What's the "Allure" of Gainesville? (Reston, Manassas: home, transfer)

[themommy]

Originally Posted by Denton56

When you have a family you will find your world shrinking. Your world will center around where your kids go, their school, the playground, piano lessons, sports team practices, play dates with other families. Between those things, and working on your house and lawn, you won't have time to stroll around a town center or the money to go to new restaurants or to the movies. Families have different priorities.

This, mostly. I mean, my husband and I still have and enjoy our individual and joint pursuits -- we haven't completely lost our former child-free selves now that we're parents -- but the simple fact is that our children are our priority. We spend most of our time in family- or home-oriented activities now, and we love it. It's what we longed for before we started our family.

We moved to Bristow last year from Alexandria and like it quite a lot. We like that we're near horse country, have our own house with a yard, have convenient shopping, and have a neighborhood with lots of friendly neighbors and LOTS of other kids for our kids to enjoy. We like that the public schools are so good, and that we also have a large handful of excellent private schools nearby should we decide to go that route when our kids hit school age. We like that we can see so many stars at night. We like being close to the mountains. It's lovely out here.

I also like that I'm not automobile-dependent. I regularly walk to the supermarket, dry cleaners, playground, you name it. If I do choose to drive (when you're buying groceries for a family -- and that means at least three gallons of milk at a time -- driving to the supermarket at least once a week is a fact of life), the trip takes me only a few minutes each way, and I drive past beautiful rolling horse farms. And for veggies and eggs and things, I can head to the farmers' market or even a real farm if I feel like it. I like that.

And yes, there are plans in place to develop something similar to Reston Town Center. In fact, I believe they may even have the same developer. The whole thing was supposed to be in place by now, but when the bottom dropped out of the economy construction was delayed. It's slated to have a multiplex cinema, upscale restaurants, a bookstore, office space... A lot like RTC. It'll be close enough to us that we could walk, bike, or drive there.

The fellow who manages the Panera down the street from us told me that there are also talks of an enclosed shopping mall. The development teams have their regular breakfasts at Panera and keep him abreast of what's going on. (BTW, that highlights another thing we like about living out here. It may not look like a small town, but it often feels like one. I know lots of merchants by name, and they know me too. It's nice.)

My husband, BTW, does commute into DC. His schedule is a bit erratic and he doesn't have to go in every day, but he frequently rides the VRE in. He has a collapsible bike to get him from the DC station to his office. On the days he doesn't VRE in, he drives to Vienna and bikes the W & OD in instead. And on the days he doesn't go in, he can bike right out of our driveway and get into the great hilly Piedmont terrain. He does a good 40- or 50-miler at least once or twice a week. He used to drive out here from Alexandria for that, so now he's cutting a couple of hours off of each ride by cutting out the driving part. I realize that's very him-specific, though; that's a benefit not everyone would realize by living out here.

BTW, next time you're out this way, turn right at 55 and head into Haymarket. It'll take you approximately a minute to get there once you turn off 29, if you hit the light right. That's where you'll find your quaint old downtown.

I don't know you, but just going by what I've learned of you from your CD posts, I'm pretty sure you'd gouge your eyes out if you had to live here. But you asked what people find appealing about it, so there you go. For us, it's just right. For us 20 years ago (which would have put us at your age), it probably wouldn't have been.

[khuntrevor]

My parents are a lot happier in Wellington (Manassas) than they were in Gainesville. We could flame Manassas for pages and pages, but Manassas does have a bit of a townish feel (Old Towne). Gainesville is much more vanilla, or should I say beige, as in all the vinyl siding on the homes that look alike. I would not consider commuting downtown from either place. When people need bedrooms, their choices really narrow, and that brings places like Gainesville, Manassas, and Bristow into the picture. IMHO, I would rather pay taxes to the City of Manassas than PWC, any day of the week.

[Hazel B.]

We didn't end up there due to commute issues, but we could have gotten a waaaay nicer house in our price range ($350-$450K) compared to Fairfax County. I rather like my 1960's home and Fairfax County in general, but there are times when I miss the walk-in closets we could have had!

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by Denton56

If there's a market, developers will come! Or did you have someone/something else in mind to build a ''town center''? Who should be made to do that?

When you have a family you will find your world shrinking. Your world will center around where your kids go, their school, the playground, piano lessons, sports team practices, play dates with other families. Between those things, and working on your house and lawn, you won't have time to stroll around a town center or the money to go to new restaurants or to the movies. Families have different priorities.

I have that figured out. I'm not getting married and I'm DEFINITELY not having kids.

RR, Gainesville is just for families plain and simple. It's boring plain fake outer-beltway NoVA at it's finest.

[KathyR]

Denton, you described it well.

Restonrunner, yes there have been plans for a while for Gainesville to build a huge town center, like Fairfax and Reston. Land was bought and partially cleared, off Linton Hall Rd, behind the Giant. Shops, movie theaters, restaurants, etc. But the project came to a screeching halt when the economy tanked. I think there are other threads on city data with more specifics. Who knows when that project will go forward.

[Middlin]

Yes RR, driving that small stretch of 29 would give anyone the complete and total picture of the Gainesville/Haymarket/Bristow area. Just like driving down the Toll Rd would give anyone a good idea of what the Reston/Herndon area is like. Virginia Gateway is more than just Lowe's and Target and has a small walkable area. The town center has events a few times a year and the shopping center as a whole offers many, many conveniences.

A few years ago, Brookfield wanted to build a town center and bring the VRE to Gainesville, but the planning commission voted it down. I have mixed feelings about building a town center since I like the area the way it is and really don't want to see it get more developed. The center would clear 600 acres of trees as well. The advantage to this area to me is that it's not as congested as parts of Fairfax and of course the lower housing cost. I have a reasonable commute and enjoy being close to all that the being "west" offers.

[South Jersey Styx]

Originally Posted by Denton56

Of course there are lights and gate arms at the railroad crossing! Anything else would be illegal!

Really? Not so at every crossing in Winchester. Maybe Frederick Co/City of Winchester is different. There are the red blinking lights but not the white arms that lower. And we have the train (Winchester & Western) that cuts right through the downtown area. It is constant with it's VERY loud whistle. Our (historic) train station is also operational; I think the city uses it as offices.

[South Jersey Styx]

We had some friends that bought a house in Gainesville. Lived in Manassas their whole lives and decided to retire in Gainesville. Place was nice and they were happy; too spartan and sterile for me though. Some other friends (young family w/kids) are also looking to buy there.

That's good news about a town center being built.

[South Jersey Styx]

Originally Posted by Denton56

When you have a family you will find your world shrinking. Your world will center around where your kids go, their school, the playground, piano lessons, sports team practices, play dates with other families. Between those things, and working on your house and lawn, you won't have time to stroll around a town center or the money to go to new restaurants or to the movies. Families have different priorities.

Not always. I took my kids to all kinds of places including the movies, restaurants, museums, sculpture gardens, etc. Traveled with them as much as possible including spots like South Street and Market Street in Philly and several trips to New York City, especially during the holidays.

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by Denton56

Of course! RR crossings must have lights and gate arms!

There are still some crossings in some of the outlying areas where there are no gates and lights.