Moving from Puerto Rico to Virginia (Reston, Leesburg: sales, real estate, apartments) - (VA) - City-Data Forum

csmartinez750 · 06-06-2007, 06:26 AM

Hello, I will be moving to Virginia from Puerto Rico at the end of August and have tons of questions. Thanks all in advance for your comments.

I was offered a great job with the federal government. I will be working near Reston Town Center. It’s me, my husband and 13 year old son. My son is not very proficient in English. He will be on a “learn as you go” basis.

I was thinking about the Herndon area to live. This is all new to me (location, new salary, ect) I kind of get a mild heart attack every time I search for apartments and see things like $1,500, $2,000 for rent. I currently pay a mortgage of $800. Is Herndon a good choice or is there somewhere else I can look into? I think I would be comfortable paying up to $1,200 a month and it would be great if it’s a place that included utilities. Maybe a family home that rents the basement, ect. I don’t have a preference between a small town city or the city environment. The price for rent, how close it is to school, and how long would be the commute is what I worry about. I have no idea what pie or cake means.

I won’t have a car for the first few months, so I am willing to commute for an hour or less. Less is better.

I was thinking of Carson Middle School in Herdon.

My husband is a Certified Personal Trainer with over 10 years of experience, any good gyms close by? What are his options?

Is there anyone with the same experience? I mean Puertoricans moving to Virginia that would like to share their experience? Are there many latins? Maybe it’s a stupid question and it doesn’t really matter, just curiosity.

mlv311 · 06-06-2007, 07:41 AM

Herndon is a mix in terms of places to live so you might want to be careful when researching housing in your price range. Make sure that you choose housing where you have accessibility to public transportation (bus) since Reston doesn't have access to the Metro (subway) system yet. As a federal employee, you are eligible to get up to $110 per month in a public transportation subsidy so you might want to take advantage of that to avoid the stress of driving in heavy traffic and wear and tear on your car. You might want to check out housing possibilities in Craig's List (Northern VA).

Northern Virginia does have a lot of Latinos, but many are from Central America and Mexico, so they will be laborers or in service industries and facing immigration challenges that you and your family won't face as a U.S. citizen. There are many Puerto Ricans in VA, particularly in the military, federal agencies (civilians) and teachers. Many CPAs and engineers from Mayaguez work for the feds. You can get involved with several Latino organizations and meet people that way.

One good thing is that Fairfax County has one of the best school systems in the U.S.; however, there are variations among the schools so you want to research them carefully. Here is a good site for checking them out: GreatSchools.net. If your son has been doing well academically in PR and he is just facing a language barrier, you want to make sure he gets the help he needs on that because he won't be like other immigrant children who are behind in their own language academically.

Prepare yourself for a bit of a culture shock in terms of cost of living, winter weather, etc. However, I can tell you that you will find Puerto Rican products (Goya) in your local grocery store (unlike other cities in the U.S.). Best wishes on your relocation.

csmartinez750 · 06-06-2007, 08:05 AM

Thanks mlv311! I'm a little more at ease now, especially with the knowledge that I will have access to Puerto Rican products.

Yes, I'm preparing myself with regard to the culture shock, but very exited about the change of environment. Can you tell me a little bit more about the Latino Organizations? How do I research then on the net?

mlv311 · 06-06-2007, 08:18 AM

These are only a few that are strictly Puerto Rican:

Association of University of Puerto Rico Alumni and Friends Abroad: Association of University of Puerto Rico Alumni and Friends Abroad - Home (http://www.upraa.org/index.html - broken link)
(I think these are the folks who organize an annual picnic in MD that is very well attended)

National Puerto Rican Coalition, Inc:
bateylink.org

Raices de Borinquen
Home

As far as national latino organization, La Raza and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) are two big ones.

5stones · 06-06-2007, 09:56 AM

There is a huge new GRAND international market in Sterling right on rt 7.
The schools here have a great ESL (english second language) program. Here in loudoun co the ESL teacher at my daughters Middle school won a huge award from the spanish speaking community.

Look in Reston to live as well as Herndon (easier commute) Both areas have some not so desirable neighborhoods as well as Sering (cheaper) but good family ones as well.

Good Luck.

boricua76 · 06-06-2007, 08:35 PM

Hola a mi hermana Boricua.

I have lived in Herndon, Reston, Ashburn, and now in Leesburg. I am not sure of many Puerto Rican associations specific to this area. I work for a company in Fairfax now but am also a substitute teacher for ESL. I was a substitute teacher at Herndon Middle School and my students loved me. As for finding an apartment there are many ways to find them. I can also give you information on some places to rent that may be of interest.

As far as your husband, there are quite a few gyms in the area. There are Gold's Gyms and there are also other smaller gyms.

There is so much information that I can provide, but off the top of myhead I am not sure where to start. There are places to buy Goya products, there is a Latino radio station, no restaurants really but things go cool. and don't worry about getting frantic when apartment hunting. I moved from Ashburn, to Leesburg and it felt like as much as I was doing No de pie con bola but it worked out.

Feel free to send me an email if you wish. Always willing to help someone new to this area. I am also in the military and do some gov't work at times so I know how that can be too.

rkendle · 09-03-2007, 06:51 PM

Hello,

My name is Rick. I live in Kingstowne VA. About 30 minutes from the area you are looking to move to. Other things that you may really enjoy about living in this area is the amount of free things to do. Almost all of the museums/art galleries/zoo, etc. in Washington are free admission. Also, airfares to and from Puerto Rico to Washington D.C. are are pretty reasonable (about $200 round trip, oftentimes).

Interesting post. I am considering moving and retiring to Puerto Rico area (Boqueron/Rincon) area. What is cost of living like in Puerto Rico? For example, monthly electricy costs, water bill, tax rates (personal property/state/local taxes etc.)?

thanks,

Rick

csmartinez750 · 09-04-2007, 06:22 AM

Puerto Rico is very beautiful and people are very nice and helpful. Ive notice that sales taxes are the same in Puerto Rico as it is in Virginia, 7% of total. You dont have to pay property taxes if its your main and only residency. I dont know how electricy and water is in Virginia so I cant compare. To give you an example, I paid around $90-$100 of electricity and $30 of water a month and I lived in the central area. In the metro area it can go up as much as $300 if you have central air. Boqueron is a turistic area so expect high real estate prices on houses or apartments. If you can afford it you would not regret it. You should also look into Palmas del Mar in Humacao. Very beutiful and you can afford it, its a very nice comunity.

jecalderon · 09-23-2007, 04:33 PM

Put your kid in Fork Union Military Academy. It is the only way you will ensure proper english education avoiding spanish speaking at home.

Quote:

Originally Posted by csmartinez750

Hello, I will be moving to Virginia from Puerto Rico at the end of August and have tons of questions. Thanks all in advance for your comments.

I was offered a great job with the federal government. I will be working near Reston Town Center. It’s me, my husband and 13 year old son. My son is not very proficient in English. He will be on a “learn as you go” basis.

I was thinking about the Herndon area to live. This is all new to me (location, new salary, ect) I kind of get a mild heart attack every time I search for apartments and see things like $1,500, $2,000 for rent. I currently pay a mortgage of $800. Is Herndon a good choice or is there somewhere else I can look into? I think I would be comfortable paying up to $1,200 a month and it would be great if it’s a place that included utilities. Maybe a family home that rents the basement, ect. I don’t have a preference between a small town city or the city environment. The price for rent, how close it is to school, and how long would be the commute is what I worry about. I have no idea what pie or cake means.

I won’t have a car for the first few months, so I am willing to commute for an hour or less. Less is better.

I was thinking of Carson Middle School in Herdon.

My husband is a Certified Personal Trainer with over 10 years of experience, any good gyms close by? What are his options?

Is there anyone with the same experience? I mean Puertoricans moving to Virginia that would like to share their experience? Are there many latins? Maybe it’s a stupid question and it doesn’t really matter, just curiosity.

brendaboricua · 09-30-2008, 11:42 AM

saludos boricua.

there are I think 5000 puerto ricans in the dc metro area I heard? Go to [URL="http://www.meetup.com"]www.meetup.com[/URL] and search for dc metro ricans. they always have stuff going on. i'm a member there, you can look me up under brendaboricua. we live in dumfries. i also work for fed. govt as a contractor, y mi esposo es barbero. si tu esposo o hijo se quieren recortar con un barbero puertorriqueño, contactame atravez de mi email. [EMAIL="brendaboricua@hotmail.com"]brendaboricua@hotmail.com[/EMAIL]. cualquier cosa que te pueda ayudar me avisas.