Please Sticky: General Pointers If You are Moving To Northern Virginia (Arlington: apartments, crime)

[canolajetta]

Originally Posted by mommieto2

My husband wants to move back to the "DC area"...Before we met he lived in the "Arlington/Alexandria area". Looking online I realize that N. VA is HUGE. There are alot of options but the ones I think may work for us are Vienna, Fairfax [City], Alexandria, and Falls Church. My kids are under 5 yrs, so we need to make sure we move into an area with good schools, good parks/rec., and good public transportation...Forget cost of housing...I know it will be alot compared to where we are now. What are the thoughts those cities mentioned above and the areas around them. We are both in healthcare, so is there an area that has more job options for healthcare (RN, Pharmacy)...

The short answer is that you should be able to live anywhere.

The long answer:
I guess it depends on what sort of healthcare job you want. Assuming you want to work for a hospital, you really can live almost anywhere in NoVa and work for INOVA, because they have hospitals all over the place (www.inova.org), but you could also live on a metro line and work for GWU, and then there are the gov't and military jobs (you can work for military w/o being enlisted). INOVA's major hospital is Fairfax hospital (actually in Falls Church), but its "tower" is also one of the older buildings in use, so if you want bright and shiny, you may want to look at their Mount Vernon or Fair Oaks locations. Most of their hospitals are not super transit accessible, so you drive to work.

Personally, I'd look at Fair Oaks, it's swanky, the staff seem happy, its location is far enough from DC that traffic shouldn't be a major issue, though 7100 can be very slow during rush, RNs typically have 7-7 shifts, so you wouldn't be driving there in rush. But then, with your hubby having lived in Arlington, Ffx or Mt Vernon might be a better neighborhood for you.

Children's hospital has branches out here (I think just offices, no surgery, right now), and WWC (HIV/GLBT) has a center in NoVa, and of course their are the county health clinics also. Most of the major medical practices have offices somewhere near INOVA Fairfax, because it's the Level I trauma center in northern VA, so they typically send their more complicated pts there. But many practices also have satellite offices further out, so if you're looking for office work, you could work almost anywhere.

There are private hospitals in the region as well (I could walk to Reston Hospital from my house, but I don't care much for it).

Kaiser Permanente has many locations in the area, they tend to group their specialists together, and some of their centers are more procedure oriented than others (Falls Church and Springfield do most of their imaging, for example).

For military, I would think living somewhere near springfield, as the base realignment is headed that way, or looking at Bethesda, MD, would be the way to go. (www.military.com or www.usajobs.gov)

[normie]

Growing Healthcare Opportunities in Loudoun County:

Returning to the topic of general pointers.... but also to answer the question...

Loudoun County is booming right now, and that means several hospitals have been recently built or are about to be built. I would contact the County Govt. Building for more information.

A number of doctors have recently opened satellite offices in the Lansdowne Medical Center--someone lokking for a job might find an opening there. I hear there are also many small medical centers opening in the South Riding area.

I frequently see ads for dental assistants and chiropractic assistants in the local newspapers. I believe this is because new offices are opening.

If you have a background in research, you should also check into the brand new Janelia Research Center. They are doing a lot of hiring, especially if you have a background in genetics.

[dallastxgirl]

Originally Posted by 5stones

If you are moving from an area where the avg 3000 sqft house cost $300k and it's less than 10 years old, YOU WILL NOT FIND COMPARABLE housing here. sorry that's just the facts.

YOU have to give up something. smaller older house close to work. Or the new sububria planned community with at least 60-90 from work. TH instead of SFH. condo instead of TH etc... small yard instead of 1/2 acre etc... think 500k instead of 300k

The avg commute for anyone living OUTSIDE the 495 loop is going to be at 60min. A good rule of thumb is to double your mileage...if you live 30miles from work it will be a minium of 60min on a good day.

If you are working in DC.... a 30 minute commute can only be found in your close in metro areas (Arlington etc...) or right in DC itself. Even if you live at the Ballston corridor 30min door to desk is hard... it will be more like 45min.

THE commute will be a hardship.... if this is a temp move ie govt etc... and you know it's only two years then a 90min isn't that bad. You know it's not forever. If you are here for the long haul 90+ will wear you down. For the stay at home mom with little ones... you will be a single parent 90% of the time. MY husband leaves at 6am and gets home at 7-7:30pm.

90% of the schools are good. 80% of the schools are EXCELLENT.

80% of the areas have low crime. 15% have moderate crime and 5% have heavy crime.

Housing is EXPENSIVE...affordable is a realitive term here...affordable by NOVA standards is not "affordable" in 75% of the country. If you want a non fix-up house for $400k look in Loudoun and Prince William counties. The are more affordable because they are futher away.

There is NO hidden gem in Fairfax county where sfh houses are 300k (and newer)and schools are excellent and crime is low. sorry.

I95 is a nightmare. rt50 is bad and rt66 is bad. rt 66 is HOV only inside 495 during rush hours.

Road improvements etc...take time and make bad traffic worse in the mean time.

Yes, someday if all the stars align the metro will service Loudoun county and we will all rejoice!

I hope I did this right! Hey 5stones! We are getting ready to move to NOVO. My husband has worked for a co. based there, from other states. The moving there was in discussions for the last couple of years, but it is actually going to happen now. Big difference from Dallas! Anyway, two years ago, I was thinking, holy shemoley, how in the heck do these people buy and afford a house like mine, priced at about $90 per sq., at 200-300 per sq. I told my husband, figure out a way to get out of this please! It has changed so much though. I hate that the housing market is in such a schlump everywhere, but the housing there has changed dramatically. I was looking at the internet at houses. Some places apparently are going to ignore it, 'Hey Ashburn!'. For instance, in Chantilly, South Riding. Two years ago, my husband looked at this Toll Brothers house. Two story model, decked out. This house was sweet. It had murals, the basement had a soccer set up complete with astro turf. You could have that house built, without the designer touch, and it was high. That model just went on the market recently for $599,999. $138 per square foot in Chantilly. That is a huge difference. I am sorry for people stuck in this market. I m however so relieved that we might be able to get into a decent house and not be housepoor. Be happy. The Redskins are kicking butt today. Playing us, Dallas. We are getting geared up to root for the home team. Go Redskins!

[2tnvols]

I'm moving to NOVA in the next few months, and I'm trying to decide where to live. I'll be taking the Metro to my job each day, so I'd prefer to live near the farthest-out Metro stop. Looking on the map, I see those are 1. Fairfax/Vienna and 2. Franconia/Springfield.

I want to live within a 10 minute drive of one of the two Metro stops. Can anyone recommend one area over the other?

It looks like the housing prices are better within 10 minutes of Franconia/Springfield, and it looks like the demographics are good for both the Fairfax/Vienna and Franc/Spring areas.

A 1950's house is fine. No frills is fine. A small to moderate amount of renovating is fine. We just want to be in a safe, quiet neighborhood close to one of those 2 Metro stops. No townhomes/condos.

Which is the better area? Thanks!

[curcilla]

Im considering moving to Charlottesville, VA. Im not real familiar with it and am trying to find out things like housing, apts, jobs, local newspapers. Ive found the govt facts and fell in love with the small city. Im a registered dental assistant and do plan to continue my education and become a dentist. I havent found any job postings whatsoever and of course we all have to work. If anyone has any kind of information please contact me at curcilla99@yahoo.com.

[ggjacobsen]

Originally Posted by lqda4

When picking a place to live, closer is not always necessarily better. If you drive to work, you might be better off farther away but against rush hour traffic. If you work in DC, besides metro, also look into van/car pool or slugging.

...slug??!
Slug-Lines.com - Slugging and Slug Lines Information For Washington DC
Slug Lines

"Slugging" means sharing the ride so that you can get 3 persons in a car. That allows you to drive on the express lane. Slugging doesn't really apply unless you live in Prince William County or further out (south). My recommendation: get a place that is near a Metro station (Van Dorn, Springfield, etc.)

[tallcountrygal]

How do I get a copy of the HOA rules of the Idlewild community in Fredericksburg, VA? We are closing on a house there and still have yet to receive them, is there a place I can pick them up at or view them?

[DavidS827]

Originally Posted by tallcountrygal

How do I get a copy of the HOA rules of the Idlewild community in Fredericksburg, VA? We are closing on a house there and still have yet to receive them, is there a place I can pick them up at or view them?

You should have received them from the listing agent a long time ago. Have your agent call the listing agent to see what the holdup is. Remember that once you get them, you have three days to review them and decide and whether or not you want to back out of the contract.

[tallcountrygal]

Thanks David, I didn't think that it was right that we had not gotten it yet, so our agent called the listing agent again and now they said they are sending it, thanks for the information you supplied.

[DavidS827]

Glad to help!