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.

[ZeitgeistSurfer]

I just moved to Arlington, Virginia from the Bay Area. I instinctively followed some of the advice given here: (1) Forget about a car for commuting - the traffic in tbe DC area is an order of magnitude worse than even the Bay Area, (2) Rent, don't buy - my apartment is one block from the Metro. As far as politics, in Virginia you get more Republican as you go west and south. Arlington and Alexandria are very, very liberal towns but are close to the District. Maryland is more liberal than Virginia, so I've been told. I don't have kids, so I can't comment on schools.

[edwin hubble]

The Maryland side is pretty heavily Democratic. (& DC, of course).

Arlington and Alexandria tend to be also.

Farther south, Prince William and Stafford Counties are Republican.

And you can also raise a family there. More affordable houses. Little League, great schools. (train commute to DC or Arlington).

[Jimmy Valentine]

HEY! Don't you want him to live in "silly central"?

Silly goose!

Regards, and how you be?

[mrsmith]

Virginia Employment Commission.

[Ex-Dem]

McLean/Langley - Lived here half my life. Lots of government types, very expensive area, Dem-dominated, next to the CIA. But it does have some of the best public schools in the country and it's next to the Tysons Corner mall.

Arlington - Affordable. I lived here a year or so. Not recommended. Rather "diverse" area (I'll let you figure out what I mean by that.) Not particularly great school system.

Alexandria - Also "diverse", but somewhat less undesirable than Arlington.

Falls Church - Probably your best bet. Decent schools (depending on the area, your kids might go to the McLean/Langley schools). Good metro access (two stations). More affordable than McLean/Langley. Less chaotic than Arlington.

Suburbs farther from DC (Herndon, Reston, Fairfax City, Fair Lakes, Fair Oaks etc.) - Good schools, clean suburban feel, lots of new housing going up. Plenty of shopping places. Not quite as convenient or close to DC.

[Ex-Dem]

Never heard of Thomas Jefferson School for Science and Technology, have you?

[jpl]

Welcome to DC! The commie-infested Capital Beltway area needs every good conservative we can get.

Definitely stay out of Alexandria and Arlington if you can. Things start getting a lot better once you get out into the west Annandale/Falls Church area.

[xeno]

We live in Fairfax County near the end of the orange line metro. It takes about 40-50 minutes commute during rush hour on I-66 for 2 people to drive in(you have to have at least 2 people in the car to drive on I-66 AT ALL prior to 9 am going toward the city inside the beltway) and about the same amount of time on the metro to downtown (capitol hill area). During non-rush hour (this is about 4 days a year) about 20 minutes.

Our congressman is Tom Davis. Most of my neighbors in the townhouse community where I live are immigrants and speak English as a second language. We don't have kids, wouldn't even consider living here if we did. There is not enough space and the kids around us are incredibly ill-mannered.

There are nice areas further west (Centreville, Chantilly, Manassas) or south (Springfield) or north (Reston and Burke) but I think the commute will be well over one hour each direction from any of these places, depending of course on where EXACTLY in the DC area you or your wife are working.

Two years ago we helped my sister look for an apartment to rent in this area, for a studio the cheapest we found was about $1200/month. For something in a 30 year old, sorta run down building about 50 minutes commute on the metro we found a studio for $950/month. Single family homes in the areas I have mentioned are going to be close to $400K. Townhouses, about $275 or $300K depending on where. The real estate market is absolutely nuts. If we had the patience to do the hour-plus commute each way every day and if my schedule had more flexiblity I would live in Gainesville or Leesburg VA (both about 30 miles west of DC), Fredericksburg, VA (about 45 miles south of DC) or Waldorf, MD (about 30 miles south in MD. But in a more liberal area, Steny Hoyer is the rep!)

Keep in mind that the sales tax in VA is only 4.5% vs. 5% in MD and 5.75% in DC. DC also has a 10% tax on restaurants.

All said, DC is a great place to start a career or jumpstart a new career, personally I feel the population is quite mobile and transient and not what I am looking for in a place to raise kids. That said, I wouldn't live anywhere else right now!

[alrea]

http://www.ci.fairfax.va.us/Residents/FAQs.htm

[alrea]

http://www.ci.fairfax.va.us/Residents/FAQs.htm

[JackOfVA]

You've set a tough target -- cheap, close to a metro stop, short commute.

I would take a look at neighborhoods around a VRE stop. VRE is the newish commuter rail that runs two lines, one from the west(Manassas) and one from the south (Fredricksburg) into DC. You can switch to the Metro system at a combined Metro/VRE stop in the District. VRE has a nice web page at http://www.vre.org.

The further you are from the District, the lower the price, generally speaking, so you'll have to evaluate the trade-off between distance and price. You'll see a 30-40% delta between prices in Ballston, near a Metro stop not far from the District, and Manassas where you can do VRE.

I've lived in Norther Virginia for almost 30 years now, and traffic is getting to the point where an automobile commute is increasingly unattractive. Luckily, I've been semi-retired for a few years now and able to work out of my house, so the commute for me is 5 seconds, from bedroom to office.

Virginia has many advantages, including somewhat lower taxes than Maryland and much lower taxes than the District. Plus, if you are a firearms type, MD is difficult and DC is close to impossible.

Jack

[KC_Conspirator]

I understand. In fact our little own Dupont Circle neighborhood of KC has had an increase in crime. Why just the other day there was a drive-by slapping.

[agrarianlady]

I've been here for 10 years and my husband's family for 40 years. I prefer Vienna/Oakton/Reston. I think they are beautiful suburbs. Abundant greenery and great schools and such. Many choices for private schools if you prefer. Also they are convenient to public transportation. I prefer to avoid I-95 at all costs but perhaps that is just a personal preference.

My favorite web sites for looking at housing are http://www.fairfaxrealty.com and http://www.erealty.com. A great source for available local jobs is http://www.washingtonjobs.com. Also http://www.dice.com and http://www.flipdog.com.

Many people here are saying rent and not buy but if you can do it I would buy a small townhouse. We have never regretted owning a house from the get-go. My husband's parents say that in their 40 years of living here that prices have always gone up. When they spent $80K on their house 26 years ago everyone thought things couldn't go higher. If you need to move out of the area you can hire a rental company to manage a property for you. Just a thought.

There is a small community of townhomes in Reston called 'Deepwood' that offers 3-bedroom, 2.5 -bath townhomes without having to pay Reston fees. There are also some comparably-priced but smaller townhomes in the 22043 area code of Falls Church. (Dominion Heights). They offer easy access to 66 east to DC.

Fairfax County, Loudoun County, and Prince William county all have tax information online so you can do research on any potential real estate buys.

If you need a good agent for Northern VA I can recommend a few.

[Non-Sequitur]

Geez, you're giving up the Chiefs, decent barbecue, Boulevard Beer, and NASCAR. The things we do for love.

[Corin Stormhands]

You place a tall order. Not sure you're gonna get everything on your wish list. My family and I lived in a 2 bedroom walkup in Arlington for 8 years. It was cramped, but it was two blocks from the Metro. We were fortunate with our landlord. He was an older gentleman and a good Mormon. When we first moved in, our rent went up every 6 months. When our son came along and my wife quit work, our rent didn't change for the next 5 years.

DC can be a great place to live. You just have to adapt to the urban lifestyle. Prolly more than what you have in KC.

You won't have an easy time getting affordable GOP leaning neighborhoods that close in. But we were never close to our neighbors, we developed our own network of friends.

Check out the job banks here:

Townhall.com
The Heritage Foundation (I think it's heritage.org)
ASAEnet.org (American Society of Association Executives)

Then I would suggest you consider signing on with a temp agency. That way you're bringing in some income pretty much right away. That can often lead to something permanent.

Don't hesitate to contact your Congresscritter. Can't hurt.

Best of luck.

[AppyPappy]

The longer the commute, the better off you are in terms of safety and expense. Some people live farther away but negotiate earlier hours. The commute time from 6-7AM is better than 7-8AM, especially if you are just commuting to a Metro station. That's what I would do.

If you come through SW Virginia on I-81, let me know. You can stop in and visit.

[BlueCat]

I have residences in both Loudoun County and in DC. The traffic from Leesburg is hideous, even leaving at 6:30. There is also an area north of Leesburg, near Lucketts, that is near a commuter track that runs right into the center of DC. From Union Station, you can get a metro anywhere. Also, there is a bus service from Leesburg that goes right into DC, as well as into Rosslyn.

As you may know, Leesburg is at the end of the technology corrider that was so hot a few years back.

As for DC, I highly recommend it. There are affordable spots, and it sure is convenient, even if you do the reverse commute. But be forwarned, the affordable spots are not in the best areas, though that's changing.

There are a lot of pubbies in the Crofton, Maryland area, I'm told. That area is quite affordable, as are many spots in Maryland. There was a comment about moving up near Baltimore, and I think that's a good idea as well. The trains make all the difference, and there is less wear and tear in the long run if you aren't doing the driving. Yes, they are overrun with Democrats, but there are always a few closet Republicans anywhere you go.

Good luck, and let me know if I can be of any more help.

[CJ Wolf]

I've lived here all my life. But something as quick as you can, be it a condo, townhouse or even a older home. There are are many bargins to be had and the market has been steadly gon up since before I was born. There is a saying that if you ever sell your house in NOVA you'd better buy something quickly or you'll be looking at a smaller house.

[KC_Conspirator]

Yes, I will miss all of that, especially the Boulevard Wheat with a lemon.

[putupon]

Geez, you're giving up the Chiefs, decent barbecue, Boulevard Beer, and NASCAR.

The Chiefs, a loss. NASCAR is closeby here and plenty of good BBQ from Richmond south.

The Deadskins will come to life again one day too; Spurrier is gone, that's a good start.