Weekend in Front Royal/Warren County

[stpickrell]

Originally Posted by Rt. 522

OK, so first off, I know understand why my father looked like he was going to pull his hair out on family trips....and I will never critize anyone for having a DVD player in the back seat of the van for their kids. "Are we there yet?" " I want to go home" "I want to be there now" "Are their bears in the cave?" AHHHHHHHHHHH

Anyway, Front Royal wasn't too impressive to me. It didn't take long once I was east of Winchester to hit the sprawl. It looked like you typical D.C area big box retail stores, dual lane highways, crazy stupid drivers (oh boy, do I mean stupid), etc. If you had told me I was in Germantown, MD or Bowie, MD I wouldn't have doubted you.

Front Royal itself was almost nothing. I called it a hitching post. I understand why. The town and all connections in and out were burned during "The Recent Unpleasantness" and the bridges weren't rebuilt until the 1890s. So the town was pretty much just a small isolated ag center until the sprawl hit. Quite a shame. I am used to edge cities like that being surrounded by sprawl (I lived in Frederick) but Front Royal was like a donut. Sprawl surrounding all side but no real city in the middle.

The cave was neat, and the area around there looked rural, mountainous and pretty. But with the kids going nuts, and my impression of the area being just a bedroom community for NOVA, I scuttled the scenic drive and just went home cursing at all the horrible drivers along the way. I am sure they were cursing at me back You can't go right on red after stop in VA, can you?

The big box area is relatively new and north of Front Royal on Rt. 522. It's really separated from the rest of the town.

Royal and Commerce Avenues are ageing mixed-use (you've got industrial, residential, and commercial all within several blocks of each other, especially on Royal.) You've got some 1940s-1970s residential off to each side of Royal Avenue on the north side of town.

Chester and Main (and the streets surrounding) are the real downtown, and are off the main path, really. You'll miss them if you just stick to 522/340/55. If you didn't see them, please do on your next visit, THEN criticize the place. By comparison, would anyone judge Winchester based on Fairmont Avenue north of town or the big box strip along Pleasant Valley?

West of Royal (and around Randolph-Macon Academy) is the better part of downtown, and where I'd live if I needed to move back to Front Royal. The areas right around Chester and Main range from somewhat seedy to becoming nice again (the closer you get to Main the better it'll be, if you're close to South Street, it gets worse.) You've got bars, dining, first-run movies, some clothing, antiques, etc., all along Main Street and Royal Avenue close to Main.

John Marshall Highway is a lot like Royal although the residential and commercial sections are more separated. It becomes South Street, which is host to Royal and Gateway Plazas (those aren't the prettiest areas but compared to say Neabsco Plaza in Woodbridge, they're paradise, but they're not as nice as say PanAm Plaza in Fairfax/Vienna or Leesburg Plaza) and some pretty dilapidated residential areas that are slooooowly rebuilding. The areas south of South and east of Royal are not the nicest parts of town, although crime is lower than Winchester, Fredericksburg, and other comparable exurbs.

The nicest part of town is to the east of Commerce Avenue; the downside to that IMO is that those areas (Accomac, Jamestown, Richmond, etc.) are not really walkable to anything the way the area around West 1st/2nd/3rd Street is.

There's some development along 6th Street and Happy Creek Road heading out of town, but it is almost entirely SFH residential at this point. Those places are nice too and since about 1/3 of the town is a mix of empty fields/undeveloped land that is where the future growth will occur.

[Rt. 522]

Originally Posted by stpickrell

The big box area is relatively new and north of Front Royal on Rt. 522. It's really separated from the rest of the town.

Royal and Commerce Avenues are ageing mixed-use (you've got industrial, residential, and commercial all within several blocks of each other, especially on Royal.) You've got some 1940s-1970s residential off to each side of Royal Avenue on the north side of town.

Chester and Main (and the streets surrounding) are the real downtown, and are off the main path, really. You'll miss them if you just stick to 522/340/55. If you didn't see them, please do on your next visit, THEN criticize the place. By comparison, would anyone judge Winchester based on Fairmont Avenue north of town or the big box strip along Pleasant Valley?

West of Royal (and around Randolph-Macon Academy) is the better part of downtown, and where I'd live if I needed to move back to Front Royal. The areas right around Chester and Main range from somewhat seedy to becoming nice again (the closer you get to Main the better it'll be, if you're close to South Street, it gets worse.) You've got bars, dining, first-run movies, some clothing, antiques, etc., all along Main Street and Royal Avenue close to Main.

John Marshall Highway is a lot like Royal although the residential and commercial sections are more separated. It becomes South Street, which is host to Royal and Gateway Plazas (those aren't the prettiest areas but compared to say Neabsco Plaza in Woodbridge, they're paradise, but they're not as nice as say PanAm Plaza in Fairfax/Vienna or Leesburg Plaza) and some pretty dilapidated residential areas that are slooooowly rebuilding. The areas south of South and east of Royal are not the nicest parts of town, although crime is lower than Winchester, Fredericksburg, and other comparable exurbs.

The nicest part of town is to the east of Commerce Avenue; the downside to that IMO is that those areas (Accomac, Jamestown, Richmond, etc.) are not really walkable to anything the way the area around West 1st/2nd/3rd Street is.

There's some development along 6th Street and Happy Creek Road heading out of town, but it is almost entirely SFH residential at this point. Those places are nice too and since about 1/3 of the town is a mix of empty fields/undeveloped land that is where the future growth will occur.

I saw the big box sprawl on 522, 340, etc. on our way into the city limits. We stayed at a hotel on Commerce Drive, and went down Main St. to get to Stonewall Jackson Highway South. I am glad they labeled it "Main St." or I would have had no clue. I remember one old mill looking building and a couple of 3 story frame buildings in about a 3 block span. There were some tourists milling about so I assume there were some stores there. If I blinked I would have missed it. I also passed the numbered streets that had, as you describe, some houses from the 40s-70s. Big lots, very blah houses, but 1940-1970 wasn't exactly the high age of American architecture.

But really, it isn't about Front Royal, it is about me. I picked it to visit because of how cool the geography looked on my big topo map. I am sure if you are a commuter to NOVA, Front Royal is a breath of fresh air compared to Warrenton, Mannassass, Fairfax or places closer in. But to me, it was just another exurb with a very small, uninspiring historic core. I understand why. It isn't unusual for the area. It isn't any different than Germantown, and lots of other places in Maryland. It went from farm country to burbs with no real urban growth in between.

Warren County just struck me a bedroom community with little critical mass of its own. I have no desire to commute on I-66. And I fear that even if I did get a local job and could afford to live in the more rural parts, I would just be 10-15 years ahead of the concrete.

Winchester seems different. That whole Rt. 522 corridor (hence my avatar) is very rural and seems not to be affected by Winchester's growth which is directed (as expected) towards the valley side of the county. Winchester also had critical mass as a city before the growth occurred, which is necessary for a area to have any sort of regional identity apart from the general metro DC metro region.

Anyway those are just my observations from 24 hours in town. The caves were fun, the mountains looked pretty, but it was too much "DC" suburban mentality for my taste.