<p>When looking at places to live - I would recommend checking out the commute during rush hour to and from your son’s work. Traffic in the middle of the day is very different than during rush hour. </p>
<p>The public transportation in Loudoun County is not very good. There is no bus that I know of that would take your son to his job. There are buses that go from park and ride lots in the suburbs to Washington, DC. </p>
<p>I agree that your son should look for a short-term arrangement so he can get a feel for the area. I work with a few single guys and I will check with them tomorrow to see what they would recommend. I still suggest the Reston Town Center area, or the area near Dulles Town Center Mall. He would have a very manageable commute to the Dulles airport area.</p>
<p>Please feel free to ask any other questions regarding the area, and I will be happy to help. I work just outside of the airport and live 15 minutes away, so I am very familiar with the area.</p>
<p>thumper - for my internship I drive to Vienna and metro to Tenleytown… it is not such a pleasant experience either. Takes 90 minutes each way. I do usually get a seat at Vienna though.</p>
[quote]
sounds like the commute from the center of downtown to DIA would be pretty miserable, particularly on a daily basis, but perhaps I’m wrong? <a href=“Only%20once”>/quote</a> I went into DC by driving from Reston to the Vienna station and then taking the metro in and then back out at the end of the day. There’s no way I’d want to do that every day - it took too long and the metro was packed - standing room only (on the way out). This was on a weekend. Even if he’d be going against the flow of traffic it wouldn’t be much fun by day two.</p>
<p>Thanks–as I recall from our tourist trips to VA/DC, the metro DID get very busy, particularly during peak traffic times and when in/near the middle of the city. I guess I will STRONGLY suggest to S that he investigate Reston, as a good 1st community to live in near his workplace. I do not relish the idea of him grumbling to me on a regular basis about the nasty commute & traffic and can think of a lot better things he could be doing with his time & energy.</p>
<p>I admit that he & I have been very spoiled at not having much of a commute to get most places and rarely in heavy traffic, so I don’t think he’d take too well to doing it on a regular basis thru beltway gridlock. I will of course let him make the decision, but all of these insights are very valuable and I am printing them regularly and letting him mull them over. I think it’s making him start contacting some friends he has in and around the VA/DC area as well, so he can make better-informed choices.</p>
<p>It is funny, many of my daughter’s friends live in Arlington, but she wouldn’t consider it. She works in DC not far from Georgetown and had no desire to have a long commute. This is from a kid that was use to daily traffic growing up; it was a 45 minute drive to school each morning and 1 hour drive to work when she still lived here. When she first moved for her job in DC she did live in Arlington in a short term lease as she didn’t have a roommate to start as all her friends were already there. While she was there, she was able to explore and find where she really wanted to live and find a roommate that also wanted the same area. She was able to find a great place north of Georgetown and now takes the bus to work. Her feeling is the bus is so much nicer and cheaper; she always can get a seat on the bus.</p>
<p>You son has plenty of time to find a place and a roommate, so I would suggest he investigate his options. If he has a car, I would say live close to work; he can always drive into DC or Arlington for weekend activities, or drive to the nearest metro and metro into the city.</p>
<p>You will see from Fendergirl’s link that living with a roommate is so much cheaper than getting a 1 bedroom apartment! I can also vouch for the Equity Apartment company; they have a good reputation, well as good of a reputation as an apartment company can have!</p>
<p>These suggestions are tremendous and will be SO helpful to S. I’m thinking he might want to get a 2 bedroom, since it is just a tad more than a one-bedroom, so he can have a guest room (when he has visitors) and will be ready for a room mate if he finds someone suitable to share expenses with. Will have to see how things evolve. It does sound like having a functional car will be very important to him to get to and from work. All other suggestions are greatly welcomed, as we won’t have a chance to see the area until mid-May & investigating things from so far away is not nearly as helpful as those of you who have so much more experience and first-hand knowledge.</p>
<p>Any suggestions on when he should have the moving company physically move his possessions? His agency/fed govt employer will pay for up to 3 months of storage, so he could have them move and store so things are waiting for him in DC. Any moving companies folks recommend? He has mostly household effects–pots, pans, linens, some clothing, a few small pieces of furniture (threw out his mattress). His employer has a list of different movers–just wondering how one chooses among them. Thanks!</p>
<p>I checked with some of my younger co-workers who live in Arlington and commute to Dulles. Even though it is a “reverse” commute, it takes them around 45 minutes in rush hour. Non-rush hour would be about 25 minutes.</p>
<p>As far as a moving company, JK Moving and Storage in Sterling is located very close to the Dulles Airport area. You can do a Google search for their website.</p>
<p>Himom…your son has had SO many delays in his job beginning that I wouldn’t make arrangements to move anything until you are absolutely CERTAIN that he going to be there.</p>
<p>He just had to get the security clearance & then he got the relocation packet. Now that the clearance has happened, it looks like everything is moving ahead. Will have him call to confirm and perhaps let the company agency/employer picked out and recommends do the move. It makes sense to us that he should have his things moved from D’s apartment BEFORE she has to move from her current place to her next place, so the stuff doesn’t add to the other things having to be moved and inadvertently end up with someone else (D does have 3 room mates). Anyway, I will have him call agency employer for clarification.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestion, NoVAMom! Will see how things evolve.</p>
<p>For movers suggestion, go to [Moving:</a> How to avoid Moving Company Scams](<a href=“http://www.movingscam.com/]Moving:”>http://www.movingscam.com/) and look under the superlist tab. For my kids’ various job relocations, I have used movers suggested by them and have had no problems.</p>
<p>I have been looking at some of these classified ads & apartments available in the Reston area and note that quite a few of them feature fireplaces. I’m wondering how prevalent that is & also how hard/easy it is to find a building with no-smoking. S is a well-controlled asthmatic, but tobacco smoke & wood smoke will trigger his allergies and/or asthma.</p>
<p>“S is a well-controlled asthmatic, but tobacco smoke & wood smoke will trigger his allergies and/or asthma.”
I hope he lets his new employer know this, so he’s not stuck in an office with a smoker! [even though they have to smoke outside, the smell permeates their clothes, and there are a lot more smokers[ still] on the East coast than in Calif or Hi!] fyi</p>
<p>Thanks–that’s a good point we hadn’t even considered, since there are very few smokers in our social sphere. I will mention this to S and hope he lets employer know as it would be a reasonable accommodation to request.</p>
<p>I still remember H used to come home reeking of tobacco smoke for years & his first duty was to strip & shower & wash his hair when he got home. It was awful! So glad his workplace is now smokefree & has been for some time now. Glad his lungs haven’t been too horribly damage from all those years (decades) of exposure!</p>
<p>Fortunately VA went smokeless in Dec 2009. Well not quite, the establishments must keep their smoking spaces enclosed and separate. I guess he won’t be doing the Phillip Morris tour in Richmond…</p>
<p>Great–thanks for this information. Generally though smoke-free laws do not affect hosuing in any case, nor co-workers who may strongly smell like smoke/tobacco. It’s easy to forget how much this triggers folks when they normally are NOT exposed.</p>
<p>OK, it looks like he’s found a place that meets his needs well. We’re all very happy & relieved. Thanks to everyone for your helpful suggestions. It’s always nice to know that he’ll be well taken care of and live close to his new job.</p>
Anyway, I will have him call agency employer for clarification.</p>