Greater Washington D.C. A Great Place to Live

Metropolitan D.C. & Northern Virginia -- A great place to live

According to Northern Virginia Association of Realtors' Realtor Update Magazine, recent statistics show that the D.C. Region is the Place to Live, Learn, Thrive

The report points to the 2006 Regional Report by the Greater Washington Initiative which states that the Washington Metro area was among the best in the nation in 2005 in terms of job cration, economic growth and quality school systems. Greater Washington is now the fourth most populous metropolitan region in the nation, trailing only New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago!

The article details that unlike those areas, the Washington D.C. metro population is expected to increase 8.5 percent by 2010

Greater Washington generated 270,800 jobs during the past five years, more than any other major meto area, with an unemployment rate of 3.4% in 2005, far below the national average of 5.1%. Thirteen of the area's high schools are in Newsweek's Top 100 ranking. Greater Washington has a higher percentage of PhDs than any other metro area.

Ours is also a region of great diversity. Fairfax County has a higher density of foreign-born residents than Chicago, New York, or San Francisco. Minorities will comprise 46 percent of the population in Greater Washington by 2010. Twenty percent of area residents speak a language at home besides English.

Greater Washington's 2005 median household income was $72,799 -- the wealthies of any large metro area.

All those statistics confirm what many of us already knew -- Northern Virginia is a great place to live. That's why owning a home here is a great investment!

For additional information about the report visit http://www.greaterwashington.org

Brian Block is a Realtor with RE/MAX Allegiance in Alexandria, Virginia and a real estate attorney in Northern Virginia. He can be reached by e-mail at brian@brianblock.com. Find out the latest about the Northern Virginia real estate market at http://www.virginiarealestatenews.com and visit Brian's website at http://www.brianblock.com for the latest homes on the market.