Are you thinking about making the move to Northern Virginia? I'm Kat Massetti with the Haven group and eXp Realty, and I am a longtime resident of Northern Virginia. I'm going to tell you today everything you should know before you make the move.
First thing, Northern Virginia actually covers a wide range of location. We are right on the border of West Virginia, and then we go up near Maryland and then we are bordering DC. Then we go all the way further south almost to Stafford and Fredericksburg. It's a very wide range that includes Loudoun County, Fairfax county, all the way out to Arlington, Alexandria and Prince William County. Each one has their own feel and their own vibe.
The second thing that you should know about Northern Virginia is that traffic can be utterly terrible. We actually have the fifth worst traffic in America, and I can personally testify to that. Before I was a real estate agent, I was a pharmacist and I used to work in Arlington while I was living in Burke. That stretch is about 13 miles and sometimes it would take me an hour and a half to go from Burke to Arlington in the morning commute. An hour and a half to go 13 miles might seem a little bit crazy, but in Northern Virginia, that's actually pretty common. Then you add in inclement weather: snow, rain, anything like that, and that can even more derail your commute. Something to think about if you're making the move to Northern Virginia is the fact that it's not really about distance; it's more about the movement of people during these commutes. Before you make the move, just take a look at the location and see how the commute is going to be during the times that you're going to be traveling to work.
There are a couple different modes of public transportation in Northern Virginia. There’s the Metro system that takes riders from Northern Virginia into DC and up into Maryland. There’s also a public bus system as well as a VRE, which is the Virginia Railway Express and that's an Amtrak that takes commuters from Northern Virginia into DC. There are also slug lines! Slug lines are this interesting concept that I wasn't really aware of until I became of commuting age and they are areas where people will meet in parking lots. They'll pick people up in what are called slug lines, where the driver is trying to get more people in the car to be able to go in the HOV lanes in our beltways. "HOV"s are called high occupancy vehicles. If you have a car that has two or three riders, then you can ride in the HOV lane, which is going to take a faster route into DC. What people will do is they'll pick people up from these slug lines to fill up their cars and be able to go into DC faster and drop them off at certain spots.
Another thing that you need to know about making to move to Northern Virginia is that there are a lot of activities for families: great outdoor spaces and national parks in our area. We also have farmer's markets where you can go pick up organic produce.
One of the best things about living in Northern Virginia is that you're so close to Washington DC, so you've got the museums at your disposal. I always laugh because I never realized that museums aren't usually free. I went to go up to visit New York City and when I went to go into the museum, I was shocked I had to pay! In DC, the Smithsonian museums are actually free. I was spoiled all this time and I had no idea. One of the best things to do is to go visit the National History museum and see the dinosaurs. Definitely take your kids when you move here.
One of the things to know about Northern Virginia is that our schools are topnotch. Virginia has the fourth best public schools overall in the United States. We are home to Thomas Jefferson high school in Alexandria, which is actually the number one public school in the country. Also, the University of Virginia is two hours away from Northern Virginia and go Hoos! We are the number three top public university in the US.
Now that you have learned all the amazing things about Northern Virginia, it's actually a pretty cool place to live. If you want to learn more or make your move to Northern Virginia, just give me a call. I'm Kat Massetti with the Haven Group and eXp Realty, and I'm here to empower you to make your move.