Moving to Virginia. Fredricksburg O.K.? (Richmond, Fredericksburg: waterpark, new home, transfer)

[rostby]

My wife and I are being transfered to Virginia. I will be going to Northern Va. and D.C., her to Richmond. It was suggested that Fredricksburg would be a good mid point to look to live. Any suggestions of nice areas around Fredricksburg? Is Frdricksburg a nice City?

[Mojogirl]

The city of fredericksburg is nice & colonial, especially their historic downtown where you will find quaint shops and dining. But most people live in Spotsylvania county. When I lived there 3 years ago, the better areas were west of I95 and away from the mall & central park (due to traffic)

RT 3 stays packed. Lots of traffic in and around this area. There always seems to be a new development popping up everytime I visit there (once a month). I wouldn't consider any part of F'burg to be urban but you have plenty of choices if you want suburban or rural living. Also, your wife is going to have the easier commute, even though the milage is the same. There's a fair amount of touristy things happening in the area especially with the new addition of Celebrate Virginia. I hear they are building a waterpark there. YaY for slides & fun, BOOOOOO for traffic! I can only imagine what that's gonna do to the overall area. If you like history, you're definitely going to the right area. Lots of civil war battlefields, monuments, cemetaries, etc.

It's a nice area, especially for families. Good luck!

[jenluvshomes]

Check out Lee's Parke, nice community. http://www.richmondamerican.com/Shop...Type=Community

[niklex]

We lived near F'burg for 4 years for essentially the same reason...it was the midpoint of our daily commutes. Unless you are a millionaire, I suspect that you will not be living in the quaint area of downtown F'burg, but rather will be looking at the local subdivisions. If you want to get some decent land area, then you will need to look at neighborhoods that are 15-20 minutes from I-95. We lived off of Gordon Road in a smallish subdivision that got pretty claustrophobic quickly...then we moved to a great neighborhood just barely over the Orange County line in Locust Grove called "Meadowland." If you don't mind being 15-20 minutes from I-95, then I recommend you look into that neighborhood. You won't find anything else like it in the area (some properties have 10+ acres w/ horses) and many of the residents commute to DC daily. You can get into a house for less than 500k, though.

[EricD]

Do you mind saying your price range?

And I personally like Idlewild... it's behind the Home Depot off rt. 3, just EAST of i-95. (not the new home depot west of I-95) Homes start there for around $300k. (Which is a deal... my wife and I were looking in there just over a year ago, and back then homes were well over $400k)

You're coming in at a good time, since the market is depressed. As long as you're planning on staying here for more than 2 years, buying now would be a good investment.

the only downside I can think of for Fredericksburg is the traffic. Besides the historic downtown area, there is no grid system... meaning to get from point A to point B, you're often stuck with only 1 way to go. It's not too bad except in the evening rush hour, when everyone's trying to get from the same point A to the same point B, down the same road at the same time, with no other way to go. There are back roads, but even if you know all the short cuts in the area... a lot of times you're still just stuck in traffic with no way around the problem.

But again, besides that it's a great place. I was born and raised in Spotsylvania, it's a great area.

[scote3232]

You may want to also check out Caroline County for a midpoint. I have friends that work in Richmond and in NOVA. They seem to like it.