Some people don’t seems to understand when I express my dislike for suburbs — the traffic, the strip malls, the sub-divisions, the never-ending traffic light systems — it’s frankly all a mess. And you don’t have to look far to find stories about the traffic congestion. I think that’s my biggest gripe about the suburbs. According to the Washington Post, the Virginia Department of Transportation recently announced a 51 percent cut in the region’s road-building program. The article continues, “without improvements, Beltway-type backups will soon reach suburban back yards as roads fail to keep up with the region’s growth. Cars will continue to wait through four or five traffic signals to make a simple turn. Buses will fall further behind schedule. Even non-commuters will be affected: When feeder roads become crammed, drivers with an eye on the clock start taking shortcuts through neighborhoods, turning quiet streets into major commuter arteries.”

So all the suckers who move out to the suburbs to get away from urban traffic (yes, I know it’s a pain when cars back up through Georgetown trying to get across Key Bridge, and all you want to do is park your car, but no one will give you the space to do so) are now realizing that this very traffic is following them out to Fairfax and even more distant exurbs. Of course, with traffic like that (oh yeah, and gas prices too), it’s not surprising that Meto’s ridership has increased in the past three months despite a record price hike this December. Now if only the region were finally able to build that long-awaited Dulles rail line…

But despite these ongoing traffic woes, it appears that real estate is beginning to rebound in areas such as Prince William, Manassas and Manassas Park. One report says, “Metropolitan Regional Information Systems data show that the number of housing sales for Manassas is up 33 percent in March 2008 from March 2007. Although 673 active listings remained on the market at the end of March, 52 units sold, compared with 39 that sold in March 2007. Eighty-six sales are pending.” Of course, my first question would be — who in the world wants to like in Manassas? But since the numbers are saying that people are indeed purchasing homes out there, I guess that’s rather beyond the point. And although data shows that sales in Fairfax and Loudoun counties and in the city of Alexandria are down significantly from last year, it’s just my luck that Arlington’s market is still as strong as ever (more proof that I’m not off my rocker when I say I’d rather pay higher prices for prime location).