I lived in Fairfax for 6 years and liked it a lot. Most of it is pretty expensive, though. I went to George Mason University most of the time I was there and only lived a half mile away, so I never dealt with traffic on a daily basis. DC was great to visit, but traffic anywhere in Northern VA is pretty bad. Atlanta is probably as bad or worse, except people commute from further distances to work in DC it seems. Emissions is rough in Northern VA too.
Virginia was a great place to live and there are tons of beautiful places there. I miss Fall the most there, because the changing color of the leaves was 10 times more than I've ever seen before.
I'm in Georgia now and like it a lot. Bad traffic for work, but I live out of the city and some rich guy owns 20+ acres of mostly woods along the backside of my property (aka peace and quiet!). I only own 1 acre with a house, but the fact that there are only two houses near me (40 yards away on either side) in the cul de sac AND I have no houses within sight of my backyard.......I couldn't be happier. Plenty of wildlife (deer, fox, etc). I mention all of this, because I think I could be really unhappy here IF I didn't find a good safe neighborhood and a property with the features I "need" the most.
Whatever you choose, take your time and make sure you get what you need. Plenty of great places in Virginia and plenty of small towns and large cities to choose from. Small towns moreso means light emissions standards. I'd grab a map and then check out several counties online at their chamber of commerce websites.
