Moving from Arlington to Fairfax County – Where do I ride?

[jabberwocky]

Check some of the Freshbikes shop rides. They leave from the shop at the mosaic town center. Forum regular Dirt leads them; he’s done a ton of exploring and has some good loops.

Aside from that, its hard to say with certainty until you know exactly where you’ll live, but those places aren’t far from Vienna, which has plenty of road riding. And you can head north to Reston (where I love), which has lots of cycle-friendly roads.

I don’t think its remotely true that Fairfax is impossible to cycle unless you live near the W&OD. There are areas that are more or less bike friendly, but I’ve been cycling around the county for years and generally can find a good route to get pretty much anywhere I’ve wanted to go.

[lordofthemark]

“Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch’entrate!” http://www.quotecounterquote.com/2010/10/abandon-all-hope-ye-who-enter-here.html

more seriously, I suppose it depends both on where in FFX you mean, and what kind of rider you are – “strong and fearless” riders have a wider range of options than many of us.

far be it from me to discourage anyone, or to challenge more experienced riders who are just fine with riding on roads in FFX (and there are quite a few such riders on this forum). But see for example http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?3153-Why-is-Annandale-Road-considered-a-good-route and http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?5711-Cycling-in-the-US-from-a-Dutch-perspective&p=62572#post62572

[mstone]

@lordofthemark 63545 wrote:

more seriously, I suppose it depends both on where in FFX you mean, and what kind of rider you are – “strong and fearless” riders have a wider range of options than many of us.

The same is true anywhere in the US–I can easily point to roads in Arlington that I wouldn’t ride a bike on. You basically need to look at any potential spot individually. When you are riding is also a major factor. (E.g., I routinely take Ox Road/Lawyers Road, but probably wouldn’t do so during a Friday afternoon rush.) A lot of roads are really overprovisioned/empty much of the day.

Crossing the big roads like 66 or 495 is one of the hardest problems. If you stay north east of them in Oakton, for example, there are a lot of side streets which are perfectly ridable. If you need to cross, your options become much more limited.

[FFX_Hinterlands]

The Fairfax County Bike Map indicates roads that are favorable to cycling. Sidepaths and multi-use trails are also noted. Feel free to attend a Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling (FABB) meeting to meet up with some transportation cycling types as well. http://www.fabb-bikes.org There are tons of really nice roads that I would have never seen if I wasn’t following someone from FABB.

@Mstone I will borrow your “overprovisioned” comment.. it’s very true!

[lordofthemark]

@mstone 63548 wrote:

The same is true anywhere in the US–I can easily point to roads in Arlington that I wouldn’t ride a bike on.

I did not mean to imply that Fairfax is unique in having some/many unrideable roads. However I find in Arlington that between the trails, the bike lanes, and the availability of parallel roads, I seldom have a problem getting places (note I do not ride in the northern corner of ArlCo). Whereas in the part of Fairfax in which I live finding useable routes is a constant issue (though its improved a bit lately – at least I have a better route to the south now, and the route due north has improved as well – but within Annandale,and leaving it to go due west, due east, and northeast are all problematic – and are motivators to using the bike racks on the local buses. I am probably in the “enthusiastic and confident” category.

But I support FABB’s advocacy to improve things. Things will get better.

[CycleNinja]

All,
I appreciate the feedback. I realize it will be tough to find routes until I actually decide where I am going to live. I wouldn’t say I’m fearless but I do feel much more comfortable riding in the roads in Arlington, DC, Maryland and even rural Maryland than I do on most bike trails so I’d say I’m pretty well used to it.

I’m actually going to spend some time looking through the FABB maps that were provided and try and target some of those areas to see if those neighborhoods will work out for house hunting.

I also think the first thing I do when I move in to Fairfax is get involved with FABB. The general feedback seems to be that it’s getting better in Fairfax so I can contribute to making it better if I am going to be riding on the roads right?

I will definitely check out the Freshbikes rides. I currently ride their “Tuesday night” ride starting at the Ballston shop and I absolutely love that route so hopefully the Fairfax shop can grow in to something similar.

Thanks again for your feedback everyone. Hope to see some of you out on the roads soon!

[KayakCyndi]

If you haven’t already planned to do consider house hunting by bike. Start riding in the areas you think you might like. Ride through the neighborhoods at rush hour. Ride through them at night. Comfortable? Do you need to bike into DC to work? Try a commute a day or two. That will probably give you the best sense for what things feel like and just how bike friendly an area might be.

[rcannon100]

You havent said why you are leaving Arlington. Consider the follow:

* The school system in Arlington is amazing. If you are not familiar with in, you should explore. All of the high schools are in the top 100 in the nation. And then there is HB Woodlawn (Hippie High) which is in like the top 10. And then there is TJ (people around the world come to apply to TJ which is a joint magnet HS of Arlington, FFX, and Alex). And then there is the Career Center where they go off to national competitions and wins year after year after year.
* Compare the tax rates. I did this…. okay it was a long long time ago….. But I think its still true. If you add up ALL the tax rates (personal property, real estate, whatever), Arlington comes out comparable or slightly ahead.
* Arlington has great public transportation – as you know living in Clarendon. The further you go out, the more that goes away. The more car reliant you will be. My kid walks from high school to Clarendon to hang out. The other kid gets everywhere by bike.
* Arlington is filled with people who have long roots here. There are families that have lived here decades if not generations. There is a great facebook group called “I grew up in Arlington” that is filled with great stories. My barber was part of the vietnamese migration that came here over 40 years ago (the vietnamese community took over Clarendon – and then moved out to the Eden Center at 7 Corners). There is a great WETA documentary on the history of Arlington. I have never found that in any other suburb in DC. Arlington has a very strong sense of community.
* Arlington is a great bike community (but that you know)
* The parks are amazing. It is a great place to raise a kid. Saturday nights they turn the Arlington TJ center (there are two TJs) into a roller skating rink where the kids can skate all evening to a DJ. But the best park is the virginia side of the Potomac (Windy Run, Donaldson Run, Pimmit Run). Its wonderful.
* Arlington is hip. The ethnic diversity, the unique restaurants, the great places to hang, the coffee houses. Arlington is NOT strip malls.
* Then there is the Wash Caps practice rink in Ballston.
* Arlington has great dog parks. The dog park in Shirlington is one of the best in the area.
* Arlington is so close to downtown that it is nothing to get into the city. You can literally walk there. The decision of whether to go to the NATs game tonite is a minor decision – where my friends in FFX its a big decision because it takes so long by car.
* In terms of investment value, real estate in Arlington has had pretty much the best growth in the area (consistent with the new urban movement of people returning from the suburbs to the city)

I was born in 7 Corners. I grew up in Glen Echo and then near Monkey Mall. Then I lived in the city. Then during graduate school I moved into Arlington. I have lived here 25 years. Constantly I am amazed at how fortunate we are to live here.

PS What KayakCyndi’s said. When we looked for a house, we had dogs. We use to walk our dogs through prospective neighborhoods to see how we were received. WOW! was there a difference. In Arlington, we would bump into people and strike up conversations. In other suburbs that will go un-named (okay, McLean), there would outright hostility to our presence. If your thing is bikes, then bike through the neighborhood. And do other things. Go for walks. Try to attend events. Hang out. Get the vibe of the neighborhood. See if you feel welcome.

[vvill]

Riding in Fairfax County is okay, but there’s a difference between recreational road riding, and other kinds of riding (commuting, utility, family). If you are interested in the latter at all I think you do need to be more fussy about how the bike infrastructure and transportation routes in general are laid out.

Of course, it’s also a big county and some areas are better for riding than others. I’m in Fairfax County but only about 1.5mi from the border of north Arlington – and less than a mile from the start of the Powhatan hill climb on the FreshBikes Tues ride, so I don’t think I have it too bad (I will say it’s a good thing I like climbing). But at the same time it would be easier to get around without a car in many parts of Arlington, if you’re interested in the transportation aspect.

I do love the W&OD as a piece of transportation infrastructure but I don’t enjoy it quite as much for road riding – I tend to get bored on it. It’s sort of a bike highway (with runners/etc), I prefer having different route options for riding.

Also, even though this is bikearlingtonforum.com, it’s actually the Washington Area Bike Forum.

[americancyclo]

We live a few feet across the border in Fairfax county and about 30 yards from the W&OD. If you might be commuting from your new home to DC, I’d say being near the trail isn’t a requirement, but it is motivation and a luxury. There are some nice neighborhoods around west falls church and Vienna that would be nice, but as a new dad, I don’t want to spend more than an hour on the bike commute when I could be spending that time with family.
There are folks on the forum that live much farther out than I do, or at least commute out that way, but I will offer that the last time I rode home from our friends house in Fairfax City, I was really happy that we live where we do. I’m sure if you narrow it down to 5 neighborhoods or so, the forum will happily weigh in. Good luck!

[hozn]

I can understand the economics behind moving further west; my wife and I faced a similar dilemma when we decided to stop renting in Court House. At the time (I guess 5 years ago!?) we found a place we could afford in Westover, so we didn’t leave the county (or even N. Arlington), but looking around at prices/stock now, I’m not sure where we’d end up if we had to move again. We looked at places in Falls Church city too; certainly that (or the Fairfax County Falls Church) is a great option location-wise too.

I do love living in Arlington. The cycling infrastructure is fantastic; that is a significant factor for me, since I spend a lot of my leisure time on my bike. And the overall location is great for the family; it’s nice when taking the kid to the zoo is just a short drive (or 45 minute bike ride). But you probably know that Arlington is great

OTOH, I’m sometimes jealous of my friends that live in Reston. They have access to fantastic and continuing-to-expand mountain-bike trails in Lake Fairfax Park. And with a little planning, there are some great roads to ride in the area too. I’m not jealous enough to want to move out there, but I have to say that Reston has pretty some sweet cycling. (And since I commute out to Reston, I can take advantage of that infrastructure when I’m looking for a longer commute.)

I’ve ridden a lot less in other parts of Fairfax county. The few times I have, I haven’t been particularly impressed with the cycling options, but I’m sure that as you learn the area it gets easier. And it’s probably safe to gamble on cycling infrastructure improving over the life of a 30-year mortgage. I periodically ride out west (from HP workouts) with a guy that lives in Fairfax City; it sounds like he does most of his leisure riding by getting on the W&OD and coming into Arlington (and then possibly into DC/MD, etc.) or riding the W&OD out west.

[jabberwocky]

@hozn 64151 wrote:

OTOH, I’m sometimes jealous of my friends that live in Reston. They have access to fantastic and continuing-to-expand mountain-bike trails in Lake Fairfax Park. And with a little planning, there are some great roads to ride in the area too. I’m not jealous enough to want to move out there, but I have to say that Reston has pretty some sweet cycling. (And since I commute out to Reston, I can take advantage of that infrastructure when I’m looking for a longer commute.)

Reston is pretty awesome. The cycling infrastructure (and running/walking, if thats your thing) is quite good, and its a nice place to live other than that. Since Reston is right on the W&OD, its easy to hop on and head east or west. In fact, I can get from my neighborhood to downtown DC (20+ miles) without ever riding on an actual road, and the lovely road/gravel riding around Leesburg is within riding distance. And its a good location for MTB riding (which was a major consideration for me). Lake Fairfax right in the middle, and several other parks reasonably close by, and some truly world class stuff (GW Natl Forest and Frederick) within an hour.

The only issue with Reston (from a road riding perspective) is that most of the communities that surround it are considerably less bike friendly. Especially the whole Great Falls/Sterling crescent to the north and west (Vienna to the south is pretty good at least). Theres almost always good loops and ways to get where you want to go, but they sometimes take some planning with a map and some creativity.

You really need to narrow things down to neighborhoods you like and think carefully about your commute (and potential future ones). I think Fairfax overall is pretty good. Probably not as good as Arlington, but its a hell of a lot bigger so thats to be expected.

[dasgeh]

Just out of curiousity: I hear a lot about good recreational cycling around Reston, and a good commuting connection from Reston to Arlington/DC. But what about transportational cycling _around_ Reston. If a family who, say, is insanely bike crazy moves to Reston and wants to go out without the car – shopping, restaurants, kids activities, schools – is that an option?

[jabberwocky]

@dasgeh 64231 wrote:

Just out of curiousity: I hear a lot about good recreational cycling around Reston, and a good commuting connection from Reston to Arlington/DC. But what about transportational cycling _around_ Reston. If a family who, say, is insanely bike crazy moves to Reston and wants to go out without the car – shopping, restaurants, kids activities, schools – is that an option?

Almost certainly. Reston has an awesome path network. I’m not aware of anywhere else in the region with the network Reston has, to be honest. You can probably get from and to almost anywhere in Reston without ever dealing with roads at all. All the paths under Restons control are cleared of snow in the winter, as well (often even before the roads are clear; the Reston association has a fleet of small plows and snowblowers specifically for path use).

Here is the official map: https://www.reston.org/portals/3/GENERAL/Reston%20Map%202013.pdf

I tend to avoid the paths on the road bike, just because they tend to be more scenic pedestrian routes than high-speed cycling routes (though it varies a lot). But for getting around with kids, they would be awesome.

Aside from the paths, the roads in Reston are generally good as well. There are lots of side roads to connect various points, and I find that drivers in Reston tend to be more respectful than drivers in other parts of Fairfax (probably because there are a lot of cyclists in the area, so drivers are simply more used to seeing them).

[culimerc]

@dasgeh 64231 wrote:

Just out of curiousity: I hear a lot about good recreational cycling around Reston, and a good commuting connection from Reston to Arlington/DC. But what about transportational cycling _around_ Reston. If a family who, say, is insanely bike crazy moves to Reston and wants to go out without the car – shopping, restaurants, kids activities, schools – is that an option?

I know a couple of people out in Reston that are “car light”, and I’ve seen a woman on a Big Dummy running around with -2- small kids either in the back or one on her own and one in the trailer. So in answer to your question, Yes Reston is an option for “a family who, say, is insanely bike crazy moves to Reston and wants to go out without the car – shopping, restaurants, kids activities, schools”

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