Opinions wanted on moving away from NOVA (Virginia Beach, Richmond: buying a house, neighborhoods)

[MarineVet89]

Hello everyone,

So the down and dirty point of this post is to gather opinions on moving away. I understand that it is ultimately my own decision, I just want input. So I'm a married mid-twenties man with no children, I work in the tech industry and I live in Manassas. I've lived here a for a little while and I'm just finding more and more that I don't like this place, and it's not just Manassas, it's NOVA as a whole. So here are the things I like about NOVA:

1) I love my job
2) The money is good
3) Job security
4) ... That's about it.

The things I don't like:

1) The "northern" attitude (rude, busy, angry people)
2) Everything in Manassas just looks dirty
3) Even though my wife and I both work and make good money, I couldn't imagine buying a house
4) Traffic, Traffic, Traffic
5) High taxes and poor public shcools
6) And I guess I'm just not a fan of urban living

So there it is, I've got a great job that I enjoy in a crap city that I can't stand. My wife and I would like to have kids soon and I just can't see raising children in Manassas. I'm considering maybe moving to Raleigh, but I'm open to other places. I just want somewhere quiet where I can have a few acres of land and a decent house.

So what are your thoughts?

[boyd888]

You could move into a smaller town further west and commute into Manassas - maybe something like Brambleton or Leesburg? Far enough west that prices drop (as you aren't competing with DC commuters as much), but not so far to create a really long commute (Front Royal).

The school thing is somewhat irrelevant at this point as you are at least six years away from a school age child and who knows how your priorities will change by then anyway.

[sailelsa]

Would you ever consider Virginia Beach area? I am also about to move and since you live much closer to that area than me, I was wondering your thoughts on it. ?

[jeff22152]

Here are some thoughts that come to mind.

First, I wouldn't draw conclusions about northern Virginia as a whole based on Manassas. Personally, I don't care for Manassas very much, and for most of the same reasons you state. With that said, Manassas is a small and rather confined city; it's not indicative of the larger region. Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties all have scores of attractive and family-friendly neighborhoods with excellent schools.

Second, I think it's something special to raise a family in close proximity to D.C. The Washington metropolitan area, combined with greater Virginia and Maryland, offer some of the greatest historical and cultural opportunities in the country. Yes, it's expensive to live here and the traffic at times can be mind-numbingly bad, but I think it's ultimately worth it. I know Raleigh and North Carolina are becoming wildly popular. I have nothing against Raleigh or our neighbor to the south, but I find it much more vanilla and bland down there -- all with worsening traffic.

Ultimately, you'll do what's best for you and your family. I guess my only advice is to look beyond Manassas before making a final decision. Good luck.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by MarineVet89

So I'm a married mid-twenties man

So what are your thoughts?

Seriously...there are only two opinions that matter....and the randoms on this forum aren't one of them. What does your wife want?

[MarineVet89]

Please refer to the second sentence of my original post. My wife and I want subjective outside perspectives. Thanks for the input.

[tgbwc]

Originally Posted by boyd888

You could move into a smaller town further west and commute into Manassas -

I'm not sure the OP works in Manassas. I only read that he lives there.

So OP...Do you live and work in Manassas?

[NOVA_guy]

Honestly, NoVa isn't for everyone and I don't mean that in a pretentious way like this area is some "special" place but when I left college a handful of us moved back to NoVa, a few of them left and ended up going to Richmond, Raleigh, etc for the reasons you listed, traffic, high cost of living, "snobby attitudes/unfriendly people" etc.

But before you decide to leave, really weigh the pros and cons because I do think this area offers a ton amenities that you don't find everywhere. Also, it may just be Manassas which is probably ranked the least "fun" place to live in NoVa.

Originally Posted by jeff22152

Yes, it's expensive to live here and the traffic at times can be mind-numbingly bad, but I think it's ultimately worth it. I know Raleigh and North Carolina are becoming wildly popular. I have nothing against Raleigh or our neighbor to the south, but I find it much more vanilla and bland down there -- all with worsening traffic.

Agreed. I tried the Richmond suburbs as well but I just found it all to be dull suburbia. Which I guess some people could say about NoVa but I still think NoVa has some sort of edge to it, maybe because it's such a diverse area with a mixture of culture or the close proximity to DC, I don't know but it's not completely vanilla and dull.

[MarineVet89]

Originally Posted by tgbwc

I'm not sure the OP works in Manassas. I only read that he lives there.

So OP...Do you live and work in Manassas?

Yes I live and work in Manassas.

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by MarineVet89

Hello everyone,

So the down and dirty point of this post is to gather opinions on moving away. I understand that it is ultimately my own decision, I just want input. So I'm a married mid-twenties man with no children, I work in the tech industry and I live in Manassas. I've lived here a for a little while and I'm just finding more and more that I don't like this place, and it's not just Manassas, it's NOVA as a whole. So here are the things I like about NOVA:

1) I love my job
2) The money is good
3) Job security
4) ... That's about it.

The things I don't like:

1) The "northern" attitude (rude, busy, angry people)
2) Everything in Manassas just looks dirty
3) Even though my wife and I both work and make good money, I couldn't imagine buying a house
4) Traffic, Traffic, Traffic
5) High taxes and poor public shcools
6) And I guess I'm just not a fan of urban living

So there it is, I've got a great job that I enjoy in a crap city that I can't stand. My wife and I would like to have kids soon and I just can't see raising children in Manassas. I'm considering maybe moving to Raleigh, but I'm open to other places. I just want somewhere quiet where I can have a few acres of land and a decent house.

So what are your thoughts?

I think if you want to leave, you should highly consider the Ohio Valley cities like Columbus, Lexington, or Louisville. All three have pretty stable economies and access to affordable suburbs with decent public schools. Traffic is nowhere near as bad as Northern VA. Lexington in particular is a very beautiful place. I've found people in all three cities less stressed than Northern VA.