The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

To all my fellow skins fans living in VA, I need some help on a possible relocation in Virginia. I currently reside in a small town in PA. I have passed 2 out of 3 interviews with a company called symantec out of Alexandria, VA. If I make it through the final interview I will have to relocate. Now to the topic, I love the country life, not the city life. I need to know where would I go to live that is about an hour away from Alexandria ( I am talking miles not actual time ). I can't afford a 800,000 dollar home near Alexandria, so if anyone knows of any areas that have a lot of farm land or woods or something that would remind me of my house without a huge price tag area. I would really appreciate it. This all rides on me making the final cut, not sure how good of a chance that is but anyway, wanted to throw this out a head of time.
Thanks to all the reply.
Marc

What is "an hour" in miles? 60 miles? I used to commute 36 miles each way from Stafford to Annandale (which is adjacent to Alexandria, in Fairfax). It took about an hour and a half to get there, and if I was lucky (and stayed late enough at work) an hour and a half to get home. 60 miles down I-95 will put you just south of Massaponax, where houses are going for around 300,000 on cookie-cutter lots.

Clark County is 60 miles west of DC down Rt. 7, and is pretty rural. However, that isn't convenient to Alexandria.

You might try Bowie MD, as well. Though, again, it's all pretty expensive.

Thanks cvillehog, Like I said I really don't know any area down there, and an hour in miles is around 60 miles. Not use to the traffic you guys face every morning, bad traffic to me is a train held us up for 3 minutes or we had to wait for 20 cows to cross the road.

Oh.
I thought he said VD.
Sorry.

Get used to being in your car - cause if you move out that far you can expect about 4 hours a day in the ole auto. Warrenton is nice (folks used to live there), but you have to go further and further out these days to get any real space and cost breaks.

There are a lot of things I miss about Northern Virginia - the traffic ain't one of them.

Good luck and hope you land the job.

If you are looking at all in the MD area (close to Bowie), you could try Upper Marlboro. My father lives in Croom, which is right next to Upper Marlboro; he's got acres and acres of land, two horses, two (new) ATVs, and plenty of twisty, tree-lined roads to get through the area. It's very nice back there, and pretty rural. He drives to DC every morning (granted, at like 5:00 am), which isn't a heck of a lot farther from Alexandria.




But if you want to be 60 mi. from Alexandria, like everyone has already said, you better get satelite radio or a nice 800 pg. book to pass the time on your commute. 60 mi. away from DC area = 2+ hours commute to and from. It's a little better this time of the year (vacations, no school), but we have some of the worst congestion in the country here.

doeslammer wrote:Thanks cvillehog, Like I said I really don't know any area down there, and an hour in miles is around 60 miles. Not use to the traffic you guys face every morning, bad traffic to me is a train held us up for 3 minutes or we had to wait for 20 cows to cross the road.

Dude, you've got a new thing coming when you move down here. I was held up for 30 minutes this morning just on 395 north. There was no car accident or nothing. Everyone just decided to stop and ease their way into the city. Once school starts and everyone is back from vacation its gonna be even worse. I would suggest renting an apartment close by, but then they can be pretty expensive. If you really want a house I would suggest Manassas or Fredericksburg. Its gonna be one heck of a commute, but the prices are more affordable over there.

In fact, the traffic can be really bad I wouldn't reccomend driving from way out there. You should check out the VRE (Virginia Rail Express) trains. Here is the website:

http://www.vre.org/

If you are gonna drive no matter what you should look into the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes. You have to pick up two people and then you can just cruise on into work. The HOV Lanes do get backed up every now and then, but usually you can cruise down them doing at least 65 mph. At least on the 395 ones you can. I have heard it can get really bad on the 66 one. Here is the HOV website:

http://www.virginiadot.org/comtravel/hov-default.asp

The HOV lanes end in Dumfries, which is only 25 or so miles from Alexandria. And, the traffic going south on I-95 in the evenings is at its worse between Dumfries and Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg marks the halfway point between D.C. and Richmond, about 50 miles from each. Also, prices in Fredericksburg are only low compared to the crazy prices in Northern Va -- they are probably still much higher than rural PA.

If you will be working out of their office in the Reston/Herndon area right off of the Dulles Toll road (Rt 267) I'd recommend looking for a home in the Frederick County area of Va. This would give you about a 50 minute ride. The area around Winchester has many nice home, acerage, and much cheaper than Loudon or Fairfax counties.

Feel free to PM me if you'd like more info.

Thanks to all that posted, Hoss I will let you know after the interview on Wednesday. The directions they gave me said to get off the beltway at exit 176B 241 North/Telegraph road. It looks only a little way from there. They are on Eisenhower RD.
Thanks Again and will let you know what happens.

Marc

doeslammer wrote:Not use to the traffic you guys face every morning, bad traffic to me is a train held us up for 3 minutes or we had to wait for 20 cows to cross the road.

I visit Washington and New York for work and have real sympathy for their rage-road traffic -every- day. When I come back to Eastern Canada, it feels a world away. No trains or cows on our three-lane highways. Low density traffic at its worst. I drove my two-seater to the airport a -little- late earlier today at over 160 Km/hour (or 100 mph for you guys). Not a cop in sight early Sunday. Glorius and unforgettable summer drive.

Nothing beats the quality of life up here. Are you sure you want to move to Virginia? Sure the tailgating is better there but come on man!

i would suggest renting an apt in alexandria and getting used to the city life--if you really want to live out in the country be prepared for a loooooooooooooooooooooong ride to work, unless you leave at like 3 am. i work close to alexandria, and the traffic is awful coming from fairfax, a trip that should take about 15 minutes with no traffic and a little speeding, but usually takes close to an hour.

I was born in Alexandria, VA and then moved to Indiana. Everytime I go back home it seems like the traffic is getting worse and worse. I love it back home but man the traffic is just terrible.

Doeslammer: When I was reasearching for a dream place to live I had my sights on the Shenandoah area. I think that it is very very far away though, but in my mind the place is paradise (I've never been there, only seen pictures). Whatever you do I wish you the best of luck b/c I think it's gonna be hard moving to the city for us country boys (and girls). Keep us posted on what happens.

I'll help you out with some research tomm.
butt...as for VA, off the top of my head... that distace would mean Woodbridge, but even further south for you from what it sounds like you want.... Fredricksburg....

Also, look west, near ashburn or beyond Loundon County off of 66.

As i already mentioned, Fredericksburg is 50 milse from DC, which puts it slightly closer than that to Alexandria. 60 miles would be aroudn the Massaponnax area, maybe a little south of there. Also, that area is less expensive than Northern Virginia, but it is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination. Also, it is not nearly as rural as you might imagine.