to Stax, now that's the question **

 

[SilverEars]

I lived in Northern Virginia, and there should't be worries of running into a bad neighborhood. Just look for whatever option that works for you within the vacinity(for new job or whatever) for whatever reason takes you there.