Relocating to Virginia - opinions wanted (Norfolk, Richmond: real estate, vehicle registration, low crime)

[cmbp]

In about a year and a half I'll be relocating to Virginia.

I am not very familiar with Virginia, with the exception of Petersburg, and even so I'm not a Petersburg expert.

I am looking for a place anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half from DC, preferably in the mountain area. A waterfront community is also an option. Somewhere the income is in the middle, (not mostly high class snobs) and a decently low crime rate. I would also prefer not to be completely overrun with college kids or in a community notorious for racists. In a perfect world, I'd find a city similar to Asheville, NC, which is known quite well for diversity and a thriving arts community, and you aren't gawked at on the street for being "out of the norm."

Any recommendations are appreciated, as well as areas to steer away from.
Thank you.

[htlong]

look at winchester or warrington area, lake anna is south of DC off i-95,

[WillV]

Not close to the water, but a nice little town, perfect size (50 K in the city)...only bad thing is that real estate is expensive...but cooling some...

[Electron]

20 minutes west of Winchester is The Summit at Lake Holiday.

[patch]

We reside in the Eastern part of Virginia, called Northern Neck. A small town Kilmarnock/Irvington. The area is just lovely, we moved from Washington D.C. about ten years ago. We are located about an hour from Williamsburg, two and a half hours from d.c. and hour and a half from Richmond. Also 38 miles from Newport News. The town of Kilmarnock is quaint with excellent resturants and shops. Real Estate for now is affortable, , however waterfront property is getting very high due to people buying second homes from Richmond and D.C. and people retiring from the North. There are several rivers that open to the bay, wildlife is abundant. The weather is mild, with the exception of this past summer but it was HOT everywhere. Virginia as a rule has much better weather than S.C. and N.C.
Depending on what you are looking for you may wish to consider the area, before Real Estate goes out of sight. P.S. The real plus is that crime is so so low and people are friendly and Honest.

[cmbp]

You guys have been a great help.

I tried asking this question in a few other places and it was a total idiot convention. So thank you also, for showing me that everyone with internet access isn't a moron.

[williamter]

Virginia is a personal property tax State which means there is a tax on things such as your car, boat and can be quite high depending on its value. This is in addition to the Motor Vehicle Registration. There is also a City Tax depending on what City (Newport News, Norfolk etc. ) in VA your vehicle(s) are registered in. This requires a window sticker displayed indicating where the vehicle originates from. These are annual taxes. This I found out after moving to Newport News in 2002 to be closer to my daughter who was in the Navy and stationed at Norfolk Naval. I left in 2004 because of this outrageous tax.

[kcrossley]

I'm moving to VA the end of this year and now you've got me a little worried. Can you give me an idea of how much you were paying in taxes?

[htlong]

the car tax isnt that bad unless you have several vehicles, my plates are 36.00, 20.00 county sticker and on three vehicle and a trailer i pay around 250, a year. the newer the car the more tax , the car tax has been slowly lowerd over the years.
there is no city tax coming out of your pay check each week which adds up to more tax per year than the car tax. i was in ohio last month and their plates cost 56.00 per car. plus you pay a city tax each week!
if you have several newer vehicles yes it will cost more ...but if you can afford to have several new cars i guess you can stomach the tax, lol !

[Trishyj]

My brother has lived in Leesburg, VA for many years and has always talked highly of the area.