Subjective Winchester (Lynchburg, Reston, Chantilly: closing, taxi cab, income)

[jacmadhel]

Hi All,
We are back from a harrowing weekend in the big W.
It was unfortunately not what I expected and from the sounds of your posts above it won't be anytime soon. We chose Winchester for the growth possibilities. At the moment it is just like what I want to leave. Maybe slightly bigger. I am amazed that there is such opposition to growth. Why?
It was a bit too sleepy for us. At 7:00 on Saturday night everything in the pedestrian walking mall was closed except a few restaurants. We were glad we stayed at the George Washington hotel but never will again. It was uncomfortable and teenagers were running up and down the hall yelling until 4 AM.
We did like one or two areas outside of the city. Namely Apple Pie Ridge RD. and out to the west but we did not have enough time to explore them fully.
I liked Purcellville but it may be too expensive for us to buy a 4 BR there.
Remains to be seen.
K

[LynchburgLover]

I'm so sorry it didn't work out for you.

I can understand the stores on the walking mall being closed; it is January. The downtowns of most small cities close earlier during the winter and the economy has smacked Winchester, just like so many.

I'm surprised by the GW though. Teenagers running wild? Wow, was there a sports team or something staying there? Did you complain to the management? I sure would have. We had a similar situation once where a college baseball team were obviously coming in from a big win! It took one call to the front desk and, within minutes, we could hear the coach settling things down very quickly!

If you're looking at Purcellville, it's a lot more like Northern Virginia. You'll still have to head to Leesburg and Lansdowne/Ashburn area to find much going on after 7 p.m.

Best of luck.

[Rhett_Butler]

Originally Posted by chy

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.

Well, there are TWO Catholic churches I'm aware of. One in Winchester and one in Front Royal..... Been tough on that front. Especially since we don't really like the one in Winchester...

[Rhett_Butler]

Originally Posted by jacmadhel

Hi All,
We are back from a harrowing weekend in the big W.
It was unfortunately not what I expected and from the sounds of your posts above it won't be anytime soon. We chose Winchester for the growth possibilities. At the moment it is just like what I want to leave. Maybe slightly bigger. I am amazed that there is such opposition to growth. Why?
It was a bit too sleepy for us. At 7:00 on Saturday night everything in the pedestrian walking mall was closed except a few restaurants. We were glad we stayed at the George Washington hotel but never will again. It was uncomfortable and teenagers were running up and down the hall yelling until 4 AM.
We did like one or two areas outside of the city. Namely Apple Pie Ridge RD. and out to the west but we did not have enough time to explore them fully.
I liked Purcellville but it may be too expensive for us to buy a 4 BR there.
Remains to be seen.
K

Not sure where you went that you'd like Purcellville and not Winchester. Purcellville really isn't any larger (in fact I think it's smaller...). But yeah, it's definately more of a growth area. I think this thread has been pretty clear that Winchester's charm lies in the fact that it is trying to limit the massive growth of NoVA, so if you misunderstood that somehow, sorry...

[jacmadhel]

I guess my last post was contradictory. I liked P'ville because it is close to Leesburg but not in it. I suppose I want the best of both worlds. I like the small town feel very close to a big town. We have not totally ruled out Winchester it was just a bit of a let down compared to what I expected. Its just like here and we want to leave because this area is shrinking and raising taxes with no hope of catching up fiscally.

And yes, I had to call the front desk twice and yell at the brats myself.

[cathy J.]

Originally Posted by Rhett_Butler

Not sure where you went that you'd like Purcellville and not Winchester. Purcellville really isn't any larger (in fact I think it's smaller...). But yeah, it's definately more of a growth area. I think this thread has been pretty clear that Winchester's charm lies in the fact that it is trying to limit the massive growth of NoVA, so if you misunderstood that somehow, sorry...

Purcellville has around 4,000 people while the city of Winchester is about to touch 27,000..yeah Winchester is a bit more bigger by about 23,000 people.

[LynchburgLover]

Originally Posted by jacmadhel

I guess my last post was contradictory. I liked P'ville because it is close to Leesburg but not in it. I suppose I want the best of both worlds. I like the small town feel very close to a big town. We have not totally ruled out Winchester it was just a bit of a let down compared to what I expected. Its just like here and we want to leave because this area is shrinking and raising taxes with no hope of catching up fiscally.

And yes, I had to call the front desk twice and yell at the brats myself.

Purcellville is definitely more NoVa. The prices and taxes reflect it, too. An average 4 bedroom house on 1/4 acre runs about $400-440k and about $5300 for taxes (per Zillow). Values have gone down a good bit but the taxes haven't.

But, anyway, best of luck.

[South Jersey Styx]

Originally Posted by jacmadhel

. . .it was just a bit of a let down compared to what I expected.

Sorry you didn't enjoy your visit. Yeah, Saturday night would've been pretty dead because it's wintertime plus college students were on Winter Break. I heard that there's more of a social atmosphere at the restaurants and bars on Friday and Sat nights during Spring and Summer.

I lived in NoVA for the last 20 years. Before that, in DC. Winchester reminded me of Leesburg when I first moved into NoVA--small historic town with lots of fields and horse farms in the surrounding area. I no longer wanted to stay after the sprawl and overdevelopment. In fact I really can't stand going back into the area (although I do to visit friends and eat out once in awhile) and can't wait to head back west "over the mountain." I guess, I just feel like I can now breathe when I am in Winchester. I like the people. I like the old historic buildings. I like the tactile and texture, including the dirt.

I hope things go well with your next visit! Good luck!

[cathy J.]

Originally Posted by jacmadhel

Hi All,
I am amazed that there is such opposition to growth. Why?

I went back and re-read your post. Exactly what kind of growth do you mean?

If its things like building schools, roads, new stores/restaurants and homes I really haven't seen much in the way of opposition in growth lately in the Winchester area when it comes to those type of things. Now with that being said there is some "opposition" as far as should Winchester and Frederick County work together but that is more of a Virginia thing not so much local.

Now if one is talking about high rises ( more than 15 stories ), upscale stores like Nordstrom and Saks, ultra exspensive restaurants like Ruth Chris, huge sports stadiums, a bunch of nightlife and the like..yeah there is opposition in Winchester against such stuff. But then again its the same thing in the other cities/ towns nearby too such as Martinsburg ( not talking about their nudie bars ), Front Royal, Harrisonburg, Hagerstown, Cumberland, Staunton, Woodstock, Charles Town, etc....Winchester really isn't any different than the others in that department.

[LynchburgLover]

Originally Posted by cathy J.

I went back and re-read your post. Exactly what kind of growth do you mean?

If its things like building schools, roads, new stores/restaurants and homes I really haven't seen much in the way of opposition in growth lately in the Winchester area when it comes to those type of things. Now with that being said there is some "opposition" as far as should Winchester and Frederick County work together but that is more of a Virginia thing not so much local.

Now if one is talking about high rises ( more than 15 stories ), upscale stores like Nordstrom and Saks, ultra exspensive restaurants like Ruth Chris, huge sports stadiums, a bunch of nightlife and the like..yeah there is opposition in Winchester against such stuff. But then again its the same thing in the other cities/ towns nearby too such as Martinsburg ( not talking about their nudie bars ), Front Royal, Harrisonburg, Hagerstown, Cumberland, Staunton, Woodstock, Charles Town, etc....Winchester really isn't any different than the others in that department.

Re your last paragraph: It's not opposition to upscale stores, ulta expensive restaurants -- those companies can look at the demographics/income distribution of Winchester and see that there isn't a sufficient population to support those stores. The Nordstrom in Dulles Town Center isn't even a full-size store and it's closing has been rumored for a while. If that part of Loudoun can't sustain a booming Nordstrom, there's no way Winchester (or Hagerstown, Cumberland etc) can entice them to open a store.