Community Corner

Speak Out: Is Loudoun Part of NoVA?

How do you define Northern Virginia?

Some Northern Virginia residents define the region in different ways.

One NoVa resident on Reddit posed the following question to fellow NoVA Redditors this week:

“I was having a debate with my college roommate. I live in Loudoun (Leesburg) and he resides in Fairfax (Chantilly). He insists I don't actually live in NoVA. This came as a shock to me, as I've always believed I live in NoVA. I always assumed Eastern Loudoun was NoVA, and Western was not.”

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According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia Combined Statistical Area map consists of the City of Alexandria, Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun, Prince William, Fauquier, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Warren, Clarke, Frederick, and Culpepper Counties.  Some residents, though, have a narrower view of what constitutes NoVA.

“This is like the upstate New York argument. Anything above where you are is upstate. So anything south or west of where you are is not NoVA,” one Redditor commented.

Another Redditor said, “Personally, I consider Fairfax County, Arlington County, and Eastern Loudoun (Sterling, Ashburn) to be Northern Virginia. I suppose Leesburg could probably be the western-most border in my mind. Anything west of Leesburg is more western VA to me. Also, I wouldn't consider all of Prince William Country to be NoVa either. I would probably consider Manassas and Woodbridge to be the southern border of NoVa. It really doesn't matter in the end, but that is just how my brain has always defined it.”

Find out what's happening in Ashburnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


What do you think? Do you consider Loudoun County part of Northern Virginia? Weigh in on this in the comments below.



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