What do you guys think about Burke, VA (Richmond, Springfield: sales, insurance)

[NVAGIRL]

Hi Pennylove-

My husband and I live in West Springfield, VA. You will love living in NOVA. I have posted answers you your questions below.


Hello,

My hubby is thinking about taking a job in DC & we were told to check out the Burke, VA area.

Therefore, I would love any information you can provide on Burke, VA regarding

>Quality of the school districts

Faifax County School District is one of the best in the area. I would take the time to check out West Springfield. The ES/MS/HS are all within a few miles of each other.

>Commute to DC, I think I know that using public transportation is pretty much mandatory. However, are there train stations/public transportation stations in the area

I use to take the Metro from Franconia-Springfield to Crystal City (Arlington). From West Springfield, it is about a 15 min drive to the metro and then another 20 min ride to Arlington. Depending on where in DC, it would probably be about an hour or so trip. In Burke they have the VRE and they also have slug lines (commuters carpool into DC). It is very safe option. Not sure how much VRE costs, but Metro isn't cheap. It cost me about $10 b/c of parking fee at station and I know they are planning on raising rates again.

>Commute within the area. I keep hearing so much about heavy traffic. Is that only when you are going to DC, or even when you are going to the grocery store.

NOVA does have traffic but getting around West Springfield/Burke area is not a problem. The thing I love most about living in West Springfield is that everything is close by. I just have to drive about a mile from our condo and I have Giant (major grocery chain), CVS, dozens of dry cleaners, nail salons, banks, Whole Foods (I'm addicted), Starbucks, bagel shop, Austin Grill, 4 gas stations, car wash...there is a Walmart and Kohls in Burke as well. In main part of Springfield, there is a Target, Barnes and Noble, Borders, Michaels, Home Depot, Pier 1, Best Buy, Staples, etc. Avoid Springfield Mall--it is terrible and they are getting ready to tear it down and redevelop the entire area. There are so many other malls a quick drive away you won't need to go there. Fair Oaks Mall, Tysons Corner and Pentagon City are all within 20 mins.


>Taxes. I was shocked to find out that Rockville, MD has a 3.5% income tax rate. How does Burke compare.

Not sure about income taxes but VA does have a car tax which is due every Oct. based on the value of your car. Obviously the newer your car, the more you have to pay. We have a 2001 Honda Accord and the tax was around $125 or so and for our 2006 VW Passat, the tax was around $350. They keep trying to get rid of it but doubt that will happen.

>Crime. How dos it compare in your opinion to oher NOVA or MD areas close to DC.

There is very little crime in Burke or West Springfield area. Both areas are very nice, family communities. There is a brand new government center in West Springfield for police, fire and EMT so there are always cops arount the area. Other parts of Springfield (mall and areas around there) have experience gang activity but nothing has been in the news recently. In my neighborhood, there are always people running and walking their dogs at night. And we have a very active Neighborhood Watch.

>Houses. How are the homes in the area. Can you find updated ones in a nice neighborhood for $350-$450...sfh wwith about 2500 sf & preferably a finished basement.

Homes in West Springfield tend to be older SFHs (built in 70s and 80s). Burke might have some newer developments. The market has come down so you could probably get a SFH in Burke for about $400-450. Not sure if it will have the SFT you want or be updated but with the way the market is, you never know.


>Any other info you can provide about the area. Good vs bad reasons to live there, suggestion for other places, etc. Thank you all in advance.

As you can tell, we LOVE living in West Springfield. We love were it is located in the county b/c it is easy to access other areas of NOVA. I would try to stay as close as you can to Old Keene Mill Road which gives you each access to I-95/395/495 corridor.

Good luck and pls. feel free to ask more questions!

[car54]

I will NEVER understand the passions that are stirred by the dreaded car tax. I know (otherwise intelligent) people that have actually moved to Maryland or DC just to escape the car tax. They now pay a LOCAL income tax, twice to three times as much for car insurance, private school tuition....but by golly, they don't pay that $700 a year on the Volvo anymore!

Heck, we even put a babboon in the Governor's Mansion whose entire campaign consisted of "NO CAR TAX!". (Well, he didn't really mean NO car tax....just that the State would PAY IT!)

Apparently, overwhelming numbers of Virginians didn't have a clue where the State would get the money to pay our car tax for us! LOL

[saganista]

Originally Posted by NVAGIRL

Not sure how much VRE costs, but Metro isn't cheap. It cost me about $10 b/c of parking fee at station and I know they are planning on raising rates again.

Metro fares have been constant since July 1, 2004. They considered a fare increase for FY 2008 (began July 1, 2007), but shelved it. They will need an increase in revenue next year, in part because their costs continue to go up while our local governments remain reluctant to increase the level of their subsidies. Metro does not have a dedicated source of revenue other than its riders, hence there may be no place else to turn. Many employers in the area (including all USG employers) participate in the SmartBenefits program. If you work for such an employer, you will have up to the first $110 of your monthly Metro fares taken care of for you tax-free. Obviously, a worthwhile benefit.

[saganista]

Originally Posted by car54

I will NEVER understand the passions that are stirred by the dreaded car tax. I know (otherwise intelligent) people that have actually moved to Maryland or DC just to escape the car tax.

Beats the pants off of me as well. People love the amenities and services in NoVa, but somehow don't want to pay for any of them in the event that such payment is in any way related to what sort of car they drive??? I don't get it...

[vasinger]

What do I think of Burke, Virginia?

Not much.

[Fern435]

As a military spouse, I do object to the car tax. My husband would be exempt from paying if he were single or married to another military member. Because I am non-military, Virginia insists on taxing him through me if my name is on the title of the car.

My husband rides a bus to work, and our cars are driven once or twice a week for errands. Our fuel-efficient cars are not clogging the roads every day.

[5stones]

I will NEVER understand the passions that are stirred by the dreaded car tax.

well it's a fear if you have lived in a state like CA where even an older car might be about $200 per year to register. I was leary of the VA tax until I go my bill... $30 per year is what it ammount to. The state inspections an emmissions are cheaper here than other staes as well. PA was like $35 for the inspection.

As a military spouse, I do object to the car tax. My husband would be exempt from paying if he were single or married to another military member. Because I am non-military, Virginia insists on taxing him through me if my name is on the title of the car.

you can get around that... you don't have to have your cars licensed and registered here. Use his military home of record. You don't have to change your home of record everytime you move. MY BIL still has Alaska as his home of record, even though he hasn't been stationed there in years. We transfered my husbands home of record to Texas, after we got married...no state income tax. GO to the family services office and ask around.
And unless you have a brand new $50K car your tax shouldn't be all that high.

[Fern435]

We did get around the tax--legally! Our two cars are older fuel-efficient Hondas.

To address the topic of Burke--we rent a home near the Burke/West Springfield boundary. It's conveniently located, treed, and the people are pretty friendly.

We moved from the Fort Hunt/GW Parkway area, where the atmosphere was clique-y and unfriendly.

[saganista]

Originally Posted by walkingnoelle

As a military spouse, I do object to the car tax. My husband would be exempt from paying if he were single or married to another military member. Because I am non-military, Virginia insists on taxing him through me if my name is on the title of the car. My husband rides a bus to work, and our cars are driven once or twice a week for errands. Our fuel-efficient cars are not clogging the roads every day.

The so-called Car Tax has nothing to do with traffic or pollution. Keep in mind that it's real name is the Personal Property Tax, and it stands as a very close relative of the Real Property (i.e., real estate) Tax also levied by local entities (counties and incorporated areas). These taxes form the principle source of revenue to pay for local services, in part because various other revenue measures are reserved by state law to...surprise...the state. The Personal Property Tax once covered all personal property, such as furniture, appliances, clothing, baseball card collections, and the like. Over the years, all of that has been made exmept from the tax, leaving it to apply only to cars, boats, trailers, RV's, maybe ATV's and other things in that general category, the exact details of which I don't have time to look up.

When the baboon referred to earlier (Jim Gilmore) successfully ran for Governor in 1997 on the 'No Car Tax' pledge, he was campaigning for the state to eliminate a tax that it didn't even collect, and he had no functional plan in mind for how he could actually act on that pledge. People voted for him anyway, so much do they detest the car tax. What we ended up with was a hodge-podge system whereunder everyone paid the car tax to their local governments as usual, and then the state had to collect and process the final data from every county and community for every automobile owner in the state and then mail partial rebate checks out to every single one of them drawn against general revenue funds otherwise directed to transportation. Brilliant! Fortunately in this case, Virginia limits its Governors to a single term, and the succeeding administration was able to reorganize the process and increase the share of the rebate, such that counties and communities now (in most cases) bill vehicle owners for 0% of the the tax on the first $1K of value, then 30% of the tax up to $20K, and then 100% of the tax thereafter. The rest of the bill goes off to the state which is now able to pay without offsetting it against other transportation spending authorities. The rebate would have increased to 100% in 2011, but downstate Republicans derailed that, and the earliest date at which car tax relief could now reach 100% is 2015, and that's rapidly becoming unrealistic. The practical solution to the matter would be to extend to local entities the authority to create revenue streams that could replace the car tax, then simply exempt cars and all other remaining property from the Personal Property Tax. But that would have to get through Richmond, and practical isn't always an easy sell down there...

[NVAGIRL]

I don't know how I hit a nerve by just mentioning that we have a car tax. I thought it was important to mention it. I didn't complain about it, just offered an example of what we pay.