What is Leesburg, Va like? (Arlington, Alexandria: low income, apartment complexes, rent)

[SheRho]

My girlfriend and I are wanting to move to Virginia near the mountains, but not necessarily in them. She has family in Titusville, PA, and we would be much closer to them...5 hours or so as compared to our current living in South Carolina.
Where can I read up on Leesburg? I am a teacher and she is getting a degree in commercial art with a major in photography. How's the job market?

[Georgia]

Leesburg, VA is nice and very expensive

[dullnboring]

The job market as a whole in the DC area is generally renowned as one of the best in the nation with the lowest unemployment rate, and Northern Virginia is at the nexus of that. There are always plenty of teaching positions here, especially in Loudoun County where Leesburg is located, as it is one of the fastest-growing counties in the U.S. (in recent years, it's always been either the first or second fastest) so they can't build schools and hire teachers fast enough. You should have no problem in that respect. As far as a background in commercial art and photography, well, honestly I don't know much about that industry. I would assume that there would be some work here, but it seems like it might be the type of specialized thing where if you were to move to Leesburg, she may have to commute closer in to DC but that's just conjecture on my part.

Leesburg as a whole is by my own definition, sort of where the DC area's sprawl ends. The sprawl includes Leesburg, but beyond Leesburg, south, west and north, are the rolling hills and a more rural character whereas Leesburg now is engulfed in strip malls, subdivisions and townhomes and the like. Unlike much of Northern Virginia however, Leesburg actually has a fairly large and functioning downtown. The downtown is very old, similar to Old Town Alexandria in style and has a somewhat official feel to it with lots of law offices and souvenir shops and expensive restaurants and antique stores and the like. It's sort of light on bars and barber shops and traditional downtown staples and it's not really a place unfortunately where locals go to shop or hang out. Single family homes typically start at around 400K and townhomes at 300K which isn't horrible for the DC area, but I'm sure is horrific by Carolina standards. There is a large popular outlet mall there and all the other suburban amenities and trappings.

Leesburg is around 18 miles or so from the West Virginia state line and about 15 miles from the Maryland state line. It is around 40 miles from DC and around 18 miles from Dulles Airport.

[SheRho]

Thanks for the information!
Does anyone know anything about Seven Corners, Virginia?

[dullnboring]

Seven Corners has quite possibly the most annoying intersection known to man that in all my years living in Northern Virginia, I STILL have trouble navigating. Honestly, I think that's where it gets it's name as I believe some seven major roads converge in this one section and the signage is horrible and you inevitably somehow wind up on the wrong road (well, at least I do).

Sorry. Mini-rant

Seven Corners is around 10 miles outside of DC, located at the edge of the Fairfax County line right by Arlington and the city of Falls Church. The city is very dense and urban in character. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, the city at roughly 13,000 people per square mile, is the densest city in the state of Virginia and more dense than DC even. It's very small in area though, only 0.7 square miles, and is largely made up of brick apartment complexes and shabby old townhomes. I'm not sure if any single family homes actually lie within it's limits. There's a large shopping center there as well and plenty of (mostly ethnic) strip malls as well as the Eden Center which is a very large outdoor Vietnamese shopping center. The city is an immigrant magnet and as of the last census, over 60% of the population is foreign-born (probably a bit higher now). The city is very diverse and is probably at this point majority Latino (it was 41% Latino, as of the last census six years ago, and is probably nowadays over 50%) as well as having a very large Asian (particularly Vietnamese) population, neither of which may be an issue for you (as it's not for me), but it seems to me from many other posts that I've read that it would be an issue for a lot of people on this board so I figured I'd fill you in.

The city has a bit more higher crime than average and gang violence particularly by MS-13 gets a lot of coverage on the news even though the problems really are exaggerated (although there is a presence there) and the gangs chiefly go after other gang members, offing their own, and in the few instances where they target members of the community, they tend to go after recent Latino immigrants (not saying that's a good thing, just that if you aren't one, you tend to be safe). Most of the crime however, like much of Northern Virginia, is petty, things like vandalism and the like. You of course always have to take precautions as you would in any urban area, keep your doors lock, be aware of your surroundings, perhaps avoid the ATM at night, etc. but in general, violent crime is rare and you don't have to worry about being shot or attacked. I personally don't feel that Seven Corners has a lot to offer. It's sort of more like a place where people, usually immigrants, move to to get on their feet and then move out as quickly as they can. It's not usually a place people move TO unless they have to. That's not to say that it's awful by any means, just that there's so many other surrounding areas where quality of life is better. I also find it's location a bit obnoxious and would prefer to live someplace with better highway and Metro access like Falls Church, Alexandria or Arlington.

[tarp]

Seven Corners is not a city, it is just a place name and is an unincorporated part of Fairfax County. It lies just outside of the Arlington County line and is a very central location for jobs in D.C., Arlington, and Alexandria. It has more "ugly" commercial development and has a very car-centered development pattern as opposed to walkable areas like Rosslyn or Clarendon. It also lacks the historic charm of older areas like much of Alexandria. Property values are ridiculous anywhere in Northern Virginia, and especially inside the beltway, so housing in Seven Corners is very expensive despite the area's lack of charm. When moving into the area, the number one consideration is your job's location and the commute. If you will be working near Seven Corners, by all means consider living near your job. I personally would prefer to live just to the west in the City of Falls Church.

[acatinthe]

Bad area.
Very much a low income area. Traffic is a joke. I avoid having to go through that area whenever possible. You must speck spanish! If you don't care about the apperance of your home, or the diversity in that area. It would be a good choice : (. Otherwise I would recommend Falls Church, very nice, especially the city of Falls Church.

[Electron]

Seven Corners has quite possibly the most annoying intersection known to man that in all my years living in Northern Virginia, I STILL have trouble navigating. Honestly, I think that's where it gets it's name as I believe some seven major roads converge in this one section and the signage is horrible and you inevitably somehow wind up on the wrong road (well, at least I do).

But it DOES have the Peking Gourmet!!!

[LuvinDogs74]

Leesburg is a nice area. I'm currently living there and have been there for almost two years (well, two years in February 2007).

Rent is high though. The lowest rent places in the area from Leesburg to DC is mostly income restricted (I had the lovely time of getting pissed everytime I saw a decent rent rate and then it has "two people may not make more than $40,000" JOY).

Its also been raising because (for some warped reason) places are going to townhomes and condominiums, therefore the big guys of the apartment complexes are raising rent. Go figure I feel its just pushing people to get townhomes or condos instead of apartments, but that's just my opinion.

Nice place though, and there are lots of Spanish around (frankly everywhere between Leesburg and DC are lots of Spanish).

[TooManyDogs]

You might want to look in Frederick, MD. Also look into Westminster, MD. A little (and I mean little) more affordable. We are moving out of the area and moving to SC. The traffic and taxes have pushed us away.

But if you want to make that commute to PA a little longer (maybe another 1.5 hours), may I suggest Staunton, VA (off I-81). You have the mountains lots of culture and not far from Charlottesville (UVA). Very quaint town.

The mountain view is excellent. My son (a teacher at JMU) and his girlfriend (a teacher in Waynesboro) just purchased a home there and less than $250 and best part, it's brand new. Eveything there is convenient and the cost of living much lower than Loudoun County, VA.

You can check the following web sites for more information re: Staunton.

http://www.staunton.va.us/
http://www.newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
https://www.city-data.com/city/Staunton-Virginia.html

Also check out removed New home with less than $250 and views of the mountains.

It almost sounds like I'm either a realtor or a promoter of Staunton. I'm neither, but know what it takes to live in Loudoun County. There's lots to do, but never time to do it because you're too busy commuting and working to pay the extraordinary taxes. Hope this was helpful. You can email me directly if you have any other questions.

Originally Posted by SheRho

My girlfriend and I are wanting to move to Virginia near the mountains, but not necessarily in them. She has family in Titusville, PA, and we would be much closer to them...5 hours or so as compared to our current living in South Carolina.
Where can I read up on Leesburg? I am a teacher and she is getting a degree in commercial art with a major in photography. How's the job market?