Comments on: why so many WA state plates in NoVA?

Question: why so many WA state plates in NoVA?

fnord23bc — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:05:31 -0800

I live in northern Virginia, and since I moved back to this area about 8 months ago, I've been noticing many out of state license plates from Washington state (this happens one or more times a week). Is there any rhyme or reason to this (some big company relocating here), or is it just coincidence?

By: Jahaza

Jahaza — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:38:18 -0800

This is sort of a guess, but the big company may be the military. Some states let their residents who enter the military remain residents of that state, even when stationed elsewhere. IIRC my parents' cars had NY plates for this reason when I was growing up in MD.

By: birdherder

birdherder — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:39:38 -0800

Those goddamn apple pickers are down here in Texas too. Of course, in Austin we have the Seattle/Portland/Austin exchange program.

Seriously, you're experiencing confirmation bias. You could have started noticing cars from California just as easily. I bet you see one by Monday.

By: k8t

k8t — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:35:45 -0800

Maybe big rental car market in Washington State?

By: phrontist

phrontist — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:07:37 -0800

By: Kadin2048

Kadin2048 — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:46:54 -0800

Seems a little confirmation-biasy; I'm in NoVA also, and I hadn't really noticed much of anything. (However, I tend to notice plates from states where I've previously lived, and WA is not one of those.)

The major sources for WA -> DC personnel that come to mind are Boeing or the military.

Although Ft Lewis is a major training center, and many military personnel in the MDW have doubtless passed through there, I don't think most of them would have WA plates on their cars. There's always a chance, I suppose, that something's occurred (e.g. BRACing) that's caused a glut of people to move around. Also, occasionally groups of people moving from a particular post will all resettle in one neighborhood, which might make it seem like there are a lot of people from some region around you.

Boeing comes to mind because they obviously have a big presence in WA, and they also have a substantial amount of stuff here in the DC Metro area. It's not outside the realm of possibility that some new project has brought a bunch of people over, particularly if business isn't booming at their West coast locations. However, not knowing anything about Boeing as a company, I don't know whether that's even realistic.

I'd tell you I'd keep an eye out, but then I'd probably just start seeing them everywhere, too.

But hey, maybe you've discovered the secret to the Potomac Park mystery project! Inventing conspiracy theories is what makes this town interesting ... gives you something to think about in traffic. Besides license plates.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:53:24 -0800

Yeah, I'm with phrontist, it's confirmation bias. It's DC, I saw a Guam plate the other day, no foolin'. I wonder how they drove that one here?

By: candyland

candyland — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 05:38:29 -0800

I don't know about Washington state, but do expect a small influx of Michigan plates to NoVA - VW is moving its U.S. headquarters to Herndon, and a couple of hundred employees are coming too. One of them just moved in close to my house. Of course, I'm sure they'll register their cars soon and not try to skirt VA personal property tax. ;)

By: iminurmefi

iminurmefi — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:45:45 -0800

I could maybe see people moving to DC from WA being less likely than people from other states to switch their license plates and drivers licenses over because WA (like FL) is one of the few states with no income tax. So Washington transplants that are in DC to study or to work somewhere like the military might choose to remain residents there, rather than pay VA or DC state income taxes. Whereas someone from, say, Massachusetts might find the state taxes in VA less onerous and switch over residency here.

By: longdaysjourney

longdaysjourney — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:29:58 -0800

Avoiding property tax on their cars would be my guess. I have a few friends that "forgot" to change their vehicle registrations for several years because they didn't want to pay several hundred in property tax on their vehicles in NoVa.

By: Rash

Rash — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 09:18:54 -0800

So Washington transplants that are in DC to study or to work somewhere like the military might choose to remain residents there, rather than pay VA or DC state income taxes.

Hardly limited to people from Washington State. If it's possible, temporary residents (and not just those inside the Beltway) try to avoid the hassle of registering their vehicles locally.