Moving To Fredericksburg (Richmond, Fairfax, Chester: cul-de-sac, real estate, rental homes)

[pastrymom]

My husband's job is relocating us to Fredericksburg from San Bernardino, California. We have never been to the east coast before and have no family/friends there. At least coming from Southern California, we are use to massive crowds and traffic. It seems to be a smart move, from reading other comments, to live in Fredericksburg at first since that is close to his work. So, how is this city? We have two girls, 5 and 8. Our 8 year old is hard-of-hearing, but is mainstreamed at school and at the top of her class. I was looking at Garrisonville Elementary's website. It seems like a great school and very close to my husbands work. Can anyone please help on info for living in this city, this/other schools and any information on your travel/club soccer teams. Our 8 year old is also on a club team GU9 here.
Thanks

[EricD]

It actually seems like a lot of people are moving from Cali to the Fredericksburg area. (well, maybe not a LOT, but enough for me to notice). Anyways, I would suggest to avoid living too far down Rt. 3 in Spotsy... for every mile west of I-95 you are, it'll take you 15 more mins on your commute. Stafford is ok, but I grew up in Spotsylvania, so I'm bias.

Home prices are still kinda inflated in the Fredericksburg area, but some of the best deals are actually new homes... builders are even accepting lower offers than their asking prices... so don't rule out a new home. I actually moved to the Ladysmith area when it came time to buy a home. It's 20 miles south of Fredericksburg off of I-95, but traffic and everything is a lot better down there. My best friend's wife is actually the deaf teacher for the Caroline County schools... so obviously I think she does a good job, but then I might be bias there as well.

Anyways, there's my 2-cents... post some more when you look at spicific areas, and then I might have some more advice to give.

Good luck.

[pastrymom]

Thanks EricD. There is some great info on this site. Can someone give me there thought on the difference living in Stafford/Spotsy. compared to W. Henrico area. Schools seem pretty much the same. We are going to be in Fredericksburg to visit my husbands new work location for a week next Sunday the 18th. I really want to get to as many areas as we can. It seems like Richmond areas are more advised to move to. I don't hear too many people talk about moving to Stafford or Spotsylvania areas.

[EricD]

Originally Posted by pastrymom

It seems like Richmond areas are more advised to move to. I don't hear too many people talk about moving to Stafford or Spotsylvania areas.

You have to look at the size of city. Up until about 15 -20 years ago, Fredericksburg was a sleepy historical town of 20-30k people. Now the area has a population around 1/4 a million people. Things have been booming in the Fredericksurg area since the early 80's and you can tell. It kinda grew too fast, and still needs a bit of work to accomodate the amount of people living there. The counties are doing a good job now, making a lot of road and school improvements, but they have some catching up to do.

As for Richmond, you have a more established city; a bigger city, where there are more areas and sub-urbs to talk about. Comparing Fredericksburg to Richmond isn't fair... it would be more reasonable to compare Fredericksburg to Glen Allen alone.

One thing about Fredericksburg is that, since the population has grown so much so quickly, about 90% of people in the Fredericksburg area have been living there for 20 years or less. This might help, being a newcomer, since almost everyone in town can relate.

If you want any suggestions of exactly where to visit while in Fredericksburg, just ask.

[allaroundtheeast]

I personally would rather live in Henrico than Spotsylvania or Stafford. To give you an idea on my perspective I'll offer some background information. I lived in a suburb on NYC until I entered high school, then my parents moved to Spotsylvania and I am currently a college student living in Richmond. I am an urban studies and public management major, so I find city and regional design and culture interesting (geeky, I know). Anyway...honestly, I do not care for the Fredericksburg region. Nor do many people I know who live there currently, and move there. My parents are even trying to relocate. I constantly find myself going shopping by Washington or Richmond because there is only one mall in Fredericksburg with only mid-grade stores. The local hospital is good, but does not have a trauma center, so anytime there is a horrific accident, the victim is flown to either Fairfax (by Washington) or Richmond. Entertainment is limited. Richmond has clubs, theatres, late-night dining, several unique districts. Fredericksburg has a small historic district with small museums, antique shops, eateries, but not much more. Also, the area is extremely transient. People come and go constantly. My parents live on a small cul-de-sac and have been there for 5 years, and every house has been sold at least once in that time. This is because many people work for the federal government and are forced to relocate, where in Richmond, there are many other industries to work for, and the state government which doesn't relocate people so much. Obviously, being a college student, I am not in the position you are with a family, but I would urge you to research more before you move. Henrico is about an hour from the Fredericksburg area, so commuting would be rough. Fredericksburg tends to get a lot of support from the bigger cities within close proximity, such as Richmond and Washington, therefore the amenities in Fredericksburg are not as plentiful. I love the Richmond area and the surrounding suburbs in Henrico and Chesterfield. If you are looking around the Richmond area, I would urge you to look at Carytown, Shockoe Bottom, and the Monument Avenue/Fan/Museum District Area in the City of Richmond just to see some of nicest parts of the city. In Henrico, look around the area around the Short Pump Town Center. It is a newer, suburban area with highway and back road access to Richmond. The Richmond area has so much more culture and dining and shopping experiences than Fredericksburg. It is just a matter of preference I suppose. Hope this helps!

[ashbrn4]

My parents live in Fredericksburg and my dad is a real estate agent there. If your husband is working there you might as well live there. Why add to his commute if you don't have to? I work in Northern VA, in Fairfax county and we have employees who live in Fredericksburg commute to our office because housing is cheaper. There is everything you could really want in Fredericksburg. We joke that they have every restaurant known to man. There is also every store that is in any other area. I would argue that there are plenty of amenities in Fredericksburg and it's close enough to take day trips to Richmond or DC if you want.

[pastrymom]

Thanks for all the great information. It is so hard when you've never visited an area and there are so many different areas to look at. Glen Allen seems like a really nice area. We will be there for a week next Monday. I am trying to get with an agent to show me around. I'm curious about traffic there. I've been told it will take about an hour from Richmond area to Fredericksburg for my husband to get to work in the morning. Is this traveling at least 60 mph or is this traveling more like 30 mph with a lot of other cars. Here in S. Cal., if it takes you an hour to get to work, you are only traveling about 10-30 mph the whole trip. Which is really aggravating since it would normally take you 25 min. without all the people. I remember when we moved to Arizona and people spoke of traffic and I laughed. Their idea of traffic was more than 15 cars on the freeway at the same time. Although, that was back in 93 and things have changed.

[EricD]

There is little traffic between Glenn Allen, and Fredericksburg... Mostly because people would either be commuting into Richmond (The other direction), or up to DC from Fredericksburg... Things start to get heavy in the mornings and evenings from exit 126 and to the north... but I'm sure that's nothing compared to S. Cal... Also, it's nothing compared to Northern VA, so he'll be fine.


But I agree with the other poster... why make his commute into an hour, when you can live in almost the same type of area right where he works? People who live in Fredericksburg would kill for a job in town, since about 80% of them have to commute an hour or more to other places to get a high paying job. Both Fredericksburg and Glen Allen are sub-urbs... There has to be some reason you want to move there...

[pastrymom]

One major reason I keep looking into the Henrico areas are because it seems like we can rent a larger home for less money there than Fredericksburg and the schools are great. We aren't ready yet to buy a home so we will rent first. Believe me, I would move to Fredericksburg in a second if I found a nice enough home for a great price and near a great school. Especially if the towns are similar. I have looked at some schools in Fredericksburg and they were good also, I need to look again. I can't wait to get there next week to look around. I will look in Fredericksburg and around the area and in Richmond. Ashbrn4, does your father deal with rental homes in the Fredericksburg area? If so, may I get his number to call him to make an appointment so he may show me some homes. I will need help since I only will have 4 days. I need to try to get some fun things in there also. Our 8 yr. old would like to see where George Washington lived. I'm so glad I found this site. You all have been so great with all your information. We are really hoping this job will go through so we can move.

[ashbrn4]

He personally doesn't handle rentals. You might just want to call one of the agencies and ask who has listings or agents that do. He works for Weichert Realtors.

George Washington lived in Mt. Vernon, which is about an hour from Fredericksburg, up on the Potomac, east of 495. It's a great place to visit, but so are all the monuments, battlefields, museums, etc in the DC area. Fredericksburg has a battlefield, and plenty of history. I've bought several antiques on Caroline Street.