Herndon's not even the outer ring of suburbs anymore. When I was there in the late '80s (and lived in Herndon for a little while), it was. The edge of the 'burbs was basically Herndon/Gainesville to the west, and Woodbridge/Dale City/Quantico/Triangle to the south. Now, out the Route 7/I-66 corridor, the burbs stretch well beyond Ashburn, and to the south...well, Aquia, Garrisonville, hell, even Fredericksburg is often considered a DC suburb these days. On busy days I-95 will be an off-and-on parking lot literally between the Sausage Grinder and Route 3 in Fredericksburg, almost 50 miles.
Even back in 1987, my training manager at AT&T lived in Harper's Ferry, WV and commuted to Fairfax every day. I couldn't imagine doing that, an hour and a half each way, five days a week.
}:-)4
I got freaked out commuting from Silver Spring to Dupont Circle. It wasn't the length of the commute, but the packed trains and metro stations. Now I'm in Seattle and the 1 hour commute by 2 buses to go a distance of 4 miles is killer.
Next month I move to a small town in the midwest, where I'm told they have 'rush minutes' and not a rush hour. I'm ready for the change. I can't deal w/being out in the weather and waiting on buses anymore. I'm going to buy a car and join the rest of America in subsidizing Big Oil. Even if it's cold, I won't care anymore. I'll be in my own freakin' car in my 10 minute commute to work.