The future of hr (Norfolk, Richmond: cul-de-sac, low crime, houses)

[lovnova]

I can see this topic is not worth discussing anymore.

[UHgrad]

Originally Posted by lovnova

I can see this topic is not worth discussing anymore.

Was it something I said? I thought it was a pretty civil discussion so far, especially by internet standards. What direction did you want to send the discussion in?

[Deluusions]

Originally Posted by UHgrad

I didn't realize it was Alpha- already. #10 on the global cities index even... impressive.

Global city - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That said, would you rather be living in NYC (#1) or Honolulu (not on the list) in January? There is more to quality of life than a global power index.

I would obviously rather be in Hawaii than NYC in the winter. Although weather is a not a big factor when I choose to place to live. With all the amentities it offers I would still live in NYC although the weather can be harsh during the winter time.

[Poquoson7]

Originally Posted by lovnova

I can see this topic is not worth discussing anymore.

Worth is relative, it crosses all lines.....

[UHgrad]

Originally Posted by Poquoson7

Worth is relative, it crosses all lines.....

This is probably why these types of discussions end up degrading into peoples personal preferences, there is no generally accepted criteria for what makes someplace a good place to live that we all agree on then assess against... also individual circumstances vary greatly.

[Poquoson7]

Indeed and agreed

[Poquoson7]

Originally Posted by UHgrad

That said, would you rather be living in NYC (#1) or Honolulu (not on the list) in January? There is more to quality of life than a global power index.

Hawaii, all of it! Those islands captured my heart a long time ago. I HEART it very much!

[jillybean720]

Agree 100% with "the velocity of growth does not a great area make." Fast growth often comes with lacking infrastructure to support it. Transportation especially has a hard time keeping up. Schools that had regular budget surpluses quickly became overcrowded with huge budget shortages leading to such ideas as charging students to ride school buses to public schools. Smart growth beats fast growth any day.

Originally Posted by UHgrad

I'm not disagreeing with the cost of living to private sector income argument you are making for VB generally, and I agree that military BAH skews the market higher than it would be otherwise... but the $100 difference between Loudoun county seems a little suspect to me. Are you perhaps trying to live right next to the water in VB or in a very expensive part of the city? It is just hard for me to believe you are comparing apples to apples since zillow lists the median home price in VB at $245,000 and median home price in Loudoun county at $442,000.

Median prices don't really mean much - paid $314k for our home in NOVA just 2.5 years ago, significantly less than median price that was still well above $400k then, while our VB home cost us more than that, so higher than median price. A "median" home in each area isn't necessarily comparable to one another; I'm quite sure a $245k VB home won't be the same as a $442k Loudoun home. I won't go into all the specifics here (frankly, I wrote it all out, and it was entirely too long just to prove a point that is really only relevant to me personally), but, yes, the homes are very comparable, and our new home is in Salem Woods (not near water, not in the best school district, not in a very expensive area).

In the end, the only thing that brought us to VB is family (though I'm happy to escape the "keeping up with the Jonses" mentality of NOVA, but I could have gone elsewhere for that). And the only thing that brought my family to VB in the first place is that my sister married a guy who joined the Navy!

[zxbane]

JB,

Where would you see yourself moving if family wasn't a factor?

[UHgrad]

Originally Posted by jillybean720

Median prices don't really mean much - paid $314k for our home in NOVA just 2.5 years ago, significantly less than median price that was still well above $400k then, while our VB home cost us more than that, so higher than median price. A "median" home in each area isn't necessarily comparable to one another; I'm quite sure a $245k VB home won't be the same as a $442k Loudoun home. I won't go into all the specifics here (frankly, I wrote it all out, and it was entirely too long just to prove a point that is really only relevant to me personally), but, yes, the homes are very comparable, and our new home is in Salem Woods (not near water, not in the best school district, not in a very expensive area).

Fair enough, I'm sure you did the research before you moved so I'm not gonna argue with you. I wouldn't go as far as saying median prices don't mean much... but I take your point that a median home in different places are not always apples to apples. The houses up there are definitely larger an newer in general from my experience so that will skew the median price upward.

PS, if you don't mind me asking... what's good about living in Loudoun county aside from the pay? I realize it's a big county but when I go up there to visit my friend in Sterling it just seems like a bunch of strip malls and subdivisions. It takes over an hour to get to DC with the traffic and even going to Tysons corner is a hassle since 7 is usually a mess. I am genuinely interested, not being sarcastic or anything.