Virginia or Maryland?

[peckerhead 0]

I may be moving to the Washington DC area and I know nothing about that part of the country. Which would be a better state to live in, VA or MD?
Of course it would be nice to have a DZ nearby but I am more concerned about quality of living, real estate costs, schools for the kids, crime, taxes etc.......Also I need to be within reasonable commuting distance to DC. I have never been further east than Colorado and the thought about moving to a big city is somewhat intimidating, looking for something out in the country with room for my big dogs.

Did I mention it would be real nice to have a DZ not to far away?

Thanks!



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[pilotdave 0]

I did 5 years in Maryland. I swear that state is a breeding ground for stupidity. Never spent any time in VA so I don't really know much about it, but it just sounds nicer to me. Also I THINK you'll find a shorter drive to a dropzone if you stay south of DC.

Just be careful of the maryland drivers!

Dave

[Luna 0]

What do you consider "reasonable" for commuting? Personally, I'm partial to the Maryland side. We lived there in 3 different cities and I liked it a lot. Taxes are much lower on that side than Virginia. I'm living in southern Virginia now and hating the taxes. Maryland has some places that you might be able to find larger lots, like out towards Bowie/Annapolis, and Virginia probably has some as well, but it's going to depend on how far you want to commute. Keep in mind that you probably aren't going to be able to really get something "in the country" without making huge sacrifice on your commute. Also keep in mind that miles don't equal time very well if you will be driving into the city, because the traffic is horrific. I'd recommend riding the Metro if you can, but that has its own set of problems. There are some web sites that you can go to that will compare areas for you, and I'd probably talk to a real estate agent in the area. If I moved back up there, I'd go to Maryland, but that's just my opinion.

As for DZ's, you will have plenty to choose from, again depending on how far you want to drive. My DZ gets people driving down from Northern Virginia, and they say that we are only about 20 minutes more than Skydivive Orange or Skydive Virginia, then you have Delmarva in Delaware.

Good luck finding what you are looking for!

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[LouDiamond 1]

Well if your basing it off of skydiving & QOL I will say Va. You can live right in Alexandria and still make SDOrange in about an hour and change. It's cheaper if you live on the south side of the Occoquain river and you can get a bigger house. The drive in to DC is in the mornings is legendary. A good plan is to live North of where you work so that you are always traveling in the opposite direction of everyone else in the mornings/evenings. I 95 and every other road is swamped going North bound in the mornings and the reverse when everyone gets off. Cost of living is probably higher than your used to and the horrible traffic usually make peoles heads spin but that is constant if your going into DC from Va or Maryland regardless.

Try looking in Steadman for starters as it is a decent area for getting housing etc without the astronomical prices and about an hour commute. In that neck of the woods time does not equate to distance as it can sometimes take 45 mins to go 3 miles with traffic. Plus Steadman is about half way to SD Orange. There is always Fredricksburg as a choice for living but it is a decent haul but a lot of people do it. The plus side is your closer to the DZ. PM me if you need more specifics.

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[jfields 0]

While I prefer Maryland to Virginia, I pretty much agree with Lou on the issues of commute and cost.

To put it bluntly, unless you are coming from some other really expensive place (Manhattan, San Fran, etc.), be prepared to be shocked and bent over. It is not a friendly area when it comes to cost of living. I live fairly close in. I'm outside the beltway, but not by a whole lot. Things can get cheaper as you out, but then you start really racking up your commute time. I commute about 8 miles each way. It takes me ~20 minutes in the morning (7am) and 30-40 minutes at 5pm. Around here, my commute is considered pretty good.

It depends on what your job will pay, how convenient you want things to be, and what type of housing you are looking for. Some people suck it up and live in the city in an apartment. Others take the opposite extreme and have commutes from hell. People commute in to downtown from freakin' West Virginia. I shit you not.

There are more DZs toward the Virginia side. Lou could give you more info on them. I've only been to one VA dropzone. On the northern side, there are Delmarva, Chambersburg and Cross Keys. Be prepared to drive.

[bkdice 0]

Virginia.

Traffic can suck - so where you work and where you live can make or break it. If you will be working in DC, it's best to live in a closer suburb like Arlington or Alexandria. Quality of living is good. Real Estate market is hot right now. Prices are a bit high in most areas - but you will get a good return. Good schools and a lot of nice areas.

Skydive Virginia is only 1 hr 40 mins away from Northern VA. Not a bad commute every weekend.

If you want to have a DZ closer, Charlottesville is a nice up-and-coming little city. Less expensive, nice area and only 30 minutes from Skydive Virginia.

[jfields 0]

The people at Skydive Virginia were awesome when I was there.

But I still have to say, Maryland!

[peckerhead 0]

Thanks!

Right now the county I live in is larger than some eastern states. I have never lived in such a poulated area before.

I am self employed so I won't be commuting, my wife may be taking a job in downtown DC and that is the reason for the move. Great opportunity that we can't pass on. We were thinking an hour or so commute would be acceptable, mass transit of course.

Doing interenet searches I can't believe how high the real estate is close in. I think a long commute is the only option. Might as well live closer to a DZ. There appears to be quite a few in the area. Out here you can get a new 3 br home on an acre or more for 150k or less, I can't even find a decent condo close to DC for under 200k. (mls searches on the internet)

Mostly concerned about good, clean, safe schools for my boys.

Thanks again for the replys, anyone else want to chime in?


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[PhillyKev 0]

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Out here you can get a new 3 br home on an acre or more for 150k or less, I can't even find a decent condo close to DC for under 200k.

Hell, I've been trying to find a 2 bedroom rowhouse for under $300k. Welcome to the east.

[jfields 0]

The ones that make me laugh are near my work.

No joke:

"Condos from the low $700,000s."

For that much money, you don't even get a yard or all your walls to yourself. Unbelievable.

[bkdice 0]

The commute into DC is not a fun one. I know I couldn't handle it. If your wife is going to work in DC, better to live close by. Commuting in from the suburbs like mine, will be a 1.5 - 2 hour drive each way. (35 mins off peak)

You should talk to a relocation specialist. My parent's are both realtors and could set you up with some relo info if you want - just PM me.

Good luck. Be sure to let me know if you are gonna swing by Skydive Virginia and we'll set you up with a warm welcome.

• Quote

[PhillyKev 0]

And don't forget the privelage of paying monthly condo fees on top of that.

[DJL 232]

Bettina is correct. D.C. has the 3rd worst traffic in the country.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[SkyDolphin 0]

Virginia Rail Express can get you into DC pretty quick from as far out as Manassas. The MD rail is also pretty good and of course Metro runs on all sides of the city. I've lived in both Silver Spring, MD, Sterling, VA and Manassas, VA. I didn't like Silver Spring at all. Too close to the city for me but Gaithersburg/Germantown or even Frederick, MD are nice. The commute from Frederick wouldn't be great. Although it's fairly close to the Chambersburg, PA DZ.. The commute to Skydive VA and/or Skydive Orange is really good from Manassas and Manassas is a decent place to live. Is Hartwood Parachute center still open? It's even closer to Manassas and isn't horrible if you just want to get a jump in and not spend the hole day at the DZ. WHAT AM I SAYING!!!!

I've been to about every DZ in the 4 state area. PA, MD, VA, NC

Rhonda

Rhonda

[TheMonkey 0]

if you move to maryland, they require you to check civil liberties at the door, along with your brain....i would rather have my knee caps smashed with a ball-peen hammer than live in maryland!

plus, skydive virginia and skydive orange are the 2 closest dz's to dc, so living in virginia would put you closer on the weekend

ps - skydive orange rocks, but skydive virginia kicks more ass than a two-legged guy in a one-legged-ass-kicking-contest!
pss - if you ask nicley, i will tell you how i really feel about everything!

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[mnischalke 0]

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if you move to maryland, they require you to check civil liberties at the door, along with your brain....i would rather have my knee caps smashed with a ball-peen hammer than live in maryland!

Bwwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaa

ahem

ditto.

Peckerhead, (nice name btw) See if she can do flex time! I live in the boonies (if there is such a thing around here). I am happily about a half hour from Skydive Orange and 50 miles from Fairfax. Coming in to work after HOV opens up and the traffic subsides (after 930) gets me there in 50 minutes. (I drive like a bat out of hell though.) I could be parked at the Metro station in Vienna in 60 minutes. The commute wears on me at times, but going home at night to dark, starry skies and clean air is a decent trade-off.

Flex time and a longer distance are the ways to go! Just stay in the damn right lane if you're not passing!

mike

Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills--You know, like nunchuk skills, bow-hunting skills, computer-hacking skills.

[bkdice 0]

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Flex time and a longer distance are the ways to go! Just stay in the damn right lane if you're not passing!

Why does that seem to be a concept that so few get?

[Kennedy 0]

Like Dave, I did four+ years in Maryland. Towards the end I lived in MD but worked in VA. You want good schools, you're going to pay for them. A lot. I'd say VA. Toward the west, Loudon County is nice, but one of the fastest growing counties in the US. Townhouses regularly go for $400,000. Also, I 66 is nice but it's a parking lot between 3:30pm and 6:30pm. There are a lot of "questionable elements" along Route 1 and I 95 south of the city. Basically west of the city is nice but very expensive. East is dangerous, unless you commute through the nastiness, which can take some time and I don't know of good trains that way.

Summary: I'd say Virginia, to the west, near the trains. Fairfax Herndon and Reston are nice little towns. And you should know DC metro is nice but there are far too few stops in the city.

If you do go MD, go northwest or pretty far east. I'd say west of Rt 29 should be ok, for the most part.

ps - the important part - from DC, there is a DZ two hours away in every direction. DelMarVa to the east, XKeys to the northeast, Chambersburg to the north, Orange and Va to the south, and others.

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1*

[peckerhead 0]

What about king George Va?

Real estate there seems reasonable, not to far from Fredericksburg

Know anything about the DZ in Hartwood?



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[Gawain 0]

Fairfax County, Virginia is nice. Reston/Herndon provides easy access to DC (via mass transit) and Dulles. I'd pick that over Maryland, though there is nothing I dislike about it either.

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[Kennedy 0]

That section of VA is outside my expertise. Never sold, worked or lived there. Heck, I don't think I ever even drank there!

But it's right down the road from Jersey, so how bad could it be?

Seems awful far for a downtown DC commute, but I've seen worse. I know one very nice girl who commuted from West Virginia to Bethesda, MD.

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[jmfreefly 0]

I was going to correct a fellow dz in an earlier post -- hartwood is closest to dc. However, they have had their share of issues of late.. I belive someone crashed their cessna not too long ago.. several folks that learned at hartwood migrated and are now at Skydive Virginia or Skydive Orange.

And I will throw my 2cents in... crossing the river into dc is a bottleneck from VA, but I would take that over the more numerous knuckleheads in MD that don't know how to build roads or drive on them.

Either way, traffic here sucks almost as bad as L.A.
j

[volo 0]

That's funny someone mentions something about moving near the D.C. area. I'm actually thinking of relocating to Virginia, but I'm unsure of what the surrounding areas are like in VA. I'd like to be close to a large/medium size city, but I don't want to live in the city. And of course, I'd love to have a cool DZ nearby that has turbine craft all the time. I know I'm being a little picky, but I guess I'm just spoiled by bigger turbines. Any ideas about various areas in VA (preferably near a large city or shore or something like that)??

Help Needed**

[jfields 0]

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I would take that over the more numerous knuckleheads in MD that don't know how to build roads

You guys are the ones with interchanges so bad they are named the "mixing bowl".

[jfields 0]

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if you move to maryland, they require you to check civil liberties at the door, along with your brain....i would rather have my knee caps smashed with a ball-peen hammer than live in maryland!

I know Mike has an axe to grind, but why the serious hostility toward your northern neighbors?

Are you bitter about not keeping up with our higher levels of intelligence and civility?