How far does "Northern Virginia" extend? I always thought it ended with Fairfax County, but I know people in Bealton and Woodbridge who claim to be from "Northern Virginia". Is Manassas now part of what Northern Virginia? Front Royal?

Your thoughts?

I often hear of Winchester and Front Royal people saying they are from Northern Virginia. They are confusing a geographical term with a geopolitical one. They are from "the north of Virginia" but not "Northern Virginia."

Northern Virginia is Arlington County, City of Alexandria, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, and Price William County excluding anything with Manassas in the title.

Others have different definitions, but those truly in NoVA know what I just gave is the spot-on truth.

I think it's acceptable to consider it as the part of VA that lies within the Census Bureau's defined "Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area". The counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, and Stafford, plus the cities that lie within that region. However, I know some people in the Warrenton area that consider Fauquier to be NoVA.

And Woodbridge is northern VA, but I'd never consider Front Royal.

Given that Manassas and Woodbridge have been seized by Mexico and Honduras, I'd draw the line at Fairfax, Arlington and Loudon

Prince William is part of Latin America
Stafford is the south

Hell, folks were advertising homes for a DC communte on the other side of Warrenton.

If it don't have a train, it ain't the same.

ITRADE Wrote:
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> Hell, folks were advertising homes for a DC
> communte on the other side of Warrenton.


That doesn't make Warrenton a part of NoVA, any more than commutes to DC from MD or even PA do.

Strangest one I ever heard was a radio ad a few years ago, selling homes on Lake Anna, boasting the location as "convenient to DC". You'd actually have a shorter commute if you lived in Gettysburg.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2008 11:53AM by TheMeeper.

I'd say the Fredericksburg Cracker Barrel's gift shop serves as the southern-most border of NoVA. This boundary extends to the east at the Potomac River and to the west in or around the intersection of Rt. 17 and Rt. 50 (aka Paris, VA).

hagerstown, md to harrisburg, pa to richmond, va to morgantow, wv is nova for traffic and weather reports.

as far as the eye can see.......lol i recommend binoculars



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sell your college text books online, in DC,MD, and VA!!!
[www.nvcsale.com]

pgens Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I often hear of Winchester and Front Royal people
> saying they are from Northern Virginia. They are
> confusing a geographical term with a geopolitical
> one. They are from "the north of Virginia" but
> not "Northern Virginia."
>
> Northern Virginia is Arlington County, City of
> Alexandria, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, and
> Price William County excluding anything with
> Manassas in the title.
>
> Others have different definitions, but those truly
> in NoVA know what I just gave is the spot-on
> truth.


And, apparently, City of Falls Church and City of Fairfax are outside NoVa.

Bealeton is definitely NOT Northern Virginia. NoVa fades out around the outer Prince William subdivisions between Manassas airport and Nokesville.

To infinity and beyond (with the exception of Manassas)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2008 10:48PM by Lurker..

ITRADE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hell, folks were advertising homes for a DC
> communte on the other side of Warrenton.


I think it once was this side of Warrenton but now extends to Charlettesville

How far would you like it to extend?

s



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2010 11:50PM by inkahootz.

inkahootz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> NoVa is is technically the counties of Arlington,
> Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Stafford,
> Fauquier, and all cities lying within said
> counties. That being said, I think Loudoun and
> Prince William barely make the cut themselves.
> Forget Stafford and Fauquier; that's the Boondocks
> to me!

Ten years ago NOBODY would have said that Prince William was even close to being in NoVa. Now, it's an issue. In ten years from now, it will be taken for granted.

Who if anyone has actually has defined the Northern Virginia region? Since it surely isn't a state, is it a "metropolitan statistic area" or some government drawn out region for census or other purposes?

Maybe "Northern Virginia" includes Manasass and Gainesville but not the far reaches of PW County? Or is Fredericksburg included now because of the urban sprawl? Could a nice little semi-rural community like Clifton be an enclave that is excluded?

I've never heard anyone from Winchester or Front Royal say they were from anywhere other than the Shenandoah Valley, though they are just as northern geographically as we are in Fairfax and could be "Northern Virginians"


I know where the Mason Dixon Line is, but is Thurmont,MD really more "southern" in any way other than geographic than nearby Gettysburg,PA ? When one drives south on 95, where in Virginia does the "South" really begin?

I agree with inkahootz and sk8ter bOi, but here's what VA tourism considers northern virginia. I think at one time it was only the area within the beltway but it just keeps growing. Eventually we'll take over the whole state.
Attachments:

Who Defines Wrote:
>> When one drives south on 95, where in Virginia does the "South" really begin?


Once I cross the Rappahannock, I know I'm not in Kansas anymore...

ITRADE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> pgens Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I often hear of Winchester and Front Royal
> people
> > saying they are from Northern Virginia. They
> are
> > confusing a geographical term with a
> geopolitical
> > one. They are from "the north of Virginia" but
> > not "Northern Virginia."
> >
> > Northern Virginia is Arlington County, City of
> > Alexandria, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, and
> > Price William County excluding anything with
> > Manassas in the title.
> >
> > Others have different definitions, but those
> truly
> > in NoVA know what I just gave is the spot-on
> > truth.
>
>
> And, apparently, City of Falls Church and City of
> Fairfax are outside NoVa.

No. They are within the county boundaries I established. City of Alexandria is not in a county, which is why that is given separately and is also why I excluded Manassas from Prince William.

My general feeling is that it is everything east of Rt. 28 and everything north of Rt. 234.

TheMeeper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > I think it's acceptable to consider it as the part of VA that lies within the Census Bureau's defined "Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area". The counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, and Stafford, plus the cities that lie within that region. However, I know some people in the Warrenton area that consider Fauquier to be NoVA.

And Woodbridge is northern VA, but I'd never consider Front Royal.< <

It might be surprising to know that Frederick and Clarke Counties, Va have been part of the DC MSA for more than 20 years. Thus, Berryville and Winchester would be part of No Va. (So are two counties of WVA's eastern panhandle but that's really stretching "NoVa.")

Warren, Culpeper, Fauquier, Spotsylvania, Stafford and King George are part of the DC MSA according to the Census Bureau. Thus, Front Royal in Warren County would be part of Northern VA.

Other Va jurisdictions may be added to the MSA after the 2010 census as may several counties in south central Pa.

It never ceases to amaze how the denizens of DC, Arlington and Alexandria still consider everything outside of the Beltway as the far side of the moon. The provincialism of the inhabitants of the cosmopolitan capital of the free world is both breathtaking and entertaining.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2008 02:39AM by Thomas More.

if northern va were to become its own state, given a median decision of who is included, how would the population count compare to other states...like say... rhode island...

ohhhh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> if northern va were to become its own state, given a median decision of who is included, how would the population count compare to other states...like say... rhode island...< <

Fairfax alone, with a million inhabitants, is more populous than Alaska, Vermont, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Delaware and Montana.

Hawaii, Idaho, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Maine, Rhode Island and New Hampshire would be surpassed by adding Arlington, Alexandria, PWC and Loudoun.

WV and Utah could be overtaken with just a few more counties.

Thomas More Wrote:
>> It might be surprising to know that Frederick and Clarke Counties, Va have been part of the DC MSA for more than 20 years. Thus, Berryville and Winchester would be part of No Va. (So are two counties of WVA's eastern panhandle but that's

Those are actually part of the Washington Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is different from the MSA that I described. It covers a much larger area. I'm not sure the difference between MSA's and PMSA's (and CMSA's), but the PMSA includes all those places you never really hear of out to the west.



>>> It never ceases to amaze how the denizens of DC, Arlington and Alexandria still consider everything outside of the Beltway as the far side of the moon

I live in Tysons and all my DC friends seriously think I live out in the boonies (for real).

Thomas More Wrote:
> The provincialism of the inhabitants of the
> cosmopolitan capital of the free world is both
> breathtaking and entertaining.

We're just jealous that we're not part of the Real America or the Real Virginia.

Thomas More Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It never ceases to amaze how the denizens of DC,
> Arlington and Alexandria still consider everything
> outside of the Beltway as the far side of the
> moon. The provincialism of the inhabitants of the
> cosmopolitan capital of the free world is both
> breathtaking and entertaining.

Well, when you live inside the beltway and work in downtown DC, everything outside the beltway does seem quite far away. Especially considering the traffic in the area.

I'm used to a relatively effortless 10 to 15 minute commute home from DC during the evening rush hour. If I decide to then go visit my parents for dinner, in vienna, I'm looking at another 15 minute drive, to go a little over half the distance from my office in DC to my home in Mclean. And it's a frustrating 15 minutes of idiots slamming on their brakes on the highway every time they see brake lights ahead of them.

I even consider going beyond the toll road to be venturing into traffic hell and I avoid doing so unless there's a good reason. I can walk to the grocery store, the dry cleaners, restaurants, etc. in less time than it takes to drive into Tyson's Corner.


The provincialism isn't unique to inside the beltway. It's an American thing. Just see sk8trboi's thread about America being #1.

TheMeeper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I live in Tysons and all my DC friends seriously
> think I live out in the boonies (for real).

In high school, my perceptions were much different. I grew up "outside the beltway" and went to a private school with students from all over, Burke, Clifton, Springfield, Fairfax, Great Falls. On a friday night, we might go from a party in Mantua, out to one in Clifton, then to another in Great Falls, and then on a saturday night there might be a party in Chantilly, another in Sterling and yet another in Mclean.

It didn't seem like such a big deal.

Now that I live in Mclean, it really does seem like a haul to go anywhere beyond, say, Vienna. Even at 10 or 11 at night, it takes 20 minutes to get to Reston Town Center, and about 25 minutes to get to Fairfax City.


As for people living in DC, I can understand why they would think Tyson's is like going on a road trip. There are parts of DC that appear to be remote, depending on where you live. If you live in Upper NW, it's a road trip just to get to Washington Hospital Center, for example.

But it's the same for people living in any city. I know people who live in Chicago that think even the fringes of the city are a remote wilderness. Same with people in NYC. People living in Manhattan think that Brooklyn is a world away, and Manhattan is this strange land to people in Brooklyn or Queens. LA can be even more pronounced. I had a friend who lived a block off Hollywood Blvd for 5 or 6 years, in an apartment behind where the Kodak theater is now. His entire world was probably about a 10 or 12 block radius. He'd been to Venice twice, and couldn't even tell me how to get from LAX to his place when I went to visit him.

sk8ter bOI Wrote:
> Ten years ago NOBODY would have said that Prince
> William was even close to being in NoVa.

Well, 30 years ago Northern Virginia included Fairfax County,
Falls Church, Arlington, Alexandria, and even just barely
stretching out to Manassas and Herndon. But no further west
or south than that.

That's not just my subjective view from the 70s; it's also the
market that we targeted on WEEL, "Northern Virginia's Radio".
(At 5 KW, you could hear us in Rockville and Fredricksberg
just fine, but we were distinguishing ourselves from the
greater/metro DC area.) Automobile traffic moved in all
directions more easily in those days. Our signature was
"...serving over one million Northern Virginians".



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2008 02:48PM by Spacy.

According to the Department of Environmental Quality, Northern Virginia consists of the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford, and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park (northern Virginia jurisdictions that require emissions inspections).

Works for me.

http://www.deq.state.va.us/mobile/

Bob Wrote:
>>> a haul to go anywhere beyond, say, Vienna.


That's funny because I'm the same way too. My daily commute is between McLean and Ballston, but, anything west of downtown Vienna (or south of West St., Falls Church), and it feels like I'm on a road trip.

If the area lacks a Northern Virginia Community College Campus it's not NOVA.

"Northern Virginia is where your heart is man, it's a state of mind"

Punch me,please!

Northern Virginia extends from the Potomac in the north, to the northern border of central virginia to the south.

The Answer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If the area lacks a Northern Virginia Community
> College Campus it's not NOVA.


So Mclean isn't in Northern VA? How about Vienna, Reston or Falls Church?