Does it exist? (condos, crime rate, home)

[espen]

I am originally from Norway and I am planning to move to the DC/NY area, as my business requires me to. Most professionals within my field are either located in NY or DC so I need to live relatively nearby one of them (or both) to attract good employees but also to utilize the networks there.

However, I am not too keen on the "city-life" and the cost of living is just way too high, I calculated that the cost of living in DC is almost 40% higher than in Denver. If I could find a nice little suburb home where crime rate is relatively low, the cost of living is closer to Denver, a decent social life (parks, cinemas, coffee shops, restaurants, in general: things to do), cosmopolitan, younger demographics (30s – 40s) but within a decent commute to DC or NY (2 – 2.5 hours with train or car), then I would be perfectly happy.

But I fear this does not exists…

Anyone aware of anything that is remotely close to what I just described?

Thank you for your time in advance

Regards,
Espen

[juniperbleu]

I don't think it's very "cosmopolitan," but maybe you could try Fredericksburg? It's a small town, but not hick. Very cute downtown area, good restaurants (non-chain in downtown, chain out closer to I-95), safe, etc. Without traffic, it's 45-60 minutes from DC. However, let's face it, there's almost always traffic so a weekday commute would be longer. There's the VRE train that runs up to Union Station (takes about an hour, I think), as well as van pools or "slugging" (informal car pools) that help cut down the commute since it lets you in the HOV lanes.

If you post this on the Northern Virginia forum there's people there who know more than I do about the area.

[nva79]

Originally Posted by juniperbleu

Without traffic, it's 45-60 minutes from DC. However, let's face it, there's almost always traffic so a weekday commute would be longer. There's the VRE train that runs up to Union Station (takes about an hour, I think)

Fredricksburg is two hours by VRE, and more than an hour by car. That being said it is nice. For the most part DC and NY are safer then Denver. That being said, there are a few areas in DC and NY that arent safe. Just stay north of the anacostia and west of rock creek park in dc. parts of pg county are dangerous, but other than that the DC suburbs are safe. In NY, stay south of 110th street in manhattan, avoid the south bronx, parts of north jersey, parts of brooklyn, and parts of LI. While cost is definately higher, safety is common place outside of a few areas you probably werent looking at anyway. In NY, look at LI city in Queens. It is right next to Manhattan and much more affordable. In NVA, look in arlington and fairfax county. In DC, look near the ballpark, as there are a lot of new condos, and the area is MUCH better now than it was a few years ago. Good Luck!

[juniperbleu]

Actually, looking back at the original post, you may want to ask the same question on the Northern Virginia or Maryland forum, since you're not interested in "city life". They'd know more further-out areas that are less urban and less expensive.

[goozer]

Hmmm. Two hours out by car/train gives you a lot of relatively affordable options (compared to the immediate DC metro area). I would look at Winchester, VA, Middleburg, VA, Frederick, MD, and Martinsburg, WV. You will not, however, find a lot of young 30-something professionals in these places because those sorts of people tend to live closer to DC for the jobs (places like Ashburn, VA). Still, the are affordable and they do qualify as cities.

[PenguinSix]

What about Annapolis, MD?

Quite a lot of 30-something crowd downtown and still within an hour to DC.