Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[rmr236]

Both these places are driveable, but if you're interested in public transportation an important distinction is that from Windsor at Arbors you'd be able to take the bus to King Street Metro, whereas from Rose Hill you can only go to Huntington.

You forgot about Van Dorn Street and Franconia-Springfield :-P But yes, it is not a direct shot to KS.

Rose Hill Apartments appear to be okay for the most part, although there was a stabbing in the alley next to 7-Eleven about a year ago.

Thankfully ( . . .) that was not a random act of violence, but only violent crime I have heard of in the area; everywhere gets one murder every few years anyways.........

[MechD]

Woodbridge is ~20 miles south of alexandria along the I-95 corridor.  Homes are more affordable out that way, but your commute will be HORRIBLE unless you want to drive in at or before 4AM (maybe 3AM) or after 9AM.  Let me be clear.  Commuting to Alexandria or DC from Woodbridge or anywhere further south  will  be GOD AWFUL.  HORRIFIC.  TERRIBLE.  UNBEARABLE.  LIFE ALTERING DEPRESSION WILL ENSUE FROM IT.

Ok, maybe I'm being dramatic.  But I'll put it to you this way.  The primary reason I left the DC area was because of the traffic along the I-95 corridor.  Seriously, pay the extra money and save yourself oodle and oodles of time by living as close to the PTO as possible.  You will thank yourself for it in the long run.

The commute times I gave previously were ON THE TRAIN. Everybody who lives out there takes the train. I would never suggest a driving commute to Woodbridge, Quantico, etc. Traffic IS terrible.

If you're not having any luck finding a rental on craigslist, maybe try a realtor?

[MechD]

Seriously, pay the extra money and save yourself oodle and oodles of time by living as close to the PTO as possible.  You will thank yourself for it in the long run.

Cannot agree more with this. As an examiner your time is worth AT LEAST $40/hr - Is an hour commute each way really worth $80/day in possible overtime?

[blaze1306]

Woodbridge is ~20 miles south of alexandria along the I-95 corridor.  Homes are more affordable out that way, but your commute will be HORRIBLE unless you want to drive in at or before 4AM (maybe 3AM) or after 9AM.  Let me be clear.  Commuting to Alexandria or DC from Woodbridge or anywhere further south  will  be GOD AWFUL.  HORRIFIC.  TERRIBLE.  UNBEARABLE.  LIFE ALTERING DEPRESSION WILL ENSUE FROM IT.

Ok, maybe I'm being dramatic.  But I'll put it to you this way.  The primary reason I left the DC area was because of the traffic along the I-95 corridor.  Seriously, pay the extra money and save yourself oodle and oodles of time by living as close to the PTO as possible.  You will thank yourself for it in the long run.

The commute times I gave previously were ON THE TRAIN. Everybody who lives out there takes the train. I would never suggest a driving commute to Woodbridge, Quantico, etc. Traffic IS terrible.

If you're not having any luck finding a rental on craigslist, maybe try a realtor?

You have got to be kidding.... how does anyone ever get to work on time?

[kjw5029]

For the love of God, avoid living somewhere that requires distance driving on I66 at all costs.  It's literally the worst road (in terms of traffic/delays) that I have ever come across.  I'm only talking about very normal days and not even during rush hour.  There are days when it took me over 2 hrs to get from Alexandria to Fairfax (~20 miles) because of truck fires or fire truck accidents.  Catastrophic incidents/delays seem inevitable to occur monthly on that road.  And no, I'm not being dramatic.  This is my honest hatred of I66.

[blaze1306]

Is there a commuter train in the area around Woodbridge or Quantico? I have never ridden a train and it might be fun for a while. Any info on finding detached single family rentals in the area?

The VRE runs through Woodbridge and Quantico: http://www.vre.org/service/systmmp.htm

Answer a few questions for me. Please remember I have never even seen a train schedule so I don’t know what I’m talking about.

According to the schedule from the link you provided a train leaves Fredericksburg at 7:00am and arrives at the Alexandria station at 7:47am. Isn’t that an express 45 minute ride? Wouldn’t that be a easy commute.

[mk1023]

Answer a few questions for me. Please remember I have never even seen a train schedule so I don’t know what I’m talking about.

According to the schedule from the link you provided a train leaves Fredericksburg at 7:00am and arrives at the Alexandria station at 7:47am. Isn’t that an express 45 minute ride? Wouldn’t that be a easy commute.

Looks like an express train. I guess you could call that an easy commute, but it's still pretty long. Add time driving to the train station and walking to/from train and that's close to an hour.

[blaze1306]

Answer a few questions for me. Please remember I have never even seen a train schedule so I don’t know what I’m talking about.

According to the schedule from the link you provided a train leaves Fredericksburg at 7:00am and arrives at the Alexandria station at 7:47am. Isn’t that an express 45 minute ride? Wouldn’t that be a easy commute.

Looks like an express train. I guess you could call that an easy commute, but it's still pretty long. Add time driving to the train station and walking to/from train and that's close to an hour.

I'm fine with an hour, I mean it seems like you just sit there and ride, of course my opinion is from someone that has never ridden a train. It seems like a good deal. Country living and an easy commute, without the drive.

[patentatt]

Answer a few questions for me. Please remember I have never even seen a train schedule so I don’t know what I’m talking about.

According to the schedule from the link you provided a train leaves Fredericksburg at 7:00am and arrives at the Alexandria station at 7:47am. Isn’t that an express 45 minute ride? Wouldn’t that be a easy commute.

Looks like an express train. I guess you could call that an easy commute, but it's still pretty long. Add time driving to the train station and walking to/from train and that's close to an hour.

I'm fine with an hour, I mean it seems like you just sit there and ride, of course my opinion is from someone that has never ridden a train. It seems like a good deal. Country living and an easy commute, without the drive.

At least you could read on the train, or even sleep.

But you still have to wake up at the crack of dawn.  And sleep on a train can't be high quality.

Also, the government-run trains are not very reliable, and frequently are delayed.

Academic research shows that long commutes are, statistically, very detrimental to happiness.  This is why, in the past, I've invested the money to live right next door to where I worked.  I recommend the same to anyone else who considers commuting.

[plex]

Have some experience with trains, they are NOT on time, almost ever, they are not like subways.

[klaviernista]

You have got to be kidding.... how does anyone ever get to work on time?

Not sure if you are being sarcastic, but the reality is that people from Woodbridge on south get up very, very early in the morning.

If given the choice between living close to the PTO (e.g., kingstown, alexandria, arlandria, van dorn, or crystal city) and paying $500/month more for a smaller place than Woodbridge or further south, I would take living close to the PTO every time. 

If you think I am kidding, do some research on the worst traffic spots in the U.S.  The I-95 corridor heading north from Woodbridge is one of the worst, if not THE worst traffic spots in the nation.

update- I just ran a quick google search and the first thing that popped up was a september report indicating that DC has the worst traffic in the nation.  Commuters spend an average of 76 hours stuck in traffic every year.  I'm willing to bet the folks that commute down 95 every day are stuck for a lot longer than that.

[Isaac]

The commute times I gave previously were ON THE TRAIN. Everybody who lives out there takes the train. I would never suggest a driving commute to Woodbridge, Quantico, etc. Traffic IS terrible.

I commuted from Woodbridge to DC everyday for years.   I did a VRE train commute while I was working at the PTO and the trip was horrible.  The morning train was frequently late, but even worse, the last return train back to Woodbridge ends relatively early, sometimes putting a squeeze on your examining schedule.

However a car commute from Woodbridge to DC is not too bad if you can car pool or slug so that you can take advantage of the HOV lanes.  Most days, a commute at 7:00 is perfectly reasonable in the HOV lane.

I would not recommend the commute from Fredericksburg or even Quantico.

 

[bacon]

Does anyone have any comments/experience with Cascade at Landmark?  Google says it is about a 15 minute drive to the PTO and they seem to have reasonable prices.  Plus, they don't have an issue with my dog (sidenote; what is considered a "big" dog in DC?  I grew up on a farm where "big" meant 120+ lbs., so I always think of my current 75 lb. dog as medium), which is key. 

Anyone familiar with how full they usually are?  I am thinking of making them my fallback place if I get out there and can't find anything better.

Thanks

[2ndcareer]

I live near Landmark, and I think it's more than 15 minutes of drive to the PTO.  I think it will be easier and faster for you, if you drive or take bus to Van Dorn Metro station and then take the metro to King Street, especially considering that the PTO will subsidize public transit up to a limit.

No specific comments about Cascade.  There are lots of different apartments near the PTO, some even walking distance.  I would look for one that has some secured garages, because there are a lot of car break-in's in the area.

Or consider renting from a PTO employee, once you start.  There are always PTO employees who's looking for roommates or occupants for their townhouses or condos.

[klaviernista]

Does anyone have any comments/experience with Cascade at Landmark?  Google says it is about a 15 minute drive to the PTO.

Landmark is only ~5-10 miles from the PTO.  However, your commute will likely take you down Duke street, which is very congested and fully of traffic lights.  Without traffic, 15-20 minutes is a reasonable expectation, especially if you don't have to stop at many of the lights.  During rush hour it could take much longer.