Concerns and questions about moving to Nova (Arlington, Alexandria: houses, employment)

[novadc]

Well, DC is different than Austin for sure. I have family in TX and am from GA originally. DC is much faster-paced, your pulse just quickens here. But I like that. Out in Chantilly it won't be as fast-paced as DC, but you'll still the vibe of the area is different than Austin. As far as education and status, you'll be fine. I will admit that I only have 1 friend who just has a bachelor's- all of my other friends have master's or higher, or are lawyers. I think DC has the most educated populace of any city, but there are many, many people here who don't have a master's, I'm sure. I've never asked someone on the street their degree or not befriended anyone who didn't have an equivalent degree. But you will find that in general, DC is a very work/accomplishment-focused area. The first question people will ask you is not where are you from or anything like that- it's "what do you do?" That's just part of the culture of this area.

Dress- DC is a dressy town, and it's a conservative town. Compared to Atlanta or Dallas or Austin, people here do dress up more. It's an East Coast thing. But, it's also not New York- we're not fashion central here. And I have a lot of friends who work in government offices that dress pretty casually and especially my non-profit friends dress very casually. I myself work from home and I go to Target in sweatpants, I could care less. It's not like we don't wear jeans and sneakers in DC. But I get what you're saying, and I would say that yes, in general, people on the East Coast and in DC dress up a bit more, although I would say that most of that is confined to DC itself. If you're going to be working out in Chantilly I would think it would be even more casual.

Kids- don't have them so I can't speak on that. Although there are often articles in the Post about how competitive the schools are here. Although it seems that's pervasive nationwide nowadays. My nieces in high school in GA have hours and hours of home work and are taking PSATS and thinking about college already in 9th grade.

Cost of living- get ready for your socks to blown off! Coming from GA I had NO idea how expensive DC was. You can certainly get better deals out in Chantilly than inside the Beltway. Others on here are more knowledgable than me, but I would think you could get a "nice" (such a relative term) house for 500-600k out there. Certainly doesn't compare to your 300k house, but that's considered affordable here. I would also say keep in mind property taxes in your calculations. I pay close to 6000 a year- on a townhouse! That is something that is definitely cheaper than in the South.

I won't give you personal advice about moving here since I don't know you, but it sounds like you really love where you live and are torn about moving closer to family. I go through the same thing- I really love DC but all my family is back in the South. I love all the things that make DC so unique- the "East Coast" vibe, the museums, the proximity to NY/mountains/beach, the weather (I love snow!), the vibe, etc. DC is great- but if you're looking for something close to Austin, I don't know if DC will fit the bill?

[arielmina]

some questions:

1. where will you and your husband be working?
2. why Centreville or Chantilly?
3. what do you and your family like to do in your spare time?

For what its worth, I live in Western Loudoun county which is kind of a different world entirely from Centreville, Chantilly area, but having moved here about a year ago, no one has asked me about my degrees and I am quite sure they couldn't care less whether i went to Harvard or West Podunk U So I personally would not be worried about that, but again, I am not close in to DC, and I think it's different there.

I personally love this area. Here's what I love about it - and bear in mind I came from the Metro NYC area:

1. The countryside is drop dead gorgeous, if you like green hills and trees. The fall colors are spectacular. And yes there still is alot of countryside out my way.
2. The people are so nice and down to earth. Where I am, it still feels like the stereotypical "South" where folks would give you the shirt of their back if you needed it. Very very friendly - but I am coming from NYC Metro so it may be that I was used to unfriendly before
3. The fact that we are so close to a major city (1 hr drive) and I love DC. I love the history and the opportunities it provides, plus being close to Dulles is a great thing for traveling families.
4. It's less expensive here for eveyrthing, than where I came from. Housing, taxes, gas etc. All cheaper here.
5. The schools are great. I have my kids in the Loudoun County system and they (and I) couldn't be happier.
6. Great access to shopping at the Leesburg Corner outlets, Dulles Mall and Tysons Corner.
7. Lots of outdoors activities. we love to hike, ride bikes and just in general explore and there's lot of opportunities for that where we live (again we're well west of where you're looking)
8. My hobby, and my daughters, is horseback riding, and it is dirt cheap here to ride and keep horses compared to where I was before.

What I don't like:

1. Lack of mom and pop restaurants - too many chain everythings
2. Somewhat transient culture
3. Extremely rapid development has really created a region in transition

SO, my point I guess is that it all depends on your perspective and what you expect out of the area. Coming from a place you currently adore, as it sounds you do, it's going to be a rough go. If you're openminded and really take the time to get to know the different areas, and make an educated choice, you can certainly be happy here.

[brooklynborndad]

"I fear that I may be putting my children in a rat race that I myself am reluctant to enter. If anyone has any comments about Fairfax county school and how their children are doing in them, I would love to hear it. I want my daughter to do well in school - but not pressure so much that she feels she can not succeed."

Not everyone in FCPS is highly pressured - we have our own dropouts, rumors of gangs, and also ordinary kids.

We ALSO have a well respected gifted talented program. It does have too much homework, in the GT centers, and some teachers who are not as good as we would have liked. It can vary a lot with the teacher. Some avoid it by just using pull out GT instead of having their kids in a center. For our kid, we prefered she stay in GT, for reasons you can private message about if you like. She went to TJ, a sci tech magnet - definitely too pressured, but in other ways a very good match for DD. Other schools are mostly less pressured, IIUC. But TJ is the only HS we have direct knowledge of.

[SteelCityRising]

I wouldn't move here. If you're living a comfortable upper-middle-class existence now in a lovely home with a gorgeous view you will not be able to find anything comparable here. The higher salaries you may earn in your field here as compared to Austin do not fully account for the higher cost of housing, which means you will definitely be in the odd situation of making more money AND having a diminished quality-of-life for it. I moved here from a declining part of Pennsylvania myself, telling myself this was the best move for my career. I then realized, though, that I'm living worse here on a $50,000 salary than I would be living back in my hometown on a $40,000 salary. Here on a $50,000 salary I struggle to keep a 1-BR apartment and pay my debt expenditures. On $40,000 in my hometown (or in many other cities) life wouldn't be such a struggle.

The cost of housing here is sheerly astronomical, and it's not uncommon to see condos and townhouses priced at or above $400,000 when in many other cities you could get a luxury single-family detached home for that same price. If you're each making $50,000 in Austin ($100,000 combined) and then move here to NoVA and make $75,000 each ($150,000 combined) that $50,000 in additional annual household income most likely will NOT be enough to match your former quality-of-life in Austin, I'm sorry to say.

I also don't feel as if I get very much "bang-for-the-buck" here in Fairfax County. I get horrific congestion (my commute home yesterday evening took nearly an hour to go 7 miles). I get a frenetic pace where people are in a rush all the time. I get the knowledge that as a single professional I'll never be able to afford my own home here. I get brushed far too much by people with "outta my way" Type-A personalities. If you don't have kids (and have no reason to care about the school quality), then Fairfax County's cost-of-living is a rip-off.

[Fern435]

It sounds like you are happy and thriving in Austin. I would stay in Austin rather than move here to NoVA, if I had the choice. The concerns you have about moving to NoVA (especially the social ones/fitting in) are real issues here, despite what some homeowners wishing to boost sales might say on this forum. This is a competitive, stressful area. Uprooting your family to live closer to relatives may not be the best fit in the long run. In some cases, distance between family members is a good thing.

Did your mother-in-law make that remark about your work attire in order to give you a sense of how people dress here, or was it intended to be a personal slam on your style?

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by ToDCKickingAndScreaming

I'd like to know - pros and cons to moving to NOVA. My hubby really wants to move to the DC area to be closer to his family. We are both software developers/engineers in Austin, TX (for the record, I love Austin).

From my calculations, it will cost us roughly $4200 more per month to live in Nova (probably Chantilly or Centreville area) - based on the expenses I know about - higher mortgage, state income tax, and much higher child care expenses. We have one kid with one on the way. What other expenses are going to bite us that are higher than the rest of the country?

Right now we live in a large house in a great neighborhood within walking distance to restaurants and an amazing view of Texas Hill Country - our house was less than 300K. For about 550K we can get a SF house in Nova - but it does not seem in any way comparable.

Also - this may sound silly, but hear me out - as an engineer here in Austin, I feel respected and successful. I seem to fit in just fine. Based on some comments my mother-in-law has made, I get the feeling that only having a bachelor's degree from a state school will put me on some lower rung of society "in the Washington DC area" and that no one will respect me unless I at least have a masters.

Also, I dress a little on the hippy/casual side, even for work - and I fit in fine in Austin as Austin is a very accepting and casual city. My mother in law has made the comment "that is NOT how they dress in the Washington DC area!" to me when I was wearing casual clothes to work. So my question is, is my mother in law just being odd and silly, or is this the way people really are "in the Washington DC area". I want to make sure I can fit in and make friends.

Yes, I have heard about the excellent schools in Fairfax County. I fear that I may be putting my children in a rat race that I myself am reluctant to enter. If anyone has any comments about Fairfax county school and how their children are doing in them, I would love to hear it. I want my daughter to do well in school - but not pressure so much that she feels she can not succeed.

Anyway, I know, lots of questions... Thanks for your time reading this and I appreciate any answers and comments.

You seem happy in Austin. I would not want to screw that up by moving to Northern Virginia. You are just not a good fit for the Northern VA will throw at you.

Oh yeah, Virginia has a car tax that I'm told TX does not have. That's something to think about from one who is weighing staying in KY or Southern VA (car tax states) or moving to OH or TX (no car tax.)

[normie]

Originally Posted by novadc

As far as education and status, you'll be fine. I will admit that I only have 1 friend who just has a bachelor's- all of my other friends have master's or higher, or are lawyers. I think DC has the most educated populace of any city, but there are many, many people here who don't have a master's, I'm sure. I've never asked someone on the street their degree or not befriended anyone who didn't have an equivalent degree.

Nicely said! And as proof.... I don't have a clue how many degrees the various regulars on the forum have (or if they have a degree at all). Some of us have been posting here on a daily basis for years, but it's never come up.

If you do run into a degree snob at a party, just move on to someone else. There's bound to be someone better that you can talk to.

[brooklynborndad]

"The concerns you have about moving to NoVA (especially the social ones/fitting in) are real issues here, despite what some homeowners wishing to boost sales might say on this forum. "


I am not trying to boost sales of anything.

[arielmina]

Originally Posted by Fern435

The concerns you have about moving to NoVA (especially the social ones/fitting in) are real issues here, despite what some homeowners wishing to boost sales might say on this forum.

Why don't we keep in mind that NOVA is a big area and some areas ARE different, and not quite as bad as whatever your individual experience has been? I think the OP should look around, widen her area that she's looking in (if she can) and then make a decision. Coming onto a board like this and making a decision based either on a couple of malcontents, or people with other intents or other experiences is not the smartest way to go.

OP may not be happy here, but she should check it out herself and then decide.

[brooklynborndad]

"The cost of housing here is sheerly astronomical, and it's not uncommon to see condos and townhouses priced at or above $400,000 "

there are loads of people here who devoutly wish they could get 400k for their TH or condo.