Relocation!!!!! chups (Centreville, Herndon, Fairfax: apartments, condo, crime rate)

[VIslander]

Hey all... I am from the Virgin Islands relocating to Virginia and yes this is another "my husbands job is relocating him so I am coming kicking and screaming" How is centreville. I know VA cost of living on a whole is expensive but how is centreville in comparison? Is it as safe as you can posssibly get today? HELP!!!

[saganista]

The population of Centreville in 1980 was 7,500. Today, it is over 50,000. I think that about sums it up. It is former woodlands and farm country that was gobbled up by the westward march of the suburbs. Topographically, it is rolling and quite pleasant countryside, but the development itself is rather mundane. It's almost all just more of the usual forms of the usual stuff. Eastbound traffic out of there in the morning rush can be just brutal, but people seem to get used to it. At any given time, there will be at least 150 properties on the market in Centreville, so you would have plenty to pick from. You can still find a few condo's under $250K. Townhomes will typically run $350-450K, with detached homes taking over from that point and running up to about $1.5 million. Despite having been written up by Money Magazine as an excellent place to retire to, the population is much younger than average, and quite diverse. On this account, time-in-place (how long people have lived there) is also quite low compared to most places. The overall crime rate is less than half the national average. The cost of living is high. That is the case for the region as a whole.

[dullnboring]

I used to live in Centreville. As usual, saganista is right on the money with her description. Housing in Centreville to me seems higher density than most of Western Fairfax County. There seems to be a much greater number of townhomes and apartments in Centreville than elsewhere (minus perhaps Herndon and Fairfax City). The whole area is safe. There are some areas that may have a bit higher crime than others, but NO place in Centreville is dangerous, and what little crime there is is generally petty (vandalism, maybe a car break-in, etc.) but of course, as is the case anywhere in the D.C. area, it's always best to be street smart (i.e. lock your doors, don't leave valuables in your car, avoid the ATM at night if possible, etc.), but really Centreville and Northern Virginia as a whole is phenomenally safe for such a populous area.

Also, while Centreville is far from D.C. mileage-wise (I believe just under 30 miles), it's in a pretty convenient location for such a far-out suburb in that there is convenient access to Routes 28, 29 and I-66, three major roads in Northern Virginia. Of course, traffic is a nightmare, but that's an inescapable reality for the most part of moving to the area.

[seanpecor]

I've vacationed in the USVI and in Grand Cayman, and my wife actually lived there as a child on Virgin Gorda when her parents were involved with F&W camps when they were attempting to set up a summer camp there. All I can say is that the cost of living in Northern VA is expensive relative to the rest of Virginia, but it's probably on the whole quite comparable with the Virgin Islands

Sean