D.C. Suburbs -- Southern Maryland or Northern Virginia

[ngruskin]

Yes, I am very Arlington-ish. If we didn't have to move to the D.C. area for my husband's job, we would have looked for a single family in either Arlington or Lexington. We won't be visiting the area to see anything in person until next month, but I'm beginning to get discouraged by looking at on-line lisitings. Even with a cap of say 750k, everything seems so cookie-cutterish. On the other hand, a good deal of what I see in that range in the Old Town and Del Ray sections of Alexandria looks great. My husband is going to stay in a hotel in Old Town next week for a business trip and see what his commute would actually be like to Reston; if it's truly awful, then we may just cross Alexandria off the list so I don't tour it, fall in love with it, and then have to face the fact that the commute makes it impossible.

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by TheseGoTo11

I moved here from Boston, you sound very Arlington-ish, but you might also like Reston. Northern VA has become a lot more liberal in the years I've lived here, Reston is filled with Obama bumper stickers, although it looks very manufactured compared to what you typically see in New England.

Also, watch out with town names. Unlike Mass, many towns here are just zip codes. So if you see Falls Church, it could be part of the city of Falls Church, which has old neighborhoods and good schools, or just a Falls Church address within Fairfax County, which is rundown. You really need to Google Earth and check school districts before making assumptions based on a town names.

Just out of curiosity, what looks "very manufactured" - Reston itself or the manner in which people display Obama bumper stickers?

If the former, I think I understand your point - Reston was a planned community (with add-ons), so it didn't develop organically like an older New England town. If the latter, I wonder how we should better display our bumper stickers in NoVa.

Also, you and the OP seem to be referring to different Arlingtons - you seem to be recommending Arlington VA and I think she is saying she'd be happy to live in Arlington MA!

Your point about the zip codes is a good one, but shouldn't be taken too far - i.e., Fairfax Station is more upscale than the town of Fairfax, parts of Fairfax County with Vienna mailing addresses are generally more expensive than most of the town of Vienna, and there are parts of Falls Church in Fairfax County (but not the city) that are by no means run-down, although other parts could surely use a face-lift.

[ngruskin]

Oops--my mistake, you are right. Upon re-reading, I now understand that "TheseGoTo11" was referring to Arlington, VA. Maybe it's a sign that all roads lead to Arlington, no matter what state you live in?!