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Northern Virginia neighborhoods? Looking to move..


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I've been working for the past 10 months, right down the road from Dulles Airport. At the moment that's an 87 mile drive - one way. I hadn't relocated because I was working on contractor status...but have recently been hired full time & promoted. So now I'm looking to move within a 20 mile radius of Dulles...and in the D.C. Metro area...that's alot of options.

So, can someone in the area help me out with suggestions (I'll be renting)?

I don't even know where to start....Leesburg? Reston? Herndon? Chantilly? Fairfax? Tysons Corner?

Thanks!

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My useless opinion: I hate Northern Virginia! The traffic, the strip malls, the unconcealed weapons, the Republicans, Ollie North, you name it.

If you HAVE to live in Northern VA, Arlington is the least awful.

Give me the Maryland suburbs any day (but take our governor, please).

Bertrand.

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I'd suggest Ashburn (where I live) -- it is pricey, but not nearly as much as Arlington, however. A small one-story rambler in North Arlington will set you back at least upper 600s, if not more. A decent size 4 bed, 2 bath home will be over a million dollars. In Ashburn, you can find a newer 3,500+ square foot house for about 650-700K. The Loudoun County area is family-friendly, and has easy access to the Dulles Airport. North Reston and North Herndon (close to Route 7) are also good alternatives. Taxes are also much less than in Maryland.

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  • 2 weeks later...

If it's Pentagon City, the entrance is outside the Nordstroms. Sounds like you might be in one of those neighborhoods between Pentagon City and 23rd street. Nice little area.....lot's of restaurants on 23rd street and on the backside of Crystal City (Crystal Drive) facing nat. airport....not to mention all the joints located inside the Crystal Underground & over in the courtyard of the Pentagon Row (Sine is a good Irish Pub).

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My useless opinion: I hate Northern Virginia!  The traffic, the strip malls, the unconcealed weapons, the Republicans, Ollie North, you name it.

If you HAVE to live in Northern VA, Arlington is the least awful.

Give me the Maryland suburbs any day (but take our governor, please).

Bertrand.

Well my brother has lived in Greenbelt, Prince Georges County MD for 15 years and there's a lot of trafffic, strip malls and unconcealed weapons there also. However I don't think there are many Republicans running around. Of course I realize that PG county isn't nearly as prestigious as Montgomery Co. My brother can only dream of one day living in Rockville, Chevy Chase or Bethesda.

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Shawn,

Make sure you check out Twins on U Street and Blues Alley in Georgetown. Twins has the Ingrid Jensen/Allison Miller band this week-end, and Wallace Roney is at Blues Alley. I may go to the Roney show on Sunday; I don't think I'll make Ingrid Jensen, unfortunately.

Bertrand.

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Randy,

Don't you worry - if we ever getting around to moving out of our small cheap townhouse in Bethesda, I'll probably be moving way beyond the Rockville/Bethesda/Checy Chase axis. Probably Germantown or Darnestown/North Potomac. It'll take me over an hour to work each day. I'm looking forward to it like I'm looking forward to having my toenails yanked off one by one.

And yes, Weizen, Wheaton and beyond is quite horrid as well. I still hate it less than some part sof NOVA I can think of.

Bertrand.

Edited by bertrand
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Sounds like you're already set, at least for now, but you should check out the Fairlington area of Arlington for a future move. I lived there in the late '80's, and it's a wonderful neighborhood and relatively affordable. It's a self-contained community of brick townhomes and apartments built during World War II and renovated en masse in the '70's or '80's, and they're very solid and have nice features like hardwood floors. There are lovely common lawns and amenities like tennis courts and swimming pools for all residents' use throughout the community. When I lived there, they even had trash collection 6 days a week! There are townhomes and apartments for both sale and rent. It's in a great location, right off I-395 and just 2 miles up King Street from Old Town Alexandria. :tup

Edited by Ron S
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RonS, is on the money here!! Small world, Ron...we had a place in N. Fairlington (27th Road) during the 80's and sold in '93. Those places went like hotcakes....think we we had two contracts the day we listed. Remember when you'd come down the hill into Shirlington and that Masters Tuxedo was on the left..and that crummy Goodyear tire place and the vacant lot? That's all changed. Shirlington Village proper was nice before....but they've continued to spruce it up and turned it into a magnet. The Carlyle Grand had a major facelift awhile back and is quite nice...they've got some big condo/apt development going in next to the theater as well. I'll bet you used to wander across King Street for some New Orleans-style chow over at Copeland's, eh? Blackened catfish & beans? eat.gif

Did you work on the Hill? I swear, if someone nuked Fairlington, they'd take out 1/3 of the Hill staff. :g

Edited by Son-of-a-Weizen
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The various members of the US Army band put on some cool concerts at Breuker Hall in Fort Myer:

www.usarmyband.com

I've seen Kenny Rittenhouse there, and recently Ed Palermo came to guest conduct a Frank Zappa tribute, which was highly ironic in light of the venue.

Bertrand.

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RonS, is on the money here!!  Small world, Ron...we had a place in N. Fairlington (27th Road) during the 80's and sold in '93.      Those places went like hotcakes....think we we had two contracts the day we listed.    Remember when you'd come down the hill into Shirlington and that Masters Tuxedo was on the left..and that crummy Goodyear tire place and the vacant lot?  That's all changed.  Shirlington Village proper was nice before....but they've continued to spruce it up and turned it into a magnet.    The Carlyle Grand had a major facelift awhile back and is quite nice...they've got some big condo/apt development going in next to the theater as well.    I'll bet you used to wander across King Street for some New Orleans-style chow over at Copeland's, eh?  Blackened catfish & beans? eat.gif 

Did you work on the Hill?  I swear, if someone nuked Fairlington, they'd take out 1/3 of the Hill staff.  :g

I'd forgotten about Copelands. :tup I bought my place in Fairlington in '86, and sold it in '89 for about 50% more than I paid for it--talk about appreciation! :excited: I was working for a law firm in DC, but I know what you're saying about Hill staffers. Actually, you probably know that a lot of young House Members who went on to become famous lived in Fairlington when they first came to DC (like Nixon and Ford, iirc, and presumably a few Dems). It's really a terrific place for single professionals and young families to live. I lived on S. Stafford Street, and had tennis courts and a pool right outside my rear courtyard.

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I've been working for the past 10 months, right down the road from Dulles Airport. At the moment that's an 87 mile drive - one way. I hadn't relocated because I was working on contractor status...but have recently been hired full time & promoted. So now I'm looking to move within a 20 mile radius of Dulles...and in the D.C. Metro area...that's alot of options.

So, can someone in the area help me out with suggestions (I'll be renting)?

I don't even know where to start....Leesburg? Reston? Herndon? Chantilly? Fairfax? Tysons Corner?

Thanks!

87 miles....right down the road??? :huh:

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The various members of the US Army band put on some cool concerts at Breuker Hall in Fort Myer:

www.usarmyband.com

I've seen Kenny Rittenhouse there, and recently Ed Palermo came to guest conduct a Frank Zappa tribute, which was highly ironic in light of the venue.

Bertrand.

I met 'Free for All' there last year when he played. I think the trio they paired him with ** were members of the US Army Band. Only problem getting into Ft. Myers is a royal pain w/security and all....sure was that day.

** that poor ettiquette on my part? would it be better to say "trio that was offered a unique once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play opposite him? :g

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