Alexandria, VA...Do you live there?

[snoopy]

I don't argue the point that its next to impossible to find affordable housing, particularly when you are a first time buyer, I argue your point that gangs are infilitrating themselves in every place imaginable. I don't believe that to be true, and my lifelong experience here in the Washington area tells me otherwise. Other than that, I agree -- its a tough road for young couples trying to make a start in this area. DH and I comment on that all the time. If we didn't own a home here and weren't committed to this area because of our jobs, we'd go south, probably to Raleigh Durham or Charlotte, NC.

 

[Pugsley]

Oh, you guys are depressing me so much! I live in Falls Church and have a five minute WALK to work. But I just got engaged and my fiancé lives in Alexandria. I really want to get married to him but I don’t want to move! My condo is too small for the two of us (and it could sell for around $300K). He doesn’t really want to give up his house because the area is appreciating so fast (and he has a short commute). You would not believe his neighborhood. The houses are around 40 years old and small. One of them (a shack, I tell you, made of cinder blocks) is on the market for over $600K. It would be impossible for us to find an affordable place that wouldn’t be a horrible commute for both of us. I don’t know what to do. Plus, he’s actually talking about wanting to retire here which I don’t understand at all. I’ve been waiting patiently for retirement (still many years away) so that I can get the heck out of dodge. I have to agree with most of the other posters that while there are some nice things about the area (lots to do), the negatives (traffic, prices, weather) outweigh the positives. (I don't think crime is really much worse than anywhere else though.)

snoopy, I thought of you this past Saturday when we went for a walk all around the residential areas of Georgetown. If I had a house there I wouldn’t be complaining either; it’s lovely.

 

[snoopy]

Hiya Pugsley. Nice to "see" you again.

Don't give the ring back just yet. How about renting your place and living in his until housing costs become reasonable again? What goes up must come down eventually.

Congratulations on your engagement, btw! That is terrific news! When is the date?

 

[HollyJoy]

Don't live there, but go there often. I have a good friend who lives in Alexandria. Nice town, though TONS of traffic. Close to D.C. and in the Metrorail district. Expensive, too.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

Snoopy, you live in GEORGETOWN?

LOL! No wonder you love it.

 

[ValerieK]

I grew up in Northern Viginia and still live here. Dh and I have talked about moving, but both of us love it here, I would not want to live anywhere else. Yes, it is expensive and the traffic is bad, but there are also so many positive things. The schools are wonderful and there is so much to do around here. I love raising my kids in this area. Yes there are some snobby people, but you can find people like that anywhere.

And yes, theSurlyMermaid we can afford to live in our house and I don't work. My husband is a software engineer. If you look at the Demographics of the area, people have kids later in life and have already purchased a starter home and usually have moved up by the time they have kids.

 

[snoopy]

Yeah, I do live in Georgetown, but stuff happens here, need I remind you all of the Starbucks employees who were shot dead a few years ago? A horrific crime. Yes, its a nice place to live but I'm not exempt from crime. It can and does happen anywhere, not limited to the D.C. area. Which has been my point all along. I just don't want anyone to get the idea that this area is riddled with crime, because that just isn't so.

There is a book out there that does extensive research on the best places in the country to live. They look extensively at things like cost of living, job market, crime, traffic, weather, education. D.C. is always in the top 10. I'd suggest anyone moving to a new area check it out -- some of the places I would have thought at the top of the list were not. An interesting read, even if you aren't considering a move.

 

[Pugsley]

Thanks so much snoopy! Haven’t set a date yet – hopefully sometime next year, and I’m trying to talk him into having the wedding at WDW. Wish me luck! Your suggestion is exactly the way I’m leaning; renting out my place would bring in some good extra income for us. I hope you’re right that prices will come down or stabilize at some point. But I’m still wondering how I’m going to handle that dang commute from Alexandria to Falls Church, even for a short time – I’ve been so spoiled. But I guess the trade-off is worth it – giving up a great commute but getting a great husband!

 

[snoopy]

Oy! Tough commute allright, but like you said, the tradeoff is well worth it!

Keep us updated on the Disney wedding!

 

[shortbun]

my old friend lives in a double condo on the Potomac just
a short walk from Old Alexandria. It's a great location if
you can find something. When we come into town, we stay
with her and "commute" into D.C. Traffic is nasty but a
we love Alexandria and D.C.
Good luck everyone!

 

[caitycaity]

hey congratulations, pugsley!

i pretty much agree with everything snoopy has said on this thread.

i live in the md suburbs in a 2 br apartment. dh and i cannot afford to buy something bigger than our apartment and we make a low 6 figures, combined. if we bought something the same size as our apartment it would cost us more than we are paying right now in rent, so for the time being we're still renters. in a few years we will be deciding whether or not to leave this area. there's a lot of things to love about the area, but also a lot of things to hate.

as for drugs in schools. i grew up in the preppiest suburban area you can imagine. AWESOME public schools. yet, drugs were still a huge issue in our district. drugs/crime are everywhere. overall, i think the dc metro area is about as safe as any other major metro area; some areas are fine, some areas you probably don't want to be hanging around.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

Originally posted by ValerieK
I grew up in Northern Viginia and still live here. Dh and I have talked about moving, but both of us love it here, I would not want to live anywhere else. Yes, it is expensive and the traffic is bad, but there are also so many positive things. The schools are wonderful and there is so much to do around here. I love raising my kids in this area. Yes there are some snobby people, but you can find people like that anywhere.

And yes, theSurlyMermaid we can afford to live in our house and I don't work. My husband is a software engineer. If you look at the Demographics of the area, people have kids later in life and have already purchased a starter home and usually have moved up by the time they have kids.

That's encouraging!

However, we cannot afford it. I am over 30. I am not going to have kids later in life (personal choice!) so I guess we are not going to have kids.

I will not be in a situation where we have to commute for hours. I've done it before and I'm not doing it again. So that leaves out many of the somewhat affordable options.

We have my school loans to pay back and only one car. Our car payment is very cheap. However, we will soon need another.

As for salary, DH alone makes more than the apparent "median" for a nice area like Fairfax Station. We also have ample savings. However, we cannot afford that area unless both of us are working full time if we are truly being realistic. After all, we would want to put furniture in our house.

Weve talked about it and we have decided that we will have to forgo offspring to live here in a nice neighborhood with a decent commute. It really isn't a big deal to me now. Hopefully, it won't be later.

 

[caitycaity]

However, we cannot afford that area unless both of us are working full time if we are truly being realistic.

all of the couples i know who own in this area both work full time.

at the risk of asking an overly personal question, if you are not having kids, why wouldn't both you and your so work full time? feel free to tell me to mind my own beeswax.

 

[Pugsley]

Thanks caity!

 

[JKanownik]

I grew up in NoVa, but have lived in Ohio for the last 5 years. I'll have to agree with most of what has been posted here, but here's my take on a couple of subjects:

Weather: The combination of heat and humidity in the summer can be awful. Winters aren't too cold, but you have to deal with nasty ice storms and people who freak out whenever there is snow (grocery stores run out of bread and milk and people do not know how to drive).

Schools: The public schools are very highly rated and can't be matched from a strictly educationally based comparison. However, drug use is a problem in many schools (I went to Thomas Jefferson, so I know it's not just the bad schools) and because of that and a few other issues (including gangs and violence) a lot of parents that can afford to send their kids to private schools do so.

Entertainment/Arts: There is tons to do. The museums and the zoo are great and Skyline Drive is only an hour (or three depending on traffic) away. I don't see this as a reason to move here, but is a nice little bonus and you will definitely not be disappointed.

Crime/gangs: Gangs aren't quite as bad as theSurlyMermaid has made it sound, but it is definitely worse than snoopy makes it sound. You probably won't ever have a problem with gangs, but I can guarantee that you will experience the following:

1)If you drive around for more than 10 minutes at night and don't know where you are going there is a 50% chance you will end up a neighborhood that will scare you.

2)There are many malls/shopping centers that you would feel uncomfortable/unsafe walking around after dark.

3)If you have kids they will hear about gangs at school whether or not gangs actually exist at that school. Whether or not they experience gangs will depend on which school district they are it.

The crime situation is not all doom and gloom. You probably won't ever have a problem, but even being a large white male who grew up knowing people in gangs there are still many places that make me nervous to be around once the sun goes down.

Traffic: In general traffic is horrible, but if you know where you will be working it is possible to find a place to live so that your commute isn't too bad. I would definitely look to minimize your commute time when selecting your home.

I'd like to go into further detail on other subjects, but I don't have time. Two other things that haven't been mentioned yet are the increased pace of life and the threat of terrorism. Life definitely runs faster in NoVa and you have to be very good at handling stress in order to deal with it. And while terrorism shouldn't run your life, I would at least consider 9/11 (most people at least knew someone who died and many kids, my brothers included, were all stuck at schools that day while kids were crying hysterically because they weren't sure if their parents were alive or not), the sniper shootings (many people were so scared they ran to and from their cars and ducked while pumping gas) and the anthrax scares before moving my family there. If you don't have a nervous personality this shouldn't be a concern, but if you have any trouble with anxiety at all, then living in the DC area definitely won't help.

One final comment: I thought it was a great area to grow up in, but now that I am on my own and have moved away I can't ever see myself moving back because of the cost of living and the traffic.

-Josh

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

Originally posted by caitycaity
all of the couples i know who own in this area both work full time.

at the risk of asking an overly personal question, if you are not having kids, why wouldn't both you and your so work full time? feel free to tell me to mind my own beeswax.

LOL, we DO both work! Like I said, its the only way we can afford to live here!

However, as we look for houses, we were trying to find something that could conceivably be affordable on one salary in case we wanted to ever have a kid. We couldn't find anything so that's when we decided that no kids might have to be the way to go.

 

[mickeyfan1]

also grew up in Northern Virginia, It was expensive then and more so now. However, there are so many communities that there is afordable housing to be found. It takes a lot of looking. And when you say Alexandria, are you talking Old TOwn or just the mailing address? I lived in "Alexandria" for several years, in Fairfax county, it was only a mialing address. My youngest sister just moved to Haymarket, huge house, about 450K. I about fell over. Haymarket used to be nothing. I lived in Sterling when it was considered low life, redneck, and too far away. It's a hot spot now. I think you should try looking for a condo as a starter, they appreciate quickly, and there are a ton of really nice ones. It is my husbands dream to return to Nova one day and live. But he knows we can't afford it. And we are buying a condo for almos 250K, I never would have imagined we could afford it, but fortuneately he has a good salary and my modest pension helps.

Sorry for rambling. I also have to say that there are drugs in even Jefferson HS, but not all the kids are users, anymore than all the kids are in gangs. There are places I would not go to at night even here in NH. And FWIT, when I was a telephone installer, I was assigned jobs in the "2 man crew only" area of Alexandria. This was in the early 70s and I had to go in alone. I never had any problems.

And finally, if you should find that you are ging to have a child, you do figure out how to afford it, be it cutting back on frivolous stuff in order to stay at home, or finding a good daycare provider, or working from your home. Yopu may decide to change your legal specialization to something that allows you more flexibility. Being a partner in a prestigiopus firm may not be all its cracked up to be.

 

[Patty3]

I have lived in Northern Virginia since 1982. I also live in Prince William County and my DH has commuted to DC every day for the past 22 years. Our community is wonderful, we have a lake with three beaches, alot of community activities as well as very good schools. I used to work for the local PD and know that the crime in my area, especially in my community, is not bad at all. My DH's commute has gotten better not worse. Our community is about 8 minutes from 95 and he just jumps on the HOV lane and is in work in about 35 to 40 minutes tops. Now, he is in a car pool but we do own a Prius, so he can drive in the HOV's alone if he has too. Some may consider this the boonies, but it really is not. Manassas is another great place to live with charming houses and a low crime rate. I would not rule out these areas. Homes are still affordable. We have great in state schools, my children have graduated from Virginia Tech, James Madison University and the College of Wiiliam and Mary. Tuition is extremely affordable. I am very happy here in Northern Virginia. By, the way, my development is called Montclair. We have a country club with tennis courts, golf course and swimming pool. The homes are not cookie cutter and we have rolling hills.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

Originally posted by mickeyfan1
And finally, if you should find that you are ging to have a child, you do figure out how to afford it, be it cutting back on frivolous stuff in order to stay at home, or finding a good daycare provider, or working from your home. Yopu may decide to change your legal specialization to something that allows you more flexibility. Being a partner in a prestigiopus firm may not be all its cracked up to be.

You got that right

I'm not on a partner track and I never will be. I don't want that life at all!

Dh does work at a large law firm and enjoys it.

 

[Christine]

Originally posted by Patty3
I am very happy here in Northern Virginia. By, the way, my development is called Montclair. We have a country club with tennis courts, golf course and swimming pool. The homes are not cookie cutter and we have rolling hills.

Patty3--YOU ARE MY NEIGHBOR!!! I live only a few miles from you and take my evening walks in Montclair!

Patty is right. Montclair is beautiful and extremely affordable. I'm just going to tell you that I have the opposite commute from Patty's husband. I will agree that the traffic out of Prince William County has improved since I moved here 10 years ago. The road improvements have been wonderful. I work in D.C. My commute is 1 hour on a good day. I do not have a Prius nor can I get into a carpool or use HOV. I have two children that I cannot get into daycare until 6:00 a.m. Due to school pick up times and day care issues, I have to be home by 4:00. I pretty much cannot work an 8-hour day--fortunately my boss is understanding but carpoolers are not. As I said, I must make the commute alone. If I leave at 6:00, I am lucky to get in at 7:00. It is more like 7:15 every day. The ride home is much better, maybe 40 minutes tops but I leave the office at 3:00. You just have to decide what kind of lifestyle you want. If car pooling is okay with you, living farther out is just fine. And nice homes in Montclair can be found in the $250-$400K (more if you're on the lake) range. My home is 2500 square feet, all hardwood floors, gourmet kitchen, 1/2 acre of land--all for $400K. But, I do have one of the worst commutes. This is certainly a much better deal than Sterling, Gainesville, and Haymarket, which have a far more horrendous commute and farther mileage than where Patty and I are. Guess our area is just not snooty enough for some.

And to the person who said Springfield is "not a nice place anymore"--well I guess it is all based on your perspective. I would have a "dream" commute into DC from Springfield. I have many office mates who come in from there and they get in the office in under 30 minutes. They are also all very nice, professional people and they love Springfield. Yes, the homes are older, but it certainly isn't a bad place at all. I guess if you are looking to live in McLean, Fairfax, Oakton, Vienna, Falls Church--well then you CAN forget it. Remember, everyone's gotta start off in the "not so nice place" before you can get the good areas. I've worked my way from P.G. County in Maryland, to Prince William in Virginia--next stop FAIRFAX!!