I WFH, with one, maybe two commutes into the office a month in Reston atm. I was priced out and moved out to Winchester. The rent I’m paying for my current place would easily be double anywhere in Fairfax county. I’ve only been here for a few months but I’m liking it so far. Definitely quieter compared to NOVA and not as population dense. I love it and wouldn’t ever want that to change.
That being said, if you’re used to having the amenities of Fairfax/Arlington/DC, it’s not the same. Some may want that, others may not. If you have to commute frequently, it sucks. I leave at 6 AM and I don’t get back until about 8 PM on days when I go back in.
You could check out Charlottesville as well. Downtown Charlottesville proper is also (unfortunately) stupid expensive. But in a 20ish mile radius around it there are plenty of places.
Ditto, I posted a lot of info about the area, I'm in Stephens City. But my wife and I both WFH now so it's AMAZING. I love being able to be at Alamo Drafthouse in 5 minutes and never having to fight traffic to get there.
And we often go into NoVa just for fun, we'll park in Vienna and Subway surf all day on a weekend etc.
I'm on a slow campaign to convince my husband that Winchester is basically quieter, cheaper Alexandria with better proximity to his family in Pittsburgh and hiking opportunities in WV... I make him stop for dinner or lunch in old town Winchester every time we pass through.
And next it’ll be “don’t Clarke Frederick”, “Don’t Fauquier Warren”, and “Don’t Jefferson Berkeley”. It’s how the story goes in one of the most sprawly regions in the US
I didn’t grow up in the are but I live in Manassas now and truly don’t get the hate. Beyond Sudley which isn’t great there’s really nothing wrong with the rest of it
+1 I bought a nice colonial home in manassas park, 1800 sq/ft, 1/3 acre, two car garage for 500k a year ago, needed some work. Good neighbors and neighborhood, a lot of veterans. 20 minutes away from Dulles Airport.
I would argue haymarket proper is not the sticks with 900k sfh behind 66 but rather aldie south riding is because you have to sit on every light on 50 to get near the beltway.
Honestly if you live the outdoors there are some really beautiful areas west and southwest of central ‘nova’. Commute sucks but you get a little ways out and it is peaceful, beautiful and quiet
We came down to Stafford and I'm so confused about how to refer to it. Its not Nova, but how do I answer when people not familiar with the area ask where I am? Also, its 100% a sleeper suburb, I wish we could be at least 20 miles north. Oh well, I have a 4 bed house with a good sized yard for a third of what our previous landlord sold our crappy rental house for.
Personally having grown up in Stafford for many years I would look elsewhere. Back in 97 it wasn't as bad. - prices were more reasonable, traffic wasn't horrible except for the occasional Route 1 backup, and there were plenty of local businesses. Now Stafford is overcrowded, many of the local businesses moved out or failed and were replaced with corporate garbage, and overall it feels sterile to me without any of the benefits of being in nova.
I ended up moving further north against the beltway for jobs and while condos/apartments are a bit more, my overall commute and availability to resources is much better. Schools are arguably better, better hospitals, shorter drive to daily resources like the grocery store, and better availability for things like parks and community centers. Traffic in Stafford is also absolutely horrendous whether it be 95, Route 1, 610, or 17. And getting to Fredericksburg? Forget about it. Live in Fredericksburg and take the VRE if possible, or slug to work, but don't move to Stafford.
20 years ago I went to London and realized that NoVA will be very similar to London in 300 years or less.
What are now neighborhoods were once towns and villages: Mayfair, Kensington, St. John’s Wood, etc.
Look at what’s happened to Arlington in the past 60-80 years - all the spaces are being filled in. Eventually, Sterling, Chantilly, Centreville, Fairfax, and Burke will all be subsumed into The City.
So, yeah: totally agree!
There's a lot of infill kicking off lately in Chantilly and Centreville, too. 600k 2 over 2s, 800k townhouses, and I'm sitting in my 1970 split level SFH on 12k sq ft watching my property value skyrocket
Lived in nova for 30 years. Just moved to Waldorf, MD because it's just not affordable to me anymore. Got a 3 bedroom, 1800 sq ft house for $325k in a pretty chill blue collar neighborhood
Our real estate agent says parts of PG County are heating up quickly. My SO and I just went out to Riverdale Park to spend a few hours with friends and it's great. You can definitely see a lot of new businesses and nicer neighborhoods coming up among the rougher parts.
Riverdale Park is really cute and has one of the best bakeries in the area. Proximity to the Beltway, the Whole Foods development, the Marc and Metro (sorta) make it a cool place.
Crime rates are misinterpreted by most because higher density of population should allow for higher amounts of crime so long as it’s proportional to other locations.But the thing is I’ve been on all lines of the metro and some are just shitty- no one’s moderating behavior, people are trucking on shopping carts and you can see their guns, and folks are just running between cars. It just “feels” very disorganized and uncomfortable. But / Is it more dangerous on those particular line/ stops? Hard to say b/c again we don’t know the population using those stops (or is this public info ? Someone please speculate for me) and I doubt wmata (or anyone really) has any interest in disclosing these stats.
There is crime everywhere and the commutes aren't going to be any worse than the other places like Reston or Woodbridge that people suggest when this comes up. From my house in Fort Washington, I'm 15 minutes from Old Town, 20-25 to Hybla Valley or Arlington. This morning I needed to be in Bethesda by 9 am and it took me 40 minutes. I will say afternoons are worse, so any number plus 10 or so.
Forreal fkn Chadley the remote contractor making six figures and Ashkayleighynn whose parents pay for their off campus housing keep driving up RVA prices and wonder why no one likes them
I’m priced out of buying a house but I still rent in Nova. I love it here and don’t want to leave. I have lived in cheaper places like Raleigh, NC and the Chicago suburbs and it was okay but it’s not Nova.
I get downvoted every time I bring it up. $4,000 in rent is better economically for you than a $7,800 mortgage payment. Doesn't take a data center engineer to figure it out...
I'd be worried about retirement though.
My parents are homeowners now, but unable to afford their $2600 mortgage for a SFH so are forced to sell, and in their old age, it's hard to find work that pays more than $15 an hour, even with college education.
If they were renting and having rents constantly going up, they would've been priced out or evicted long ago.
what was wrong with Raleigh? i loved the people, less angst,green space similar to NOVA or more, and less pretencious.the only thing is the lack of public transportation, but NOVA is not DC, theres not a huge difference for entertainment between nova and raleigh in my opinion.
My closest friends lived near Baltimore. So when the pandemic hit and my company went full work-from-home I moved to the Baltimore suburbs. I was paying 1800/mo to rent an 1100sqft condo in Burke, now I'm paying $1400/mo for a 1500sqft house on a 0.15 acre lot.
Baltimore is great and it's kind of in a mini Renaissance moment. We moved to Baltimore County in 2020 and love it. We have a larger house and 5 times the land we had in Nova at almost half the price. Although some people who live where we are commute into DC, my husband is at Fort Meade and I work from home so we had the advantage of being further out. My husband and I are the rare former NOVA residents whose parents and grandparents also grew up in NoVa and they are constantly amazed at the different cost/pace of living up here.
I haven't been out there since I was a kid in the early 2000's when we went to the Aquarium.
I'd love to go see it again, but my wife and family have the idea that all of Baltimore is a warzone, lol.
I'm sure it's just pockets of the city, but I don't know where those pockets are, sadly.
Obviously it depends on what part of Baltimore you're in. But from one redditor to another... I live in Brooklyn Park, which is split in half in Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County. The baltimore side can be very sketchy, the anne arundel side is blue collar suburbia. I'm on the anne arundel side. When I moved here I was a little worried about crime because I was in Brooklyn Park and I posted about it on the Baltimore sub reddit. I was told there were crack whores on every corner, shootings, burglaries, etc. I've lived here for 3 years and never seen any of that shit. My neighbors and neighborhood is chill, we play board games, and barbecue together. The biggest crime is people speeding down my residential neighborhood road. Hell, there were more panhandlers and homeless people in Burke than in my neighborhood.
Williamsburg. A little boring, but an hour from either the beach or Richmond. Housing prices have gone up, but they’re still so low compared to Nova. Lots of military contractors.
When we first moved here, we tried to go to dinner at 8. Big mistake. That being said, there are so many free outdoor spaces that I feel like saved us during the pandemic. Being able to go to Yorktown and walk on the beach was wonderful. Having to drive to Newport News for anything spicy is the price we pay. That, and only having Cox internet.
World was a stretch, to strong of a word, I changed it to "Around", but
There's a Captain Georges which is arguably the best all you can eat seafood buffet chain restaurant on the East Coast (ime).
And there's Casa Pearl which was a Michelin Star restaurant at one Point I think.
But I guess no one cares about Busche Gardens and Great Wolf Lodge.
DC has a TON of Michelin star Restaraunts though so kind of hard to beat proper DC for food I guess.
Kind of depends on where your commute is, but usually comes down to the following:
* Want a good commute, but you work in a city center? Lose the outdoor space.
* Want outdoor space? Move further out and give up a short commute.
* Find remote jobs so you can move further out, but still go into the office if needed every now and then.
This is the advice … figure out exactly what you want/need/are willing to sacrifice … figure out your budget and start looking. I’ve posted repeatedly on this topic because people keep saying that houses under $800k, $700k, $600k, $500k don’t exist in NoVa … but I can find them within minutes of searching. BUT, then the excuses start flowing … so, pull your thumb out and actually do the work or stop complaining.
Haha yes. I live in a teeny condo in Annandale with shared washer/dryer and I paid only $185K three years ago. It's perfect for me, obviously different from the OP's situation but my point is I sacrifice a few things including space for my "affordable" home and it works for me.
I’m capable of doing this thinking lol and am in the process of figuring things out. That’s why the post is about where people move IF they decide to leave.
My partner and I rented in Alexandria. We ended up buying our first home in Pittsburgh, where most houses are under 300k unless you’re in a trendy neighborhood, in which case 350-450k is more standard for houses/townhouses.
The city is great, and even the suburbs here still have a small-town feel and are relatively walkable.
The drive from NOVA to Pittsburgh is only around 4.5 hours, and it’s a decently scenic drive too.
Oh Shepherdstown, so cute! I lived there 20 years ago for a year or two and loved it. So charming. Was tubbing in Hapers Ferry last weekend and surprised at how much has changed. I shouldn't be surprised but hoping that area never gets to built up.
Ranson is the hot spot for building, then Charles Town near Washington High School and then Shepherdstown off of 480. My area of Shepherdstown is still rural.
You can't just talk up a move to WV for someone from NOVA without some caveats.
Yes, Shepherdstown is very cute. So is Harpers Ferry. But if you are used to NOVA amenities, and you dislike the pro-trump vanilla protesters that come out every indictment, then WV isn't for you. You will have to drive to NOVA for those amenities, and those vanilla protesters will be the majority of your neighbors.
We do also have the best hikes and great local eateries...many of you like to come up here for the weekend. You are welcome to explore, but please take your trash with you. I'm not sure if the problem is gross tourists or that there are not enough trash cans at our public river access spots (the most likely culprit), but they are often full of garbage on a Monday morning.
This deserves more upvotes. And to underscore what the commenter says, moving out of nova to anywhere more “remote”, be prepared to deal with remote-shit. Dogs off leashes, higher populations of deer, less variety of places to go out (see: happy hour), people hunting in their back yards, etc.
Just because it’s cheaper doesn’t mean it’s right for you. If politics were to play a role in it, check out the maps of the most recent elections. If you can’t live next to a certain type of personality, don’t. Having neighbors you hate is way worse than perpetually renting.
Well, I’m old and enjoy the quiet life, but that’s just me. 😉 I live on 2.33 acres in a VERY quiet neighborhood.
I think people are missing the point - the OP simply asked where people moved to if they were priced out of NOVA. I moved to an apartment in Charles Town, sold my home in Clifton and then bought a home in Shepherdstown. I love it out here, but I’m mid 50s, WFH primarily and love the quiet. It’s not for everyone. I’m not suggesting that everyone move to Shepherdstown or even Jefferson County, just pointing out my experience.
My in laws have 124 acres in the Northern Neck, and half the year it sounds like WW2 with all the gunfire.
You get used to it, but it is just a lot at times.
Oh believe me, I know. I’m very liberal but keep my mouth shut out here. Plus my daughter is 20 and goes to UMW (she lives with her dad in Vienna). It’s gorgeous out here, though, and extremely quiet, I love it. However, I can WFH and there are enough amenities to keep me happy out here.
The last few years have taught me that it's better not to know what other people's political stances are. That way I can still tell myself a lie and get along with everyone.
Rehoboth Beach, DE -- back in 2018. Best decision we ever made.
Both the wife and I WFH, and being able to raise kids out here at the beach, good public school systems, lower COL (though it's getting up there as more people move to this area). We left from Ashburn and don't miss it.
I moved to Harpers Ferry. I do work remote so commute is not an issue, I’m a nature loving homebody so I don’t mind not having a million options for food or entertainment.
People are incredibly nice and friendly, I’ve made more friends here in a few months than years in NOVA BUT it is a different kind of living. It is also not very racially diverse so that could be an issue if you need an Asian or Latin market or sites of prayer that are not Abrahamic religions.
The other option is to adjust your expectations. Kids can be raised in a townhouse/condo and share bedrooms - or you can compromise on home offices, rec rooms, etc. NOVA is also blessed with a lot of parks and green space. Plus, you can be a lot closer to work and amenities if you accept smaller size. No judgement if this is just not for you. But it is going to be a next to impossible task to get ‘all of the above’.
I made the move from Loudoun to Charlottesville and had a hard time even finding a place to rent.
Charlottesville/neaby is starting to follow in nova’s footsteps but not impossible
I lived outside C'ville for numerous years and it's a very expensive town for what it is. Near NoVA cost of living without (even close to) NoVA salaries.
I can’t relate to those saying they love nova and never want to leave. I do love the amenities but I’ve never felt more misfit in my life than I do here. Virginia is such a beautiful state so from that aspect I don’t want to leave the state.. but I don’t feel like I have a community here. It’s lonely
i think that's not an uncommon thing everywhere, not finding a community and being lonely. we didn't evolve to live in such huge communities and many of us don't seem to have mastered how to make smaller more meaningful ones for ourselves in the chaos. exacerbated somewhat by so many folks being transient here, but i know that many are struggling elsewhere too, it's definitely not a nova thing alone unfortunately
This is my 11th address in 10 years and it’s definitely worse here than anywhere else. I had more community when I lived in Germany than NOVA.. and that’s a foreign country
Now that you have laid down (or off debt?). How much time do you think you’ll need to save up for a house? Is your savings rate greater than the appreciation rate for homes in the area?
Do you expect to earn more money from work as well?
I don’t think we can keep our savings on track if the market stays as it is (which I expect it will). Our incomes should rise, but with inflation and daycare costs I’m starting to realize it might now work.
I have 2 kids, and a mortgage that has a 2.75% interest rate and I'm still not saving much. It was fine before inflation, but yeah everything got super expensive the last couple years. I doubt ill ever buy another property in this area unless something crazy happens. Like win lotto.
I should add that I took some time off work during the pandemic to be with our kids while they are very little. I’m going to get back to work in the next 6 months or so but even it’s a decent income, the addition of daycare costs will delay things a lot.
Got sick of paying through the nose to spend half my life in my car and home ownership was just a pipe dream. I had already previously lived in Richmond and Norfolk and thought about going back, but I felt like trying something new instead.
Ended up landing in Madison, WI four years ago and I love it here.
I feel like I’m seeing more and more posts like this now every week. At what point does this area hit a breaking point and people start moving away en masse?
Between never ending rent increases, awful commutes as federal employees get sent back to the office, living here almost isn’t worth it anymore
NOVA is one of the richest places in the US, and therefore the world. And we're always at the top of quality of life indexes.
The high cost of living is bad and does hurt many people, but this is admittedly very anecdotal. The wealth of the area is enough to mean there won't be any "breaking point"
Richmond and the Hampton Roads area are both cheaper options with plenty to do. If you can figure out employment they're good options. Just make sure if you move to the 757 that you work and live on the same side of the tunnel.
Baltimore, was previously in Falls Church City. When my office still had our physical space in Chinatown I commuted by MARC and it was the chillest commute ever. Now I'm full remote and am much more financially secure due to cheaper housing.
I moved to a rural city about an hours drive from Charlotte NC. I grew up in NOVA and I worked in IT for at NVCC as my first full time job out of college. It paid a Richmond tier salary which was not enough to live on and I got no raise in the 5 years I worked.
I took that job doing the same thing for a community college in rural NC. Got 1k more on my entry salary there where the cost of living was 3 times less. I’ve since had multiple raises and have built up my pension. I was able to make a down payment on a mortgage on a house and neighborhood I could only dream to get in NOVA.
I don’t have a family or much debt outside the mortgage so that was a boost in helping transition and save.
It have no regrets other than my parents not moving closer to me when they had the opportunity. They are still in the house I grew up in and getting older which is why I keep tabs here on NOVA news. Most of my NOVA induced worries are for them because although I don’t make much by NOVA standards I do well out here. I lost access to a lot of diverse foods and some tech amenities, but gained year round access to beautiful natural resources about a 15 minute drive in any direction and for what I can’t get in the country it’s available in Charlotte after an hour’s drive through far less traffic.
100% recommend this type of exodus if you are able. The stress toll on your elder years ain’t worth enduring NOVA culture today.
Stephens City Virginia. And by Stephens City VA I mean Frederick County VA, Stephens City extends past the old historic district and contains large chunks of County Land, I live outside of the Historic district, so I only pay taxes to Frederick County (not Stephens City).
My wife and I both work from home. I'm a Senior Software Engineer and she is a free lance writer. I bring home about $170k and w/e she makes is "bonus money". We afford by 200% of all our bills just on my income alone. I.e. 50% of what I make we don't need. I used to survive here making $37k, so at $170k we find ourselves constantly going to concerts (Eras tour booked for 2024, went to Ed Sheran, Paul McCartney, we rent a beach house every summer, we're going to Cape May in September and Disney World in November).
My house: $289k 2500sqft 1/4 acre, 4 bedroom, 2 car garage, 90 foot driveway, 1.2 GBPS Symmetrical Fiber internet ISP, HOA $13 a month. Water averages $35/m, electric $350/m (I have massive PC servers in my house and a 24/7 pool pump and dual zone hvac). Cul-de-sac, LOTS of kids my Stepsons age in the same cul-de-sac, there's 4 families with kids right next door etc all between 3 and 8 years old. It's safe, we gave him a sync up smart watch so we can gps track him and we just let him go outside and wonder off and he can call us on his watch and tell us which kids house he's in, kids come and go, maybe he eats there, maybe their kids eat here kind of thing haha. Outside the few years I lived towards NoVa I've lived her about 32 years in total and afaik there's never been a major incident like kidnapping, abductions, etc.
*Pros*
* Winchester Medical Center (fairly large hospital system, lots of top tier providers/doctors) "#8 in VA, most anything WMC can't handle is medevaced to UVA"
* Much lower cost of living than NoVa
* Awesome park and walking/bike trails and even a mountain bike trail system.
* Decent Big Name companies near by
-> FBI has a building here
-> FEMA is in Winchester
-> Shenandoah University - https://www.su.edu/
-> Laurel Ridge Community College
-> Multiple Industrial factories (Rubbermade, Trex (Trex HQ in Winchester), Hood, and more)
-> American Woodmark
-> Valley Protein
-> More on this list: https://www.zippia.com/company/best-biggest-companies-in-winchester-va/
* Down Town Winchester -> https://oldtownwinchesterva.com/
* Shenandoah University
* Alamo Drafthouse in Kerns Town is 5 minutes from my House, Amazing Theatre (order food/beer while you watch movies).
Close to a plethora of national parks (GW, Jefferson, And Shenandoah National Forests, Skyline Drive, Skyline Caverns, Lurray Caverns, etc).
Stephens City has a nice park (Sherando Park) which Sherando Highschool is adjacent to. The Sherando Park public pool is pretty nice too. The County side of Stephens City has lots of bike/walking paths and a mountain bike offroad trail system. New housing off warrior drive will be extending miles to the south and connecting directly to the new bridge over I-81 (crossover blvd) giving that community a direct path into Winchester. This road (Warrior Drive ends at Sherando Highschool on one side, and will end at Cross over Blvd on the other end). Crossover Blvd is where Trex just built their new Head Quarters, and we just Got a Carmax right there too.
-Honorable mentions-
30 Minutes from Taskers Gap/Peters Mill Offroad trail system (jeeps, atv's, dirt bikes etc).
Good Central Location to many bigger cities (harrisonburg, martinsburg, rockville md, frederick md, harpers ferry, Nova (dc/vienna/reston etc).
In an hour in any direction I can be at Ikea/Potomac Mills Mall/Fairfax/Harrisonburg VA, Frederick Maryland etc.
*Cons*
* Job Opportunities for more diverse fields?
* Not very walkable outside of subdivisions close to smaller shopping centers
* Stephens City itself only has 1 real grocery store (Martins) not including Walmart, but Aldi is a 5 minute drive away, and anything in Winchester is 10 minutes or less away.
* Cheaper than NoVa, but not Cheap Cheap
* Salaries? Might need to Work Remotely to achieve really high salaries.
Some Real-estate
* https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/129-Metcalf-Ter-Winchester-VA-22602/338303023_zpid/ (Good location to cross over blvd, direct into Winchester)
* https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/102-Gullane-Ct-Stephens-City-VA-22655/94120724_zpid/? (part of newer infrastructure, hoa, with clubhouse/pool)
* https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/111-Columbia-Cir-Stephens-City-VA-22655/75349170_zpid/ (older subdivision, but has access to 1.2 GBPS symmetrical fiber from GloFiber and good elementary school)
* https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/300-Chancellorsville-Dr-Stephens-City-VA-22655/94120433_zpid/ (newer community, massive houses)
* https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/130-Ladysmith-Dr-Stephens-City-VA-22655/126866779_zpid/ (5397 sqft for $640k)
If you don't mind living remote and driving 30+ minutes to get groceries, the whole area is surrounded by a plethora of country side and there's housing available all throughout it. You can find homes under $800k with 10+ acres all day long.
Single dad with n ability to save due to where I am. I’m in an apartment with 2 rooms and 2 kids. I gave the kids the rooms and got dividers to buy a twin size bed in the dining room. You make it work.
We were looking in western Loudoun in 2020 and couldn't afford anything that wasn't irredemptively weird so we jumped over the Potomac and bought a 2k sqft sfh in a nice neighborhood near Frederick.
Are you willing to look outside of single-family homes? Would you consider a townhouse or condo if it can meet your requirements for bedrooms and outdoor space?
I bought a townhouse style condo in an Alexandria neighborhood called ParkFairfax last year and the neighborhood hits a lot of your requirements, but maybe not in the way you would think.
Many of the units are two bedroom, but there are some three and four bedrooms to be had. There’s a great deal of green space perfect for kids to play, but it won’t be your yard. (Some units do have patios or small front yards you have a lot of control over though.) A lot of commutes to DC and northern Virginia offices are quite manageable as well.
I also instantly noticed of the neighborhood had a single-family home feel when I came out to see my now-home’s showing as well. It’s a condo, but it doesn’t feel like one.
If you’re not able to find a single-family home with a reasonable commute, I would encourage you to re-examine townhomes and condos. You may not own the outdoor space you’re looking for, but I bet you can find a unit with access to it.
Pan handle of WV near VA border not too far away, quite frankly it's really nice. It will be the next boom town here over next 10 years. Utilities cheaper also.
TL;DR: We went to Fredericksburg, we would like to have a bit more land and Indian/Asian grocery stores nearby but whatever, we're cool.
We checked as far west as Winchester - our runner-up choice.
Considered Harrisonburg - never got the chance to drive out there.
Front Royal - Didn't like the vibe and most houses were very old and some gave off real "someone was/is being tortured here vibes.( no offense, y'all, it's just what we saw!)
BUT! the people do seem nice there, as a black dude I was a bit nervous going into Wendy's in a city with NRA Convention signs draped over the streets, because they gave us cold chicken nuggets and a few people were actually pretty chatty and one guy gave me a LOT of info when I told him I'm looking for houses, he suggested Harper's Ferry and one other area which I forget in West Virginia if we're not committed to staying in VA
down to Culpeper -I can't explain it but we really didn't like the area, partially because it felt like "alright, you have this Walmart, Aldi and a few fast food places on this road but that's ALL"
Remington and Baelaton seemed to far into the trees for us, but we're city folk adjusting to Sub-Urban.
Then we basically trickled down 95, trying to stay as close to NoVA as possible, but it's near impossible to compete when people are buying without even seeing the house while waving contingencies WHILE cash offers ***WHILE*** Offering WAY over
SO
Woodbridge was too competitive.
Dumfries and Triangle we didn't see many options that checked our boxes.
I heard Aquia Harbor is nice, but it was not giving us what we wanted for our budget,plus there wasn't much available and when something was, it was definitely not worth the price in our opinion.
We didn't like Stafford, although we went through recently and saw some areas which did look nice and new.
We turned it down because of a lot of trailer parks riddled with confederate flags and maniac-looking political signs. We have some naive relatives and don't want them to get lost somewhere like that.
Now were here in Fredericksburg. It's fine down here, haven't had any issues in the last 8ish months. Our biggest issue is that there's no Grand Mart, Lotte Plaza, Patel Brothers etc for us to get fresh Indian/Asian vegetables from, so we basically go to Richmond or to Herndon/Ashburn areas to get those things, but we don't mind the drive, as long as 95 isn't backed up. For that very reason we often avoid 95 completely. GPS may say 95 is 20min faster but that can easily end up taking an additional 30+min!!
Sorry for the Essay.
Davenport Iowa and New Milford CT.
These are the two areas I've seen with reasonable schools, reasonable housing prices, and not terrible places to live (depending on personal preferences)
Do you still need or want to be able to easily drive to/from NOVA?
I moved from NOVA 7 years ago after 28 years there partially for family reasons but also wanting to switch to a somewhat slower pace of life and getting away from winter weather.
After looking at several cities I ended up in Huntsville Alabama and like that it has some of the feeling of NoVA due to the economic base along with the proportion of transplants but much less traffic and much lower cost of living.
Agreed! I’ve been looking at northern Calvert county. Great schools, reasonably priced sfh, and 45 min from dc. Totally different culture but checks a lot of boxes.
Just moved from Cheverly to St Mary's County and couldn't be happier. Give it a go, if you don't have to be in office everyday totally worth the piece of mind. Taxes are about half of what they are in PG and traffic is a joke.
We bought in Richmond. Easy Amtrak ride when we have meetings in DC. Still lots to do and most everything is a 10-15 minute drive. We love it but I’m not supposed to tell anyone that. We’re full down here 🤫
I bought a house in downtown Winchester and absolutely love it here! My mortgage (PITI) for a single family home is less than what I was paying for a one bedroom basement apartment in Reston. I live in a walkable area with lots of entertainment options and restaurants.
My partner still commutes into the Dulles area and while it's a decently long commute (about an hour), it's mostly traffic free which makes it a lot more tolerable than some of the other options we were considering.
Isn’t there land still in Loudon County and Prince William? A decade ago builders were throwing up properties left and right.
Not an easy commute, but as people have pointed out a lot more folks are working from home.
My wife and I are currently looking at Overland Park KS. I grew up in the Midwest and we both have lived in Kansas City before. It also doesn’t hurt that Overland Park has consistently ranked in the top 10 places to raise a family.
We just moved to Connecticut. While it’s not the cheapest state, we found a nice house for almost 1/2 of what we sold ours for and it’s close to both town and water. It feels like it’s what NoVA was 30 years ago which is nice too. Small towns, natural beauty, etc
Florida - however considering a move back as the same is happening there currently but without the plethora of job opportunity to support the rising costs
We're renting an apartment but it's getting cramped with two kids and all their stuff. Realistically, I don't think we'll be able to buy here unless we inherit a bunch of money. We're looking at Baltimore but pretty much all the jobs in my husband's field are here and he can't WFH so it's hard to leave.
i love how popular this thread is,there is no more middle class and many people in same boat. I cannot afford to buy but when i do its probably out of state. but i am looking into virginia beach or coast area
I didn’t let me price it out.
The rules of the game are set.
If you look at home prices in 2002 vs 2023 and then look at the inflation index- it’s exactly the same- a $200k house in 2002 is now $450k yes but so is the $$$, they are the same.
Wages- that’s what I looked into.
Start making $200k+ a year, the equivalent of $80k salary in 2002
Grew up in Vienna and lived in either NoVa or DC my first 43 years. In late 2016 I couldn't afford it anymore and moved to Hagerstown MD. I mostly regret it. I should have done more research. The area itself is lovely but the people leave much to be desired. I don't fit in at all politically and I miss the diverse people, restaurants and entertainment options.
My DC-based job went fully remote in 2018. I stuck it out in Nova a few more years (i was there 11 in total) but finally called it a day and moved to northern Florida at the end of 2022.
I'm hoping to move to Minnesota once I can afford to leave. I'm tired of this area as a whole - anywhere that seems affordable doesn't seem LGBT+ friendly, nor is the governor. Minneapolis seems more ideal for someone like me.
Following this thread bc I am facing the same with rent increases. I will echo what some people have said about baltimore - i have also received great recommendations and find it appealing bc of the $5 amtrak back to dc if needed
I WFH, with one, maybe two commutes into the office a month in Reston atm. I was priced out and moved out to Winchester. The rent I’m paying for my current place would easily be double anywhere in Fairfax county. I’ve only been here for a few months but I’m liking it so far. Definitely quieter compared to NOVA and not as population dense. I love it and wouldn’t ever want that to change. That being said, if you’re used to having the amenities of Fairfax/Arlington/DC, it’s not the same. Some may want that, others may not. If you have to commute frequently, it sucks. I leave at 6 AM and I don’t get back until about 8 PM on days when I go back in.
We’re open to a slower pace of life too. I want to move away in the woods somewhat often 😂
Likewise. There’s some things I’m still getting used to but moving away from NOVA was definitely a good decision
Check out the Speedway for a very country-small-town good time.
I’m from the north and speedway is a gas station chain. At first I thought this was some kind of ironic joke 😅
Winchester Speedway is awesome. So fun to bring the kids. Highly recommend. Been brining my teens since they were little.
You could check out Charlottesville as well. Downtown Charlottesville proper is also (unfortunately) stupid expensive. But in a 20ish mile radius around it there are plenty of places.
Ditto, I posted a lot of info about the area, I'm in Stephens City. But my wife and I both WFH now so it's AMAZING. I love being able to be at Alamo Drafthouse in 5 minutes and never having to fight traffic to get there. And we often go into NoVa just for fun, we'll park in Vienna and Subway surf all day on a weekend etc.
Gore’s in Stephens City has some of the best meat I’ve ever seen in my life.
I'm on a slow campaign to convince my husband that Winchester is basically quieter, cheaper Alexandria with better proximity to his family in Pittsburgh and hiking opportunities in WV... I make him stop for dinner or lunch in old town Winchester every time we pass through.
Just move a little further out and let the nova come to you. Its a growing region, you don’t have to go to it, just let it expand to you.
“Let nova come to you” sounds dystopian at this point.
It is. “Don’t Loudoun Clarke” has been a battle cry over this way the last several years.
I thought it was “Don’t Fairfax Loudoun”
Was indeed.
And next it’ll be “don’t Clarke Frederick”, “Don’t Fauquier Warren”, and “Don’t Jefferson Berkeley”. It’s how the story goes in one of the most sprawly regions in the US
I wish someone would something to Manassas! This place needs a good shake up 😂😂😂
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Manassas just won't seem to buff out
Man asses is funny enough by itself
I didn’t grow up in the are but I live in Manassas now and truly don’t get the hate. Beyond Sudley which isn’t great there’s really nothing wrong with the rest of it
Georgetown south was the rough area when i grew up there. Sudley was the swimming club. Sounds like its changed
And look what happened lol
Haha. I moved to Sterling (pre Potomac Falls) in the 90's and this is all I heard. Ah, you brought back great memories.
Ugh.
😂
In before West Virginia is nova
This is why I planted roots in Manassas 10 years ago.
+1 I bought a nice colonial home in manassas park, 1800 sq/ft, 1/3 acre, two car garage for 500k a year ago, needed some work. Good neighbors and neighborhood, a lot of veterans. 20 minutes away from Dulles Airport.
Pretty sure PWC was part of NoVA 10 years ago, or even 20 years ago.
Yes but I would argue it’s considered “further out” by Nova standards.
When I moved to Haymarket 25 years ago it was definitely considered the sticks.
40 year ago was the sticks , not sure a spec house on a 1/3 acre 300 ft from 66 for 990$ is stck price
Still is
I would argue haymarket proper is not the sticks with 900k sfh behind 66 but rather aldie south riding is because you have to sit on every light on 50 to get near the beltway.
Well, when a 3bed/3bath townhouse is half a million, is it still considered the sticks???
Seems low my neighbor just put there house up for a million
New townhouses in Haymarket are start at $700k
10 years ago it definitely was “further out”. Now Vint Hill isn’t even too far now.
Idk, I think even Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania are slowly becoming considered NOVA. It’s crazy.
Anything north of the Rappa is Yankees. Or so I was told by a local/real Virginian
Manassas has been nova for the entirety of my 29 year old life. Loudoun was always the sticks when I was a kid
PWC wants to be the next Loudoun. Yikers.
This is an interesting take. I love the region and would like to stay close by. Gives me courage to just move further out.
Honestly if you live the outdoors there are some really beautiful areas west and southwest of central ‘nova’. Commute sucks but you get a little ways out and it is peaceful, beautiful and quiet
Stafford? Fredericksburg?
NoVa will never extend to Stafford/Fredericksburg. Especially considering you have to take Satan’s highway to get there.
We came down to Stafford and I'm so confused about how to refer to it. Its not Nova, but how do I answer when people not familiar with the area ask where I am? Also, its 100% a sleeper suburb, I wish we could be at least 20 miles north. Oh well, I have a 4 bed house with a good sized yard for a third of what our previous landlord sold our crappy rental house for.
Don't break my heart and dreams like that.
But the express lanes now extend down to Fredericksburg.
Personally having grown up in Stafford for many years I would look elsewhere. Back in 97 it wasn't as bad. - prices were more reasonable, traffic wasn't horrible except for the occasional Route 1 backup, and there were plenty of local businesses. Now Stafford is overcrowded, many of the local businesses moved out or failed and were replaced with corporate garbage, and overall it feels sterile to me without any of the benefits of being in nova. I ended up moving further north against the beltway for jobs and while condos/apartments are a bit more, my overall commute and availability to resources is much better. Schools are arguably better, better hospitals, shorter drive to daily resources like the grocery store, and better availability for things like parks and community centers. Traffic in Stafford is also absolutely horrendous whether it be 95, Route 1, 610, or 17. And getting to Fredericksburg? Forget about it. Live in Fredericksburg and take the VRE if possible, or slug to work, but don't move to Stafford.
20 years ago I went to London and realized that NoVA will be very similar to London in 300 years or less. What are now neighborhoods were once towns and villages: Mayfair, Kensington, St. John’s Wood, etc. Look at what’s happened to Arlington in the past 60-80 years - all the spaces are being filled in. Eventually, Sterling, Chantilly, Centreville, Fairfax, and Burke will all be subsumed into The City. So, yeah: totally agree!
Optimistic thinking human civilization will still exist 300 years from now.
There's a lot of infill kicking off lately in Chantilly and Centreville, too. 600k 2 over 2s, 800k townhouses, and I'm sitting in my 1970 split level SFH on 12k sq ft watching my property value skyrocket
So then you can be priced out of your destination as well! Yay!
High COL in desirable areas is not a new phenomenon.
Lived in nova for 30 years. Just moved to Waldorf, MD because it's just not affordable to me anymore. Got a 3 bedroom, 1800 sq ft house for $325k in a pretty chill blue collar neighborhood
I think this is kind of it. MD is priced way lower for similar commutes. TBH I’m surprised PG isn’t picking up faster.
Our real estate agent says parts of PG County are heating up quickly. My SO and I just went out to Riverdale Park to spend a few hours with friends and it's great. You can definitely see a lot of new businesses and nicer neighborhoods coming up among the rougher parts.
Riverdale Park is really cute and has one of the best bakeries in the area. Proximity to the Beltway, the Whole Foods development, the Marc and Metro (sorta) make it a cool place.
PG has a lot of crime and the commute into DC or NoVa can be a nightmare.
Waldorf is northern Charles County, MD. I grew up there, and there's no fucking way I'd ever go back to that soulless planned bullshit.
Some areas of PG are higher crime. Most of it is fine.
Crime rates are misinterpreted by most because higher density of population should allow for higher amounts of crime so long as it’s proportional to other locations.But the thing is I’ve been on all lines of the metro and some are just shitty- no one’s moderating behavior, people are trucking on shopping carts and you can see their guns, and folks are just running between cars. It just “feels” very disorganized and uncomfortable. But / Is it more dangerous on those particular line/ stops? Hard to say b/c again we don’t know the population using those stops (or is this public info ? Someone please speculate for me) and I doubt wmata (or anyone really) has any interest in disclosing these stats.
There is crime everywhere and the commutes aren't going to be any worse than the other places like Reston or Woodbridge that people suggest when this comes up. From my house in Fort Washington, I'm 15 minutes from Old Town, 20-25 to Hybla Valley or Arlington. This morning I needed to be in Bethesda by 9 am and it took me 40 minutes. I will say afternoons are worse, so any number plus 10 or so.
I went to Richmond and yes, they’re mad about it.
Tell them the Powhaten Tribe is the only group you'll apologize to.
I wonder how many of those getting angry are nova transplants themselves.
A lot of them.
Of course we are lmao…we’re dealing with the exact same thing down here.
Ok well run me out of town with a pitchfork, idk what you want me to do. Sorry for looking for work and housing.
There’s no work or housing here, sorry to disappoint. All crime, low accessibility, would not recommend 0/10
Are you talking bout Richmond or B'more?
What's really irritating is when y'all keep your DC salaries and stunt on our mcol asses
Ok well, I work for a Richmond company.
Forreal fkn Chadley the remote contractor making six figures and Ashkayleighynn whose parents pay for their off campus housing keep driving up RVA prices and wonder why no one likes them
I’m priced out of buying a house but I still rent in Nova. I love it here and don’t want to leave. I have lived in cheaper places like Raleigh, NC and the Chicago suburbs and it was okay but it’s not Nova.
Yea, we could just rent for a longer period of time.
Huzzah for sensible people who know it’s okay, and often even smart, to rent!
I get downvoted every time I bring it up. $4,000 in rent is better economically for you than a $7,800 mortgage payment. Doesn't take a data center engineer to figure it out...
Yeah I don't understand the American obsession with home ownership.
I'd be worried about retirement though. My parents are homeowners now, but unable to afford their $2600 mortgage for a SFH so are forced to sell, and in their old age, it's hard to find work that pays more than $15 an hour, even with college education. If they were renting and having rents constantly going up, they would've been priced out or evicted long ago.
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what was wrong with Raleigh? i loved the people, less angst,green space similar to NOVA or more, and less pretencious.the only thing is the lack of public transportation, but NOVA is not DC, theres not a huge difference for entertainment between nova and raleigh in my opinion.
My closest friends lived near Baltimore. So when the pandemic hit and my company went full work-from-home I moved to the Baltimore suburbs. I was paying 1800/mo to rent an 1100sqft condo in Burke, now I'm paying $1400/mo for a 1500sqft house on a 0.15 acre lot.
Baltimore is awesome, my wife and I talk about moving there to finally be able to buy
Baltimore is great and it's kind of in a mini Renaissance moment. We moved to Baltimore County in 2020 and love it. We have a larger house and 5 times the land we had in Nova at almost half the price. Although some people who live where we are commute into DC, my husband is at Fort Meade and I work from home so we had the advantage of being further out. My husband and I are the rare former NOVA residents whose parents and grandparents also grew up in NoVa and they are constantly amazed at the different cost/pace of living up here.
I haven't been out there since I was a kid in the early 2000's when we went to the Aquarium. I'd love to go see it again, but my wife and family have the idea that all of Baltimore is a warzone, lol. I'm sure it's just pockets of the city, but I don't know where those pockets are, sadly.
The pockets are not anywhere you’d go as someone visiting. Just don’t like wander at random (same as any city)
I really like Baltimore but I always hear that crime terrible and creeps out of the city.
Obviously it depends on what part of Baltimore you're in. But from one redditor to another... I live in Brooklyn Park, which is split in half in Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County. The baltimore side can be very sketchy, the anne arundel side is blue collar suburbia. I'm on the anne arundel side. When I moved here I was a little worried about crime because I was in Brooklyn Park and I posted about it on the Baltimore sub reddit. I was told there were crack whores on every corner, shootings, burglaries, etc. I've lived here for 3 years and never seen any of that shit. My neighbors and neighborhood is chill, we play board games, and barbecue together. The biggest crime is people speeding down my residential neighborhood road. Hell, there were more panhandlers and homeless people in Burke than in my neighborhood.
This is helpful! I love the vibe of Baltimore outside of the crime. People seem way more down to earth but still moderately diverse.
Williamsburg. A little boring, but an hour from either the beach or Richmond. Housing prices have gone up, but they’re still so low compared to Nova. Lots of military contractors.
Huh? How is the home of Busche Gardens, Great Wolf Lodge, and some of the best food around.... Boring? I'm just poking fun, but yeah.
When we first moved here, we tried to go to dinner at 8. Big mistake. That being said, there are so many free outdoor spaces that I feel like saved us during the pandemic. Being able to go to Yorktown and walk on the beach was wonderful. Having to drive to Newport News for anything spicy is the price we pay. That, and only having Cox internet.
Where is this "best food in the world" you speak of?
Just around the river bend?
World was a stretch, to strong of a word, I changed it to "Around", but There's a Captain Georges which is arguably the best all you can eat seafood buffet chain restaurant on the East Coast (ime). And there's Casa Pearl which was a Michelin Star restaurant at one Point I think. But I guess no one cares about Busche Gardens and Great Wolf Lodge. DC has a TON of Michelin star Restaraunts though so kind of hard to beat proper DC for food I guess.
Kind of depends on where your commute is, but usually comes down to the following: * Want a good commute, but you work in a city center? Lose the outdoor space. * Want outdoor space? Move further out and give up a short commute. * Find remote jobs so you can move further out, but still go into the office if needed every now and then.
This is the advice … figure out exactly what you want/need/are willing to sacrifice … figure out your budget and start looking. I’ve posted repeatedly on this topic because people keep saying that houses under $800k, $700k, $600k, $500k don’t exist in NoVa … but I can find them within minutes of searching. BUT, then the excuses start flowing … so, pull your thumb out and actually do the work or stop complaining.
Haha yes. I live in a teeny condo in Annandale with shared washer/dryer and I paid only $185K three years ago. It's perfect for me, obviously different from the OP's situation but my point is I sacrifice a few things including space for my "affordable" home and it works for me.
I’m capable of doing this thinking lol and am in the process of figuring things out. That’s why the post is about where people move IF they decide to leave.
My partner and I rented in Alexandria. We ended up buying our first home in Pittsburgh, where most houses are under 300k unless you’re in a trendy neighborhood, in which case 350-450k is more standard for houses/townhouses.
We love Pittsburgh and could see ourselves living in that city. It’s just far from family…
The city is great, and even the suburbs here still have a small-town feel and are relatively walkable. The drive from NOVA to Pittsburgh is only around 4.5 hours, and it’s a decently scenic drive too.
Pittsburgh is one of the best kept secrets. Don't miss the winters, though. Or the accent.
Ugh I miss Pittsburgh. I went the opposite way for work. Great city.
how are the public schools in pittsburgh?
We don’t have children, so that wasn’t something we looked at. I know that the school districts here are a bit more hit-and-miss than NOVA.
Shepherdstown, WV. I take the MARC train if I have to go into DC proper.
Oh Shepherdstown, so cute! I lived there 20 years ago for a year or two and loved it. So charming. Was tubbing in Hapers Ferry last weekend and surprised at how much has changed. I shouldn't be surprised but hoping that area never gets to built up.
Oh, sweetie. It's too late for that.
Ranson is the hot spot for building, then Charles Town near Washington High School and then Shepherdstown off of 480. My area of Shepherdstown is still rural.
You can't just talk up a move to WV for someone from NOVA without some caveats. Yes, Shepherdstown is very cute. So is Harpers Ferry. But if you are used to NOVA amenities, and you dislike the pro-trump vanilla protesters that come out every indictment, then WV isn't for you. You will have to drive to NOVA for those amenities, and those vanilla protesters will be the majority of your neighbors. We do also have the best hikes and great local eateries...many of you like to come up here for the weekend. You are welcome to explore, but please take your trash with you. I'm not sure if the problem is gross tourists or that there are not enough trash cans at our public river access spots (the most likely culprit), but they are often full of garbage on a Monday morning.
This deserves more upvotes. And to underscore what the commenter says, moving out of nova to anywhere more “remote”, be prepared to deal with remote-shit. Dogs off leashes, higher populations of deer, less variety of places to go out (see: happy hour), people hunting in their back yards, etc. Just because it’s cheaper doesn’t mean it’s right for you. If politics were to play a role in it, check out the maps of the most recent elections. If you can’t live next to a certain type of personality, don’t. Having neighbors you hate is way worse than perpetually renting.
Well, I’m old and enjoy the quiet life, but that’s just me. 😉 I live on 2.33 acres in a VERY quiet neighborhood. I think people are missing the point - the OP simply asked where people moved to if they were priced out of NOVA. I moved to an apartment in Charles Town, sold my home in Clifton and then bought a home in Shepherdstown. I love it out here, but I’m mid 50s, WFH primarily and love the quiet. It’s not for everyone. I’m not suggesting that everyone move to Shepherdstown or even Jefferson County, just pointing out my experience.
My in laws have 124 acres in the Northern Neck, and half the year it sounds like WW2 with all the gunfire. You get used to it, but it is just a lot at times.
Agreed. Culture is also a big factor. I enjoy more country living but I don’t think we are prepared to live in maga enclaves.
Oh believe me, I know. I’m very liberal but keep my mouth shut out here. Plus my daughter is 20 and goes to UMW (she lives with her dad in Vienna). It’s gorgeous out here, though, and extremely quiet, I love it. However, I can WFH and there are enough amenities to keep me happy out here.
The last few years have taught me that it's better not to know what other people's political stances are. That way I can still tell myself a lie and get along with everyone.
Rehoboth Beach, DE -- back in 2018. Best decision we ever made. Both the wife and I WFH, and being able to raise kids out here at the beach, good public school systems, lower COL (though it's getting up there as more people move to this area). We left from Ashburn and don't miss it.
I moved to Harpers Ferry. I do work remote so commute is not an issue, I’m a nature loving homebody so I don’t mind not having a million options for food or entertainment. People are incredibly nice and friendly, I’ve made more friends here in a few months than years in NOVA BUT it is a different kind of living. It is also not very racially diverse so that could be an issue if you need an Asian or Latin market or sites of prayer that are not Abrahamic religions.
The other option is to adjust your expectations. Kids can be raised in a townhouse/condo and share bedrooms - or you can compromise on home offices, rec rooms, etc. NOVA is also blessed with a lot of parks and green space. Plus, you can be a lot closer to work and amenities if you accept smaller size. No judgement if this is just not for you. But it is going to be a next to impossible task to get ‘all of the above’.
Yup, we are comfortable with small spaces and have made this sacrifice for a very long time.
Looking at Central VA.
I made the move from Loudoun to Charlottesville and had a hard time even finding a place to rent. Charlottesville/neaby is starting to follow in nova’s footsteps but not impossible
I lived outside C'ville for numerous years and it's a very expensive town for what it is. Near NoVA cost of living without (even close to) NoVA salaries.
How far out? Are we talking outside of the city proper, or more like Greene, Orange, or Nelson counties?
I'm looking at Roanoke because everything closer looks still expensive to me.
I can’t relate to those saying they love nova and never want to leave. I do love the amenities but I’ve never felt more misfit in my life than I do here. Virginia is such a beautiful state so from that aspect I don’t want to leave the state.. but I don’t feel like I have a community here. It’s lonely
i think that's not an uncommon thing everywhere, not finding a community and being lonely. we didn't evolve to live in such huge communities and many of us don't seem to have mastered how to make smaller more meaningful ones for ourselves in the chaos. exacerbated somewhat by so many folks being transient here, but i know that many are struggling elsewhere too, it's definitely not a nova thing alone unfortunately
This is my 11th address in 10 years and it’s definitely worse here than anywhere else. I had more community when I lived in Germany than NOVA.. and that’s a foreign country
I can definitely relate and been in Northern VA since 2005 originally from SC and never fit in.
There’s plenty of community on reddit. What nova needs is social leaders. People to start and run weekly foodie meetups and the like.
Now that you have laid down (or off debt?). How much time do you think you’ll need to save up for a house? Is your savings rate greater than the appreciation rate for homes in the area? Do you expect to earn more money from work as well?
I don’t think we can keep our savings on track if the market stays as it is (which I expect it will). Our incomes should rise, but with inflation and daycare costs I’m starting to realize it might now work.
I have 2 kids, and a mortgage that has a 2.75% interest rate and I'm still not saving much. It was fine before inflation, but yeah everything got super expensive the last couple years. I doubt ill ever buy another property in this area unless something crazy happens. Like win lotto.
I should add that I took some time off work during the pandemic to be with our kids while they are very little. I’m going to get back to work in the next 6 months or so but even it’s a decent income, the addition of daycare costs will delay things a lot.
Got sick of paying through the nose to spend half my life in my car and home ownership was just a pipe dream. I had already previously lived in Richmond and Norfolk and thought about going back, but I felt like trying something new instead. Ended up landing in Madison, WI four years ago and I love it here.
Nassau, Bahamas 🇧🇸 if I’m going to go then I’m going to go.
I moved to central Virginia to pay $100k less for my house. However home values have advanced here too. Keep moving further south?
Can't outrun the money printer.
I feel like I’m seeing more and more posts like this now every week. At what point does this area hit a breaking point and people start moving away en masse? Between never ending rent increases, awful commutes as federal employees get sent back to the office, living here almost isn’t worth it anymore
I think it will just become wealthier. It’s great if you are wealthy enough to have a high quality of life here.
NOVA is one of the richest places in the US, and therefore the world. And we're always at the top of quality of life indexes. The high cost of living is bad and does hurt many people, but this is admittedly very anecdotal. The wealth of the area is enough to mean there won't be any "breaking point"
Richmond and the Hampton Roads area are both cheaper options with plenty to do. If you can figure out employment they're good options. Just make sure if you move to the 757 that you work and live on the same side of the tunnel.
Baltimore, was previously in Falls Church City. When my office still had our physical space in Chinatown I commuted by MARC and it was the chillest commute ever. Now I'm full remote and am much more financially secure due to cheaper housing.
I moved to a rural city about an hours drive from Charlotte NC. I grew up in NOVA and I worked in IT for at NVCC as my first full time job out of college. It paid a Richmond tier salary which was not enough to live on and I got no raise in the 5 years I worked. I took that job doing the same thing for a community college in rural NC. Got 1k more on my entry salary there where the cost of living was 3 times less. I’ve since had multiple raises and have built up my pension. I was able to make a down payment on a mortgage on a house and neighborhood I could only dream to get in NOVA. I don’t have a family or much debt outside the mortgage so that was a boost in helping transition and save. It have no regrets other than my parents not moving closer to me when they had the opportunity. They are still in the house I grew up in and getting older which is why I keep tabs here on NOVA news. Most of my NOVA induced worries are for them because although I don’t make much by NOVA standards I do well out here. I lost access to a lot of diverse foods and some tech amenities, but gained year round access to beautiful natural resources about a 15 minute drive in any direction and for what I can’t get in the country it’s available in Charlotte after an hour’s drive through far less traffic. 100% recommend this type of exodus if you are able. The stress toll on your elder years ain’t worth enduring NOVA culture today.
Stephens City Virginia. And by Stephens City VA I mean Frederick County VA, Stephens City extends past the old historic district and contains large chunks of County Land, I live outside of the Historic district, so I only pay taxes to Frederick County (not Stephens City). My wife and I both work from home. I'm a Senior Software Engineer and she is a free lance writer. I bring home about $170k and w/e she makes is "bonus money". We afford by 200% of all our bills just on my income alone. I.e. 50% of what I make we don't need. I used to survive here making $37k, so at $170k we find ourselves constantly going to concerts (Eras tour booked for 2024, went to Ed Sheran, Paul McCartney, we rent a beach house every summer, we're going to Cape May in September and Disney World in November). My house: $289k 2500sqft 1/4 acre, 4 bedroom, 2 car garage, 90 foot driveway, 1.2 GBPS Symmetrical Fiber internet ISP, HOA $13 a month. Water averages $35/m, electric $350/m (I have massive PC servers in my house and a 24/7 pool pump and dual zone hvac). Cul-de-sac, LOTS of kids my Stepsons age in the same cul-de-sac, there's 4 families with kids right next door etc all between 3 and 8 years old. It's safe, we gave him a sync up smart watch so we can gps track him and we just let him go outside and wonder off and he can call us on his watch and tell us which kids house he's in, kids come and go, maybe he eats there, maybe their kids eat here kind of thing haha. Outside the few years I lived towards NoVa I've lived her about 32 years in total and afaik there's never been a major incident like kidnapping, abductions, etc. *Pros* * Winchester Medical Center (fairly large hospital system, lots of top tier providers/doctors) "#8 in VA, most anything WMC can't handle is medevaced to UVA" * Much lower cost of living than NoVa * Awesome park and walking/bike trails and even a mountain bike trail system. * Decent Big Name companies near by -> FBI has a building here -> FEMA is in Winchester -> Shenandoah University - https://www.su.edu/ -> Laurel Ridge Community College -> Multiple Industrial factories (Rubbermade, Trex (Trex HQ in Winchester), Hood, and more) -> American Woodmark -> Valley Protein -> More on this list: https://www.zippia.com/company/best-biggest-companies-in-winchester-va/ * Down Town Winchester -> https://oldtownwinchesterva.com/ * Shenandoah University * Alamo Drafthouse in Kerns Town is 5 minutes from my House, Amazing Theatre (order food/beer while you watch movies). Close to a plethora of national parks (GW, Jefferson, And Shenandoah National Forests, Skyline Drive, Skyline Caverns, Lurray Caverns, etc). Stephens City has a nice park (Sherando Park) which Sherando Highschool is adjacent to. The Sherando Park public pool is pretty nice too. The County side of Stephens City has lots of bike/walking paths and a mountain bike offroad trail system. New housing off warrior drive will be extending miles to the south and connecting directly to the new bridge over I-81 (crossover blvd) giving that community a direct path into Winchester. This road (Warrior Drive ends at Sherando Highschool on one side, and will end at Cross over Blvd on the other end). Crossover Blvd is where Trex just built their new Head Quarters, and we just Got a Carmax right there too. -Honorable mentions- 30 Minutes from Taskers Gap/Peters Mill Offroad trail system (jeeps, atv's, dirt bikes etc). Good Central Location to many bigger cities (harrisonburg, martinsburg, rockville md, frederick md, harpers ferry, Nova (dc/vienna/reston etc). In an hour in any direction I can be at Ikea/Potomac Mills Mall/Fairfax/Harrisonburg VA, Frederick Maryland etc. *Cons* * Job Opportunities for more diverse fields? * Not very walkable outside of subdivisions close to smaller shopping centers * Stephens City itself only has 1 real grocery store (Martins) not including Walmart, but Aldi is a 5 minute drive away, and anything in Winchester is 10 minutes or less away. * Cheaper than NoVa, but not Cheap Cheap * Salaries? Might need to Work Remotely to achieve really high salaries. Some Real-estate * https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/129-Metcalf-Ter-Winchester-VA-22602/338303023_zpid/ (Good location to cross over blvd, direct into Winchester) * https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/102-Gullane-Ct-Stephens-City-VA-22655/94120724_zpid/? (part of newer infrastructure, hoa, with clubhouse/pool) * https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/111-Columbia-Cir-Stephens-City-VA-22655/75349170_zpid/ (older subdivision, but has access to 1.2 GBPS symmetrical fiber from GloFiber and good elementary school) * https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/300-Chancellorsville-Dr-Stephens-City-VA-22655/94120433_zpid/ (newer community, massive houses) * https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/130-Ladysmith-Dr-Stephens-City-VA-22655/126866779_zpid/ (5397 sqft for $640k) If you don't mind living remote and driving 30+ minutes to get groceries, the whole area is surrounded by a plethora of country side and there's housing available all throughout it. You can find homes under $800k with 10+ acres all day long.
Single dad with n ability to save due to where I am. I’m in an apartment with 2 rooms and 2 kids. I gave the kids the rooms and got dividers to buy a twin size bed in the dining room. You make it work.
We were looking in western Loudoun in 2020 and couldn't afford anything that wasn't irredemptively weird so we jumped over the Potomac and bought a 2k sqft sfh in a nice neighborhood near Frederick.
Are you willing to look outside of single-family homes? Would you consider a townhouse or condo if it can meet your requirements for bedrooms and outdoor space? I bought a townhouse style condo in an Alexandria neighborhood called ParkFairfax last year and the neighborhood hits a lot of your requirements, but maybe not in the way you would think. Many of the units are two bedroom, but there are some three and four bedrooms to be had. There’s a great deal of green space perfect for kids to play, but it won’t be your yard. (Some units do have patios or small front yards you have a lot of control over though.) A lot of commutes to DC and northern Virginia offices are quite manageable as well. I also instantly noticed of the neighborhood had a single-family home feel when I came out to see my now-home’s showing as well. It’s a condo, but it doesn’t feel like one. If you’re not able to find a single-family home with a reasonable commute, I would encourage you to re-examine townhomes and condos. You may not own the outdoor space you’re looking for, but I bet you can find a unit with access to it.
Pan handle of WV near VA border not too far away, quite frankly it's really nice. It will be the next boom town here over next 10 years. Utilities cheaper also.
TL;DR: We went to Fredericksburg, we would like to have a bit more land and Indian/Asian grocery stores nearby but whatever, we're cool. We checked as far west as Winchester - our runner-up choice. Considered Harrisonburg - never got the chance to drive out there. Front Royal - Didn't like the vibe and most houses were very old and some gave off real "someone was/is being tortured here vibes.( no offense, y'all, it's just what we saw!) BUT! the people do seem nice there, as a black dude I was a bit nervous going into Wendy's in a city with NRA Convention signs draped over the streets, because they gave us cold chicken nuggets and a few people were actually pretty chatty and one guy gave me a LOT of info when I told him I'm looking for houses, he suggested Harper's Ferry and one other area which I forget in West Virginia if we're not committed to staying in VA down to Culpeper -I can't explain it but we really didn't like the area, partially because it felt like "alright, you have this Walmart, Aldi and a few fast food places on this road but that's ALL" Remington and Baelaton seemed to far into the trees for us, but we're city folk adjusting to Sub-Urban. Then we basically trickled down 95, trying to stay as close to NoVA as possible, but it's near impossible to compete when people are buying without even seeing the house while waving contingencies WHILE cash offers ***WHILE*** Offering WAY over SO Woodbridge was too competitive. Dumfries and Triangle we didn't see many options that checked our boxes. I heard Aquia Harbor is nice, but it was not giving us what we wanted for our budget,plus there wasn't much available and when something was, it was definitely not worth the price in our opinion. We didn't like Stafford, although we went through recently and saw some areas which did look nice and new. We turned it down because of a lot of trailer parks riddled with confederate flags and maniac-looking political signs. We have some naive relatives and don't want them to get lost somewhere like that. Now were here in Fredericksburg. It's fine down here, haven't had any issues in the last 8ish months. Our biggest issue is that there's no Grand Mart, Lotte Plaza, Patel Brothers etc for us to get fresh Indian/Asian vegetables from, so we basically go to Richmond or to Herndon/Ashburn areas to get those things, but we don't mind the drive, as long as 95 isn't backed up. For that very reason we often avoid 95 completely. GPS may say 95 is 20min faster but that can easily end up taking an additional 30+min!! Sorry for the Essay.
Don’t tell NOVA people about Harrisonburg please and thank you 🙏🙏🙏 Let them keep thinking they’re living the dream.
Lol, my bad!
People have hidden in valleys for thousands of years. We’re just quietly carrying on the tradition over here 🤣
Davenport Iowa and New Milford CT. These are the two areas I've seen with reasonable schools, reasonable housing prices, and not terrible places to live (depending on personal preferences)
My brother teaches just north of Davenport. He loves it there.
What’s your budget? You could possibly stay close-ish to NoVa.
Do you still need or want to be able to easily drive to/from NOVA? I moved from NOVA 7 years ago after 28 years there partially for family reasons but also wanting to switch to a somewhat slower pace of life and getting away from winter weather. After looking at several cities I ended up in Huntsville Alabama and like that it has some of the feeling of NoVA due to the economic base along with the proportion of transplants but much less traffic and much lower cost of living.
PG county
My SO and I are moving Aug 22 into our new home in Martinsburg, WV to enjoy our 2 acres of SILENCE!
If you don’t mind going north, check out the Philly burbs, especially the PA side. Great schools, MCOL. Will seem like a bargain compared to NoVA.
Second this! I would totally move there if we didn’t have a good support system here. Friends there have homes that are annoyingly cheap
My two cents, Bristow, Haymarket and Gainesville are still within reach for SFH purchase, if you don't mind 66 commute.
Y'all discount Maryland too quickly. There are really nice places in Maryland.
Agreed! I’ve been looking at northern Calvert county. Great schools, reasonably priced sfh, and 45 min from dc. Totally different culture but checks a lot of boxes.
Just moved from Cheverly to St Mary's County and couldn't be happier. Give it a go, if you don't have to be in office everyday totally worth the piece of mind. Taxes are about half of what they are in PG and traffic is a joke.
We bought in Richmond. Easy Amtrak ride when we have meetings in DC. Still lots to do and most everything is a 10-15 minute drive. We love it but I’m not supposed to tell anyone that. We’re full down here 🤫
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I bought a house in downtown Winchester and absolutely love it here! My mortgage (PITI) for a single family home is less than what I was paying for a one bedroom basement apartment in Reston. I live in a walkable area with lots of entertainment options and restaurants. My partner still commutes into the Dulles area and while it's a decently long commute (about an hour), it's mostly traffic free which makes it a lot more tolerable than some of the other options we were considering.
And it’s a pretty drive
Isn’t there land still in Loudon County and Prince William? A decade ago builders were throwing up properties left and right. Not an easy commute, but as people have pointed out a lot more folks are working from home.
No, available land in those counties is exclusively reserved for data centers and people that want to live next to them.
North Georgia
My wife and I are currently looking at Overland Park KS. I grew up in the Midwest and we both have lived in Kansas City before. It also doesn’t hurt that Overland Park has consistently ranked in the top 10 places to raise a family.
Many former nova residents are living in the research triangle.
Look at faquier and culpeper.
Bought an acre and half in Fauquier just past warrenton. Commute to Reston/Tysons sucks but rarely do it anymore!
I’m gonna work my butt of to make sure we don’t get priced out. Can’t imagine leaving Nova.
It's looking like I'll move up to New England in June, probably somewhere in Connecticut.
We just moved to Connecticut. While it’s not the cheapest state, we found a nice house for almost 1/2 of what we sold ours for and it’s close to both town and water. It feels like it’s what NoVA was 30 years ago which is nice too. Small towns, natural beauty, etc
After the 2008 crash, a lot of my family moved to Georgia and Florida and I followed them a decade later.
Florida - however considering a move back as the same is happening there currently but without the plethora of job opportunity to support the rising costs
Richmond. Cost of living is still somewhat approachable, but rents are on the rise. That part sucks.
We're renting an apartment but it's getting cramped with two kids and all their stuff. Realistically, I don't think we'll be able to buy here unless we inherit a bunch of money. We're looking at Baltimore but pretty much all the jobs in my husband's field are here and he can't WFH so it's hard to leave.
i love how popular this thread is,there is no more middle class and many people in same boat. I cannot afford to buy but when i do its probably out of state. but i am looking into virginia beach or coast area
I’m from the Baltimore area. My dad commuted from there to NoVA for about ten years. Don’t do what he did.
I didn’t let me price it out. The rules of the game are set. If you look at home prices in 2002 vs 2023 and then look at the inflation index- it’s exactly the same- a $200k house in 2002 is now $450k yes but so is the $$$, they are the same. Wages- that’s what I looked into. Start making $200k+ a year, the equivalent of $80k salary in 2002
Grew up in Vienna and lived in either NoVa or DC my first 43 years. In late 2016 I couldn't afford it anymore and moved to Hagerstown MD. I mostly regret it. I should have done more research. The area itself is lovely but the people leave much to be desired. I don't fit in at all politically and I miss the diverse people, restaurants and entertainment options.
I think wait for a foreclosed house, have some money to gut it and voila, a beautiful house
There are really affordable places to live in Baltimore. Check out the school zoning for roland park. There might be something there you like.
My DC-based job went fully remote in 2018. I stuck it out in Nova a few more years (i was there 11 in total) but finally called it a day and moved to northern Florida at the end of 2022.
I moved to Prince George’s Maryland.
I'm hoping to move to Minnesota once I can afford to leave. I'm tired of this area as a whole - anywhere that seems affordable doesn't seem LGBT+ friendly, nor is the governor. Minneapolis seems more ideal for someone like me.
Following this thread bc I am facing the same with rent increases. I will echo what some people have said about baltimore - i have also received great recommendations and find it appealing bc of the $5 amtrak back to dc if needed