5 Honest Reasons We'd Still Choose Warrenton, Virginia

We get this question a lot. If we could do it all over again, would we still move to Warrenton, Virginia? It’s a fair one to ask us, because this isn’t a place we just sell in. We’ve raised our kids here, built our life here, and run our business here. So here’s our honest answer, along with the five reasons behind it, the good parts, and the parts that aren’t so perfect.

1. There’s the small-town feel. This one is personal. There’s a sense of being part of something here, part of an actual community. The first Fridays downtown, the farmers market every Saturday, running into people you know at the coffee shops, the breweries, the restaurants. It all adds up to a place that feels connected.

Now, full honesty: that does have a flip side. Every once in a while, you’re in the grocery store, or covered in hay and dirt at Tractor Supply, and you spot someone you know and do the little duck-and-hide. You know exactly the move we mean. It’s wonderful to know your neighbors, and once in a while, you just need to sidestep them.

2. The access to nature, which might be our favorite part of all. Warrenton gives you parks in every direction. Crockett Park has a big lake where you can rent boats and go kayaking. Some neighborhoods have their own lakes for fishing and paddling. Rady Park is loaded with playground equipment and an open field for running and walking.

The WARF has soccer fields, volleyball, an indoor water park, and a skate park. And if you really want to take it all in, you head out of town up Route 211 toward Skyline Drive, where the views open up, and you get the whole picture.

3. You generally get more house and more land for your money. You get this more than you would closer in toward DC, Arlington, Fairfax, or Loudoun County. That said, we’re watching values keep climbing because demand keeps getting stronger. A lot of folks living closer to the city want to move out to the country. They love the privacy, the mountains, the open fields, and, honestly, a lot of them just want to breathe deep in this beautiful environment we get to call home.

4. The strength of the community, and this one is hard to put a price on. Here’s a perfect example. Not long ago, a big storm knocked a tree down across one of our country roads. Out here, it can be hours before the county gets a crew out to clear it. But what actually happens is that within 15 or 20 minutes, someone rolls up in a pickup, pulls out a chainsaw, and starts cutting it away.

That’s the community we’re talking about. Flat tire, a problem of just about any kind, and you can count on a neighbor or a fellow Fauquier County resident stepping in to help. We don’t know if it’s like that in the city. Maybe, maybe not. Out here, it’s close to a guarantee.

5. Just as honestly: it isn’t perfect. If you’re a commuter, the routes are there, but the drives can get long and backed up.

Here’s a real example. Brian drove out to Falls Church to show a client a property recently, and it took 60 minutes each way, even using the hot lanes, which cost $70 each way. That’s a hard pill to swallow. We’ve actually helped clients who moved farther out, toward Front Royal, come back the other direction after a couple of years, because a job shifted or the kids got older and busier with activities in town, and the commute wore them down. Several of them sold and moved closer to Warrenton, even toward Gainesville, to get that time back.

Then there’s the traffic, which has picked up since we moved here. Route 211 runs right through the main part of town on its way out to Skyline Drive, and it gets crowded in the fall when the leaf peepers come out. It’s also a main access point for a lot of the new development heading toward Culpeper, so we get cut-through traffic from the DC area and points west funneling straight through town.

The county has been working on the roads, and we think it’s helping, but the increase over the years is real. And on shopping, everything we need day to day is right here, the grocery store, Marshalls for the basics, Tractor Supply for hardware and animal supplies. For higher-end clothing or specialty items, you won’t find those in town. Though Amazon does deliver everywhere, of course.

So would we buy here again? Knowing the long drives and the fall traffic and the occasional duck-and-hide at Tractor Supply, the answer is still yes. This countryside, this community, this way of life is exactly what we’d choose all over again.

Not sure which corner of the Northern Virginia countryside fits you best? Take our Virginia Countryside Personality™ quiz and find out which lifestyle matches you, then let’s talk about making it real.

When you’re ready, give us a call or text at 703-386-7326, email us at hello@dianeandbrian.com, or visit dianeandbrian.com. We’d love to help you find your place out here.