Ashbrook - Ashburn, VA

First settled around 1725, Loudoun County remained an agricultural community until construction of Dulles International Airport in 1962. The airport attracted businesses to the area, and workers and their families soon followed. An increase in technology companies in nearby Tysons Corner and along the Dulles Technology Corridor in the 1980s and '90s sparked major development in eastern Loudoun County, nearly quadrupling the population in three decades.

You can learn about the agricultural history of the county at the Loudoun Heritage Farm Museum, or visit the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center, home of the space shuttle Discovery and other important aircraft, near the airport. To see live music and other performances, residents head to the Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts, located about 10 miles east in Vienna.

Annual community events in Ashbrook Village bring residents together for a Fourth of July Barbecue and a Halloween Parade.

Most restaurants in the Ashbrook area sit in or near shopping centers, such as the Ashburn Village Shopping Center, where you can find At Kaiser’s. This self-described Austrian Gasthaus serves authentic Austrian dishes, including wienerschnitzel and zwiebelrostbraten, but the jagerschnitzel, served in a mushroom sauce with spätzle, brings customers back.

Pick up a New York-style pizza to go or dine-in close to home at Rubino's Pizzeria in the Ashbrook Commons Plaza. In addition to pizza, Rubino's menu features salads, hoagies, calzones and entrées. Sink your teeth into the lasagna or the chicken pesto, or create your own pasta dish from the list of sauces and ingredients.

The nightlife in and around Ashbrook continues to pick up as the area grows. One Loudoun, a mixed-use development just minutes from Ashbrook, includes the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Sip a cocktail at the bar before your movie, or wait until you sit down and order food and drinks right from your seat. In addition to first-run films, the Alamo holds a variety of special-event screenings, such as quote-alongs to favorite films.

Sit at the bar or on the outdoor patio with fire pits and cabanas at The V Eatery and Brewhouse on Waxpool Drive in Ashburn. Enjoy the selection of craft beers, wine or one of The V's inventive cocktails when you stop by for live music on Friday and Saturday night. If you like a neighborhood bar where the bartenders get to know your name, look no further than the Ashburn Pub's cozy atmosphere. Stop in to watch a game, compete in trivia contests or indulge in the $1 bottled beer special on Thursday nights.

Some areas of Ashbrook invite residents to walk to nearby shopping and restaurants, but if you need to go further than your neighborhood shopping center, you'll need to take a car. Several trails help bicyclists get around, but roads do not have dedicated bike lanes and are not designated as bicycle-friendly.

The main roads in and around Ashbrook include Russell Branch Parkway, Ashburn Village Boulevard and Loudoun County Parkway. Routes 7, 28 and 267 connect residents to other communities in Northern Virginia or to major highways that go to D.C., Maryland and Richmond. Parking in Ashbrook and its surrounding communities is generally free and plentiful. Residents here commute to D.C. but also to Tysons Corner and office parks along the Dulles Toll Road. Traffic in Northern Virginia, especially along Route 7, can be a nightmare, but paying the tolls on the Dulles Greenway and Dulles Toll Road results in a faster commute.

If you need a ride, you can call a taxi company for a pickup or use an app on your smartphone to arrange one through the ride-sharing service Uber. Loudoun County Transit operates commuter buses to get residents to D.C. or to nearby Metro stations, where they can catch a train to their destinations. Bus service to D.C. takes approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. A bus to Tysons Corner takes about 45 minutes, but the bus to the Wiehle-Reston Metro station takes just 20 minutes. From there, a Silver Line train to Metro Center takes about 40 minutes.

Ashbrook residents can take advantage of several nearby parks. All Loudoun County parks are dog-friendly, as long as you keep your dog off playgrounds and sports fields. Ashburn Park, Ray Muth Park, Beth Miller Park, Trailside Park and Greg Crittenden Memorial Park feature sports fields, playgrounds, trails and picnic areas. At Bles Park, overlooking the Potomac River, you can watch the kids play soccer, take the little ones to the playground, hike on the trails or take your dog for a walk. If you want a longer hike, you can pick up and follow either the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail or the Broad Run Corridor Trail, which both pass through Bles Park.

Bicyclists, walkers, joggers and roller-bladers exercise on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail, a paved multi-use trail stretching from Purcellville to Rosslyn that can be accessed less than 2 miles from Ashbrook.

Living in Ashbrook costs about 2 percent more than living in Washington, D.C., but it costs about 6 percent less than living in Tysons Corner. Expect to pay $1,382 per month on average for a one-bedroom apartment. When you fill up your car, you pay around 9 percent more than the national average for a gallon of gas, and when you order a beer at a local pub, expect to pay at least $5. Commuting by bus to D.C. costs $8 one way. A bus to Tysons Corner costs $3, and if you take a Metrorail train from there to D.C.'s Metro Center, it'll cost you $4.80 during rush hour.

Dulles Town Center Mall, the largest enclosed shopping center in Loudoun County, sits less than 5 miles from Ashbrook and includes 185 retailers. Shopping centers around the Town Center feature big box stores, such as Best Buy and Lowe's. Bargain hunters like to head west of Ashbrook to the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets, which feature discount designer shops from Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger.

You can find independently owned stores right in the Ashbrook neighborhood. At Cheers Sports, get retail sports apparel plus everything you need for your league, team, school or club. The store carries a wide range of uniforms, equipment, accessories and printable sportswear. When you need to find a gift, check out Zazu Gifts in Ashbrook Commons Plaza. Whether you want jewelry, tableware, fine lotions or accessories, you can shop for quality brands, including Brighton, Nora Fleming and Thymes, at Zazu.

Gamers love Huzzah Hobbies on Washington Boulevard in Ashburn. The friendly staff answers your questions and helps you select from the wide range of historic, fantasy and futuristic battle games, miniatures, card games, and board games. The shop also holds tournaments, demonstration games and leagues.

Ashbrook residents can shop for groceries at Harris Teeter, located right in Ashbrook Commons Plaza, but they also rave about the vast selection and reasonable prices at Wegman's, whether they shop at the one in Sterling or the one in Leesburg. Other options include Giant in Ashburn Shopping Plaza and the Fresh Market in Ashburn. For exotic spices, go to Priya spices in Ashburn.

The local farmers market, Ashburn Market, operates on Saturday mornings from May through November at the corner of Codman Drive and Savin Hill Drive.