What can you tell me about living around Dulles, VA?

Hello all! I'm going to be moving to the Dulles, VA area at the end of November, and I'd be interested to know if anyone can tell me about living around this area of Virginia. The company I'll be working at is located very close to Dulles Airport, and I'm hoping to live a reasonable commuting distance away.

I've lived in New England virtually all my life, and my entire exposure to Virginia has consited of driving through parts of it from time to time. I don't personally know anyone from Virginia or even anyone where I'll be working, so I can't call someone up and ask 20 questions. I thought there might be some ENWorld regulars from the area who'd be willing to share their experiences.

I'd be interested to hear about any aspect of the area, but I'm most interested in things like good places to live, bad places to live, places you shouldn't be after dark, how hard/easy is it to find gamers, finding apartments/housing, what are the FLGS's, general cost of living, taxes, etc.

Your thoughts would be most appreciated!

-WK

We have a very good game store in Chantilly. There's a lot of gamers in the area.

Of course, when it comes to Yankees we shoot them on sight welcome them with open arms. I'm sure you'll be no exception.

I joke ... I joke ...

I have a lot of family in New Haven. Honestly, the traffic is worse but the roads are wider. The houses have less style, but they're more comfortable. The nightlife is pretty good in Arlington and I66 to 267 is a brainless (but congested) commute to Dullus.

In 2012 we should have a metro from DC to Dullus and then property values are going to get even more insane then they already are. The housing market is a vortex of chaos and torment the likes of which are only seen in the Far Realms. Make no attempt to understand it, down that path lies madness!!!!

If you have a family I'd give thought moving out toward Lessburg. If you don't, I have no real solid advice.

Oh, it is noticably warmer here. You will be amused at what six inches of snow does to us.

Tyson's Corner is nice. a little bit of a commute. but once on the access road you are fine.

Vienna is okay also

I really like the Tysons Corner area - the husband and I almost moved there about 3 months ago, but he was offered a different job that he wanted more... and so now we live in Silver Spring, MD.

Anywho - there are lots of gamers in the area, which is always good. Welcome to the DC Sprawl!!

diaglo said:

Tyson's Corner is nice. a little bit of a commute. but once on the access road you are fine.

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Plus they have a really cool mall.

BiggusGeekus said:

Oh, it is noticably warmer here. You will be amused at what six inches of snow does to us.

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Six inches? Hell, people go crazy when the forcast calls for 2 inches. Then they flood the supermarkets buying milk, bread, and water. You'd think 2 inches of snow was going to turn into a hurricane the way people stock up. Once the snow falls, everyone says "Oh, it's only a little bit, I think I go drive full speed on the icy roads and wonder why my brakes don't work at 65 mph on all that nice black ice"

You think I kid, but I don't. I may be the guy going 35 mph on the highway, but I'm also the guy who doesn't plow his car off the road by slamming on the brakes when the car starts to slide.

I grew up in Florida and live in DC now. I find this whole storm thing amusing. In Florida, people see an approaching monster storm and don't do jack even though they know they might be without power, etc for days. In DC, people react the way the Floridians should, except they do it when they might have a snowfall that doesn't stick to the ground for 24 hours.

I'm going down to the area this week to look at places to live...some of the communities are Reston, Centreville, Ashburn, and Herndon. Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about the areas?

reveal said:

Plus they have a really cool mall.

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I've never been that thrilled with the Tyson's mall - I think there are better in the area. I worked out near Dulles (in Tyson's) for the better part of a year, and I can say that travelling to and from it is TERRIBLE. Absolutely horrid. Suffice to say that Tyson's hired Satan himself as a city planner.

It might get better sometime in the next decade, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Apart from that, it's one of the nicer areas of the DC metro area, and certainly affluent. If you can stand the traffic, I certainly wouldn't try to turn you away.

If you have a 9-to-5 job, count on crappy traffic no matter where you live, unless you can walk to work.

I know someone who lives in Herndon off 7100 (Fairfax County Parkway). Very nice, very residential. I'd live there if I had a good, stable income and a family.