A convenient truth: You can reach D.C.'s Union Station in only about 50 minutes by way of the Virginia Railway Express.
Burke, Va., sits near the middle of Fairfax County a little south of the city of Fairfax, and from all accounts, it’s a nice place to rent an apartment.
How do I know this? Well, as recently as 2008, Burke ranked 31st on CNNMoney.com’s “Best Places to Live” list, and I can’t see how the little hamlet could’ve fallen that much in two years.
Burke is named after Silas Burke, a 19th-century landowner and businessman. The house he built, the Silas Burke House, an historical landmark, still stands today.
Burke has the convenience of having two VRE train stops, so commuting to work in Washington, D.C., is a lot easier in Burke than it would be if you lived in most other suburbs farther outside the city. Also, Amtrak recently added Burke Centre to its lists of stops, so now you can go all the way to Boston if you feel like it … though, I think that’d be a rather extreme commute.
Very much a family town, Burke is full of churches, several preschools and elementary schools, and two high schools.
It’s also home to the Burke Centre Festival, an annual event put on by the Burke Centre Planned Residential Community, a large planned community that began development in 1976. This year’s event is planned for Sept. 11-12 and will feature amusement rides, arts and crafts shows, food, and live entertainment.
The Burke Centre owns and maintains five pools, and you don’t have to live there to become a member, though there is a pretty big fee involved if you don’t.
All in all, Burke is a great place to live.
