Crossing State Lines

It's the Road Less Traveled, but Some Home Buyers Head Across the Potomac

Next year, Brad Nathan, a renter in Alexandria, will be moving into a new condo he bought in Hyattsville. Marlene and Art Hartstein, who lived in a single-family house in Rockville for 30 years, are downsizing to an Arlington condo. And Kacey and Jay Hoffman, both Virginians by birth, are putting down roots in Anne Arundel County.

These home buyers -- from all walks of life, with different financial situations and expectations for their homes -- share a common trait: They are the crossovers, that rare breed among home buyers in suburban Washington who move across the river.

While the route out of the District has been well-worn by buyers seeking suburban lives, less common are those who cross the border between Virginia and Maryland.

According to 2000 Census figures, Montgomery County drew about 5,000 residents from Fairfax County, its neighbor on the other side of the Potomac, while receiving roughly four times as many people from Prince George's County. The survey asked which county respondents resided in then and where they lived five years prior.

Arlington County attracted about 19,000 people from Fairfax County for the same period, roughly three times as many as those who moved from the Maryland counties of Montgomery, Prince George's, Howard, Frederick and Anne Arundel combined.

And although Frederick County is right across the river from Loudoun County, it drew just 360 people from there while taking in nearly three times as many people from Anne Arundel, miles and miles away. Loudoun County, meanwhile, attracted more people from Los Angeles County than from Frederick County.

But for whatever reason, some buyers such as Nathan do cross the state line, putting up with the hassles of new driver's licenses and plates, doctors and dentists -- and gentle ribbing from friends.

"The people in Virginia can't believe I'd go to Maryland, and the people in Maryland can't believe I've spent this long in Virginia," Nathan said. He doesn't see much difference.

He's a Pennsylvania native, now living in Alexandria and engaged to a woman in Maryland. He plans to move to Hyattsville when his new condo is ready next year. Finances and an easier commute were the main reasons. He was ready to buy a home and found prices more reasonable in Hyattsville than in Arlington or Fairfax. The location of the condo, now being built near the Metro station at Prince George's Plaza, was also a plus. These days, his commute to his job as a Web developer in the District can take 90 minutes.

"It wasn't Maryland calling me necessarily. . . . It was convenience to work," he said.

The teasing from some of his friends reflects an underlying gap between the states. Some describe it simply as a matter of loyalty to their states, while others point to differences in mentality -- North vs. South, liberal vs. conservative, East Coast hustle-bustle vs. something a lot more laid back.

Robert Lang, a demographer at Virginia Tech, said that in the Washington suburbs, that gap is quickly disappearing, as evidenced by the mid-term elections last week when the Commonwealth delivered James Webb, a Democrat, to the Senate over Republican incumbent George Allen.