VANITY: Moving to Virginia and need some help/advice

Myself | 12/30/03 | KC_Conspirator

[KC_Conspirator]

My wife is serious about taking a job in the DC area and we are planning on moving there soon. However, we are not getting much help and we are on a budget. I figured a network of people in the area might be able to help me out the answers to my questions.

First is finding a place to live. We are a little strapped for cash and I am looking for the most economical, but cleanest, and safest place to live. From what I gather, that means living the VA suburbs. Does anyone know of an apartment service that is available?

I am also looking to stay close to the DC area - about 45 minutes to an hour within driving distance and I am looking for what towns/cities to live in. Hopefully Republican leaning places. I understand that Northern VA is a breeding ground for government workers so that probably means being lorded over by democrats like I am now. We dont have kids yet, but plan starting that soon.

As far as the community I am looking for, I just want a place that has cable, malls, metro access, and a nearby sportsbar.

I have been looking at online job sites for some months now in anticipation of this, but have had little results. I just found a place in KC that has the Sunday ComPost so I am now perusing though it, but if anyone knows of better jobs boards, let me know. If your curious, I have been a mainframe programmer for about 6 years and in the past year been doing software sales due to an lousy job market. My job is awful, so finding a new opportunity sounds rally good.

[KC_Conspirator]

If anyone can help me with some advice, that would be greatly appreciated.

[MindyW]

I just bought a townhouse in Burke this fall. It's a mix of Repubs and Dems, but a very nice area. There is a VRE (Virginia Railway Express) stop here and they just started a free subscription bus service to it. It takes me about an hour to get to work in Crystal City (Arlington) from here, driving.

[MindyW]

That hour driving is during the heavy traffic hours. Today it took me 30 minutes.

[StatesEnemy]

By an XM satellite radio system - you'll be spending hours in traffic.

[Congressman Billybob]

Don't assume that your answer is in Virginia. There are communities along the train corridor from D.C. to Baltimore. You can find some excellent housing at reasonable rates, and the commuter trains run so frequently that you can eliminate one car from your household.

A bonus is you will be a short hop from the Inner Harbor, which is a terrific place to visit. I lived there for two years on a houseboat in the center of the City. It was a terrific life.

Congressman Billybob

Click here to stick a thumb in the eye of CFR, "Hugh & Series, Critical & Pulled by JimRob."

[Jimmy Valentine]

Welcome to the "belly of the beast"!

Some suggestions for you:

1. D.C./MD/VA housing is very expensive so I suggest that you rent rather than buy. Apartments are running higher vacancy rates than usual due to the hyperactive home market so you will be in good shape there. Most apartments are wired for cable and many have amenity packages, i.e. gym, tennis court, pool etc., so look around.

2. I suggest that you locate in an apartment complex that is within 1 -3 blocks of a METRO station. Traffic has become a nightmare so if you have an opportunity to take the subway you should.

3. As to employment, IT took a big hit here with Worldcom and some dot com meltdowns here, but IT jobs in private industry are recovering. LAN/WAN managers are in demand due to data security issues etc. etc. so you may find something you like there.

4. You may want to research MONSTER.COM which lists jobs by state etc. for some available opportunities.

5. In terms of living, pick Virginia or Maryland, but I suggest you eschew the District of Columbia. It has recently been published that Baghdad's murder rate is lower than the District's in addition to all of the other crimes that can be visited upon you (and your wife).

Lastly and most importantly monitor this board for meetings of the D.C. Chapter of Free Republic. This is one very active (and friendly!) bunch and I will always say that standing with my fellow Freepers in front of the Vice President's Mansion in 2000, processing Al Goron's eviction, was some of the finest experiences of my life.

Good luck!

Ping me on Freepmail if I can give you any more information.

Regards,

[Pinetop]

Where is your wife planning on working? We just moved to DC last year and live in the District. The traffic from the suburbs is hideous. Snow removal is a joke. It is better to live in the District if you can. There are nice neighborhoods with apartments that are not expensive. Plus, you don't really need a car here and there is lots going on. Email me if you want to discuss it more. I have lots of info...

[Lil'freeper]

about 45 minutes to an hour within driving distance

*chuckle* that'd put you about 5 miles away from the jobsite. Only kidding a little. Study up on the public transit system- that will open up some more housing options. I hear tell that West Virginia is DC's new bedroom community. Transit runs out there and living is cheap.

[leadpenny]

Try to avoid much of NW DC, especially Dupont Circle area.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. (Seinfeld voice)

[Lil'freeper]

Ping!

[JOE6PAK]

We dont have kids yet, but plan starting that soon.

Think about Chesterfield or Henrico County!

[duckman]

Stay up north. They hate Yankees down here!

[Triple Word Score]

You will care about the quality of your local schools sooner than you might think. Even if you are not going to Publikally Edjukate your own children, you will want neighbors whose children aren't going to slash your tires and steal from you. It's nice if the local teens are potential babysitters rather than potential felons.

The best way to guarantee that is to find school districts with a low turnover rate of students and a low dropout rate. There may be other criteria--those just happen to be the ones that would have kept our family out of this bad area we're in now. It wasn't so bad eight years ago--but those signs were there to tell us that it was coming.

Then when it comes to decisions about school you'll have choices. I think that will matter more than the sports bar, in the long run. (You can always become a businessowner and open your own sportsbar...!)

[leadpenny]

Heads up! Incoming DC FReeper!

JV, I see you're already on the thread.

[Not A Snowbird]

Try Woodbridge or Stafford. I lived there for three years, and it's a decent place. Home prices are shooting up, though... I have a townhouse there that I bought twelve years ago, and the price stayed flat for ten years... now it's nearly doubled.

The further you go down 95 the cheaper, but the worse the commute. There is the VRE (Virginia Rail), and the Metro goes as far as Springfield, but other than that it's carpool time.

[patton]

You handle this one. I don't have the heart.

[al baby]

My pick up got a oil leak. cant help you. good luck

[Dante3]

If you like suburbs you might like Springfield. There is a Metro -- takes about 30 minutes to DC. There is a mall. I'm not sure about sportsbars but it has linedancing and crime is less than in DC.

[MudPuppy]

I've been in VA since 1986 and like it here. Mostly between Quantico, Prince Wililam County and Spotsylvania. Lots of jobs and the schools south of Quantico are better than the schools north of Quantico.

Check www.realtor.com or
http://www.springstreet.com/apartments/home.jhtml?lnksrc=ts5

Currently in Spotsylvania / Fredericksburg and traffic sucks but there's lots of shopping here :)

Yell it we can help.