Those of you who chose between VA and MD, what factors were important to you?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Heh. I can't believe we made it to page 3 of this thread before Pepco came up. That's reason enough to go with VA! 
|
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
|
I just made the move from FFX to Mont. Cty. I needed to do it for family reasons. Having said that, I hate it. I honestly can't believe that life is so different 15 miles around the beltway, yet it is.
I miss the schools, the lower taxes. There just seemed to be more room to breathe in FFX. Everytime I need something now, I have to get on Rockville Pike. For me personally, FFX just had a small town vibe feeling where as Rockville feels like the big city. |
Anonymous
|
Both my spouse and I grew up in Virginia. We went to VA public schools and VA universities. Our families were born and raised in VA.
When we bought our first house we picked Maryland. After having lived in Arlington and then Alexandria we were really disappointed with the houses. Even the apartments in Arlington were terrible. Another poster mentioned lots of "gray" and I think of asphalt and concrete heat islands when I think of Arlington. Alexandria, near King Street, was better- but we had a lot of problems with power outages ironically. The houses were seriously overpriced with not very good schools. Not all of Virginia is like NOVA. But our jobs are here, so we are staying. When on a whim we checked out Maryland, we fell in love with a small neighborhood in close proximity to DC. The people remind us of where we grew up, we can walk to places, and our house was affordable. Since we both went to VA universities, our children can apply legacy if they wish- and we still have a lot of family in VA. But I'm not picking my house on the hopes my kids *might* go to UVA. |
Anonymous
|
I live in VA out of sheer laziness. My first job out of college (in DC) was in Arlington, so I moved from DC to Arlington and never looked back. I liked living in DC and being close to everything, but did not like how noisy it was, and did not like my apartment getting broken into. Plus Arlington was a little cheaper at the time.
Since then, I've mostly had jobs that were a good commute from VA so I've stayed here. It's just easier than redoing everything - taxes, registration, etc. And more of my friends live in VA. I'm in close-in Arlington and can walk or metro to a ton of stuff, so I drive about 6 miles a day total. (to the parking garage by metro and preschool.) I'm a moderate Democrat, so the elections are always interesting. I wish we were better on gay rights, but not enough to move to MD. (I'm not gay so in practice it doesn't affect me at all.) |
Anonymous
Yes, but the difference is you have to go out to North Bethesda or Rockville to see this. The strip malls and ugliness of NoVA start once you cross the bridge. And the biggest clusterfuck of traffic in the area is the 14th Street Bridge. |
Anonymous
Every commercial strip in va is a clusterfuck of traffic and strip malls, name one that isn't? And yes, there are plenty in md as well... please continue to diss each other, since it's keeping the dc threads friendly for once... 
|
Anonymous
or you could get a job in tysons, reston etc.. more opportunities in NOVA than commuting into DC. FYI tysons will replace DC and everything around it will be it's suburb mwahahahaha! |
Anonymous
| There's a messy dynamism and diversity in NoVa that is lacking in DC and MD. If NoVa is sprawling, then MD is like North and South Koreas with a small DMZ in the middle. Bethesda doesn't just feel like a different state from Wheaton or Suitland, it feels like a different country. |
Anonymous
Ummm..what bridges are you talking about? I cross Memorial Bridge and it is a beautiful drive down GW into historic Oldtown. If you cross Key Bridge you can head up Wilson which is not strip malls but a vibrant city with tons of independent shops/bars/restaurants. |