Anyone from Chantilly VA?
...the cost of living here is astronomical and traffic is horrendous. If you're willing to commute (ie. willing to **** half your life away in bumper to bumper), you can find (relatively) affordable housing. Luckily housing prices are starting to come down (due to the housing glut and subprime woes) but are still far from reasonable.
There are tons of Fbodies/Mustangs in the area, and if you're into drag racing, MD has a good selection of 1/4 miles strips (street action is hard to come by due to the afore mentioned horrendous traffic and 49 ******* cops per square mile...which is weird cuz there aren't that many donut shops around???)....but anyway....
If you enjoy traffic, long commutes, high housing costs, lots of cops, no donut shops, money grubbing women, and exploding immigrant population and living within the blast radius of the #1 terrorist target in the world...you'll really enjoy this area.
There are tons of Fbodies/Mustangs in the area, and if you're into drag racing, MD has a good selection of 1/4 miles strips (street action is hard to come by due to the afore mentioned horrendous traffic and 49 ******* cops per square mile...which is weird cuz there aren't that many donut shops around???)....but anyway....
If you enjoy traffic, long commutes, high housing costs, lots of cops, no donut shops, money grubbing women, and exploding immigrant population and living within the blast radius of the #1 terrorist target in the world...you'll really enjoy this area.
There is nothing good about this area. NOTHING. It was nice when I moved down here from PA in 2001 but about 2003-04 it started getting bad and overrun. Sometimes I think I am in Mexico and not in the U.S. Manassas is the worst for that. You do not want to live here. You will regret it if you decide to. I cant wait till we can get out!
It's not that bad down here, Flamin'. I'm from central PA, and I do not miss it one bit. I agree that the traffic is horrible, and buying a house is about impossible unless you are making serious money, but it's a great starter area for people out of college, or someone who is a big CEO 
. The schools down here are some of the best in the county as well.
I do not mind the hispanic population as much as I do the asian population. The reason is simply because of the driving issue. IMO, our asian neighbors (this is including the India part of the Asian Continent) lack the common sense on the road to make any sort of manuevers. I attribute this to their lack of driving experience in their home countries. Whatever the excuse, it's annoying and is the reason for the holdups you mentioned (ie: gawking).
There is money to be made down here though.
. The schools down here are some of the best in the county as well.I do not mind the hispanic population as much as I do the asian population. The reason is simply because of the driving issue. IMO, our asian neighbors (this is including the India part of the Asian Continent) lack the common sense on the road to make any sort of manuevers. I attribute this to their lack of driving experience in their home countries. Whatever the excuse, it's annoying and is the reason for the holdups you mentioned (ie: gawking).
There is money to be made down here though.
How long have you been living down here? I do miss the Philly area where the people do know how to drive and mostly OVER the speed limit. When the light turns green they go rather then sit and think about it. My b/f and I compare the drivers here to Dawn of the Dead. In fact I think Zombies walking would beat the people driving!
Yeah there might be money to be made but it all goes into housing and gas. We spend more on gas since we have to sit/drive in it longer. This area is the 2nd worse for traffic right behind Cali.
What people dont think about is while yes you may get paid more here percentage wise it ends up being more to live here then other places in the U.S. For instances you can make less money in North Carolina but the cost of living is 38% less then here. So percentage wise not as much of your paycheck goes into your housing as it does here.
Something from the Washington Post on the cost of living here says:
"Families in the Washington area that earn $20,000 to $50,000 a year spend nearly a third of their income on housing, a figure exceeded only in the San Francisco area, the study says. And although the median national household income has risen 10.3 percent from 2000 to 2005, it has been outpaced by housing costs that have gone up 15.4 percent and transportation costs that have risen 13.4 percent over the same period."
Yeah there might be money to be made but it all goes into housing and gas. We spend more on gas since we have to sit/drive in it longer. This area is the 2nd worse for traffic right behind Cali.
What people dont think about is while yes you may get paid more here percentage wise it ends up being more to live here then other places in the U.S. For instances you can make less money in North Carolina but the cost of living is 38% less then here. So percentage wise not as much of your paycheck goes into your housing as it does here.
Something from the Washington Post on the cost of living here says:
"Families in the Washington area that earn $20,000 to $50,000 a year spend nearly a third of their income on housing, a figure exceeded only in the San Francisco area, the study says. And although the median national household income has risen 10.3 percent from 2000 to 2005, it has been outpaced by housing costs that have gone up 15.4 percent and transportation costs that have risen 13.4 percent over the same period."
How long have you been living down here? I do miss the Philly area where the people do know how to drive and mostly OVER the speed limit. When the light turns green they go rather then sit and think about it. My b/f and I compare the drivers here to Dawn of the Dead. In fact I think Zombies walking would beat the people driving!
So maybe this isn't the BEST place to be, but I am sure glad I'm experiencing it. It's a lot more fun than the middle of the woods in PA. Nonetheless, we're planning on moving a bit further south in a few years to get away from the congestion and high housing costs when we do finally decide to buy.
I still don't think it should deterr anyone from coming down here, at least for a little portion of their lives.
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I guess I'll join the hideout hijack thread! Dang Michelle, dont' NOVA hate! I grew up here so I've gradually gotten used to the rat race. VA is great in my opinion. We have great seasonal weather, a few hours driving gets you to the beach, mountains for hiking/skiing, large lakes for water skiing or jet skiing, and the diverse population and culture should be experienced by everyone at least for awhile. Who wants to sit around with a whole bunch of people exactly like themselves all the time? My wife is German and was happy we moved somewhere with international flavor as opposed to some midwest cornfield or something. The housing prices have gotten more reasonable. Gas is not much more expensive then elsewhere, and if you're young and single you can share rent for a townhouse not far from your work affordably. Give VA a chance! Don't curse me out Michelle.
I am from Warrenton, VA which is about 1.5 hours west of DC. Beatiful place. In fact i think it was rated top 3 places to live in the US a few years back. The cost of housing is high out here but not as bad as fairfax and such. But warrenton is getting bigger and bigger.
I guess I'll join the hideout hijack thread! Dang Michelle, dont' NOVA hate! I grew up here so I've gradually gotten used to the rat race. VA is great in my opinion. We have great seasonal weather, a few hours driving gets you to the beach, mountains for hiking/skiing, large lakes for water skiing or jet skiing, and the diverse population and culture should be experienced by everyone at least for awhile. Who wants to sit around with a whole bunch of people exactly like themselves all the time? My wife is German and was happy we moved somewhere with international flavor as opposed to some midwest cornfield or something. The housing prices have gotten more reasonable. Gas is not much more expensive then elsewhere, and if you're young and single you can share rent for a townhouse not far from your work affordably. Give VA a chance! Don't curse me out Michelle.
VA sucks and tim feels the same way. He grew up here as well and despises it with a passion. Housing is not reasonable. Deals and NOVA don't go together. Check out other states and see what you find. And you two dont live up here in the DC Metro area....you're both down south.
Staging Lane
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 66
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he traffic here is absolutely terrible, anywhere you go except for leesburg or chantilly, the housing is very expensive. Hopefully your salary will be adjusted for the price of housing. The f body following here is relatively small, but chill. The majority of people around the area dont speak english as their first langauge. There are several schools in the area if you plan on going back to school in the future. The weather is mostly mild comparitively to the rest of the country. I dont mind the area, but I have had alot of time to adjust to the diversity. If you like going out to bars/clubs there is a huge nightlife in the areas surrounding dc, which would be about a 20 min drive for you.
VA sucks and tim feels the same way. He grew up here as well and despises it with a passion. Housing is not reasonable. Deals and NOVA don't go together. Check out other states and see what you find. And you two dont live up here in the DC Metro area....you're both down south.
It's decent here. The cops in my area are dicks though. I drive like a grandma for the most part, so they stay off my back. I'm schooling in the Pittsburgh PA area and this place is a **** hole. Makes me appreciate Fairfax.
Last edited by Ralls; Dec 6, 2007 at 02:44 PM.
No problems, thanks. I temporarily canceled my insurance cause my car has been sitting for a while, and going to for the next few months. The motor is out and something fansy going on
did you return your tags?? you know if you cancel your insurance while your tags are good they consider it as not having insurance and you have to pay a $500 fine..if you haven't returned them you better hurry up and do so.