Alexandria vs. Alexandria

[Anonymous]

On another forum, a poster commented that the Alexandria part of Fairfax County is not Alexandria. I see this come up a lot on this forum and there are a lot of Alexandria City posters who are very opinionated on this. Its kind of amusing.

My question for the sticklers on this: if I live in the Fairfax County part of Alexandria, where am I supposed to say I live?

I definitely can't just say "I live in Fairfax County." Do I need to say "I live in Alexandria, but the Fairfax County part, not Alexandria City" ? or "I live in Belle Haven/Fort Hunt/Hybla Valley/etc but I have an Alexandria address"?

Its such an odd hill to die on, but it comes up so often, there must be some good guidance the sticklers can give!

[Anonymous]

Most people use their mailing address location definition. This applies equally to those in the Fairfax, Vienna, and Falls Church areas where some post office addresses do not align with the political subdivisions with the same names. If your street address is in Vienna, that's what people say; clarifying whether that's in the Town of Vienna or not doesn't add anything unless someone asks specifically for some reason.

[Anonymous]

I say I live in the following to the following:

Foreigners: D.C.
Americans West of the Mississippi: Virginia
Americans East of the Mississippi: NoVA
DMV-ers: Alexandria
Alexandria folks both City and County: Down the parkway, just past the country club

[Anonymous]

I say, “I live in Alexandria.” If they ask for more details, I’ll say, “the part outside the beltway.”

[Anonymous]

Alexandria is Alexandria. You can’t say because there’s a Fairfax county portion of Alexandria, it’s not truly Alexandria lol.

Why does this even matter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people use their mailing address location definition. This applies equally to those in the Fairfax, Vienna, and Falls Church areas where some post office addresses do not align with the political subdivisions with the same names. If your street address is in Vienna, that's what people say; clarifying whether that's in the Town of Vienna or not doesn't add anything unless someone asks specifically for some reason.

+1

I used to live in the not Falls Church part of Falls Church (22043). I always just said I lived in Falls Church or Tysons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I say I live in the following to the following:

Foreigners: D.C.
Americans West of the Mississippi: Virginia
Americans East of the Mississippi: NoVA
DMV-ers: Alexandria
Alexandria folks both City and County: Down the parkway, just past the country club

"Americans East of the Mississippi" will not call it NoVa. They would just call it VA. No one outside of the DC area distinguishes between NoVa and RoVa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On another forum, a poster commented that the Alexandria part of Fairfax County is not Alexandria. I see this come up a lot on this forum and there are a lot of Alexandria City posters who are very opinionated on this. Its kind of amusing.

My question for the sticklers on this: if I live in the Fairfax County part of Alexandria, where am I supposed to say I live?

I definitely can't just say "I live in Fairfax County." Do I need to say "I live in Alexandria, but the Fairfax County part, not Alexandria City" ? or "I live in Belle Haven/Fort Hunt/Hybla Valley/etc but I have an Alexandria address"?

Its such an odd hill to die on, but it comes up so often, there must be some good guidance the sticklers can give!

I know that thread, and no one was dying on any hill. The problem is that the OP of that thread was complaining that Alexandria is not walkable, that she couldn't get to any stores, restaurants etc, she basically said she couldn't get anywhere without a car and she hated living there and that she was always stuck in huge traffic. And posters replied that Alexandria is definitely walkable to restaurants, stores, parks, etc in almost every part and that she must live in Fairfax. And only when several posters pointed this out, finally did the OP admit that she lives in Hybla Valley.

These cases make things super confusing when it's the city of Alexandria vs Fairfax County. If I lived in Mt. Vernon or Waynewood, or Belle Haven or Kingstowne, that's what I would say. And the people who get all worked up about it when people get confused are the ones that actually live in Fairfax County. Conversations about school systems, amenities, etc get confusing. The city of Alexandria is its own animal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On another forum, a poster commented that the Alexandria part of Fairfax County is not Alexandria. I see this come up a lot on this forum and there are a lot of Alexandria City posters who are very opinionated on this. Its kind of amusing.

My question for the sticklers on this: if I live in the Fairfax County part of Alexandria, where am I supposed to say I live?

I definitely can't just say "I live in Fairfax County." Do I need to say "I live in Alexandria, but the Fairfax County part, not Alexandria City" ? or "I live in Belle Haven/Fort Hunt/Hybla Valley/etc but I have an Alexandria address"?

Its such an odd hill to die on, but it comes up so often, there must be some good guidance the sticklers can give!

Depending on how familiar the person is with nova, I live near Mt Vernon, in Ft Hunt, eastern part of the county near the river, or south of old town. I don't personally say Alexandria because I associate that with old town.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On another forum, a poster commented that the Alexandria part of Fairfax County is not Alexandria. I see this come up a lot on this forum and there are a lot of Alexandria City posters who are very opinionated on this. Its kind of amusing.

My question for the sticklers on this: if I live in the Fairfax County part of Alexandria, where am I supposed to say I live?

I definitely can't just say "I live in Fairfax County." Do I need to say "I live in Alexandria, but the Fairfax County part, not Alexandria City" ? or "I live in Belle Haven/Fort Hunt/Hybla Valley/etc but I have an Alexandria address"?

Its such an odd hill to die on, but it comes up so often, there must be some good guidance the sticklers can give!

Depending on how familiar the person is with nova, I live near Mt Vernon, in Ft Hunt, eastern part of the county near the river, or south of old town. I don't personally say Alexandria because I associate that with old town.

Okay but what about Alexandria outside of Old Town? West Alexandria, Seminary Hill, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I say I live in the following to the following:

Foreigners: D.C.
Americans West of the Mississippi: Virginia
Americans East of the Mississippi: NoVA
DMV-ers: Alexandria
Alexandria folks both City and County: Down the parkway, just past the country club

Haha, +1 exactly! Except we are “down the parkway before Mount Vernon.”

[Anonymous]

I’m from here. For non-transplants, the answer is Alexandria is Alexandria. City versus county is irrelevant besides where you went to high school. But growing up in Alexandria it’s all the same area and no one nit picked like they do on this board. Anyone who knows the area knows neighborhoods — “I’m from del Ray” versus “I’m from Belle Haven” was never this wow you’re from this political jurisdiction versus that that people discuss on here.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s legitimate to call out living in old town or the waterfront area. Outside of that it’s irrelevant.

[Anonymous]

If you are asking for advice about commute, walkability, schools, etc then you need to specify if you are talking about Alexandria City or Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

I would just say “I live in the Fairfax county part of Alexandria.“ It is a completely different animal from the city.