Small towns in N. Virginia - Leesburg or Manassas? (Alexandria: townhomes, prices)

[adriftinthebay]

I work in Reston and am looking to move down to northern virginia but do not want to park it in pure suburbia or ritzy flashy towerville. Is there a small town with their own local culture here or are most towns just bedroom communities for D.C.? I am early 30's.

I checked out Leesburg and Manassas and liked them, both have decent downtowns and more reasonable housing prices. They're also closer to the mountains and rivers, which is something I value as an outdoorsman. I noticed there are more townhomes in the $300k range here, a price point downright impossible in Alexandria or someplace closer in.

Any recommendations between the two of them or another small town suggestion?

[NOVA_guy]

Not to sound pessimistic but there are no small towns in Northern Virginia.

Manassas does have a nice downtown but it's not a small town in any way. All of NoVa is pretty much congested suburban sprawl.

Best of luck!

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by NOVA_guy

Not to sound pessimistic but there are no small towns in Northern Virginia.

Wrong.


Middleburg.

[NOVA_guy]

Originally Posted by spencgr

Wrong.


Middleburg.

Middleburg is kind of under the radar and like a needle in a haystack so I forgot but there's a suggestion to check out, OP.

[NOVAEER]

Purcellville is another.

[ersatz]

Originally Posted by NOVA_guy

Not to sound pessimistic but there are no small towns in Northern Virginia.

Loudoun County has small towns (seven officially designated as such)

Hamilton
Leesburg
Lovettsville
Hillsboro
Middleburg
Purcellville
Round Hill

There are many (many) more villages. Wiki has a listing of them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudoun_County,_Virginia. Each has its charms and unique character. Take a Sunday drive around the county and prepare to be charmed. Fall is my favorite time of year in Loudoun County but Spring is pretty nice too.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by ersatz

Loudoun County has small towns (seven officially designated as such)

Hamilton
Leesburg
Lovettsville
Hillsboro
Middleburg
Purcellville
Round Hill

There are many (many) more villages. Wiki has a listing of them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudoun_County,_Virginia. Each has its charms and unique character. Take a Sunday drive around the county and prepare to be charmed. Fall is my favorite time of year in Loudoun County but Spring is pretty nice too.

Loudoun has seven designated "towns". Are they all "small"? That's a matter of opinion. The populations of Hamilton, Hillsboro, Middleburg and Round Hill are all under 1000 people. Definitely small.

Lovettsville has about 2k people. Still smaill, IMO.

Purcellville is now about 10k people. Small? Perhaps. Medium, IMO.

Leesburg has over 50k people. I would not consider that small at all.

(And, as to the OP's question, specifically, Manassas has over 40k people, so not really small, either.)

[Lemming95]

Are you looking for something like this..they are advertising it as a lot/land. House may not be habitable
https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...74_rect/10_zm/

What is the draw of a small town- local bars? Clubs, Manassas has a gun range. Woodbridge has a baseball park(for now) I would try for someplace near work, Reston or Herndon and travel to your recreation.

[choff5]

If you’re working in Reston, think about your commute. Can’t speak from experience but it seems the lesser of two evils is Leesburg to Reston over Manassas to Reston.

[LynchburgLover]

Go over into Clarke County — Berryville. The mountain can have some tricky weather but Berryville certainly qualifies as small town with its own culture.