Left NOVA and thinking of coming back

[Dan_in_DC]

Originally Posted by NALEXAND

I left NOVA 8 years ago and moved to Tampa Bay, primarily due to the much lower cost of living in FL and to be closer to family. I still have not gotten used to the climate and near constant heat here YET! I never thought I'd miss having 4 seasons and especially FALL. NOVA is so expensive but its home to me and I miss sooo many things about it. I just dont want to regret coming back because our lifestyle could change because a lot of our extra money would go to housing expenses. Sigh! I hate this feeling. I hate that I cant seem to get NOVA out of my mind. I seriously think I need a shrink over this. Has anyone else ever left the area and felt this way?

I think many people feel that way. But it's all relative.

I grew up in Arlington, met and married my wife there, and spent the first 35 years of my life there. For a long time, I thought Arlington was the center of the universe. But as time went on, Arlington grew progressively more congested, and progressively more expensive.

So we moved 5 miles outside the Beltway, where it was cheaper and less congested ... for a few years anyway ... and although we talked to our Arlington friends on the phone, it seemed like we hardly ever visited Arlington anymore. And we both spent years missing the community we had left.

Eventually most of our Arlington friends had either passed on or moved away, and we had no reason to go into Arlington anymore. But then when we did have occasion to go into Arlington about 10 years later, it was all different. The "idealized" home of my youth had been torn down to build Metro, stores and restaurants we knew were gone, and everything had changed. (For reference, you might want to listen to the song "My City Was Gone" by the Pretenders -- you can find it on YouTube.)

We drove around sadly for an hour or two, and then went back home to southern Fairfax (near Lorton).

When that area started getting more and more congested, we moved again, to Dale City, which is much like Arlington used to be. We've been here 5 or 6 years now, and it's a friendly community. But while the cost of living is significantly less than Arlington or Fairfax, it's still not "cheap" though.

If you miss NOVA, and still have friends living in NOVA, maybe you can visit them for a few days and see what you've been missing. Then you can decide whether or not you still want to move back to NOVA, or whether or not you need a shrink. But be careful. I hear NOVA shrinks are extremely expensive.

[PK12]

Originally Posted by Dan_in_DC

I think many people feel that way. But it's all relative.

I grew up in Arlington, met and married my wife there, and spent the first 35 years of my life there. For a long time, I thought Arlington was the center of the universe. But as time went on, Arlington grew progressively more congested, and progressively more expensive.

So we moved 5 miles outside the Beltway, where it was cheaper and less congested ... for a few years anyway ... and although we talked to our Arlington friends on the phone, it seemed like we hardly ever visited Arlington anymore. And we both spent years missing the community we had left.

Eventually most of our Arlington friends had either passed on or moved away, and we had no reason to go into Arlington anymore. But then when we did have occasion to go into Arlington about 10 years later, it was all different. The "idealized" home of my youth had been torn down to build Metro, stores and restaurants we knew were gone, and everything had changed. (For reference, you might want to listen to the song "My City Was Gone" by the Pretenders -- you can find it on YouTube.)

We drove around sadly for an hour or two, and then went back home to southern Fairfax (near Lorton).

When that area started getting more and more congested, we moved again, to Dale City, which is much like Arlington used to be. We've been here 5 or 6 years now, and it's a friendly community. But while the cost of living is significantly less than Arlington or Fairfax, it's still not "cheap" though.

If you miss NOVA, and still have friends living in NOVA, maybe you can visit them for a few days and see what you've been missing. Then you can decide whether or not you still want to move back to NOVA, or whether or not you need a shrink. But be careful. I hear NOVA shrinks are extremely expensive.

At the end of the day.... YMMV.

I'd probably be looking for a shrink myself if I had to move to and live in Woodbridge/Dale City for a long period of time. Even more so in Gainesville, Bristow, Leesburg, Purceville etc.

NoVa, with its ever-increasing ubanization and density, represents a thriving metropolitan area anchored by one of the most powerful cities of the world. These changes in landscape are inevitable.

[NALEXAND]

LOL @ PK12! hahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa....my friends up there definitely think I am crazy for even considering coming back and told me to pump my brakes and just visit because the traffic has gotten much worse since I left in 06. So for now, a visit it is.

[michgc]

Originally Posted by Waterboy526

I've never heard anyone describe Chapel Hill being too southern. It's the most liberal town in the Southeast US you could probably find. Even the mayor is openly gay!

I didn't mean that it was too conservative at all. Yes, CH is very liberal - that I will not deny at all. It's that the whole area and state are southern or perhaps the better way to put it is that it's not Northeastern/Mid-Atlantic. It's a bit hard to explain, but when I go to New Jersey for vacation and hear the accents and talk to people, I feel "at home" in a "these are my people" kind of way. In NC, I don't feel any commonality with the Triangle area - its history, the people. I have no ties to UNC, the state, the southern history/culture, the ruralness, accents, etc. And I don't feel like it's a good fit for me. I mean it's okay. Chapel Hill is okay. but it just hasn't "clicked" for me. Maybe after 5 years, it will, but it's been over 2 so far, and it hasn't so far, so I'm not counting on it.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by michgc

I didn't mean that it was too conservative at all. Yes, CH is very liberal - that I will not deny at all. It's that the whole area and state are southern or perhaps the better way to put it is that it's not Northeastern/Mid-Atlantic. It's a bit hard to explain, but when I go to New Jersey for vacation and hear the accents and talk to people, I feel "at home" in a "these are my people" kind of way. In NC, I don't feel any commonality with the Triangle area - its history, the people. I have no ties to UNC, the state, the southern history/culture, the ruralness, accents, etc. And I don't feel like it's a good fit for me. I mean it's okay. Chapel Hill is okay. but it just hasn't "clicked" for me. Maybe after 5 years, it will, but it's been over 2 so far, and it hasn't so far, so I'm not counting on it.

Have you thought about moving to Cary (aka the "Containment Area for Relocated Yankees")?

[South Jersey Styx]

Originally Posted by JEB77

Have you thought about moving to Cary (aka the "Containment Area for Relocated Yankees")?

And where exactly is this?

[JD984]

Originally Posted by South Jersey Styx

And where exactly is this?

It's west of Raleigh and east of Chapel Hill. Maybe more like Oakton or McLean than Town of Vienna, but perhaps more Mid-Atlantic transplants than Chapel Hill.

[michgc]

Originally Posted by JEB77

Have you thought about moving to Cary (aka the "Containment Area for Relocated Yankees")?

We moved here for my husband's job which is in Burlington. So even living in Chapel Hill is a stretch for him commute-wise, being 32 miles away from Burlington. Cary would be even farther. And it's not really that I dislike Chapel Hill per se, it's more the whole region which doesn't do it for me. Most of the people I meet in Chapel Hill are transplants as well.