Games Played in Northern Virginia (Fairfax, Washington: real estate, homeowners insurance, mortgages)

[Mike from back east]

Here are links to a 3-part story that ran in the Washington Post in 2004.

Part 1: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...47930-2004Aug7 Title: "Space for Employers, Not for Homes"

Part 2: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...-2004Aug8.html Title: "Washington's Road to Outward Growth" (We looked at some of the houses in Huntfield as a possible retirement location, but felt it was just stupid to live in the middle of a bunch of cow pastures in the middle of nowhere. Still, people live here for the affordability and commute to the DC region daily.)

Part 3: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...-2004Aug9.html Title: “Planners' Brains vs. Public's Brawn"

Gist of the series is this: Fairfax County, VA (and Montgomery County in MD) deliberately issue more permits for office space for people to WORK in their county than they do permits for housing for people to LIVE in their county.

This imbalance of more jobs than housing increases the demand for housing (artificially-created housing shortage). Prices for the available in-county homes go up. Way up. As prices go up, so do assessments. Real estate taxes go up following increased assessments. You pay higher mortgages on higher-priced homes, you pay higher taxes on those homes, you pay more for homeowners insurance....

These practices impact the ability of young couples to live near where they work, so they move to counties further out, i.e., Prince William, Loudoun, Stafford, Fauqier, etc. (In MD, they go out to Frederick, Carroll, Howard, and Washington County, or WV or PA.)

Cost of building roads, schools for the kids of these young couples, and water & sewer lines falls more heavily on distant counties, so up go taxes in those counties.

With fewer young couples there are fewer new students. The other year was the first time in memory the Fairfax County school construction budget leveled off, the strategy is really taking hold - make thy neighbor pay.

Roads everywhere in the area are burdened with traffic trying to get from the more affordable outlying areas to the jobs in the business centers in Fairfax - creating the famous gridlock the area is so noted for having.

Police and fire resources are needed where people live. Eleven o'clock at night the Fairfax PD doesn't get domestic disturbance calls from empty ghost towns of office buildings, Fairfax FD gets fewer calls for kitchen or chimney fires. Police and Fire depts in the outlying counties get those calls and bear the costs of providing the emergency services, and court costs, and jail costs, and social service costs…..

Before moving to the DC area and it's nationally recognized traffic problems, understand the games going on and how it costs you a lot more. If possible, take your money and run. I did. See my post in Colorado forum, in a thread called "Why Choose Colorado Springs."

s/Mike