Edmond of DC

[Clock4869]

my brother is moving to DC and asked me what are nice/safe areas. he has young children as well. his budget is around $750k for a house. ive asked a similar question in dc forums but its hard to ask for the edmond of DC and have it translate. any help would be greatly appreciated. He would prefer virginia by the way and will be working in arlington. hes been told that kingstowne and burke are nice by the way

[OKCisOK4me]

Send a personal message to SoonerDC. Im sure he can help you.

[RadicalModerate]

so are we talkin' dc as in washington? or dc as in del city.
neither one of 'em are nice or safe, but the bbq is real good.
'n the fried taters . . .

[adaniel]

Suburbs operate a little differently out east. If by Edmond you mean a newish upper middle class area, you probably want to look at anywhere in Loudon County. We have some family members out there (town called Ashburn) and they all like it. However, working in Arlington that's going to be quite a commute. DC traffic is no joke, and you want to live as close as possible to work or at the very least public transit.

While I wouldn't call it similar to Edmond by any stretch, Burke is a very nice town. Also, consider Fairfax, Falls Church, and Vienna.

[Clock4869]

sorry yes edmond of DC...just kidding washington DC and thank you all for the advice---i'll also ask sooner dave...

[dcsooner]

my brother is moving to DC and asked me what are nice/safe areas. he has young children as well. his budget is around $750k for a house. ive asked a similar question in dc forums but its hard to ask for the edmond of DC and have it translate. any help would be greatly appreciated. He would prefer virginia by the way and will be working in arlington. hes been told that kingstowne and burke are nice by the way

Seems you have identified the areas in Virginia, I would recommend except you left out Arlington which is really close in to DC center, established. Kingstown (Alexandria) great area mix of shopping, schools, easy access to highway, home prices in the range you indicated. Burke, older more established area, a little further from interstate access, older homes, but nice as well. W. Springfield, again older area closer in, great highway access,. All these areas offer short commute to DC, major shopping at Pentagon City and Springfield Mall (undergoing massive renovation), Tyson Corner a little further. All of these areas are in my opinion safe for this region ( I live in Springfield). You could also consider Mclean VA which is where many prominent afflluent DC movers and shakers live in VA. Homes likely in the $1M+

[kevinpate]

It's a bit further out, and less Edmondish than I imagine would be acceptable to many, but I'm a fan of the Manassas/Warrenton area.

[WilliamTell]

his budget is around $750k for a house. ive asked a similar question in dc forums but its hard to ask for the Edmond of DC and have it translate.

Tell him to get more money. 250-300k home in edmond would be closer to 1+ million in Virgina. Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, and really tons of other places are so much nicer than Edmond and in that price range you can give up the idea of what you can find in OKC as far as land around your house and newer construction - but house sqft wise it wont be a problem. I think someone already said it but his first concern should be finding a place with a easy commute (by dc standards, under an hour) instead of looking for something that's Edmond like.

Word to the wise, tell him not to max out his budget because daily living expenses are crazy. In years past ive spent the better part of a year there living in hotels and on perdiem and it takes a special type of oklahoman to be able to make the mental, physical, and monetary changes that are required to live there.

[adaniel]

Tell him to get more money. 250-300k home in edmond would be closer to 1+ million in Virgina. Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, and really tons of other places are so much nicer than Edmond and in that price range you can give up the idea of what you can find in OKC as far as land around your house and newer construction - but house sqft wise it wont be a problem. I think someone already said it but his first concern should be finding a place with a easy commute (by dc standards, under an hour) instead of looking for something that's Edmond like.

Word to the wise, tell him not to max out his budget because daily living expenses are crazy. In years past ive spent the better part of a year there living in hotels and on perdiem and it takes a special type of oklahoman to be able to make the mental, physical, and monetary changes that are required to live there.

I never understood the concept of "house poor" until talking to family members up there. $300/sq foot is not uncommon at all. If you want to look at homes within the beltway, expect a minimum of 700K for a single family home thats been even mildly updated. To the OP, don't just limit yourself to SFH, DC has a great selection of townhouses that are MUCH cheaper and could probably get you closer to the city.

DC is an amazing area with attractions only trumped by NYC and (maybe) LA, but you definitely need to make sacrifices to make it work. I have a good friend that works up there and loves the area, but she recently got married and they are both getting burned out on the lifestyle up there. Then again she lives way out in Manasass and work in Alexandria. They recently made the decision to relocate back to OK.

[Just the facts]

I have a friend who lives in Harpers Ferry, WV. Smaller town, very affordable, and is 49 miles from the White House. He said most DCers stay away because they don't want the West Virgina address. MARC has 5 trains a day between Harpers Ferry and Union Station. Cost is $9. Amtrak has two trains at the same price.

[Spartan]

my brother is moving to DC and asked me what are nice/safe areas. he has young children as well. his budget is around $750k for a house. ive asked a similar question in dc forums but its hard to ask for the edmond of DC and have it translate. any help would be greatly appreciated. He would prefer virginia by the way and will be working in arlington. hes been told that kingstowne and burke are nice by the way

What gives? If he wants a 4 bedroom colonial with a big yard for $750,000, he should just print a map of Northern Virginia and blindly point at a spot. Alexandria has more character and I'm pretty sure the schools are just as good as in the farthest-flung hamlets of Loudoun County.