Get to know Annandale

Like much of Northern Virginia, Annandale is characterized by rolling hills, streams, and red clay. Mature trees and wide streets typify this suburban commuter city, which offers a diversity of global cuisine and easy access to many of the region’s key shopping centers. Annandale is bisected by Accotink Creek, which once served as its primary link for ocean-going ships carrying tobacco and other goods to the world abroad. The creek was dammed in the 1960s to create Lake Accotink, a water supply for the U.S. Army's Fort Belvoir Proving Ground — the installation has since closed, but the lake remains a popular attraction for fishing and boat rentals. Annandale boasts nearly 30 public parks, many of which are maintained by the Fairfax County Park Authority. The Fairfax Cross County Trail (FCCT) provides uninterrupted hiking, biking, running, and (weather-permitting) cross-country skiing for 20 miles.

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Living in the Washington Metropolitan Area

The Washington Metropolitan Area starts with the District of Columbia proper and radiates out to the inner suburbs of Virginia and Maryland and stretches all the way to the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Colloquially, many locals refer to the region as the DMV, an abbreviation for D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, but will often just say they live in D.C. when they technically have an address in one of the states. Each town has its own specific atmosphere and residents — even the newly transplanted — often display fierce loyalty to their own suburb of choice. Generally, towns that are closer to D.C., especially those inside the Beltway, have more access to public transportation and more pedestrian-friendly downtowns, while towns on the far reaches of the metropolitan area like Charles Town, West Virginia, will have a more rural feel and fewer daily commuters to D.C. and its immediate environs.