Thinking about moving to NOVA. (Richmond, Roanoke: crime, chapel, house)

[Nancy in Nokomis]

Think long and hard about your decision. All the above posts are true. Traffic here is horrible and it will rule your life. It takes about 3 hours to go to the beach in bad traffic - not a nice day trip. I miss the beach terribly and am sad I moved here.

My husbands coworker who works in Sprinfield and lives in Fredericksburg has to take Fridays in the summer off because it would take him 3 or more hours to get home.

For $1,000 a month up here you will get a crappy basement for one person. The cost of living is sky high in NOVA. You need to make a lot of money to survive.

[Jean71]

Thanks for all the info ladies and gentlemen. Appears I'm a little off on a few things but then thats why I asked.
You all pretty much addressed my concerns and confirmed what I had in the back of my head.

Think I will look further South. My GF is definitely gonna have a hard time with traffic/commuting like that since shes lived in a small town her whole life.

Thanks again.

[stpickrell]

Originally Posted by Jean71

Thanks for all the info ladies and gentlemen. Appears I'm a little off on a few things but then thats why I asked.
You all pretty much addressed my concerns and confirmed what I had in the back of my head.

Think I will look further South. My GF is definitely gonna have a hard time with traffic/commuting like that since shes lived in a small town her whole life.

Thanks again.

Problem is other areas won't be as likely to get you good solid career-track jobs, or the commute is going to suck just as bad.

If you guys are looking to "break into" your fields, find a place in downtown Leesburg or Frederick (and you can find 1BR/2BR places for under $1k in/near the city center of both) and just look for jobs nearby.

IMO, Leesburg and Frederick are better for generic commutes than Fredericksburg. The only downside is there's no beaches.

The advantage of places like Fredericksburg, Leesburg, Frederick, Manassas, and Annapolis is that they are close enough in to commute to the job goldmines (or go to cultural events) if you have/want to, but far enough out that you have a much lower cost of living and a separate identity from Washington DC/innermost Northern VA.

[robbobobbo]

What about Richmond? It's not NoVA, but it's closer to Virginia Beach (2 hrs?), mountains (1.5 to 2 hrs), cost of living is less, you'd be closer to things like concerts and festivals than if you were on the far periphery of NoVA. And if you want to do a weekend excursion to DC for museums or special events, it's not so far.

[chariega]

I agree with the Richmond suggestion--decent economy, plenty of things to do, closer to the beach and mountains, and MUCH cheaper than Northern VA.

[Jean71]

Originally Posted by robbobobbo

What about Richmond? It's not NoVA, but it's closer to Virginia Beach (2 hrs?), mountains (1.5 to 2 hrs), cost of living is less, you'd be closer to things like concerts and festivals than if you were on the far periphery of NoVA. And if you want to do a weekend excursion to DC for museums or special events, it's not so far.

Originally Posted by chariega

I agree with the Richmond suggestion--decent economy, plenty of things to do, closer to the beach and mountains, and MUCH cheaper than Northern VA.

Yeh I am currently leaning to the Richmond area. Busy doing my research etc.

Also checking out a few others like Roanoke Newport News and Virginia Beach. Richmond is at the top though.

[Jean71]

Originally Posted by stpickrell

Problem is other areas won't be as likely to get you good solid career-track jobs, or the commute is going to suck just as bad.

If you guys are looking to "break into" your fields, find a place in downtown Leesburg or Frederick (and you can find 1BR/2BR places for under $1k in/near the city center of both) and just look for jobs nearby.

IMO, Leesburg and Frederick are better for generic commutes than Fredericksburg. The only downside is there's no beaches.

The advantage of places like Fredericksburg, Leesburg, Frederick, Manassas, and Annapolis is that they are close enough in to commute to the job goldmines (or go to cultural events) if you have/want to, but far enough out that you have a much lower cost of living and a separate identity from Washington DC/innermost Northern VA.

Thanks!
Leesburg looks interesting too and will defs look more into it and Frederick too. Haven't really looked too much into Maryland but I suppose I should.
We really are just looking to "break into" those fields as of now. I don't really have much established experience in I.T.
So a smaller place might be a good start.

[jillybean720]

I loved Virginia Beach - lived there for a year and still visit frequently, as I have family there. That whole Tidewater area is great for active folks - obviously not much for mountains, but there's the beach and lots of parks, paths, etc. The down side may be the job market. I found a job down there fresh out of college, but for other than entry-level type positions, you're competing with a ton of veterans (lots of military in the area). Their job market is primarily military and medical/healthcare. And Stihl (manufacturing). Of course, I'm sure there are IT jobs, as with military comes government contractors (Lockheed, GD, CSC, etc.). It's a lower cost of living than NOVA as well. I'd just look into the job market a bit more.

[Jean71]

Originally Posted by jillybean720

I loved Virginia Beach - lived there for a year and still visit frequently, as I have family there. That whole Tidewater area is great for active folks - obviously not much for mountains, but there's the beach and lots of parks, paths, etc. The down side may be the job market. I found a job down there fresh out of college, but for other than entry-level type positions, you're competing with a ton of veterans (lots of military in the area). Their job market is primarily military and medical/healthcare. And Stihl (manufacturing). Of course, I'm sure there are IT jobs, as with military comes government contractors (Lockheed, GD, CSC, etc.). It's a lower cost of living than NOVA as well. I'd just look into the job market a bit more.

Thanks jillybean720.

[mkarch]

Interesting. In the 4 years I lived in Fairfax, the only beaches I went to I either drove for 3+ hours to get there or flew there. I flew back to the west coast to go ski/board.

The only advantage NoVa has in this area is there are 3 airports nearby!