Possible transfer from Austin, TX to Front Royal,VA (Reston: lease, how much)

[hillrob]

Possible transfer from Austin to Front Royal. Looking for a place to live somewhat comparable to Austin. Don't mind commuting. Will be renting with a possiblity of lease to purchase. Married with a 1 yr old.

[MSUdom5]

Sweet.

[5stones]

Ft Royal is a small town and pretty isolated from a metropolitian center. I like it and it does have a bit of a funky vibe and some good resturants and shopes etc..
Austin is the state Capitol with a major University and nationally recognised music scene etc...
Night and Day.

The closest area that would even come close would be Charlottsville and then possibly Harrisonburg...but those will be over an hour away etc... and will seem pretty small townish compared to Austin.
Reston has some things that might be of intrest but again an hour+ without traffic
As well as Leesburg, has a neat downtown and concert series etc... but again 1hour+
Most of the areas to east are going to be pretty suburban in nature Manassas, Chantilly, Gainvilles etc... think of Round Rock on steriods.

My suggestion is find a place to rent in Front Royal, (it might surprise you) then you can spend weekends and freetime driving around to find an area that suits your culture needs as well as your commute and price etc...

[hillrob]

5stones, Thanks.

Realistly, how far is Winchester from Front Royal. Is Wincherster a large city? We don't need a large town but some enternainment, restaurants and shopping not antique shopping (for the wife).
Round Round on steroids is what we are looking for.

[5stones]

Winchester is pretty small, has a nice walkplatz downtown and a few stores, resturants etc...
It would be about 45 minutes in commute time (I think).
Winchester has about 27,000 pop and Front Royal is about 15,000. So not much difference in size.
Winchester has a bit more "suburbia" but still pretty rural. It's closer to Leesburg and DC though, for day trips.
Antique shopes are everywhere so no need to worry about that.

So, if you like Round Rock are than you are looking more for suburbia and not "city" like Austin propper. Correct?
Charles Town WV then might be a place to look, but again it's about an hour, but it has really built up in the last few years and has some very nice neighobrhoods.

[stpickrell]

Most of the subdivisions in Winchester/Front Royal are 'get your 1+ acre in the country and be left alone' ... as opposed to 'be a part of this instant community!' which is what Haymarket/Ashburn/Ashburn part of Leesburg/Charles Town are all like.

FWIW.

Agree with Charles Town, that's where some of the suburban subdivisions are ... but I'd probably want Haymarket instead ... new suburbia with a better commute to Front Royal and a better generic commute to the rest of the DC area.

[sjankis630]

Others have mentioned how different Front Royal is from Austin. I have never been to Austin but I imagine that Front Royal is way way smaller and sleepier than you would want. (not that there is anything wrong with that - I know some very nice people who live out there and love it) and it is pretty far out of the way vs getting to some place bigger.
You didn't mention if your job was in Front Royal or not. I am assuming so since you are asking about living there. My one question to you about Austin "like" living is how much driving do you typically do in Austin? I can guarantee that if you live in Front Royal you will be probably doing a considerable amount of driving to get yourself and your family to more lively areas or for entertainment outside of the typical movie theater, bowling alley, grocery shopping, round of golf etc. Traffic off of 66 (one of the main ways to get to Front Royal) is a pain in the morning going east and a pain in the afternoon going west. (traffic is heavy weekday mornings 6:30-9:30 and evenings 4:30-7:30)
Northern VA ranks up there with having some of the worst traffic in the nation.
Also I am including a google map link so you can see Front Royal on a map.
google maps front royal - Google Maps (http://tinyurl.com/3e9vjtg - broken link)
If you look at the link you can see how remote it is from the rest of Northern VA.
Winchester is north west from there off of interstate 81.
Manassas and the rest of Northern VA is due East. Just follow the route 66 on the map heading east.
Good luck with your decision and your career whatever you decide.