So interesting hearing your point of view having recently moved to the area. I was born in Fairfax and at the time (1971) my folks owned a 3br shoebox house in Falls Church (Pimmit Hills). It's still there (though total wreck) and it sits on a 1/4-acre. They paid $21,000 for it in 1970. In 75 we moved to Reston, which was only on phase 2 and my parents caught flack for moving to the middle of nowhere. "The country" lol. I grew up there, graduated there, started my career there, rented there and in other parts of Fairfax Co., and then in 2003 bought in Ashburn. My first time living out of FFX county. It reminded me so much of what I loved about growing up in Reston. Spacious (at the time), green, well kept, planned communities with tons of amenities, and free abundant parking everywhere. Though you'd have to catch an Uber to get to a bus stop. Public transportation is horrible for such a developed area, yet your taxed and tolled heavily for owning and using cars. I used to spend $16 a day in tolls to go 16 miles and yes most of the time it took me well over an hour to go that expensive 16 miles. Truly, you want for very little in this area. But, you will pay dearly for it. I'm surprised vehicle personal property tax wasn't on your list of reasons to avoid it. Pretty much anything to do with transportation are the negatives about this area. Oh gawd and the cicadas every 17 years too. ;)
Lots has changed in the area for sure. I actually grew up in Nova, then left from 2003-2022, and got back here to a whole new Nova just last year. There's definitely some familiarity about it, but 19 years is a long time to be away! As for the cicadas, they could be a pro or con depending on the person 😂 Appreciate your perspective!
My cousin I grew up with moved to Seattle for Amazon right out of college and he didn’t last a year there, he hated the rain and quite frankly I don’t blame him, I was there in the winter once too and scenery was beautiful but depressing weather and it was so costly, so one day he packed his things and drove across the country and put in a transfer to the Northern Virginia Branch….
