Rushman

Kiss them goodbye when he gets a job here

Rushman

Prove it...dare ya.

AlienUk

impossible to prove...remember Google is a girl's best friend....

georgiaw

Gosh a little harsh - I noticed it too late to amend it !! i'lltry harder next time .......

georgiaw

Thanks for this we'll look into that - we're thinking of Virginia as well from what some of you guys have said and advice from the Beeb Journo's being within a good distance of Washington is a good idea and north VA seems to have pretty good schooling as well........

But we'll have a look at atlanta - didn't think of that -

He's old school english very well spoken but not with a plum in his mouth so should be V understandable

NC Penguin

Northern VA is a very expensive area and the commute (in the DC direction) is awful! My spouse used to live there before he was married and back then, ten years ago, the traffic was terrible but now it's worse (he took a business trip to the area last month).

georgiaw

Umm I know it's expensive, and maybe i'm being niave but isn't every good area ??? we have initially been looking at Boston - but all the "good" areas there are at least as expensive if not more so.........

plus isn't there a good rail link between downtown DC and northern VA ?? or am I being niave ?

penguinsix

There is no rail in the US outside of NY.

Well, that's not true, but there is really nothing like you are used to pretty much anywhere in the US. It's a car culture--everywhere (except NY).

That said, DC does have a pretty good subway system, though it's used more as a commuter system then a 'get around town' system (i.e. like London and NY). NoVa has a rail (the VRE) but it's purely in/out for commuting, not for getting around and seeing things. Same with MD (the MARC) which is actually a bit more extensive than the VRE. But you are going to be driving a bit just to do the day-to-day things.

Traffic in VA is rough in some parts. It depends a great deal on your commute. If you are going into DC or out to Tysons (the edge city). God forbid you have to go from VA to MD. More and more people are trying to 'live where they work' which has led to a bit of a renaissance in some areas of DC (gentrification to save on commuting). Some folks actually commute to DC from Baltimore as they can live an 'urban lifestyle' without having to pay DC's costs.

What you'll probably do is rent short term first and then scout out neighborhoods, towns, etc once you have a job settled. See what the commutes are really like. I have friends in NoVa who drive 7 miles in 45 minutes. I drive 37 miles in 45 minutes (coming from the other side of DC in MD). All depends.

NC Penguin

Check the DC Metro website but I don't think the lines extend that far into northern VA.

Go to realtor.com to get ballpark figures for prices of homes in northern VA (or any part of the US for that matter). What do you consider a good area? High prices may be an indication of a desirable homes but they may not be in the best of areas, especially if you have kids.

Patrick Hasler

Whats wrong with staying at the BBC then ?

georgiaw

umm - we'll definately be renting short term as you just cannot tell anything about a neighbourhood or expected commutes until you actually do it - you are 100% right about that !!

My hubby currently lives in manchester so is already doing 7/8 miles in about 30 - 45 minutes so he is well use to ridiculous commutes to work !! they have a excellent rail system but as he needs to drive being a journo he has to take the car to work .........

It was the same when we lived in london - we lived 13 miles out and it took 20 mins to get to work , when we lived 3 miles out it took 35 mins to get to work - go figure !!!!

Renting is a bit different there to here though I suppose .... but as I always say nothing is impossible

thanks for all the advice its great to hear from someone in the area with experience - as we have literally none and my only family there lives in Minneapolis which is a bit north for us really

georgiaw

Nothing at all - but they are already staffed at the moment so we don't want to rely on something being available at the right time -also we don't want to be tied to an area we don't like - fingers crossed they'll be opportunties available at the time we emigrate but we wanted to look at all options........

georgiaw

Yeah it does come out to NoVA - as far as Vienna in fairfax county

We're judging "good" areas on school reports / median wealth / taxation / crime rates / demographics and also on % poverty levels in the city / district / state

I know that it seems a bit OTT and it's also based on government reports and online databases (Wiki) but living here and looking at moving there is not to be taken lightly in my very humble opinion so we hope and can only hope we are covering all basis

But like you mentioned earlier we'll definately rent to find out feet so to speak first....

AlienUk

While you`re in the amending mood, `fair` should be `fare`


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frrussre

This is a RUFF crowd.
Welcome.
Reg. Frank R.