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Old 10-20-2013, 06:13 PM
 
4 posts, read 7,228 times
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Preferred more urban, diverse environment with restaurants, shops and cultural activities, great walking areas.
Home budget - $500 - $800K (3+ bedrooms: 1600+ sq')
Job in Fairfax City - preferred commute about 30 minutes.
Recommendations include: Alexandria, Reston, Herndon, Vienna, Falls Church and Arlington
Any suggestions?
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Old 10-20-2013, 06:18 PM
 
2,076 posts, read 3,431,406 times
Reputation: 2298
Rule of thumb, live as close as you can afford to where you work when it comes to NoVa. My suggestion, put this request on the Northern Virginia sub forum and you will get a lot of suggestions. Your price range is good for a lot of areas, and there are some nice ones near Fairfax City.
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Old 10-20-2013, 06:30 PM
 
4 posts, read 7,228 times
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Thanks for the quick response. Will try and post to sub forum. Any suggestions for nice areas near Fairfax City.
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Old 10-20-2013, 08:26 PM
 
2,076 posts, read 3,431,406 times
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Good, see they already moved you here. Fairfax City itself has some nice walkable areas. I'll let others who know it better suggest places. If you want to be within 30 minutes, then Alexandria and Arlington will be out as probably parts of Falls Church city itself. Oakton is nearby too. As I said, others have good ideas so hopefully will chime in.
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Old 10-21-2013, 06:42 AM
 
Location: Virginia
18,717 posts, read 31,089,604 times
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Fairfax City is walkable, has an urbanish "downtown", and there is a lot to do there due to the nearby campus. If it was me, I'd look there. Here are some photos so you can check it out:

Photo Tour: Fairfax City
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Old 10-21-2013, 06:52 AM
 
280 posts, read 1,073,478 times
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Fairfax City would be a nice area to explore, as would Reston, particularly around the town center. I know of many empty nesters who have moved there and are thrilled with their decision. Good luck!
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Old 10-21-2013, 07:00 AM
 
Location: among the clustered spires
2,380 posts, read 4,516,197 times
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Fairfax City itself has a nice downtown area -- you can get walkable for everyday sort of things, you can get a renovated SFH for under $500k that's walkable to downtown fairly easily. Plus -- unlike Reston -- there's no HOA fees for a SFH (and the Fairfax City taxes are lower than Fairfax County taxes.)

It is very close to GMU and Vienna Metro and I-66 for yet more cultural activities.
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Old 10-21-2013, 07:26 AM
 
5 posts, read 7,231 times
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Wow... Fairfax City thats tough. Born and raised in CA and moved here about 15 years ago and live right on the southern border of FF City. The one element I quickly clued in on is that Fairfax County as a whole has done a disservice to itself decades ago by trying to control growth. I think the unintended consequence of this control is having very distinct walking/shopping areas and residential areas. Sure you can find a home along side shops, but I doubt you are thinking of strip malls, which is what you will find around FF City. You are very realistic budget, thats a plus! I personally don't think there is anything south/southwest of FF city within 30 minutes that has a slight urban/walking feel. Maybe as an empty nester I might feel different, but I'd give up location for the commute. For me the biggest difference between CA and NoVa when it comes to traffic isn't that one set is worse than the other, but when there is an accident there are fewer alternative routes off the freeways. In CA if there was an accident, the streets were set up on a grid (kinda like DC) and I could easily work my way home, can't do that here. If the freeway is shut down your commute is triple what it should be and then add bad weather and its complete cr@p. I hope you like it here. We love it and would never move back to CA.

ETA: Yes, as a previous poster wrote.. check out the Olde Towne portion of FF City. I used to work right in the heart. Its fine, one step above strip malls, but definitely worth looking at.
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Old 10-21-2013, 08:18 AM
 
Location: Fairfax
200 posts, read 560,734 times
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In NOVA, one of the best places for empty nesters are some neighborhoods of Arlington (Clarendon and etc.) and Old town Alexandria but those are probably a bit too far from your job. As the other have mentioned, Fairfax City is decent but I share the same feeling with Nic78.

You might want to check out the brand new development at Mosaic District. There are some cool shops , artsy movie theater and etc.. If anything, this is probably the closest thing to walkable urban development closest to FF City (5 miles). And as you might have heard, Tysons Corner is undergoing a major development to become a much more walkable place but it will be a while until we get there.
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Old 10-21-2013, 11:50 AM
 
Location: among the clustered spires
2,380 posts, read 4,516,197 times
Reputation: 891
To the two previous PP's, what's wrong with Old Town Fairfax?
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