My visit/thoughts on NoVA

[mtrip22]

I hope I didn't seem to be saying that I know how to drive in the snow and others don't that was not my intent. It is hard to see tone online and I was just thinking that was one of the least concerns we had. Believe me if we didn't have to drive in snow I wouldn't. I am originally from Cincinnati where the entire city shuts down if one inch of snow falls LOL. When I moved to Cleveland and had my first drive during winter weather I couldn't believe that the city was up and running. I mean we have had some BAD weather and I think only twice has my work closed and I have been here 7 years. I do drive and SUV but I am the one going 5mph not 50.

[5stones]

no I too wasn't impying anything either...

I was trying to state that even if you are familiar with driving on snow and are quite capable and cautious, OTHERS here aren't. so, it's better just to stay home! I never saw so many traffic accidents before even in the worst of Pittsburgs snows. Slow and Easy was the mentality. No so here.

[Zack]

As far as TH vs. SFH goes, look around. I have friends in the Tysons area who have a TH with a nice backyard. Look at the community amenities as well if they have a park or playground nearby, parkland is very important around here. I've also seen a lot of SFH that may as well be THs since they only have a few feet between homes and almost no backyard. A lot of new residents have to come to grips with the fact that most newer homes in this area have very small lots and anything with land will cost a lot or be a very long commute.

Loudoun County and Prince William County real estate markets are a mess. If you look at the local realtor reports about housing the inner areas are doing decent, but prices in the outer suburbs have fallen significantly and aren't showing any signs of recovering. A good way I evaluate potential of real estate is when I fly and see all the available building space in Loudoun and PWC. Even if RE stabilizes out there, there is so much buildable land, it's almost impossible to expect any appreciation for a long time.

Also I wouldn't put much stock in what a Realtor said about widening roads here. Even if they do it, the roads will be just as jammed within a few weeks, they build homes so fast here that roads are overwhelmed as soon as they are complete.

[trh1013]

mtrip22, I have been reading all the responses and advice that you have been given about where to live in NOVA. I too have turned to this site in order to get some help on our upcoming move to NOVA or Maryland. We will be moving up that way next summer. We have not made a trip to NOVA yet, but we have a lot of family in Maryland so we have been there looking before. My husband and I have not found employment yet so that will determine partly on where we will live. I have gotten so many different opinions about the area that I have decided to wait until we visit to make a determination. Currently, my husband is in the military and we have moved a lot of places so you sought of know what areas may be good or not, just by the way they look. I say to you if Ashburn looks and feels like a place you want to raise your family then go for it. I have so many people on this forum telling me to consider a TH. To be frankly honest I want to be able to wave to my neighbor when I see them outside, but I don't desire to be attached to them. I have a SFH now with a yard and I would like to keep it that way even if requires me a little time to travel to work. I won't be living at work so when I come home I want a nice and fairly new house to relax in. My children are all grown, well my youngest will graduate HS before we move there so I don't have to worry about schools and activities for younger children, but I still want to live in a family environment. I say to you to go for what is best for you and your family, I think the traveling is something your husband can get use to, especially if he doesn't have to travel all the way to DC. Best Wishes to you.

[car54]

Originally Posted by 5stones

It is crazy...they cancel school on threat of snow. (which my kids love) and it's good thing if you have ever been on the roads here during snow.

The folks that decide if schools will open or not have one of the worst jobs in the world! They just can't win....if the snow fails to materialize....they are idiots. If a child is injured or killed when their bus crashes in the snow....they are criminals.

My retirement gig is driving a FCPS school bus and I remember a notorious winter morning about 4-5 years ago. It was just above freezing and raining....schools were opened. Around 6:30 am, just as more than 1000 buses were starting their runs...the temps unexpectedly dropped a few degrees....roads started icing....and 40+ buses wrecked in less than an hour.

They've been a little "gunshy" since that day!

[dullnboring]

Originally Posted by mtrip22

dullnboring:
Like I mentioned above the realtor mentioned that they were putting in and widening some of the roads to make the main routes more accessible. How long ago did you live out that way, and could the roads have gotten better after you left?

I just moved from there around two months ago. I lived there for two years, and even within those two years, I saw a massive increase in traffic. If anything, traffic is getting worse. It's true, they are making plans to widen the roads and eliminate lights, but it's the sort of thing where growth is so heavy that once these projects are completed (whenever that may be as these things are never finished on time), it will provide very temporary relief for a matter of months, and then it will be back to normal. Route 28 I will say has gotten much better though than what it used to be as they have eliminated many lights from Chantilly to Route 7 over the past few years and will be eliminating another three or so over the next two years. The local residential streets are fine. Route 7 is still awful though. Waxpool Road is a nightmare. Gloucester Parkway and Loudoun County Parkway are incomplete. Belmont Ridge is in bad condition. The Dulles Toll Road is decent, provided you live in the part of Ashburn right by it, and is expensive ($3.50 each way). It's a domino effect in sense where really all of these roads have to improve greatly (widening, exit ramps, etc.) to really lessen the amount of traffic. So while Route 28 has gotten better over the past year, getting TO Route 28 is just as much of a problem as it's always been.