Give me a call or Text if you are thinking about moving to the area ! 571-437-7575

I agree with everything you said in the video. But, I would like to add that there are jobs that are not in DC/Arlington/Alexandria. Plenty of jobs are getting pushed out into Reston, Leesburg, Ashburn, Manassas, Centreville, Woodbridge, etc. Many of these jobs are government contracting jobs. They pay well and the commute shouldn't be as bad as driving all the way into DC. If someone wants to get into government contracting, their first job may not be the best paying BUT once you're in, you're in (especially if you get a security clearance). Don't be too discouraged if you want to move to the area and things look pricey. You can make it work. It is possible to climb the ladder in the DC area, especially if you get into a niche government contracting job. It's a great place to grow, but the earlier years won't necessarily be easy. Plus, there are free/inexpensive activities to do (museums, local town/city center events, events organized by big corporations or schools, etc.)! You won't be bored just because you're not rolling in money.

I am from the Washington Metropolitan area and moved from Alexandria, VA to Fredericksburg, VA about 2 years ago and you have done a great job of providing a wealth of information regarding this area as far as the money you will dish out for almost everything. You were spot on about this are being expensive to live. It’s ridiculous to have to pay to drive the Hot lanes in order to dodge the traffic. Driving your route during the time you will need to be traveling that route is keen because timing your trip on a weekend is definitely NOT realistic unless you are driving it to actually see where exactly it is and the surroundings for familiarity purposes of when you make the trip again. Great video.

If someone can afford a house in Loudoun, they can pay the toll road fees. Game changer. BTW, I used to fly for the senator back in the 90's. One day we used the senators car to drive down to CLT for the afternoon NY runs in the 1900. Jeb nailed it down 29 the whole time. The statie's were none too pleased as we flashed by them. The hangar got a nasty gram mailed in from the State Police Superintendent's office. I still have a copy of it, flipping hilarious, he was hot-mad. Another time we used Dot's car. Full of diapers and smelly, Jeb backed it up to a dumpster and we emptied the whole car out into that dumpster, including the crusty car seat, and got air freshener. A favorite thing to do was buzz T Queen's farmhouse with the props out of synch on the morning ferry run. Fun times, never a dull moment around there in the 90's! Parties at the TDY hotel on Hyannis in the summer were epic. My liver still hurts and it took two rounds of antibiotics to clean me out from that gal at the hotel desk. Worth it. One day at Hyannis when the governor failed the first flight of the day test, second or third day in a row, after bringing it back to the hangar Jimmy tossed a huge wrench at us cursing and screaming and nearly beaned the captain in the head, that pilot got canned eventually. Jimmy was so beet red with veins popping we thought he'd blow a gasket and drop dead on the spot. Nape of the earth in WV and NH/VT is a great memory. Boy did your gramps place have a bunch of characters, most would be arrested these days. Stories to last a lifetime.

The triple Kay folks are in northern VA, too.

The newness of everything is the most notable thing about living in most of the area. There were 40,000 people in Fairfax in 1940 and 20,000 in Loudoun in 1950. Sure there are some old manor houses here and there, and a few old downtowns like Leesburg or Herndon, but really it’s mostly a bunch of new subdivisions, mostly built in the 1970s or newer. It’s new, and in most places nice. Because it’s new it’s mostly built in the era where the DC ‘burbs really began to be high income juggernauts. The reason Loudoun is #1 in income, Fairfax is #3 and Arlington is also high up on the list is that there were few low income existing communities in any of them before the high income gravy train really began during the Vietnam War

Alexandria, Virginia is very expensive but you forgot to mention about Mount Vernon which is amazing to go visit and old town Alexandria and Georgetown. Those are amazing places to be it is very expensive and people at the most part are great. There is a lot of traffic and are on route 1 crime but overall it's a good place to live but expensive

If your household income is going to be below $150k, don't bother coming to NOVA. Also competition is fierce. Most people have a master's degree or JD or PhD. You will struggle. My family income is above $200k and we don't feel wealthy. Traffic is terrible and commuting to Washington, DC from anywhere outside of Fairfax is not feasible. Don't look at Manassas or Ashburn or Winchester or Woodbridge unless you are a remote worker. The commute is not worth it. Entertainment is amazing with many museums (free), any type of food you can imagine from Ethopian to Indian to BBQ. The music venues are also amazing with 9:30 club, Black Cat, Wolftrap, Capital One Arena, Jiffy Lube Live, etc. Consider Montgomery County Maryland instead of NOVA. You can get a house in Silver Spring, MD for $200k-$400k less than NOVA for the same size home and same distance from Washington, DC. Bethesda, MD and Potomac, MD are nice, but the same price as Arlington or Alexandria, VA.

Which city would be best to raise a family?

I believe it's Reagan National Airport? Right?

Do NOT move there.