Thoughts about Gainesville, VA (Manassas, Bull Run: where to stay, 2009, house)

[theBIGstep]

We are set to move to Gainesville VA and my husband and I are newbies to the NOVA area. Can anyone tell us more about the Gainesville area? Any cool places to check out? stay away from? Any future plans projected? What about the reassessed values and the new tax rate?

[FL Beaches]

Have you posted your questions on the Florida boards? You'd probably get more responses. I've lived in South FL, but I don't know a thing about the north.

Good luck!

[nwlv]

stay away from I-66. The battlefields are cool. My parent's house in 20155 was purchased for 217K, brand new in 1999. The same as its 2009 assessment. Nice area, with potentially hellish commutes.

[HEATHER72]

To FL Beaches... It is Gainesville VIRGINIA she is asking about.

There's no where to stay away from... not sure what you mean by that to be honest.

Gainesville is getting a ton of new restaurants at the moment. Some of the recent ones are Chick Fil A, Buffalo Wild Wings, Chili's and Mimi's Cafe. Next slated to open are Bertucci's, Desiderio and Chipolte. Dunkin Donuts and Cheeburger Cheeburger are coming to the same shopping center Wegmans is in. Wegmans is the coolest thing in Gainesville

Eventually there will be a shopping center directly north of Lake Manassas. There are several more town centers slated to be built around 29 and Linton Hall. The one at Wellington/Linton Hall has been pushed back because Belk's pulled out (yay! didn't care for them anyway). They found a new anchor store, but the store wanted to be located on the corner, so the whole thing has to be redesigned.

There are nice trails around the area. Lake Brittle is close too.

I forget what the new tax rate is.. it's like 1.20ish

[normie]

If you like gardening, Merrifield Garden Center just opened a new store out your way. This is a great company, and the Fair Oaks store has wonderful display gardens. The Gainesville store is probably just as nice if not better.

Traffic is gnarly there. Really, really bad. But if you're retired or otherwise don't need to worry about traffic I hear Gainesville is nice.

[HEATHER72]

Traffic is not bad here 24-7. Sure it gets busy around rush hour, but is that not true for all cities in the NOVA/DC area? At least we get a break from it the rest of the time.

Oh yeah... and love the new dog park at Merrifield.

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by theBIGstep

We are set to move to Gainesville VA and my husband and I are newbies to the NOVA area. Can anyone tell us more about the Gainesville area? Any cool places to check out? stay away from? Any future plans projected? What about the reassessed values and the new tax rate?

I've lived near Gainesville since 1973 and really like the area for the most part. Traffic can suck at times but that's par for the course for the entire DC area. There are many new and somewhat newer developments in the RT 619 (Linton Hall Rd) area as well as along Rt 29.
As mentioned we are seeing many new restaurants in the area but they are chains so nothing real special.
The area has seen an explosion in expansion over the last 10 years. Some of it good and some not so good. There are some nice golf courses along RT 29 if you're into that.
Not sure what the new tax rate is but visit www.pwcgov.org for more info.
If you need more info feel free to ask.

[Daisyduff]

We've been in Gainesville since 2002, and love the area. If you're into hiking, I recommend the Bull Run Mountain Nature Conservancy. It's about 5 minutes from Haymarket (right off of 55 towards The Plains), and a great place to go during the summer (very wooded, etc.).

When we first moved here, the strip mall with Giant was pretty much it. I've loved the addition of Target, Wegman's!, Harris Teeter, and the many new restaurants we now have. For a "date night" I recommend heading to the Iron Bridge Wine Company in Warrenton -- just about 20 minutes from Gainesville.

My husband commutes to Tyson's each day, but thinks the long commute is worth it. We know all our neighbors, have block parties during the summer, and the kids in the neighborhood all gather outside after school and during the summer to play. We have children so the quality of schools is VERY important to us. We have not been let down here -- and our kids have gone to both Alvey and Glenkirk. We also love the family-friendly feel of the place.

There are so many people moving into the area that I think it's a fairly easy area to mesh into. Once you've been here a couple of years you'll be an "old-timer."

Not sure what neighborhood you've moving into, but you really can't go wrong around here. Welcome to Gainesville!

[imisscarlsbadcalifornia]

Like Daisyduff, my husband commutes from Haymarket (same thing as Gainesville) to Dulles/Sterling every day and also agrees that it is worth it to him. As one poster on another thread put it, everyone's tolerance for commuting is different and of course you have to know what will and won't work for you. But for us, we have found people to be friendly here. We don't have kids so we don't get to know folks that way, but there are other ways to get involved if you choose to do so and truly, I think you'll like it here if you're looking for a nice place to live that still has a bit of a small town feel despite the obvious growth that is happening here.

If you have any flexibility about working hours and are willing to travel side routes vs. the 66 you may find that the drive time isn't too much of a bother. I temper this comment with the notion that we moved here in late October and have not experienced the Nissan Pavillion summer event traffic yet, so my comments could be taken as off track or unknowing by those who are more seasoned here.

VRE will likely know in more detail, but I'm hearing rumblings about a Metro stop being built out here but have no idea what that timeframe might look like. Your HOA, if you have one, could be a good source of local information updates too. Ours has a web site that is maintained pretty well and when I check it I often come across things I didn't know were in the works. You will probably find your neighbors happy to help you get your bearings.

Good luck to you with your move (so much work) and welcome to the area. There is a lot to like about living here.

[HEATHER72]

There are no current plans to bring the Metro to Gainesville. The VRE is still several years out. See article below.

Gainesville Times

Just avoid Wellington when there is a concert. There are plenty of back roads to get around Gainesville.