Do you like where you live?

[jmcquesten]

This is what I'm looking for haha. I don't think it exists...
VA beach is 4 hours, Bethany, Rehobeth and Ocean City are all 3 hours away with no traffic. Sure they're crowded as hell but if you leave at midnight and wake up at the crack of dawn you can get a good spot on the beach.
Ski liberty and White Tail are all pretty close too for winter skiing and snowboarding. Ski Liberty is actually just an hour away from me.

Those are the cool things about this area. Everything else I could do without.

Where do you live in NOVA?

 

[Airplanedoc]

Oh Canada. I wouldn't mind higher taxes if it meant free school and health care. I've never been to Canada but I wouldn't mind checking it out. I love hockey so I might fit right in!

Just add about 40% to every purchase you make and put it in a savings account, for education and healthcare spending.

 

[clairecunn83]

NB-TX. It's okay.

Pros: Lots of craft breweries around, plenty of great places nearby to ride the motorcycle. River tubing in the summer, some neat bars downtown. Lot of good restaurants within driving distance. Hill Country is beautiful. Right in between two major metropolitan areas. Lots of cool historical stuff in the area.

Cons: Right in between two major metropolitan areas. Too crowded. Too many people. Rent is too damn high, and massive influx of people from Austin/San Antonio is driving it up. Living on the I-35 corridor sucks. Traffic sucks. City planning is a joke. No tall trees. Everything outside the Hill Country is a flat barren wasteland. Too many tourists, and the local economy is too dependent on them. Crime isn't high, but higher than I'm used to.

I miss living in the piney woods of East Texas, where I couldn't see or hear my neighbors.

If I had to live outside of TX, I'd move to Colorado. Love to visit.

I, too, live in New Braunfels, but I have a more positive opinion of our awesome little town...

Almost everyone that moves here loves it. Yes, it sucks being between two major cities, but that is also why many people love it. New Braunfels is super charming, so you definitely get that "small town" feel...but those two major cities are just up and down the road when you get the itch.

New Braunfels is the partying'est, ageless, most active "small town" ever. We have a "fest" for everything! The downtown is alive and active. There's a healthy balance of ages, political views, and socioeconomic levels.

Two beautiful rivers run through our town. Both are heavily utilized for recreational purposes. We also have the infamous Schlitterbahn water park smack down in the middle. We're on the edge of the hill country, so just go west a bit, and your deep into that.

New Braunfels is also the music mecca of the Texas Americana music scene! Live music EVERYWHERE!

School system is great. Politics are conservative, but balancing more and more with each election. Great employment opportunities in Austin and San Antonio if work is hard to find in small New Braunfels.

I grew up in NB, went to college in Kerrville, TX (great town, too), moved to Denton, TX for a bit (VERY cool town!), and still wind back up here! I know everyone hears Texas and thinks "Perry and racism," but we're actually a very balanced state consisting of people from every walk of life...we're just concerned about our tax dollars . Texas people are the friendliest people, hands down!

The only thing that sucks about New Braunfels is it's hotter than sh!t. But that's why you go to the river every day in the summer ;-)

With ALL that being said, we have a place in CO (heading up there Friday!), as well, and I'd live there in a heartbeat....if the people were as friendly as Texans!

GO TEXAS! Look into Denton, TX, too. Very cool place.

http://thenbscene.com/

 

[hunter_le five]

I, too, live in New Braunfels, but I have a more positive opinion of our awesome little town...

Almost everyone that moves here loves it. Yes, it sucks being between two major cities, but that is also why many people love it. New Braunfels is super charming, so you definitely get that "small town" feel...but those two major cities are just up and down the road when you get the itch.

New Braunfels is the partying'est, ageless, most active "small town" ever. We have a "fest" for everything! The downtown is alive and active. There's a healthy balance of ages, political views, and socioeconomic levels.

Two beautiful rivers run through our town. Both are heavily utilized for recreational purposes. We also have the infamous Schlitterbahn water park smack down in the middle. We're on the edge of the hill country, so just go west a bit, and your deep into that.

New Braunfels is also the music mecca of the Texas Americana music scene! Live music EVERYWHERE!

School system is great. Politics are conservative, but balancing more and more with each election. Great employment opportunities in Austin and San Antonio if work is hard to find in small New Braunfels.

I grew up in NB, went to college in Kerrville, TX (great town, too), moved to Denton, TX for a bit (VERY cool town!), and still wind back up here! I know everyone hears Texas and thinks "Perry and racism," but we're actually a very balanced state consisting of people from every walk of life...we're just concerned about our tax dollars . Texas people are the friendliest people, hands down!

The only thing that sucks about New Braunfels is it's hotter than sh!t. But that's why you go to the river every day in the summer ;-)

With ALL that being said, we have a place in CO (heading up there Friday!), as well, and I'd live there in a heartbeat....if the people were as friendly as Texans!

GO TEXAS! Look into Denton, TX, too. Very cool place.

http://thenbscene.com/

Haha maybe I was a little harsh. I grew up in a more rural area so it can all be a bit overwhelming to me sometimes. Mostly just tired of cagers trying to run me over all the time. The music scene is pretty good. There's always at least a few bars downtown and/or in Gruene that have a good act going every weekend. Wurstfest and Wassailfest et al are pretty great. There's always a party going on somewhere.

I've got family in Kerrville, agree it's pretty cool. Used to visit my brother in Denton all the time when he went to school there, I seem to remember the college bar scene was pretty nice.

 

[bobeer]

Where do you live in NOVA?

As of now Leesburg. Just moved here in Aug from Gainesville. Before that I lived in Centreville, Fairfax city and I've squatted in Manassas, Springfield and Lorton.

I've pretty much have lived everywhere in NoVa at some point. So far Leesburg/Loudoun Co. is my favorite.

 

[Zuljin]

I like it. The DFW does have it's drawbacks. Traffic sucks. There's some high crime areas. My little spit of it though is pretty tame. This town is not so big that a few determined people can't affect change in it. It's safe enough that we can roam the streets at any time with little concern. Folks around here are friendly to indifferent. LHBS abound. Anything a person could need or want to buy abounds. Great health care. Good to great schools. Plenty job opportunities. Decent fishing, for fresh water. Places to kayak. Plenty DG courses. Lakes. Reasonable cost of living for metro life. Any food you want. Yeah. This place works.

 

[SharonaZamboni]

I actually kinda like it here in VA. And I am in the middle of the worst part of it too. Though I must admit that if I could find a place that has all 4 seasons, and can be within a days drive of a beach and mountains for summer and winter enjoyment and me still be able to work and live comfortably I would be there in a minute. I could trade away all of the A-holes on the roads here though.

The geography and weather is right here in C/western MA. Employment is certainly dependent on your line of work. I've managed to raise three kids and own a nice-enough home, working an OK paying job.

 

[DemonsRun]

Traffic Sucks, but I still Love Arlington, Va.

 

[jmcquesten]

As of now Leesburg. Just moved here in Aug from Gainesville. Before that I lived in Centreville, Fairfax city and I've squatted in Manassas, Springfield and Lorton.

I've pretty much have lived everywhere in NoVa at some point. So far Leesburg/Loudoun Co. is my favorite.

I was just in Leesburg Sunday at the outlets and wegmans. That's not far from Winchester. Maybe we should meet up and exchange homebrews or something. I'm up there on the weekends.

 

[sboyajian]

As of now Leesburg. Just moved here in Aug from Gainesville. Before that I lived in Centreville, Fairfax city and I've squatted in Manassas, Springfield and Lorton.



I've pretty much have lived everywhere in NoVa at some point. So far Leesburg/Loudoun Co. is my favorite.

Hey!! I live in Gainesville!

I don't mind it. I like Gainesville actually. As they add more stores it gives me more and more reasons to never have to go to Manassas again.. Except to go to Jay's Brewing or Tobaccology.

That being said, I work from home, so I don't deal with the traffic.

 

[lumpher]

i live in the dallas/fort worth metro-mess. i hate it. it sucks, and i can't stand it. the population, the noise, the traffic... well, i wish i could express my true feelings, but i tend to hold them inside

 

[ChelisHubby]

Well It is different strokes for different folks. I grew up outside of Kansas city and the hunting and fishing is great. Went to Denver for 7 years loved the mountains and the bars. Now I am in riverside Ca. and yes the taxes are high and the traffic can be a pain and there are a lot of Morons that do live here. But while I do have 4 months of summer I have the other months of shirt sleeve weather. The local mnts or hills really are only 45 minutes away and the ocean is a little over one hour. In the summer I can get out of the shower and be dry quickly because of the low humidity. I c ant see myself going back to the high humidity and the weeks with out seeing the sun.

 

[ghohn]

I don't think you can go wrong with the northwest.


Sent from my iPod touch using Home Brew

 

[DrunkleJon]

The geography and weather is right here in C/western MA. Employment is certainly dependent on your line of work. I've managed to raise three kids and own a nice-enough home, working an OK paying job.

I guess am going to have to do a little more travelling up and down the coastal states.

Most people I know from here that moved away have gone on to NC or Texas. I am a computer geek, could probably work most anywhere, but being near the government is sort of helpful. Lots of IT jobs here, though cost of living is rather high and the A-hole/sq mile ratio is pretty crazy. Especially when on the roads.

 

[bobeer]

I guess am going to have to do a little more travelling up and down the coastal states.

Most people I know from here that moved away have gone on to NC or Texas. I am a computer geek, could probably work most anywhere, but being near the government is sort of helpful. Lots of IT jobs here, though cost of living is rather high and the A-hole/sq mile ratio is pretty crazy. Especially when on the roads.

Once our little one is a little bigger my wife and I are going to check out the northern coastal states and see what it's all about. Swimming/fishing in the summer and snowboarding in the winter sounds good to me.

I also work in IT but I refuse to work for the government or a govt contractor. There are still a lot of private companies around that require a lot of IT help though. The pay isn't as good but the benefits I have at my current gig are awesome and better than any govt benies.

The cost of living here is insane. We sold our house in Gainesville because of that. Now renting it's a little cheaper but not much and we're not gaining any equity. The only plus side of renting is I feel we can pick up and move a little easier without having to worry about selling a house.

And yes... lots of aholes around here. That's pretty much my main gripe with this area is the traffic and the uncultured aholes. You can leave work at 2:30 and sit in a pile up trying to get home.

 

[todd_k]

I guess am going to have to do a little more travelling up and down the coastal states.

Most people I know from here that moved away have gone on to NC or Texas. I am a computer geek, could probably work most anywhere, but being near the government is sort of helpful. Lots of IT jobs here, though cost of living is rather high and the A-hole/sq mile ratio is pretty crazy. Especially when on the roads.

The "Silicon Valley of the East Coast" is the corridor from Nashua, NH to Boston, MA. I don't think it's quite at that level but you could find some IT jobs in the NE without much of a problem.

 

[bobeer]

Well It is different strokes for different folks. I grew up outside of Kansas city and the hunting and fishing is great. Went to Denver for 7 years loved the mountains and the bars. Now I am in riverside Ca. and yes the taxes are high and the traffic can be a pain and there are a lot of Morons that do live here. But while I do have 4 months of summer I have the other months of shirt sleeve weather. The local mnts or hills really are only 45 minutes away and the ocean is a little over one hour. In the summer I can get out of the shower and be dry quickly because of the low humidity. I c ant see myself going back to the high humidity and the weeks with out seeing the sun.

The humidity suuuuucks here in VA during the summer. It's awful. I'm 6'2 230 lbs and all I do is sweat in the summer without doing anything.
I used to live in Chico, CA and the heat there was so dry. I was there during a big 112 degree heat wave and I remember I could get in the shower with my clothes on and walk downtown. I'd be dry before I even got down there and it was only 5 blocks or so away. I'd take the dry heat over the muggy swamp heat any day.
We have a lot of parks and mountains around here too for lots of hiking, tubing, and camping. During the summer they're pretty crowded though which sort of kills the outing for me. You have to go sort of off the grid in the national forest to not see anyone.

 

[bobeer]

Traffic Sucks, but I still Love Arlington, Va.

Arlington is a cool place to walk the streets but parking there is a b! I drive a big f150 and I can't fit into any of the garages down there and you can forget about street parking. If I go into Arlington you can bet I'm not driving! I went down there for a job interview once and ended up parking in a neighborhood several blocks away because there was zero parking during the week. I find it the same on the weekends and evenings.

 

[bobeer]

I was just in Leesburg Sunday at the outlets and wegmans. That's not far from Winchester. Maybe we should meet up and exchange homebrews or something. I'm up there on the weekends.

Sure, we can do that. I'm not far from the outlets or Wegmans. PM me and we can work something out!

 

[bobeer]

Hey!! I live in Gainesville!

I don't mind it. I like Gainesville actually. As they add more stores it gives me more and more reasons to never have to go to Manassas again.. Except to go to Jay's Brewing or Tobaccology.

That being said, I work from home, so I don't deal with the traffic.

We lived in Gainesville for 3 years and it changed 10 fold from the day we moved there to the day we left. They're cramming more and more folks in there and those road ways were never meant to work with that many people. 29 is always a mess and 15 is pretty bad too. We were lucky enough to live around the back roads that people hadn't seemed to figure out yet. It's very beautiful out there though and you're a short drive from the Blue Ridge and Skyline drive which is awesome any day of the week. The Mexican place in Haymarket is off the chain too. I think I miss that the most!

 

[DrunkleJon]

I also work in IT but I refuse to work for the government or a govt contractor. There are still a lot of private companies around that require a lot of IT help though. The pay isn't as good but the benefits I have at my current gig are awesome and better than any govt benies.

The cost of living here is insane. We sold our house in Gainesville because of that. Now renting it's a little cheaper but not much and we're not gaining any equity. The only plus side of renting is I feel we can pick up and move a little easier without having to worry about selling a house.

And yes... lots of aholes around here. That's pretty much my main gripe with this area is the traffic and the uncultured aholes. You can leave work at 2:30 and sit in a pile up trying to get home.

Contracting is just legal prostitution. Think about it. The Contractor company arranges for then gets a percentage for you doing all of the working...

Surprisingly, I bought my house inside the beltway. WHen I bought it, it was fully rented out and I was making $200/month over my mortgage payments. Now, since I am young enough and unmarried I am renting out the other 3 bedrooms and am making some 80% of it. When I do some further upgrading and find that special lady and if she decides to move in, I will be able to get that much by converting the basement to an apartment and renting that part out alone. I guess my point is that with how ridiculous cost of living is, if you are willing to commit it can cost less to own than rent.

Proximity to work is key. And timing of when you go. I managed to talk my bosses into letting me start work at 6:30, out by around 3:15. 20 minute commute in the morning, just a smidge longer in the afternoon.

The humidity suuuuucks here in VA during the summer. It's awful. I'm 6'2 230 lbs and all I do is sweat in the summer without doing anything.
I used to live in Chico, CA and the heat there was so dry. I was there during a big 112 degree heat wave and I remember I could get in the shower with my clothes on and walk downtown. I'd be dry before I even got down there and it was only 5 blocks or so away. I'd take the dry heat over the muggy swamp heat any day.
We have a lot of parks and mountains around here too for lots of hiking, tubing, and camping. During the summer they're pretty crowded though which sort of kills the outing for me. You have to go sort of off the grid in the national forest to not see anyone.

Ah, the humidity. Yeah that is a pain. Mosquitos can get pretty terrible too. I swear one of my neighbors has set up a breeding ground for them. I cant go outside in the summer for 10 minutes without having 2 dozen land on me. I have since started only going outside when I am accompanied by people who mosquitos like better than me.

 

[bobeer]

Contracting is just legal prostitution. Think about it. The Contractor company arranges for then gets a percentage for you doing all of the working...

Surprisingly, I bought my house inside the beltway. WHen I bought it, it was fully rented out and I was making $200/month over my mortgage payments. Now, since I am young enough and unmarried I am renting out the other 3 bedrooms and am making some 80% of it. When I do some further upgrading and find that special lady and if she decides to move in, I will be able to get that much by converting the basement to an apartment and renting that part out alone. I guess my point is that with how ridiculous cost of living is, if you are willing to commit it can cost less to own than rent.

Proximity to work is key. And timing of when you go. I managed to talk my bosses into letting me start work at 6:30, out by around 3:15. 20 minute commute in the morning, just a smidge longer in the afternoon.



Ah, the humidity. Yeah that is a pain. Mosquitos can get pretty terrible too. I swear one of my neighbors has set up a breeding ground for them. I cant go outside in the summer for 10 minutes without having 2 dozen land on me. I have since started only going outside when I am accompanied by people who mosquitos like better than me.

That's the thing though... I don't want to live in a place where I have to sell my privacy in order to support myself. I guess if I was single I wouldn't mind as much but it would still bother me. With a wife and a little girl in my life now I'd have to know the person who I was renting to pretty well.

Now, living in Leesburg, I'm only 15 minutes from my job which is awesome. Before I'd drive over an hour 1 way... That's over 10 hours of personal time a week wasted rotting in traffic. Yea, I'd tip a few by the time I got home!

 

[DemonsRun]

Contracting is just legal prostitution. Think about it. The Contractor company arranges for then gets a percentage for you doing all of the working... Mosquitos can get pretty terrible too. .

I'm an IT Contracting Whore, not so bad If you can do it as a 1099 but you have more responsibility for keeping track of taxes, expenses and things.

Thankfully I live 10 minutes from work in traffic, Otherwise I don't know how people stand commuting...and yes the mosquitoes make me almost hate the outside.

 

[sboyajian]

We lived in Gainesville for 3 years and it changed 10 fold from the day we moved there to the day we left. They're cramming more and more folks in there and those road ways were never meant to work with that many people. 29 is always a mess and 15 is pretty bad too. We were lucky enough to live around the back roads that people hadn't seemed to figure out yet. It's very beautiful out there though and you're a short drive from the Blue Ridge and Skyline drive which is awesome any day of the week. The Mexican place in Haymarket is off the chain too. I think I miss that the most!

I've been living here since 2005, so you can imagine how much it's changed for me! 29 is not as bad since they opened the one overpass over the train and once they finish the other one on Linton Hall it should be great. I live on the edge, over toward Wegmans, so I don't get a hole lot of the traffic and I can escape toward Warrenton if I really want to. I'm a bit of a homebody and I like staying in my neighborhood.

I've never been to the restaurant (El Vaquero?). I have heard it's good. We'll have to head over there. Thanks for the heads up.

I agree with the jmcquesten, we should all set up a time to trade home brews.

 

[Ridire]

Southern Michigan here. No better place in the world from April through October. November through March...I wouldn't mind living elsewhere.

 

[bobeer]

I've been living here since 2005, so you can imagine how much it's changed for me! 29 is not as bad since they opened the one overpass over the train and once they finish the other one on Linton Hall it should be great. I live on the edge, over toward Wegmans, so I don't get a hole lot of the traffic and I can escape toward Warrenton if I really want to. I'm a bit of a homebody and I like staying in my neighborhood.

I've never been to the restaurant (El Vaquero?). I have heard it's good. We'll have to head over there. Thanks for the heads up.

I agree with the jmcquesten, we should all set up a time to trade home brews.

Yup, El Vaquero West. Best Mexican I've ever had. Cheap too.
Sure, let's trade some brews.

 

[Mongrel]

Central Oregon, 30 minutes from the nation's best beer city. Taxes and housing prices are high, not all that great for jobs, but we live where other people come to vacation, the beer flows, and our weather is so much better than Portland's. If you like to ski, rock climb, raft, mountain bike, drink beer, grow pot (in 6 months), hike, fly fish, camp, have an active brew club (we have 2 with 100+ members), be at the beach in a couple of hours...etc., there's no better place in than here. That said, too many people are moving here, so stay home.

 

[W0GWT]

St. Louis- It sucks a big one (have you watched the news recently).

Pros:

Decent job market, low cost of living, great zoo, good baseball (if you're a Cardinals fan...if not, it f****ing sucks because as a Cards fan, I know Cards fans are douches).

Cons:
Virtually no culture, rednecks, hood folks, no public transit, crap weather, s**** drivers who freak out about a snowflake, Jesus freaks everywhere, bad public schools, bad food... I could go on forever.

Missouri: Abandon all hope ye who enter...

In short, no. I hate it here.

 

[Qhrumphf]

NOVA is not the worst place in the world. But it ain't the best either. We were originally staying here because family was here (rather than moving back up north like I wanted to do, I prefer the NYC/NJ area), but now with jobs, both the wife's and mine, looks like we're here for the long term.

All you folks' problems is that you live way the hell out in the burbs. I avoid going to Loudoun County whenever the hell I can. I just keep getting dragged out there because the MIL lives in Sterling and the BIL lives in that sprawling LoCo wasteland past Chantilly (South Riding-ish area). At least the FIL lives in Vienna and isn't too far of a hike. But we always end up out in Loudoun County. Plus, the suburbs aren't cheap enough to justify the commute when living there (hell, half the time they're more expensive, I'd pay more for rent living in Sterling than I do where I am a couple blocks from the Metro). Try moving to Springfield. Closer to town and cheaper, too. Or parts of Falls Church, or southern Alexandria (route 1 in Fairfax County, but not that Kingstowne wasteland). Hell, even South Arlington is probably cheaper than what you're paying now.

I tried to get my wife to move into DC on the wrong side of the river and then insist the family comes to OUR place. That idea didn't go over well. I'll take bars on the windows and the occasional breakin over yuppies, Uggs, and Starbucks any day of the week. I lived across the street from an open air heroin market for years up in Jersey. Doesn't bother me. Keeps the rent low.

 

[Fordmi]

I'll chime in with what's sure to be an unpopular opinion... I love living in Southern CA - Orange County. I live far enough from LA to not have to deal with all of that big city pretentiousness and nut job celebrity lifestyle. I can bike to the beach, I surf every day, and the weather never sucks. I don't have air conditioning and have almost never wished I did. I've never turned my heat on in my house either. Sure our taxes are high and our state is broke. It's still better than anywhere else I have lived or spent extended periods of time.

So many people rag on CA but it works for me.