DCA Area Places to Live Suggestions
 

Considering moving to the DCA area. At first glance it seems that one would have to move to NW VA to find "reasonable" housing prices and cost of living options. Additionally we place great importance on area churches (Christian) and have 3 young kids just entering elementary school and so far we've elected to send them to public schools. Ideally we'd be searching for an area where the drive to Dulles is 1 hour 20 mins (ish) or less. I've always personally loved the Shenandoah Valley but we're open to areas in Maryland, PA and WVA as well. Anyway, any and all suggestions are appreciated. Grew up in western, NC so really looking forward to the prospects of getting back to the east coast.

Stay west of Dulles and the prices stay more affordable. Take a look at Haymarket, VA. Its very rural out there. Stay away from Annapolis area...its a cool town, but the sticker shock will sting. Also, the public schools here are not highly rated.

There are lots of guys in Leesburg, VA. Its a short drive to Dulles. Ashburn, VA is supposed to have excellent schools...and I think that is reflected in the home prices.

Which fleet are you on? And would you be senior enough to avoid flying out of BWI?

Thanks for the info. I am on the 756 fleet.....do they do any flying out of BWI or DCA on that fleet? But with the future in mind, I'm guessing all 777 and 787 flying is done from IAD?

756 flies out of all the airports. 777/787 only IAD. You don't see much 756 flying out of BWI anymore...but there are a small handful of domestic trips out of DCA.

You don't want to live in Maryland or DC. NOVA is your best bet. You'll probably have to stay outside the beltway, Springfield, Falls Church, Fairfax, etc. Winchester maybe?

I live in Round Hill, VA which is about 3-5 mins west of Purcellville and about 15 mins west of Leesburg. It's rural, family oriented, has good schools, and IMHO affordable. From my driveway, it takes me 35 mins to the employee lot at IAD. I think you'll get even cheaper the farther west you go. I fly with a lot of guys who live in Winchester.

Thanks guys! I really appreciate it. I am probably looking at a year at the soonest so I have plenty of time to research if and when we decide to do this. Will in all likelihood rent somewhere until we can get a lay of the land.

Could you tell me how I might go about identifying what percentage of trips fly out of DCA or BWI? Do the trips/IDs have a certain number/letter combination to make them easy identifiable? My fear is that if I move there and decide to bid for reserve for whatever reason, that I might not be able to make the 3.5 to go time living somewhere like Winchester.

Also could anybody shed some light on how much reserves are utilized on the 756, triple and 787?

Thanks!

The call out requirement is only applicable to the primary airport, as I understand it.

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PBS will tell you. Make a bid-group with avoids for each of the airports. The "Impact" column will tell you how many, and what percentage of, trips match the AVOID. Of course, that can change from month to month.

The 3.5hr only applies to the primary airport--IAD in this case. There is no defined call-out time for the satellite airports.