Never. I grew up in that kind of environment and hated it. No sidewalks, and there was nothing in walking distance anyway including friends, a pool, library, or anyplace else to go and hang out. Until I had my license I was stuck at home unless one of my parents was able and willing to drive us somewhere, or my friends' parents were able and willing to come get me.

It's very peaceful to visit my parents as a weekend getaway, but no way would I want to live my life like that daily.

Anonymous wrote:There are some lovely areas of loudoun that I wish we could move to. Of course, my husband's job is actually the other direction (towards Fredericksburg) and it would make more sense to move down that way

We keep looking on Mason Neck-that's as far out as we are truly willing to go.

There are some lovely areas in Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania, too. And you get a bonus of having a nice downtown Fredericksburg, including the university. Given the choice, I would take that any day over Loudoun.

There are some lovely areas of loudoun that I wish we could move to. Of course, my husband's job is actually the other direction (towards Fredericksburg) and it would make more sense to move down that way

We keep looking on Mason Neck-that's as far out as we are truly willing to go.

We did this. I work in the area, so the commute is easy, and DW telecommutes. This means we own our 4,000 sf house outright and have very minimal childcare costs. Public schools are very highly rated, we have three acres (in an HOA subdivision) in the woods. We have a small garden.

We like the peace and quiet, but day trips, or even evening trips to DC are easy.

Would love to move to western Massachusetts and have a small farm. Or upstate NY. Not an exurb though.

Anonymous wrote:Exurb, not exburb

Thanks, it was late I didn't even notice.

Sometimes, I think that my big, active dog would enjoy being outside on a farm. However, we live close to Rock Creek Park in DC, so I think he'll just have to suck it up for our shorter commute.

Anonymous wrote:I dream of having a small farm in Southern California, no animals just fruits and veggie garden.

.

The drought will kill your dream.

I dream of having a small farm in Southern California, no animals just fruits and veggie garden.

Exurb, not exburb

No. No chickens.

I moved to the Laytonsville area of Montgomery county a few years ago. My husband took a telework option, so that he no longer had to be in DC on a daily basis.

We love this area, and were able to purchase more house and land. We do not have farm animals yet. We like to travel during school breaks and do not want the hassle of having to find someone to take care of the animals.

I feel like it's the best of both worlds; small town/country peace, with an urban city near by. We still go to DC for museums, events, and for happy hours with friends. We simply did not have the need to be close in on a daily basis.

Anonymous wrote:The exurbs have gotten so developed in this area, I can't even imagine how far you'd have to go to find that lifestyle.

Farming is the no 1 industry in Maryland. There are literally farms everywhere outside of DC.

The exurbs have gotten so developed in this area, I can't even imagine how far you'd have to go to find that lifestyle.

There is a trend, apparently, in some other cities to move into exburbs. To me that sounds great, if you get several acres, be able to plant your own garden, maybe have chickens, I would love to have a horse, love riding, but then I think the work even if you just maintain a few animals and garden would be too much. But, for fun, lets say do you ever dream about having such half rural life style? I do, but reality of it might be too much and I think I might be too lazy for it. I kind of grew up, in a bit of that situation, but it was closer to city then, now everything is so far away, but I sure helped Grandma raise chickens and pigs until I was around 8 years old and we had our own veggies and fruit and eggs. Now I wish my kids were more connected to food source and knew how important food is and where it comes from. Anyway, opinions about exburbs if anybody has any, if not, oh well, I can keep on dreaming.