Is age a factor in your tolerance of NoVa? (Arlington: fit in, apartment)

[stacylee926]

This is sort of a followup to Dinglers post.

I am curious to see if your age has anything to do with your like or dislike of NoVa. After reading all the posts I think it does - especially if you were born and raised in NoVa. For example, does the younger generation tolerate the traffic better? I am talking 20-30's with young families......

I was born and raised in Arlington and lived there 41 years before I left 4 years ago (makes me 45 now As I got married and had children I moved further out into Fairfax and Centreville into suburbia. I was probably in my mid 30's when I felt trapped - kids in school, settled with family nearby and felt like I couldn't make the move away.

So when I hit that 40 mark and had settled into a more mature mindset, I realized that the fast paced life and stress was not in my long term plan anymore.

What does everyone else think?

[Fern435]

Age is not an issue for me (I'll be 39 soon). I grew up in Santa Barbara, California, and I went to school in the San Francisco area, so that alone makes the DC/NoVA area quite different for me.

My husband is in the military. We have lived in many parts of the United States.

[goldenmom7500]

stacylee, I agree. When I was in my 20s and completely career driven, DC was the place I wanted to be. Nothing else mattered. Then I married, moved way way out (my husband wanted acreage), had a baby, stopped working (because that far out, with a child, how exactly would I commute?). Anyhow, once I wasn't in DC for the White House and State Department et al., then why was I driving all the time and paying such a high mortgage? The equation just stopped making sense.

But I do remember being 27, driving down 495 with a gorgeous sunset, feeling so in the mix of things, and thinking "this is the life! this is my place!".

[normie]

Age is a factor for liking MY part of Virginia. I'm out in Loudoun. The young kids can't stand it. Way too boring for them and plus their still in that stage of life where a filthy crime ridden downtown neighborhood is somehow glamorous. (Seems like just yesterday I felt the same way. I was so proud of my run down tenement in the Montrose section of Houston. I only had snide remarks for those "horrible" suburbs!!!)

And then, somewhere around the age of 25 you begin to tolerate the suburbs.

And somewhere around the age of 45 you can't stand the thought of living in any place "too urban." Right now, I think I live in paradise (except I don't like the snow and ice in the winter... oh well, every paradise has to have a flaw.)

[Adrian71]

Well, I'm 36, married, no kids ... and I haven't liked the pace out here since we moved here in October of '03. Back in Michigan, we just don't move this quickly, and I've never gotten used to it.

[VLT]

My daughter is 20 and does not like the traffic in NoVA. She seems to always want to be ahead of traffic. I, on the other hand, seem to have accepted it and go with the flow. When I am in my car, I catch up with my phone calls. With a GPS telling me when to make my next turn, driving around (at a safe speed) here is mindless. The key is to time it right, and not be pressured to make time.

For the rest of NoVA, we all love it (kids and adults). Ok, except for the snow. When we get it. Though the kids love a snow day when schools are closed. And I admit to love the quietness and stillness of the neighborhood as the soft snow covers just about everything. Many posters have already mentioned the prime location we have here close to the beaches, mountains, lakes, DC, museums, theaters, shopping, entertainment, beautiful parks, and good jobs. What is there not to like?

[Flamingo13]

I don't know that age covers it? I'm in my 40's, originally from Pittsburgh (GO Steelers, lol) - but I've lived in NoVa for over 20 yrs. - we are at a crossroads now, move or stay awhile. There are many things I like about the area as well as aspects we do not.

I am lucky in that I can schedule most errands when traffic isn't so bad so that's a big plus. I do get stressed out that most folks seem to NEED to drive w/a cell phone planted to their ears, some (most?) don't seem to have taken a drivers test or even know the laws/rules, etc.

I really like though that there is so much available close by, stores, shops, the water. If I want mountains/country - it's a nice drive, etc.

[Do a Barrel Roll]

Definitely. I have to admit that many of the stresses and problems Northern Virginia faces (traffic, cost of living, rushed lifestyle) doesn't affect and bother me as much as say one who is 40 or older. This especially applies to those who lived in NoVA and remember it before it was "Northernized and Urbanized." They tend to be the people who are the most discontented on Northern Virginia's current state.

[mlv311]

Age or change in priorities, whichever comes first. When I was single and focused on my career, I loved living close to DC and enjoy city life to the max. Now that I'm married with small children, I don't want to bother with traffic, metro crowds, etc. Life is good in burbs for me.

[dullnboring]

I'm in my twenties, grew up in Northern Virginia, hated it with a passion and therefore got the hell out when I turned 18, but came back at two separate times over the years for an additional total of two more years, and just left again three months ago. It's just not the area for me. When I was younger and growing up there, I vilified the other with the type of pure and unbridled hatred I usually reserved for Old Navy commercials, but I think it was less about anything Virginia-specific so much as it was my just hating the area BECAUSE I grew up there, and I likely would've fled Hawaii or Switzerland had I grown up there as well. As an adult, I can take a step back and look more rationally and objectively at the area and can now articulate the reasons for my distaste of the area beyond "it sucks".

For me, I just never quite fit in in Northern Virginia. I don't mesh as well with the people there as I do elsewhere. I just don't like the overall feel of the area. Funnily enough, the issues that most people have problems with in the area, that of weather, cost of living and the fast-paced lifestyle, don't really bother me all that much, perhaps because it's all I have ever known. Well, actually I do loathe the traffic and that's something that while I suppose I have a higher tolerance of than someone from rural Kansas, I've never grown to completely accept. I just have a great distaste for suburban living, especially at this point in my life. I suppose I'm following the usual trend considering I've since moved to New York City and love my old cramped apartment and taking the subway everywhere. I hated the subdivisions, the soccer moms, the chain restaurants, the strip malls, the driving to everywhere, the rudeness, the lack of a nightlife, etc. although again, that's not a slam against northern Virginia, but rather suburbs as a whole. However, unlike when I was younger, I can look at the area and give it props for some of the great things it does have going for it such as the great schools, the effortless diversity and integration, the fantastic job market, and the fact that the area is becoming more liberal (a plus in my book, maybe not in other people's).