What is wrong with me?? - Ashburn (Arlington, Yorktown: luxury, schools)

[nva79]

i live in fairfax and kind of feel the same way. i kind of prefer a little run down, real, yet still nice area. for example, a lot of people here hate springfield (i dont know why), but i love it. same thing with dc. a lot of people hate it, but i love it. i dont want to live in a perfectly safe, perfectly nice, boring area.

[ArizonaBear]

Let me toss this in here:

It sounds to me that the OP may be uncomfortable with what she perceives as 'plastic'--------think north Arlington above Lee Hwy (mostly Yorktown HS district).

OTOH: said OP does not want 'Columbia Pike' in Arlington either.

I am going by my experiences of Arlington of 30 years ago----------but, aside from from being even more expensive/crowded, it 'feels' about the same judging by many of the posters here.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by nva79

i live in fairfax and kind of feel the same way. i kind of prefer a little run down, real, yet still nice area. for example, a lot of people here hate springfield (i dont know why), but i love it. same thing with dc. a lot of people hate it, but i love it. i dont want to live in a perfectly safe, perfectly nice, boring area.

That is truly sad; Springfield in the mid 1970's (in particular pre gangbanger Springfield Mall) was really neat...........and, the vibe kept kept improving passing through Woodbridge on to Fredercksburg.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by car54

Bravo, busymom! My sentiments exactly. You have to live your life for YOU and your loved ones and to heck with the Joneses!

My former colleagues at the Pentagon are still laughing at me....and I DON'T CARE! LOL

Most of them, upon retirement, went with the big defense contractors making 6 figures.

In contrast, I went with FCPS driving a school bus for $35K....I don't need even that money. I'm having so much fun driving the bus, I'd do it for FREE! There's ZERO pressure and I have the joy of watching "my" 120+ kids grow and develop. I can't wait for school to start the week after next!

I'm so glad to be out of the rat race....they can laugh all they want!

You sound like a truly well-off person (in your heart).............and, I mean that

[imisscarlsbadcalifornia]

Originally Posted by sundevil85

This thread reminds me of a special on FSTV, I watched 4 years ago. It is called "Affluenza," and some of it is filmed in NovA. The gist of it, is these people in these large identical, vinyl siding homes feeling helpless. Part of it shows all of the two and three car garages that are full of unused stuff. People with Affluenza lack the self esteem necessary to get rid of their junk and clean out their garages. Another part deals with trash day, and if you ever seen one in NoVa, it is overwhelming. How could a family of four produce so much garbage. Another part deals with improper use of credit, which is also perfectly relevant. General Motors gets some blame for running a lifelong campaign to get people to buy big gas guzzling cars that they don't really need. These cars lose half of their value in two years. They also touch on how pathetic Christmas has become; bringing out the absolute worst in children and adults alike, and often setting off a series of financial hardships. I hope you all get a chance to watch it sometime. I think NoVa may be the "Affluenza" capital of the World.

I found a great article on it in Wikipedia. I hope you will have a look and leave your comments.
Affluenza - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

First I want to thank everyone who has contributed here. Even when opinions conflict or may be somewhat generalized, a reader and sometimes writer like me finds all of it beneficial. My husband just accepted a job in Dulles and we are looking at various neighborhoods. I read that some folks hate Ashburn for the same reason that others like it. My husband and I are both well educated, environmentally conscious, liberally minded, responsible, productive, childless by choice folks who take pride in our homes but are not stuffed to the gills with things we don't use/want/need. Reading about Ashburn has been good for me; I know that we will probably buy in historic Leesburg or Hamilton as I am not one at all for the ubiquitous architecture. Several people on this forum have been very helpful and have recommended great places to look for something unique but I had not yet heard about Countryside in Sterling, which is something I'll look into, so thank you for that.

I have a dear friend who absolutely loves communities like Ashburn. When you get right down to it, we're all different. She and I adore each other but choose to live very differently, and that's cool. I think it's probably good for all of us to live in communities that both reflect and reinforce our values and priorities. For us, something different, historic, or genuinely unique is what is in order. I keep my Mercedes pretty clean but would still dig a Viking range in one of those old Victorians (I've got my eye on two of them).

Thanks to everyone here for having definite viewpoints.

[nva79]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

That is truly sad; Springfield in the mid 1970's (in particular pre gangbanger Springfield Mall) was really neat...........and, the vibe kept kept improving passing through Woodbridge on to Fredercksburg.

I'm not sure what is sad. Springfield mall is going through major renovations. It is already nice. BTW, I'm not saying Springfield is better than Fairfax, as I would rather live in Fairfax. I'm just saying I like Springfield, and like to eat/shop/visit there. And I wasn't saying DC was run down. I was actually saying it is older, but has more history and flavor. It isn't just typical suburbia.

[TechlawyerinPG]

Thoroughly enjoyed this old thread; it reflects a struggle that many of us have as we decide where to live in this area and where to raise a family. Homogenous suburbian utopias are not for all of us.

[normie]

Originally Posted by littlewmn

There is a sense that things are very wrong under the veneer. That there is something wrong that people are trying desparately to hide. But I supose that is better than it being in the open. At least it is more- um- polite? Still- I also find it unnerving and creepy.

Comments like this crack me up. LOL, "Desperate Housewives" is a tv show, not reality. (At least, not with the people I know.) People in the suburban areas of NOVA are too busy commuting, working, and raising kids to live such complicated lives. Ashburn is, IMO, pretty much what it appears to be: manicured, "vanilla," a pleasant suburb that is populated by manicured, "vanilla," pleasant people. We suburbanites may be boring to you, but you'll find a lot of us in NOVA proud to be out in the 'burbs happily living simple, pleasant lives. Believe it or not, many people like living this way.

Anyone driving around Ashburn can see that it is mostly new housing, manicured lawns, and chain stores in strip malls. If that doesn't appeal to you, don't move there. I can't fathom why people move out to the suburbs if they don't like the suburban way of life.

Of course, another part of the question is: what do you consider colorful? Suburbs have plenty of colorful characters, but there are colorful characters and then there are really colorful characters. Really colorful characters tend to live in rundown urban neighborhoods. If "really colorful" is what you're seeking, the suburbs are not for you. You're not likely to find neighbors like that buying a house in the suburbs (unless they're living in their mother's basement or something like that). If you're looking for mildly colorful people, you'll find a good share of them living in the suburbs. And you may not discover them right away, because they probably won't be "in your face" about it.

For example, I spent the last year travelling around the country registering voters. IMO, that's pretty colorful. Some of my neighbors knew this, and in fact we had a neighborhood "inaugural ball" on Jan. 20th. But some of my other neighbors would have no idea. I didn't feel a need to knock on every door or wear some wild red-white-and-blue outfit or shout my feelings from the roof of my house or introduce myself to someone moving in with a laundry list of all my beliefs. Why? Because I'm just not a flamboyant person. I don't feel a need to put signs in my yards or stickers on my car. Why? Because I think those things look tacky. I like the manicured look of my neighborhood, that's why I bought a house here. It doesn't mean I'm "hiding" anything. It just means I think my lawn looks better without a tacky sign on it. And I think I look better wearing ordinary everyday clothes. In a word: vanilla. It's a flavor I like!

It may be years before you discover that the guy next door goes bungee jumping every weekend--it isn't that he's trying to "hide" it, it's just that suburbs tend to be attractive to people who don't like to wear their idiosyncracies on their sleeves.

Having said that, some parts of the suburbs are more colorful than others. If you really want to live with unusual neighbors, your best bet is probably to choose an older part of town. Ashburn has older sections. Or you could look at places like Countryside. I know a few people who live along Youngs Cliff Road, and believe me you will find characters out there!

[normie]

Originally Posted by claremarie

Well, you COULD move to the other side of the tracks -- then you could live next door to a house in foreclosure, and down the block from a house occupied by six unrelated men of questionable immigration status who park their cars on the lawn and drink on the stoop. Instead of perfect kids coming home from study sessions to head off to travel soccer practice, you could have gangs of surly, sullen, threatening teenagers who should be in school but are hanging out in someone's trash-strewn yard smoking and drinking. Your kids could go to school with children who barely speak English and whose parents can't properly supervise them because they are working two jobs to pay the bills, in a school that has failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress on the SOLs for the past three years and is therefore moving to a year-round schedule next fall and dropping recess and all art and music classes.

If you want "real," you can have it in spades by moving to one of those neighborhoods. But most of the folks who actually live there would trade places with you in a heartbeat.

As an aside, have you seen the original "Stepford Wives" movie? It might be just what you need....

LOL, we have a neighbor who got bored with Lowes Island a few years ago and moved to Georgetown. He lasted two years, then moved back. It was a little "too real" it turns out. Parking wasn't fun, and his colorful new neighbors turned out to be pretty dysfunctional. And strangely enough, he missed the stores in our strip mall. Apparently ethnic artifacts and artsy stores are fun to browse through, but after awhile you miss having a Target down the street. Go figure...

[jsbower]

so what is South Riding like?