Travel / commute back and forth to the Hospital at Ft Belvoir will be hectic, as many folks live in that area and drive to Washington DC / Arlington, VA and Maryland areas daily. Traffic is a huge pain, if not planned for. Traffic is so heavy that it is bumper-to-bumper start and go daily. 5 mile trip may take you half hour or more. 10 to 15 mile trip may take you up to an hour. Especially, Interstate 95 and US highway 1 that are the only two main north / south roads. There aren't any "bad" neighborhoods in the Northern Virginia area near Ft Belvoir. Due to the recent Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), Ft Belvoir grew and is growing by about 10,000 new troops, family, employees. Much of the surrounding community is fairly new (last few years). Thus, lots of new houses, apartments, condos, schools, and infrastructure... and some still being built. Schools in Virginia are basically at the county-level; i.e. Arlington County schools or Fairfax County schools or Prince William County schools, etc. Arlington is large urban city right across river from DC. The whole corridor south from DC through Arlington and further along Interstate 95 / US HWY 1 becomes suburbs,and it is suburb-like at Fort Belvoir area, and then if you continue south it becomes smaller towns (some rural) as you near Stafford. The closer you are to Arlington, the more diverse the population. The further south from Arlington, the more typical population you would find in Iowa or Nebraska. All the public schools are in top tier and get nationally ranked for last 10+ years. Prices for rent or purchase of homes is directly related to how close you are to the Arlington / DC area; i.e. closer is more $$.