Just like when we say "Southern California", we are mostly referring to LA/OC and SD, not Needles or Barstow. NoVA is immediate DC suburbia, not the countryside that is "out towards the mountains". It ends at Gainesville and Warrenton (for now).
It is almost like a state within a state, with little resemblance to the rest of VA in almost every way. If VA ever turns "blue" in coming presidential elections, it will be because of NoVA almost exclusively, as the rest of VA leans "red". One-third of the state's population lives here.
Washington state has a similar issue. It is thought of as a "blue" state, but it is really "red", except for about 3 counties that make up the Seattle Metro. But these counties have enough population to override the rest of the state during elections. I see VA going down the same road eventually. Maybe not this election, but definitely by 2016, if population trends continue as they are.
Many "downstaters" despise NoVA because of its influence on decisions that effect the entire state, and also that it receives the lion's share of state funding, ie: road money, but yet is pretty much "NYC without the accent", as I've heard it described before.
My favorite term for it is "The Matrix", but I digress...
Anytime I went "downstate", I was always quiet about where I was from. The locals were not impressed with the NoVAs. At all. A typical exchange went like this:
truck stop clerk: "So, where do you live?"
me: Alexandria.
her: "Oh. Nobody could ever pay me enough money to live in that rat race."
me: Yeah. It's pretty rushed.
her: "That place sucks. I only go there if I absolutely have to."
me: Okay. Bye.
That pretty much sums up how the "downstaters" feel about NoVA.
I haven't lived there for some time now, and doubt if I ever will again... But what I do miss about it is that I rarely ran out of things to do. I still miss Jaxx. And the 9:30 Club. And Pollyesters. And occasionally JP's in Georgetown.
Never mind that every big US concert tour swings through there. I've been to Ozzfest '99 at Nissan Pavillion, seen Smashing Pumpkins at GMU, Faith No More / Metallica / GnR in one show at RFK, Metallica several more times, Megadeth/STP at Towson Center, many Grateful Dead parking lots, and even stumbled upon real summer block parties.
In the summer, you're only about three hours from Ocean City or VA Beach. Or King's Dominion in one. NYC is about 5 hours away. If you want mountains, the Blue Ridge Parkway is about 90 minutes.
And, if you do the "high-brow" stuff, there's even more to do.
Avoid "tourist season", April-October. Many Downtown museums and monuments stay open year around. If you can brave the elements in January, you will likely have the place to yourself.
If you're looking to move there, wait another few months. The real estate market has not bottomed out yet. Many, many foreclosures are still taking place. If timed right, you could get a lot of house for a decent price. But now is not the time to buy or sell. This is true pretty much everywhere, but NoVA has been hit really hard by the bubble, because the prices were ran up so much in the first place. I still have a few friends there, and I've heard the horror stories...
Anyway, I don't know why I wrote all of this... Guess I'm just remembering. And bored.
Feel free to add anything else. I know some of you live there, or nearby.
