I guess I should jump in here and tout the benefits of lving out here too...

I have lived in VA my whole life (grew up in Alexandria, when to Charlottesville for college, moved to Arlington, and have recently moved into the city).

The location of the new building will be in an area called the Dulles Corridor. It's where AOL and a whole bunch of other tech companies are based out of. The Dulles Corridor is a great place to work, because there is easy access in and out, it is removed from the city enough to avoid a tremendous amoutn of rush hour traffic (keep in mind, though, that D.C. traffic is a 24 hour a day thing, and there's always traffic).

It is admittedly humid and hot during the summer - but we get a full four season year, with temps ranging from 0 to 100 degrees F.

VA is horse and wine country too. A short trip down Rt. 29 will lead you through a really scenic country drive with horse farms aplenty and lots of vineyards to stop into and do some tasting. While not nearly in teh same league as Napa or Sonoma, it is a nice touch of class. Also, VA has more horses in it than any other state in the union (aside from TX and KY).

I truth, I love VA, and will probably spend my whole life here. My brother and parents still live in Alexandria (all lawyers too). My wife's parents live just over the bridge in MD. They aren't leaving anytime either.

I think that NOVA is a nice balance of city living quiet suburbs and accessible countryside. If you lived out near work, you'd be a half hour from the Capitol, a half hour from the Potomac River, about 90 minutes from skiing, about 90 minutes from Ocean City MD, and about a half hour from the "middle of nowhere."

Don't forget culture - D.C. is always a hot spot to see music catch broadway touring acts.

I would take the advice regarding house prices. I just sold our condo in Arlington for over $500 a sq. ft.. That was about three months ago, and the price of an identical unit below mine went on the market last week for $15K more than what the guy who bought mine paid.

Real estate aside, I could go on and on. While a CA boy might miss home wuite a bit, I bet you could find plenty of things to do to take your mind off of what you miss.