Federicksburg (Richmond, Fredericksburg, Fort Belvoir: insurance, schools, university)

[mla2177]

Whar can you tell me about the Fredericksburg area?

[cb at sea]

What 'cha want to know? It's a "small town" feel, with lots of folks in the surrounding areas. Decent schools, not a lot of "night life", but decent shopping nowadays. Traffic is horrendous, since I-95 runs through town. But, you can zip onto the interstate in 3 different areas, so leaving town is a breeze!
The University of Mary Washington is here, but don't start thinking this is a "college town"...it's not. The residents resent the students, and vice versa. You would think a college town would have lots of stuff going on, geared to the younger generation, but you'd be wrong. Like I said...this is not a town that caters to the 20-somethings.
The high paying jobs are north or south of here...either DC or Richmond. However, this is a convenient place...and we do have our "pluses", especially in recent years. Many restaurants and stores have located here, so we do have more options than in years past!

If you could be more specific, we'll try to answer!

[slowlane3]

Fredericksburg was originally built at the "fall line" (head of navigation) on the Rappahannock River. It has a charming, historic colonial-era district, Mary Washington University, and a hospital. One major employer is GEICO insurance.

By contrast, the west side of the city, near I-95 has lots of sprawling development and 2 very large shopping centers which draw customers from many outlying rural counties around.

You could say that the city is kind of on the borderline culturally between the North and South. 4 major Civil War battles were fought within a few mile radius. The limited number of bridges on the Rappahannock River creates a traffic bottleneck sometimes on Route 1, when all the interstate traffic, beachgoers, etc. is combined with regional shoppers and daily commuters.

For a number of years Fredericksburg has had regular commuter train service to Washington DC and points between (google Virginia Railway Express), whose ridership is increasing, but it's a long haul, and rather expensive.

By any chance, are you one of the thousands of people being relocated to Fort Belvoir under BRAC ?