Do you consider Fredericksburg/Stafford as Northern Virginia? (Richmond, Arlington: houses, buying)

[Fredesch]

I said no, but am pretty sure most folks that live in Stafford drive north in the morning. Likewise Fredericksburg has VRE. So why say no? Basically, you have to draw a line somewhere, and I think folks that live that far south, want to be away from NOVA. Usual explanations of why they live so far south are northern Virginia is too crowded and they wanted a more/less of something. Or a different crowd to run with.

So I believe folks that far south wish they weren't part of NOVA regardless of which direction they go in the morning.

[Oldhag1]

The state didn't hit them with all those special new taxes reserved just for NoVA. So no.

[elias9193]

Originally Posted by Alley01

Fredericksburg is included in the survey and it is around 55 miles away from DC. So, with that logic, WV should have been included. I don't know what would be so great about living in Fredericksburg or Stafford to put up with that commute if people do choose to work in DC. What a waste of time.

Travel time without traffic from Ashburn to DC is 34 minutes, Stafford to DC is 50 minutes, 16 minutes difference and in rush hour it maybe close to the same so whats your point. Ashburn commuters to DC are not much better than Stafford commuters to DC. Next year we get hot lanes so those that can pay will cut their rush hour commute even further.

[Alley01]

Originally Posted by elias9193

Travel time without traffic from Ashburn to DC is 34 minutes, Stafford to DC is 50 minutes, 16 minutes difference and in rush hour it maybe close to the same so whats your point. Ashburn commuters to DC are not much better than Stafford commuters to DC. Next year we get hot lanes so those that can pay will cut their rush hour commute even further.

My point is why would anyone that far out (which you know that those commute times only exist if no one is on the road, so hello 2 a.m.) would even want to work in DC and put up with that commute. Nor, would you want to be lumped with the rest of NOVA. I highly doubt that the rush hour is that close in time in actual rush hour. It doesn't take me 34 minutes to get to DC on a good day.

[hgnmx]

I consider northern Virginia to be the suburbs of DC, and Fredericksburg is not a suburb of DC.

[Mahatma X]

Nope too country and southern elements. Once you get to Dumfries you are in the south aka RoVa. In PWC is where you start to feel like you are in the south, it feels different than FFX or Alexandria or Arlington.

[va_lucky]

How do we figure that Stafford and Fredericksburg are closer to Richmond than D.C? I live in semi-rural Spotsylvania and looking at the map I am located almost exactly between the 2 to the degree where it is almost impossible to tell which is closer. Google Maps seems to reflect the same when I check directions. The Fredericksburg area is an exurb of both DC and Richmond as far as I can see. It is undeniably a bedroom community to D.C. A fellow I used to know brought up a good point. He mentioned that if anything happened to D.C., most of the Fredericksburg area residents would have nowhere to work.

I see the Fredericksburg area as being sort of a Laurel, MD since Laurel is pretty well centrally located between DC and Baltimore. Although the scale is much larger for the Fredericksburg area. To me, the idea is the same.

Another reason that people live this far out is due to housing costs. At the time I bought my house, I could only afford to have a yard for my kids in the Fredericksburg area. At some point, that changed and housing was as cheap in Woodbridge as it was in the Fredericksburg area. Now that has changed again.

[hilsmom]

My husband actually does the reverse commute - Chantilly to Stafford County. It takes an hour-ish (give or take). We just drove down that way yesterday to meet up with my dad in Fredericksburg, and he pointed out to me where his office is. I said "I cannot BELIEVE you do this commute daily!" It is REALLY far. Is Fredericksburg a bedroom community to DC? Yes, mostly due to VRE. Is it culturally like the rest of the DC burbs? NOPE.

I asked my husband if he wants to move down that direction -he said no way. I think the furthest we would be willing to move South to get him closer to his office is PWC.

Of course, there is that whole "we just bought this house 2 years ago" issue

All that said, Fredericksburg is an adorable little town. I could see myself living somewhere like it - as long as I didn't have to commute anywhere.

[va_lucky]

You say that the Fredericksburg area is a bedroom community mostly due to VRE and as you indicated that is mostly correct. There are also tons of busses that commute to DC and the HOV lanes are some of the longest in the country which also supports "slugging" into DC via HOV-3.

You are correct about things being culturally different than in NOVA. I have lived in both and I think that people are actually a bit more friendly in NOVA from my experience.

I really do despise my commute and it seems to only be getting exponentially worse and rapidly.

Originally Posted by hilsmom

My husband actually does the reverse commute - Chantilly to Stafford County. It takes an hour-ish (give or take). We just drove down that way yesterday to meet up with my dad in Fredericksburg, and he pointed out to me where his office is. I said "I cannot BELIEVE you do this commute daily!" It is REALLY far. Is Fredericksburg a bedroom community to DC? Yes, mostly due to VRE. Is it culturally like the rest of the DC burbs? NOPE.

I asked my husband if he wants to move down that direction -he said no way. I think the furthest we would be willing to move South to get him closer to his office is PWC.

Of course, there is that whole "we just bought this house 2 years ago" issue

All that said, Fredericksburg is an adorable little town. I could see myself living somewhere like it - as long as I didn't have to commute anywhere.

[hilsmom]

I didn't realize there were busses from fredericksburg. Is that easier/cheaper than VRE? Just curious.

Yes, slugging is also an option coming from down south.

How far south are those lanes being built? all the way to fredericksburg?