What is the appeal of this area? IDGI

[Anonymous]

This area and especially nova (given lower income tax compared to MD/DC) is probably the best area in the country at being “good enough” across the largest amount of QOL categories - schools, weather, housing affordability (way better than NYC or CA), good salaries, tons of jobs, tons of infrastructure for families like parks, youth programs, access to major airports, etc.

Does not mean this area is “the best” in all of those categories (in fact I’d argue it’s not in any) but collectively it checks the most “yeah, this will work” boxes compared to anywhere else.

+1 You will meet a lot of people from all over the US and the world here. It's an interesting place because of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
No place is perfect. Schools and activities for kids are great in Fairfax County. People are highly educated. You come to appreciate neighbors and friends here. There are some really nice parks and rec centers in Fairfax. You can find just about any activity.

Where do you live that your neighbors are also friends? This area is famously unfriendly, especially to people without kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I've brought up many of your points on this board and people refuse to believe there are nicer places -- better weather, less traffic, not as dense and rundown, and not as expensive. I really think people don't travel enough within the U.S. I am OK with this area mostly because I like my job but if I lose the job or decide to do something else, I'll definitely be looking to move.

I don't really believe or disbelieve this. It's a matter of opinion and what you're looking for. But I haven't been anywhere where you can live in or near a decent city and the housing was gorgeous and cheap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I've brought up many of your points on this board and people refuse to believe there are nicer places -- better weather, less traffic, not as dense and rundown, and not as expensive. I really think people don't travel enough within the U.S. I am OK with this area mostly because I like my job but if I lose the job or decide to do something else, I'll definitely be looking to move.

I don't agree with this. Lots of people agree. But most US cities aren't better than this. I can think of a lot of resort towns I'd rather be living in, with there being something to do. But as far as major metro areas are concerned, most are pretty much the same song outside of Manhattan.

Better cities: Boston, Chicago, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle. Also, Portland (both Maine and Oregon), Columbus.

Agree with this list, though Boston, Chicago, and Columbus are tough in winter. Would also add San Diego and Denver. I know less about Research Triangle and Austin, but they may be possibilities.

I lived in SF and Seattle, and the only advantage is the beautiful scenery of a different type and great seafood and Asian food. Nothing else really. Weather in DC is better overall across 4 seasons. I hated SF fog, and cold summers and rarely useful beach . Seattle has glorious summers but terrible everything else. Not a fan of drizzle and fog. Traffic is horrible in both too and pubic transit is worse than DC IMHO. Suburbia there isn’t much better at all. I get it when people used to quaint old towns in the NE complain about DC suburbia. But people from the West Coast? B**ch, please You don’t move West for quaint architecture and old world charm Denver and Austin? You gotta be kidding. The only redeeming feature of Denver is mountain range view at the distance, the city itself is rather blah and flat. Never been to Austin and had no desire to looking at the photos and hearing about the weather. Isn’t it like 5 months of the weather everyone here freaks out about during 2 months of DC summer?

Austin is HUGELY overrated and has been so for a long time now. There hasn't been anything near affordable near the Austin center since the late '90's and a lot of the suburbs are quite ugly with the same ugly strip malls as everywhere else. It gets bonus points for huge planned developments that have no commercial zoning on the inside of them so you get the pleasure of driving 15-20 minutes to, well, everything.

Probably the worst part is that they keep building, building, building right into the Hill Country, ruining the natural beauty everyone loved about the area.

[Anonymous]

I think this is just the reality for a lot of post WWII suburbs. I grew up down south and there are pockets that are nice (like inside a gated neighborhood adjacent to one of those faux urban centers). But the urban planning is otherwise atrocious. There are identical grocery stores across the street from each other in some areas because you can only access them from one direction. Access roads are not connected. You have to get on an interstate or access road to get around town. Everything was built for the car. There is nice infill between dumpy old shopping centers, but a lot of it is ugly.

I also think much of Fairfax is a weird donut hole. The close in suburbs, especially around transit, tend to look nicer because they were built to human scale with sidewalks (drive around Broadmont/EFC/Westover/McLean). No it’s not all pristine and amazing, and some of the new builds are heinous, but as a whole I think it has more charm than somewhere like Chantilly along route 50.


And then if you go out to Loudoun you get the newer neighborhoods with planned retail centers. It’s sprawl, but at least it is thoughtful sprawl with a cookie cutter aesthetic.

Fairfax is just caught in the middle. It doesn’t really have the nice street grid and mature trees that inside the beltway neighborhoods have. And it’s not shiny with underground power lines like Loudoun. There are cute pockets inside the county, but it’s largely a mishmash of development that never had a cohesive long term plan.

[Anonymous]

I love GMU and downtown Fairfax. We are there all the time using their facilities or catching a bite to ear. Go see q local band play. Check out meetup.

[Anonymous]

It is all about Jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No place is perfect. Schools and activities for kids are great in Fairfax County. People are highly educated. You come to appreciate neighbors and friends here. There are some really nice parks and rec centers in Fairfax. You can find just about any activity.

Where do you live that your neighbors are also friends? This area is famously unfriendly, especially to people without kids.

Get a dog and then everyone is your friend. Or, do yard work and everyone comes and chats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No place is perfect. Schools and activities for kids are great in Fairfax County. People are highly educated. You come to appreciate neighbors and friends here. There are some really nice parks and rec centers in Fairfax. You can find just about any activity.

Where do you live that your neighbors are also friends? This area is famously unfriendly, especially to people without kids.

I live in Alexandria city and have plenty of neighbors as friends. We even close down our street a few times a year for a block party. We have kids but have even become friends with our retired neighbors.

I don’t know exactly what made our street and some neighboring streets conducive to this, but apparently the street has been this way for decades.

I suppose the houses built in the 1940s are close together, many people have dogs, and those with elementary students walk their kids to school up the street, and most people don’t have garages (those that do, the garage is only large enough for a mini cooper) so you end up seeing your neighbors frequently compared to some neighborhoods where everyone drives in and out of their garages and rarely steps into their front yard or walks anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No place is perfect. Schools and activities for kids are great in Fairfax County. People are highly educated. You come to appreciate neighbors and friends here. There are some really nice parks and rec centers in Fairfax. You can find just about any activity.

Where do you live that your neighbors are also friends? This area is famously unfriendly, especially to people without kids.

I kind of feel bad when I hear someone say that they do not know their neighbors, or are not friends with their neighbors.

Over the years, we've gotten to know a lot of our neighbors through school activities, sports, and the neighborhood pool club.

Over time, it is really possible to build nice friendships with your neighbors. It just takes time. If you move frequently, regardless of where you live, you might not experience this. (There are pros and cons of moving, but this is one of the cons.)

We love our neighborhood in Bethesda because the neighbors are pleasant, educated, and show respect for each other (by taking care of their property and not making a lot of noise, for example).

[Anonymous]

If you don't have kids, you can do all the yard work in the world, be admired for your landscaping, and never be invited to anything. This area is so cliquey, and the SAH moms are the worst, followed by the working moms because they are exhausted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you don't have kids, you can do all the yard work in the world, be admired for your landscaping, and never be invited to anything. This area is so cliquey, and the SAH moms are the worst, followed by the working moms because they are exhausted.

Our neighborhood is super friendly and we (DINKs) aren’t invited to hang with the parents and I don’t see an issue with that? We’re in totally different life stages - you hang with the people you vibe with any a lot of that is being in a similar life stage eg both SAHM or both working moms or whatever. We’re planning our next safari and they’re wiping toddler poop off their floor - I wouldn’t expect us to have a ton to talk about and click over