So I was born in Alexandria Virginia (Mount Vernon, Fairfax: rent, neighborhoods)

[SpacePanda]

But I was adopted as a baby and moved directly out of it. I know nothing about the area there or where my family came from.. I wanted to hear from some locals to maybe find out more about where I came from. thanks

[Bigfoot424]

I have never lived in Alexandria but have spent lots of time there due to work. It's a very congested area with way too much traffic. It is practically in DC's backyard so this is not surprising. It has a very diverse area with every nationality you can imagine being there. Rent is high there as is owning a home. It has a fair amount of public transportation but still has plenty of people driving their cars. It has the Masonic Temple which is a unique and beautiful building. It has many good and many lousy restaurants to choose from. It leans heavy to the liberal side but still has a number of conservatives living there. It has a nice walking Old Town section along the Potomac River that floods often. Did I say? It has LOTS of traffic. There is plenty more about Alexandria that I'm sure others can answer better than I can.

[Caladium]

Just use the search engine for this forum and you'll find dozens of threads about Alexandria. Everything you want to know and then some. There's a few photo links, too.

[car54]

Around when were you born?

I was born in Alexandria myself in 1951 at the old Alexandria Hospital which was in the heart of Old Town (Duke & Washington Sts). It was pretty much that or DC in those days...Fairfax Hospital didn't exist.

The "new" Alexandria Hospital is in the West End on Seminary Rd.

You may not have even been born in the City of Alexandria....there is an unincorporated part of Fairfax County that is called Alexandria. So it could have been Mount Vernon Hospital which has an Alexandria address but is not within the corporate limits of Alexandria.

Like Caladium said, look at the photo tour sticky thread if you want to see pics of Alexandria City/Old Town.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by car54

You may not have even been born in the City of Alexandria....there is an unincorporated part of Fairfax County that is called Alexandria. So it could have been Mount Vernon Hospital which has an Alexandria address but is not within the corporate limits of Alexandria.

Doubtful as I don't believe that's a hospital that has ever done deliveries, at least it hasn't in the 20 years I've lived here. It's pretty much always been geared toward older peoples' elective procedures. You were probably born at Alexandria Hospital if you're from City of Alexandria or the Alexandria portion of Fairfax County.

[robbobobbo]

What in particular do you wish to know about Alexandria? The Wikipedia entry has good info, and if you want opinions about certain aspects of living in Alexandria, as opposed to strictly factual data (like geography, climate, population, etc), go ahead and ask.

BTW, the traffic is really only an issue if you're passing through Alexandria to other points at certain times of day - Route 1 (Patrick and Henry Streets), GW Parkway (Washington Street), King Street, and Duke Street (because of cars heading to/from Telegraph Road in Fairfax County) are typical clog-points at rush hour. But as for life as a city resident, doing things like grocery shopping, going to the libraries, to the recreation centers or pools, or the schools, or restaurants and businesses - traffic isn't really an issue. Having a grid street system is beneficial.

Street parking in Old Town for King Street destinations is an issue, unless you're willing either to circle around the blocks several times, or park 5 or more blocks away, or you have good parking karma.

[SpacePanda]

oh okay, I appreciate all the responses. I was born in Alexandria, Virginia in 1989 and then moved to the mid west. I have never been to Virginia or really the east coast before. I am completely unaware of my heritage background but I guess seeing as its a city with many different kinds of people I probably couldn't find out.

[SpacePanda]

Originally Posted by robbobobbo

What in particular do you wish to know about Alexandria? The Wikipedia entry has good info, and if you want opinions about certain aspects of living in Alexandria, as opposed to strictly factual data (like geography, climate, population, etc), go ahead and ask.

BTW, the traffic is really only an issue if you're passing through Alexandria to other points at certain times of day - Route 1 (Patrick and Henry Streets), GW Parkway (Washington Street), King Street, and Duke Street (because of cars heading to/from Telegraph Road in Fairfax County) are typical clog-points at rush hour. But as for life as a city resident, doing things like grocery shopping, going to the libraries, to the recreation centers or pools, or the schools, or restaurants and businesses - traffic isn't really an issue. Having a grid street system is beneficial.

Street parking in Old Town for King Street destinations is an issue, unless you're willing either to circle around the blocks several times, or park 5 or more blocks away, or you have good parking karma.

Would you say the people are religious there? I always had the idea people might be being as it just borderlines being a southern state. I would also like to know what the music scene is and just what general life is like there and what ethnicity people are.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by SpacePanda

Would you say the people are religious there? I always had the idea people might be being as it just borderlines being a southern state. I would also like to know what the music scene is and just what general life is like there and what ethnicity people are.

Religious? Some are. There are certainly lots of churches there. Still, my general impression is it's not alla that religious.

Music scene is ok, not great. We don't really have a local "sound" although I have my hopes up that the huge number of people moving here will stir things up in that area. There are a few local clubs and stages but this is not one of those cities that has a big music scene. Yet. A good number of national concert tours come through here. There are lots of local groups for classical music and bluegrass, but not much of a jazz scene. DC has a better rap scene and hipper music, IMO.

Life in general? Lots and lots of people moving here right now for work. There is a certain energy here. Many people have multiple degrees. An unusually high number of people you meet will have lived all over the world. Many people have jobs that require top secret clearances.

People either love it or hate it here--it can be intimidating for some (which is hard for me to understand, I personally don't find it intimidating at all here but every year there are people who move here and just can't hack it. They end up needing to move to a smaller town where they are much happier.) Nova in general is pretty wealthy and upscale. King Street in Alexandria is a fun place to hang out--lots of restaurants and funky shops.

This is also a very suburban area. The grittier city neighborhoods are in DC, which is next door. Alexandria is the most urban of the Nova communities, but even so it's very suburban.

What ethnicity are people? A little bit of everything. People of every race, and lots of mixed families, as well. I think white has the highest percentage but I'm not 100% positive. This is one of the most diverse communities in the country.

[robbobobbo]

Originally Posted by SpacePanda

Would you say the people are religious there? I always had the idea people might be being as it just borderlines being a southern state. I would also like to know what the music scene is and just what general life is like there and what ethnicity people are.

For the most part, Alexandrians keep their religion private when in the public sphere (outside of church). The most I might know about the religious nature of my neighbors is the fact that some of them go to church (Christian). But nobody invites me to their church, or asks me if I'm saved, or injects religious speech into their conversation. On the rare chance that I see a religious bumper sticker like "Jesus Saves", it's in Spanish.

In all my years here, I've only had one elderly neighbor ask if I had a "church home", and who says "God bless you" at the end of our chats on those times that I see her in the neighborhood. I've had Jehovah's Witnesses come to my door (but they stopped, the word must have gotten out that I wasn't joining). Other than that, I've not encountered any overt religiosity in Alexandria, or really all of NOVA for that matter. I think there are a good number of Episcopalians in Alexandria, and my understanding is that Episcopalians aren't big on proselytizing or trying to get you to church, as opposed to other Protestant denominations more prevalent in the South.

You can find many threads on City Data discussing whether or not Northern Virginia (including Alexandria) is Southern or not. I think the general consensus is that it isn't; at least, that's my opinion.

It doesn't make much sense to discuss the music scene for Alexandria alone, since it's part of the DC metropolitan area and therefore you'd need a discussion about the DC music scene as a whole. Alexandria does have venues for live music and there are many local musicians in the NOVA area.

From what I've observed, the City of Alexandria is not as ethnically diverse as Fairfax County has recently become. Alexandria is mostly white (including Hispanic) and black, with various ethnicities like African and south and central Asian located to the west end of town. Cross into Fairfax County and you'll find people from all over the world, it seems.

Hope that helps.