Sports Reporter to focus on the Redskins - Fredericksburg, Va.

41 cents a mile .... and my CPA wife will show you how to write off the rest.

Plus we have company cars that are almost always available for longer drives.

 

With that being the case, the best place to live if you take this job is probably Manassas. You can find something somewhat affordable there, and it's about 25 miles each to Ashburn and to Stafford. Plus, the fact that you're up there will help when a Commonwealth team plays a Cardinal or Cedar Run team in the regionals.

 

Thank you, sirs. With a strong mileage rate and offers of tax help, it appears I have no choice but to throw my hat in the ring.

 

Where you decide to live, I am guessing, would greatly depend on if you have a family, kids or not.

If I was single, I would live in downtown f'burg and hump up to Ashland for work. You are probably driving during non-rush hour times, so it could be doable. At least in f'burg you would have things to do close to the shop on nights off and you would be close to the shop.

If I had a family, I would still try and stay close to F'burg. Maybe Warrenton or Culpeper for cheaper housing. You only have to go to Fed Ex a few times a year, right?

I think you can get a townhome here for about $110,000.

 

Devil, no offense, but it's not like there's THAT much to do in FredVegas for young singles. Certainly not enough nightlife to justify the extra driving from the office to Ashburn and back several times a week.

With as much time as the FL-S seems intent on committing to its Redskins coverage, you'd be insane to live more than 30-40 minutes from Li'l Danny's Place.

If you're single or married with no kids, snag an apartment in Manassas and you've got 66 in your backyard. Easy trip as long as you're not talking rush-hour, which is an absolute soul-crushing nightmare.

If you've got kids, don't apply for the job. Even with the market cratering, finding a house in NVa that will fit realistically into the budget of a newspaper reporter is almost impossible -- unless, of course, your wife is a CPA like Justin's. ;D

 

95 between Fredericksburg and Lorton is an absolute soul-crushing nightmare at all times. I've seen gigantic traffic jams on that road at 1 p.m. on a Saturday. It makes absolutely no sense.

 

Maybe in 1995.

 

Totally agree. You want to stay away from 95 if you can. 95 will get you nowhere near the Redskins' facility, so the further west you can get, the better. I'd have suggested Leesburg or Purcellville, but with Loudoun County exploding, it's best to stay away from it. When I started high school in 2001, Loudoun County had just completed its sixth high school. A decade later, it has 12 high schools.

Contrast that with Prince William County, which had eight (the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, which are not part of PWC, each have one high school) in 2001 and now has 11. Yes, it's growing, but it's a slower growth, making it more affordable to live there than near Ashburn. There's also more to do at night in PWC than in Loudoun.

 

You said there is more to do in PWC than Loudon. Such as?

 

If you want to be somewhere where it's not a pain in the ass to get to either Ashburn or Fredericksburg, the best bet is somewhere in the Manassas-Fairfax-Woodbridge triangle. That'll keep you off 66 (you can take 28, 267, etc... to Ashburn), and the only part of 95 you'll need (other than game days, of course) is from Woodbridge to Fredericksburg. And while that can be hairy, it's not bad if that's the worst you have to deal with.

Homes in Prince William County (Manassas, Woodbridge) are affordable, even for a newspaper guy, as long as there's a second family income. Wouldn't be easy on one income.

 

When I covered the Redskins in the mid-90s, getting to Ashburn from PWC was a major pain. Route 28 was traffic light after traffic light around Dulles Airport. As for a good place to live for that beat -- Warrenton.

 

True, and Culpeper is not a bad thought either, but if you are single, is there anything to do there? Is there anything that resembles a single woman there?

You at least have a college in the Burg.