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Old 01-17-2010, 07:55 AM
 
Location: Spartanburg, SC
4,902 posts, read 7,461,748 times
Reputation: 3877

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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScranBarre View Post
It's so nice to hear so many positive experiences with Winchester. I have been to the city several times already and have absolutely fallen in love with it. It has all of the qualities I am looking for in a place to live---a truly identifiable downtown with historic charm, sidewalks, friendly people who don't care if you drive a Ford or an Audi, and enough shopping/dining options to keep me happy. It reminds me a lot of what I had to sacrifice when I left PA in order to move to the generic cul-de-sac wonderland they call NoVA. I am planning to visit the town again during their Apple Blossom Festival and will be bringing numerous friends from Fairfax County with me to help pump more money into your local economy. I also hope to venture out alone on one of those days to do a photo tour for this forum.

I truly wish it was possible for me to commute daily from Winchester to Tyson's Corner for work. As of right now I am considering doing a flex schedule at some point in the future to work 6 AM-4:30 PM on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and commute four days per week (or potentially get approval to telework one day per week, preferably Fridays, so I'm only making that commute thrice per week). Does anyone in Winchester currently commute daily to Tyson's Corner or know of anyone who does? Are they sane and rational individuals? I'm the type of person who likes to take pride in where I live and likes to pitch in and get involved to make it a better place, but I just don't feel "attached" enough to Reston to get motivated much to do that here.
I think the biggest fear in Winchester is becoming the next "target" and becoming part of NoVa and losing that special charm. They see themselves as "Virginia" not "Northern Virginia".
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Old 01-17-2010, 08:06 AM
 
6,565 posts, read 14,309,016 times
Reputation: 3229
Quote:
Originally Posted by LynchburgLover View Post
I think the biggest fear in Winchester is becoming the next "target" and becoming part of NoVa and losing that special charm. They see themselves as "Virginia" not "Northern Virginia".
Well, the plan is and has been to move some federal offices out this way and I believe they have started doing so (my understanding is that the logic is to get them out of the D.C. "blast zone" in case of a nuclear strike..... Charming, eh? ).

Anyway, I don't really see Winchester becoming NoVA part II. We have the mountains and Clarke County (who has resisted big development and will most likely continue to do so) in between as a nice buffer....

What I could see happening is Winchester, Martinsburg, WV, Hagerstown, MD growing like weeds and becoming a large entity unto itself..... The advantage at the very least is that these "small cities" along the valley share a history and I think they're all doing their best to preserve it. Development is inevitable, but hopefully it's smart development instead of sprawl....

We'll see...
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Old 01-17-2010, 08:07 AM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,621 posts, read 77,701,807 times
Reputation: 19102
Quote:
Originally Posted by LynchburgLover View Post
I think the biggest fear in Winchester is becoming the next "target" and becoming part of NoVa and losing that special charm. They see themselves as "Virginia" not "Northern Virginia".
The problem is that there are plenty of us currently living in NoVA who feel like we are out of our "element", so to speak. I feel no coziness or attachment to a mess of cul-de-sacs, big-box-stores, parking lots, strip malls, tract-housing, etc., and that's all that 99.9% of NoVA outside the Beltway truly is (with anything inside the Beltway being cost-prohibitive for most in the middle-class). I work in the soulless armpit they call Tyson's Corner and live in a nearly equally as dreary "HOA." I'm just so depressed here. I would love to live in a historic and unique place where I could truly feel PROUD of---a place where I'd even run for town office someday to help make things better. Where's the "charm" of Fairfax County? I still haven't found it, and it will take BILLIONS of tax dollars to fix the planning mistakes made over the past 30 years here.

I don't seek to move to Winchester and turn it into NoVA. I seek rather to move to Winchester and become one with the community as it currently stands. You already have a Sonic, a Thai restaurant, and places where I could buy clothing. Just get a Best Buy (or a GameStop would suffice) and a Chick-Fil-A, and I'm set for life in Winchester! To me Winchester seems to be the type of place where you could actually wave to your neighbors and expect them to wave back. It seems like the type of place where you could go out for a run or a jog and be in a race to be the first to say "Good morning" to a passer-by. It seems like the type of place where you could go to the mall and be guaranteed to bump into two or three people at any given time whom you know from church, work, the neighborhood, etc.

My soul is literally being hurt living in Fairfax County.
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Old 01-17-2010, 08:08 AM
 
Location: Spartanburg, SC
4,902 posts, read 7,461,748 times
Reputation: 3877
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhett_Butler View Post
Well, the plan is and has been to move some federal offices out this way and I believe they have started doing so (my understanding is that the logic is to get them out of the D.C. "blast zone" in case of a nuclear strike..... Charming, eh? ).

Anyway, I don't really see Winchester becoming NoVA part II. We have the mountains and Clarke County (who has resisted big development and will most likely continue to do so) in between as a nice buffer....

What I could see happening is Winchester, Martinsburg, WV, Hagerstown, MD growing like weeds and becoming a large entity unto itself..... The advantage at the very least is that these "small cities" along the valley share a history and I think they're all doing their best to preserve it. Development is inevitable, but hopefully it's smart development instead of sprawl....

We'll see...
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Old 01-17-2010, 08:10 AM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,621 posts, read 77,701,807 times
Reputation: 19102
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhett_Butler View Post
Development is inevitable, but hopefully it's smart development instead of sprawl....
Hopefully Winchester will never devolve into the next Leesburg. That community was probably so quaint and charming at one point in time. Now it has largely completely succumbed to pressures from urban sprawl.
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Old 01-17-2010, 01:40 PM
 
267 posts, read 1,362,062 times
Reputation: 198
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhett_Butler View Post
What I could see happening is Winchester, Martinsburg, WV, Hagerstown, MD growing like weeds and becoming a large entity unto itself..... The advantage at the very least is that these "small cities" along the valley share a history and I think they're all doing their best to preserve it. Development is inevitable, but hopefully it's smart development instead of sprawl....

We'll see...
That may actually be a reality as far as TV goes. Recently I saw a post on one of those media websites ( DCRTV.com ) where Gray TV ( owners of Winchester's ABC 3 ) and Nexstar ( Hagerstown's NBC 25 ) are together looking into creating a "quad-state TV market". Plus with Martinsburg's channel 60 ( was FOX, almost became CBS but now ION ) and Chambersburg's WJAL-TV being up for sale and PBS available out of Front Royal and Hagerstown. This would be interesting to see if Gray & Nexstar could pull it off though I guess there could be some "legal issues".

But everything else..I agree..we'll see though I do have to admit Winchester will never be the next Leesburg though since Winchester/Frederick County seems to actually not want certain things that usually equals growth outside of homes & retail such as their airport for example. From what I heard Winchester Regional Airport some years back had turned down Allegiant Airlines from offering non-stop passenger flights from Winchester to Florida ( Hagerstown ended up getting those ). Plus Winchester and Frederick County a number of years ago wouldn't allow Shenandoah Univeristy to build an 8000 seat sports arena as I recall over the "fear" of growth..but on the other hand Winchester sure does have more of their share of parking garages. Myself..I would rather have the sports arena and the convience of being able to fly to the Orlando area from Winchester rather than dealing with the DC and Baltimore area airports

Last edited by billybobwv; 01-17-2010 at 01:56 PM..
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Old 01-17-2010, 04:25 PM
 
6,565 posts, read 14,309,016 times
Reputation: 3229
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScranBarre View Post
You already have a Sonic, a Thai restaurant, and places where I could buy clothing. Just get a Best Buy (or a GameStop would suffice) and a Chick-Fil-A, and I'm set for life in Winchester!
Well, no Best Buy, but we DO already have at least 3 Gamestops and 2 Chick-Fil-As.....
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Old 01-17-2010, 05:15 PM
 
Location: Spartanburg, SC
4,902 posts, read 7,461,748 times
Reputation: 3877
Ahh, Best Buy, no but HHGregg is coming where Circuit City used to be! And, lighten up, everyone loves Chick-Fil-A!
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Old 01-17-2010, 05:38 PM
 
229 posts, read 879,940 times
Reputation: 155
I believe Best Buy had plans at one time to be part of that "Shops at Tevis" center behind the former Circuit City-current Old Navy shopping center on Pleasant Valley Road. Now that Martinsburg has Best Buy and one I believe is planned for Front Royal, not sure if Best Buy's plans on opening up in Winchester have since changed or not. Myself, I think it did as I don't believe neither Martinsburg or Front Royal would allow a Best Buy in Winchester.
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Old 01-17-2010, 06:51 PM
chy
 
10 posts, read 18,430 times
Reputation: 10
Hi,
Could you offer me infromation. I am possibly moving to Winchester for a job at The valley Hospital. I have a son , 12 and am looking for a great safe neighborhood. A catholic church. Could you tell me what there is to do there. From the pictures it looks really nice. We are moving from Charlotte NC.
If you would like to email me please do so at ford080barn773@yahoo.
Thank you so much.
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