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Hallie
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Hello!
There is a chance that we might be moving to the Front Royal, VA area sometime in the next year or so. I thought I remembered reading that some of you were from N. Virginia and I was hoping you could give me your opinion of the area. We were really excited about the prospect of moving up there until I started doing a bit of research that has left me a little worried. Is the water really as toxic as some say? I keep reading about a Superfund site but I can't get a grasp of the details. I've also heard that the taxes are pretty painful. How is the price of living in general? Thanks so much for your help! Any insight into the area would be wonderful! I've never been to N. Virginia before.
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Hallie
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Philothea
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Front Royal is pretty rural. It's a beautiful area with a lot of history and nature to explore. It's economically depressed compared to most of rural NoVA and the cost of living (especially housing) is much cheaper. Downtown is sort of seedy and depressing, they haven't done the revitalization that some of the other towns out that way have done. New development is coming, though. Don't know anything about a superfund site or toxic water, unfortunately, so I'm no help there.
There are a ton of Catholic homeschooling families and a wonderful core community of conservative Catholics at the local parish, Christendom College and Human Life Int'l. If the commute to McLean weren't insane, we'd move out there in a heartbeat.
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KackyK
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I live just about 45 minutes north of Front Royal. I too haven't heard of a superfund or the toxic water...yikes! I'd be interested in where you read something about that...maybe it's a conspiracy they've been hiding from us 
When you are looking things up, I'd keep in mind that Front Royal isn't really what is considered No.VA. If it was considered in "No.VA" I'd say it was the outermost fringe. So like Philothea said, it is very rural and it's prices and such are going to much less if you are looking at anything that is just straight talking about No.VA.
Front Royal is absolutely gorgeous and it'd be wonderful to be able to live out there away from the commuter bustle. You fully get to enjoy all four seasons out there...Fall would be amazing!
Oh and as far as taxes go...our sales tax is like 5% I think (I don't pay great attention to this) and we do have a car tax...something not all states have.
Good luck in your search!
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Maddie
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I hear they just got assigned my all time favorite priest, Father Jerome Fasano. 
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KristinaP
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Maddie wrote:
I hear they just got assigned my all time favorite priest, Father Jerome Fasano.
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Yeah, their gain is our loss. 
Like everyone else mentioned, Front Royal isn't really considered NoVa per se so the cost of living/housing is a little less expensive than the areas closer to DC. I don't know where you're from so you may have sticker shock one way or another. Check out realtor.com to get an idea of the housing there. Front Royal is gorgeous though and there are a ton of homeschoolers in that area so you wouldn't be without anything to do and plenty of good families to surround yourself with and an excellent parish, too.
I haven't heard of the water issue either but I can say it must not be as "toxic" as here in Fairfax as my son's third grade teacher has to bring water from Front Royal to keep their class fish alive!
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Philothea
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KristinaP wrote:
I haven't heard of the water issue either but I can say it must not be as "toxic" as here in Fairfax as my son's third grade teacher has to bring water from Front Royal to keep their class fish alive! |
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Now THAT'S scary. Does she de-chlorinate the water? Ours (also Fairfax) smells bleachy, but I've not noted any other issues .... but we don't have a fish.
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KristinaP
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Yeah, she does de-chlorinate but they don't know what the difference is. Boy, I hope there's nothing in the school's system that would cause a problem! 
I know what you mean about the bleachy smell.I've noticed it seems to be stronger when we get more rain-I read somewhere it had something to do with the water tables rising and needing more treatment. Yummy, huh?
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Molly Smith
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I have a friend who just moved to Front Royal from Purcellville, and their rent is 1/2 what it is here! And Purcellville is fringe NoVa!
This is probably a good time to move to Front Royal, before it's "discovered" and prices rise. Also, the parish is wonderful--very traditional. And I will never forget their beautiful altar.
I know a family with 10 children who lives about 1 1/2 hours from Front Royal who travels to St. John the Baptist because of the impact Father Fasano has had on their lives.
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Nina Murphy
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We were only there a SHORT time, and I was in a major post-partum funk. My daughter, Clare, 2 months, had not yet been diagnosed with CF, but we knew she wasn't thriving and something wasn't "right". (A wonderful pediatrician there, is the one who ordered her initial sweat test, and how we got her diagnosed, and ultimately decided to return to CA for the Clinics here---a dear old friend got us in with an immediate appointment with him despite his busy schedule. They were real Guardian Angels. I am so grateful.)
My impressions having been in a pretty big city in CA are: the smell of the water was repulsive and depressing for me. I was post-partum, so that had something to do with it, I'm sure, but the smell of sulphur (like rotten eggs) was pervasive throughout our rental house. And the toilets/sinks were stained a brown color from the water---it was visually tough, too, as I was spoiled and "used to" white, fresh toilets. Also, there is no trash pickup as it is essentially the country. I have always lived in areas where the trash is picked up for you, and being a large family with many diapers, etc, and a busy husband who did not feel the need to make trash runs as often as I would  and being post-partum again (I take the blame)....it was a shock to my spoiled system. (And you need a truck or another large vehicle you are willing to have lots of smelly trash in: If you had a specific area on your property to store it, and didn't mind a weekly transport, it would be fine.)
Another thing is I was spoiled by great grocery stores, Trader Joe's, Raley's, Safeway, and all of the CA produce and herbs readily available out here. It is a small town and the grocery stores weren't great....but again: forgive me, my "expectations" had been acclimated to city life. 
Ultimately, I think if you are not willing to sacrifice the comforts and ease of city life, you will have some difficulty adjusting. It is hard for me to know how I would have adjusted, if I had indeed had a big enough property and home, and had had time to settle in. With a large family, I think that would be required---so the kids could run around and keep busy. But the prices are much lower, so I know many families who were able to get quite a bit of land and larger homes---and LOVE it and the simpler way of life, removed from materialism (but near enough to get to it if you want it--I think a Costco and Chili's, and movie theater were an hour away, if I remember).
Not having the medical resources we needed would have been too much for us---we are better here with the sophisticated facilities, only minutes away. But there are so many wonderful families that I miss dearly there----Front Royal is truly swimming with them, just the greatest people and friends for your children! And St. John's was beautiful and reverent. As was Mass at Christendom.
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Hallie
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Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply! Your insight has been really helpful.
KackyK, here are some links to the worrisome information I stumbled upon earlier. (I should warn you, some of the posts are fairly anti-Catholic.)
http://www.city-data.com/forum/virginia/52112-well-here-we-c ome-front-royal.html
http://www.city-data.com/forum/virginia/42003-staunton-front -royal.html
http://www.city-data.com/forum/virginia/12423-front-royal.ht ml
Thanks again! If anyone else has any additional insight or thoughts (especially pertaining to the above links and the comments about drugs and toxic water) I'd love to hear them!
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Hallie
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KackyK
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Boy those links are interesting...interesting board too. Thanks for those.
From what it sounds like, sounds like the water issues they are talking about are not the same that some ladies in Fairfax mentioned. Also, the folks on those links had good points about entertainment and such.
Definitely food for thought for you!
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Kristen in TN
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OK, Hallie, I have not read the links. We lived in Front Royal for 10 years before moving to TN 2 years ago. Front Royal has already been discovered. The last tax bill we got just before we sold the place in Dec. 96 was one of the reasons why we left. Our house was assesed 75% higher and out land was assessed at 300% higher!!! The taxes had also gone up and it was voted that the tax rate could be changed whenever they wanted instead of every 10 years.
We lived near Browntown, a tiny little town just sort of south of the town. We were 6 miles out of town and had the BEST water on the face of the earth. Everyone commented on how good it was. The town water is not the best though.
My good friend is a fisheries biologist for the Government working in DC. When she mentioned to her co-workers that she was going to Front Royal they all knew about how toxic it was. They have gone through an extesive process to clean up the river and the surrounding area. they have trucked out I don't know how many truckloads of dirt from the site. Many say it is very good now. Years ago when it rained you could smell the pollution thorugh the entire town. The last few years it wasn't that way anymore.
The parish there is great. Please know, like any other place, there are clicks there, but there are more than enough Catholics, many of them wonderful, that it doesn't matter much. There has been a tremendous amount of growth in that parish, with many people moving in. I think that helps because people reach out to you. It is a wonderful atmosphere to raise your Catholic children in. They see wonderful examples at Mass!
If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them. We also know a really good Catholic realtor.
God bless,
Kristen in TN
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Kath
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I live about 45 minutes from Front Royal now and I lived there for four years when I was attending Christendom College. That area is growing and getting more expensive, but at a slower rate than the rest of Northern Virginia. It's still way cheaper than Manassas, for example. I don't know much about the water other than the fact that the Shenandoah River is considered fairly polluted (i.e., if you do decide to swim in it, don't swallow any water!!  )
You will still have to drive to Winchester for a mall, large movie theater, chain restaurants other than fast food. But FR now has a Target and a Walmart, and I assume more stores will be opening up in the next few years. It does have a hospital and a library right in town. The main grocery store is a Martins, which is only several years old and quite large. The parish is wonderful, and there are so many great Catholics there, including many homeschooling families. The town itself is still a bit rural/small for my taste, but it just depends what you are looking for. With the river, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and Shenandoah National Park, you will never be at a loss for beautiful countryside.
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Nina Murphy
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I forget to add: I was there 7 years ago this February, so duh....I should have thought of mentioning... that it probably has changed quite a bit, adding new stores, etc! Glad for everyone!
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Jen L.
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Okay, this is basically off topic, but...
My sister lives in Linden and occasionally attends Mass in Front Royal (she usually attends in Fairfax with me :-). Anyway, I think she has only been to the 10:30 am Mass and maybe the Saturday evening one. She says NO ONE sings! I was so excited for her to go to a vibrant, conservative parish -- I don't know what to say to her.
(I haven't been there myself.)
Any advice - maybe a different Mass time?
Thanks for listening,
Jen
ETA: She LOVES living in Linden (6 miles east of town) and she works in Front Royal (at one of the high schools). She has never complained about the water and her toilet is white :-)
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Maddie
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No singing? A Fasano parish? Fr. "take the organ with me?" Hmmmm. Maybe it's the Mass time? My guess would be wait until Father gets established, then he'll rival the Vatican with his choir.
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mary theresa
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I live in F.R.
The water in the town was toxic a while back (google Avtex) but that was many years ago. Now it is fine, I believe, tho the SHenandoah is still contaminated.
Yes the church is lovely. Singing is not the best. But I would definitely say it is comparable to other parishes in the N. Va area. The acousitcs in the church are really not good b/c of all the carpeting.
They do have a lovely adult choir and a decent children's choir. You have to go to the right masses. 10:45am is the N. O. Latin Mass with the good choir. 9am has a cantor . . . not sure about others, those are our two.
Sorry, if this rather short. I'll tell you anything else you want to know. I've lived here for 12 years. But gotta run now, baby wants me.
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Hallie
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Again, thank you all so much! This information has been very helpful. It sounds like there are a few cons to living in Front Royal (which I think I could view as an adventure-lol) and many pros. I look forward to meeting some of you if DHs job brings us out that way later this year!
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Hallie
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Front Royal and surrounding areas
