Philly to Front Royal VA....Moving information NEEDED (Arlington, Alexandria: sale, apartments)

[icampbell]

Soon will be relocating to VA secondary to a job....
Have a few questions!

First, My info to keep in mind:

SIngle, Female, 25 y/o no kids
Drives
Enjoys city life....as well as country secnery.
Probably prefer renting until about a year; then will consider buying.
TWo cats



OK, so I am a city girl and will be working in the Front Royal area.
I was considering living in the Herndon/ Reston aree secondary to those locations being close to the DC area. However, I am concerned about the drive. I have no idea what the flow of traffic when I am going away from the city in the a.m. and towards the city in the evening.

IS it extremely rural in Front Royal or is there some young spirit to this area?

I have been looking at renting homes in the area. However, I am just concerned that its so quiet and open that it will be a not so good adjustment coming from a city like Philadelphia.


Should I buy or should I rent? Once I move I will be in VA for at least two years...Looking at the houses that I could afford; they are pretty reasonable....if I decide to stay past the two years. SHould I just go ahead and buy?

Thanks In Advance!

[akorosdc]

First off, be prepared for an adjustment. Front Royal is pretty far out there from DC so it's a lot more rural/small town. The plus side is that it's absolutely gorgeous out there. Reston/Herndon would be more on the suburban side (or suburban trying to be urban), but you're still a good 30 minutes outside the city. I'm trying to think of a similar place near Philly, but I can't since I don't know the 'burbs that well.

Outside of DC the biggest traffic magnet would be Tyson's Corner (this area's King of Prussia), so I'd try to avoid that. Otherwise, my inclination is that you'd be fine going away from DC, but I'll let others correct me if I'm wrong.

The biggest thing I'll say is that I'd avoid buying right off the bat. You're moving to a new area that's very different from where you are now, and the worst thing would be for you to get stuck with a house in an area you dislike. Even if you like the DC/Virginia area you may not like the first place you land in. Definitely take at least a year and investigate different areas before nailing yourself down in that way. Also, I've heard that it takes 5-10 years to make a purchase worthwhile, so should you decide to leave in 2 years it would just be more of a hassle and expense.

Good luck & welcome to the area (from another former Philly girl)!

[Bigfoot424]

Driving from places like Reston and such towards Front Royal will actually be pretty easy. At least once you get out of the neighborhoods and on the main roads leading to FR. 66 West to FR will be a breeze in the AM and you're going against traffic eastbound in the afternoons.

[lchoro]

Fair Lakes in Fairfax would be another location with a lot of apartments for Young Urbans and a straight shot up Rt 66 to Front Royal. Very good location if you want to be within a mile or so of Wegman's, Whole Foods, Costco, BJ's Wholesale, and the Fair Oaks Regional Mall. If you want to get on the subway and go out, you can drive east on Rt 66 to the Vienna Metro.

EDIT: You can check out shots of the Front Royal downtown area here.

http://www.youtube.com/user/FrontRoyalTourism

[robbobobbo]

Suggesting a 40 (Fair Lakes) or 60 (Reston) mile each way commute? Different strokes I guess... but living in Herndon to get the city feel you won't get in Front Royal... won't give you a city feel anyways. Ditto Fair Lakes and Reston. It's a congestion feel, not a city feel.

I'm inclined to say - rent closer to work, see if you adjust, and maybe use it as a springboard to landing a job nearer DC if what you really want is urban living. Or maybe you'll really like the slower pace and nearby natural beauty that Front Royal offers.

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by juniperbleu

First off, be prepared for an adjustment. Front Royal is pretty far out there from DC so it's a lot more rural/small town. The plus side is that it's absolutely gorgeous out there. Reston/Herndon would be more on the suburban side (or suburban trying to be urban), but you're still a good 30 minutes outside the city. I'm trying to think of a similar place near Philly, but I can't since I don't know the 'burbs that well.

Outside of DC the biggest traffic magnet would be Tyson's Corner (this area's King of Prussia), so I'd try to avoid that. Otherwise, my inclination is that you'd be fine going away from DC, but I'll let others correct me if I'm wrong.

The biggest thing I'll say is that I'd avoid buying right off the bat. You're moving to a new area that's very different from where you are now, and the worst thing would be for you to get stuck with a house in an area you dislike. Even if you like the DC/Virginia area you may not like the first place you land in. Definitely take at least a year and investigate different areas before nailing yourself down in that way. Also, I've heard that it takes 5-10 years to make a purchase worthwhile, so should you decide to leave in 2 years it would just be more of a hassle and expense.

Good luck & welcome to the area (from another former Philly girl)!

As a former Philly guy myself, I second juniperbleu's comparisons between there and metro DC. Although I'm not an "expert" on Front Royal, the closest comparison I could make would be Quakertown, at least in terms of distance from the "heart of things".

I would agree that Reston, Herndon and Fairfax would all provide you with the semi-urban lifestyle you're accustomed to. In particular, you may want to live in or near the Reston Town Center.

[NRUD]

You want city life? You want to be in Reston or Arlington
Not front royal.

Living in FY, you will be seeing city live once a month, if you get the courage to get out and drive 60 miles on I-66 to DC.

[lchoro]

VDOT is going to be widening I-66 for another year (adding 2 lanes out to Gainesville from Falls Church). It's bad on the weekends too. I would try a couple of test drives as someone suggested.

[CHIP72]

I've been through Front Royal and although it is in a beautiful setting, the town itself is looks old and rundown.

If you don't want to have quite such a long drive to work but still want to live relatively close to DC, I'd suggest looking into Leesburg.

[SteelCityRising]

Sorry to disagree with a couple of you, but I'm a "city boy" who lives in Reston, and this community is by no means affording me an "urban" vibe (even with those fancy-shmancy high-rises right next to me). I often joke that Reston is a suburb "posing" as a city, and in many senses that is accurate. We're like Pinocchio---we're trying and trying and trying to be a "real" city to be more appealing and to garner some respect and some street "cred", but it's just not happening. For crying out loud we still don't have streetlights, curbs, or sidewalks in many parts of town, and we're a community of 65,000. I may feel differently once Metrorail moves in and we see a mad rush of high-rises and yuppies all over Reston, making us "Arlington Junior", but as of right now anyways you have a much better chance of running into a soccer mom or a retired couple in most parts of Reston than a group of urban hipsters. I attend a very large Protestant church in town, and I'm probably the only one my age (22) that attends there (without his/her parents). I feel like Reston (like Old Town Alexandria) is geared towards 30-somethings while all of the 20-somethings belong in North Arlington.

Don't get me wrong. Reston is still a perfectly suitable place to live and be reasonably happy if you're in a suburban mindset, but I'm tiring of people making us sound "urban" when we're NOT! Urban compared to Ashburn, Broadlands, South Riding, Chantilly, etc.? Yes, as we serve as their regional "downtown." Urban in the true sense of the word? Not a chance. We're a sprawling suburb with a few square blocks of high-rises for a "fake" downtown that was built AFTER the town hit a critical mass---not FIRST with the rest of town developing around it, as is what SHOULD have been done. I'm becoming more and more happy here (volunteering at the library book sale last night and becoming more engaged at my church are helping), but people need to stop telling others that Reston = "urban." I was MISLED into believing this too by a few people, thinking that Reston was the next best thing to Arlington or DC at a fraction of the price, and now I feel very depressed to be living in just another run-of-the-mill 'burb. I'm looking to relocate in a couple of years most likely to Falls Church.