There was an opportunity for me in D.C. that I passed on two years ago, but has resurfaced. Does anyone here live in D.C., or even better, in Virginia (maybe Fairfax County?), and if so, can you tell me a little bit about what's going on or not in the nicer suburbs? Restaurants, housing values, quality of schools, traffic, etc? Thanks.
Restaurants are great, lots of good Indian and Thai places out in Fairfax. Home values have held up pretty well in the area but it is very different across localities, in general the farther away from the city the bigger the drop in home value has been. Traffic is an absolute abomination, it is horrible all the time. I sat in a backup on the beltway today because there was a rain drop in the sky. If you have specific questions shoot I've been here a long time and have either lived or worked in a good cross section of the area.
stick to fairfax county parkway, traffic is consistency at 55/m or higher most of the time. Find the area with verizon service then you can do telework. One of fairfax high school ranks #1 in USA in readiness for college. My kid goes there naturally.
The Baltimore area seems nice. We're moving down there in June, and I'm down there on my own for a few months.
have worked around there a few times.TRAFFIC WOW!!!!! alot of people live near w.v. now and ride the rails.
The traffic around DC/NOVA is absolutely horrendous. The traffic situation around Baltimore isn't as bad. As far as real estate goes, when I relocated to the area 10 years ago I immediately rules out NOVA. Way too expensive for what you go. I ended up in Maryland where I could get some land with a decent sized house for less money. My current employer is hiring in spite of the economic downturn; that's due to being a gubment contractor. Lots of folks are looking to relocate here now from all over the country because of this. The real estate market here got whacked like everywhere. But it's not anywhere near as bad as places like Michigan or Florida. I grew up in the Baltimore area but moved away 20 years ago. I can't say what the job/housing market is doing there now in relation to the DC area.
Steve, Baltimore was ranked #10 in the top 10 most hit areas in terms of housing. From what I've seen (we're looking for places) it's pretty depressed. Which is a good thing, because we're selling in Northern NJ.
I live in Alexandria, right next to old town, this is the best place to be!!! (i've lived in many different cities). Great restaurants, culture, beautiful old buildings, you can walk anywhere. This place makes you feel good. I have never heard anyone complaing (as long as you stay close to old town), everyone loves it here! Who needs to drive during rush hour if you're working from home? I never leave my place between 4 and 6, but that's ok, as long as I don't have to. The cost of living is high (real estate/rent, but check out the stats for zip code 22314, the prices didn't go down as much as in other areas) let me know if you have any other questions...
That's great working from home. But some of us aren't so lucky Regardless, I find that working and living in Baltimore (northern) amounts to no more than 20 min commute for myself.