Downtown Fairfax City

[Anonymous]

Can someone tell me more about Downtown Fairfax City. How does it compare as far as restaurants, grocery stores, etc. to downtown Vienna?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Why not go there, walk around and see for yourself? This is a weird question.

[Anonymous]

The two are very different. Fairfax City has been redeveloping its downtown. That has been tough because much of the new retail space became available just when the recession began. Some restaurants have come and gone. There is a Safeway downtown. Vienna has a Giant and a Magruders and a small Whole Foods.

Fairfax City is much older than Vienna so the core of the downtown has historic buildings and the newer buildings are around and among those older buildings. Additionally, Fairfax City is an actual City with its own Mayor and City Council so in addition to retail in the downtown, there are City and County administrative buildings. The Fairfax County Courthouse complex is there so in addition to Fairfax City police, police from Fairfax County and the State Police are often seen as well. It is very safe (so is Vienna). The downtown/Old Town area of Fairfax is much smaller and does not have as many restaurants or shops. It has a lot of professional office buildings. City residents do not pay Fairfax County taxes and in fact, Fairfax City has had among the lowest tax rates in the whole DC area. Vienna residents pay County and Town taxes. Fairfax City has an agreement with Fairfax County and thus Fairfax City residents get the benefit of the Fairfax County School System and Library System and Rec Centers. Fairfax City hosts a lot of events during the year--Fall Fest, Chocolate Lovers Festival, Celebration of Lights and Carols, and it has a real old-fashioned Independence Day parade that winds around the city and goes in front of City Hall. Fairfax City abuts George Mason Universtiy and thus in the downtown of Fairfax there are some places that have a young vibe. Some nice restaurants in the downtown or in the City generally are the Wine House, Cafe Mozart, Red Hot and Blue, La Dolce Vita, Bellissimo, Kabob Corner, Vespucci, Coyote Grill, and Arties (part of the family of restaurants that owns Coastal Flats). There a bunch of the typical sandwich places (Panera, Potbelly, Subway), several good Indian restaurants, Thai, Korean BBQ, and fast food and pizza. There are a lot of restaurants.

I live in Fairfax and I love it that the mayor and city council members have attended my small neighborhood picnic and presided over a Halloween Costume contest also held in my little neighborhood. The City has about 25000 residents and so the government officials really do care about the people who live here because we all live so close. Another thing that is good is that when I want to go to Whole Foods I just go to Fair Lakes and that Whole Foods is huge and has lots of places to eat and wine tastings on the weekend. Also close by is Wegmans and Costco--everything is so close by and I don't have to battle down 123 to get everywhere. Vienna is very very nice and a great place to live but I love Fairfax City.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not go there, walk around and see for yourself? This is a weird question.

OP Here.
Because I don't live in the area. When I visited I looked at Vienna so I am familiar with that area.

Why not answer the question or not reply at all...

[Anonymous]

20:29, thank you for the detailed response.

Can you comment about the walkability of Fairfax City? How about compared to Vienna, if you are familiar enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20:29, thank you for the detailed response.

Can you comment about the walkability of Fairfax City? How about compared to Vienna, if you are familiar enough.

20:29 here.

In both cases, it depends on where you live. I guess that is stating the obvious. In Vienna the main drag is 123 and it has a lot of stuff on it and close to it and most residential areas that are defined as Vienna (whether in the town limits or not) come off that. Some can be pretty far from the stores and other than the main strip, there is not much to walk to in Vienna other than parks and the W & OD trail (and the trail is great). Some of the parts of Vienna that are actually walkable to the Vienna/Fairfax Metro are not really walkable to most stores. That is true on the Fairfax side too. If you look on a Map, the metro is in the median of Route 66 and you can see how far that is to 123. 123 intersects with 66 at the next exit but that is an area called Oakton north of 66 and is Fairfax south of 66. It is smaller than Vienna and Fairfax but it also has restaurants, grocery stores and generally more expensive homes and most are not walkable to anything. Oakton used to be horse friendly and still has some small areas with horses but many of the large lots have been subdivided.

Fairfax has a few more major roadways that have retail and the roadways intersect each other and there are neighborhoods in the areas between the retail corridors. The roads are Fairfax Boulevard (Routes 29/50), Chain Bridge Road/Ox Road (Rte 123), Main Street (Rte 236), Pickett Road and Old Lee. That means that there are probably more neighborhoods that are potentially walkable to something. For example, my neighborhood is older Cape Cod-style houses and ramblers from 1940s and 50s. I can walk less than a mile to a CVS, Dunkin Donuts, Zoes Kitchen, Washington Sport and Health, Chipotle, 5 Guys, 7-11, several nicer restaurants, a Latin grocery store that actually has a lot, Barber, Hair salon, nail salon, my vet, Burger King, McDonald's, Indian food, Honeybaked Ham, Hallmark store, Gas Stations, Fabric stores, paint stores and of course car dealerships (Fairfax has a lot of dealerships). So I can walk to a lot and that is great because I have two small children and I don't always have to pile into the car. I can also walk into my neighborhood and there are little parks and a neighborhood pool. There is a bus route nearby that goes to the Vienna Metro and I took it every day when I worked downtown. Fairfax City has two bus routes that wind through the city and both go to the Metro. From where I live, the old town district is about a mile or 1.5 miles and that is definitely walkable depending on when or what you are doing. If you live deep in a neighborhood then walking might not be as easy and some parts of the City may not have as much stuff close by. Fairfax tends to have older homes and many are more modest than you will find in Vienna. There are some developments of newer and larger houses in Fairfax but as I mentioned yesterday, it is older and developed as a suburb before much of Vienna--many houses here were built in the 40s and 50s rather than the 60s or 70s as is the case in some of Vienna.

Hope that helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:20:29, thank you for the detailed response.

Can you comment about the walkability of Fairfax City? How about compared to Vienna, if you are familiar enough.

20:29 here.

In both cases, it depends on where you live. I guess that is stating the obvious. In Vienna the main drag is 123 and it has a lot of stuff on it and close to it and most residential areas that are defined as Vienna (whether in the town limits or not) come off that. Some can be pretty far from the stores and other than the main strip, there is not much to walk to in Vienna other than parks and the W & OD trail (and the trail is great). Some of the parts of Vienna that are actually walkable to the Vienna/Fairfax Metro are not really walkable to most stores. That is true on the Fairfax side too. If you look on a Map, the metro is in the median of Route 66 and you can see how far that is to 123. 123 intersects with 66 at the next exit but that is an area called Oakton north of 66 and is Fairfax south of 66. It is smaller than Vienna and Fairfax but it also has restaurants, grocery stores and generally more expensive homes and most are not walkable to anything. Oakton used to be horse friendly and still has some small areas with horses but many of the large lots have been subdivided.

Fairfax has a few more major roadways that have retail and the roadways intersect each other and there are neighborhoods in the areas between the retail corridors. The roads are Fairfax Boulevard (Routes 29/50), Chain Bridge Road/Ox Road (Rte 123), Main Street (Rte 236), Pickett Road and Old Lee. That means that there are probably more neighborhoods that are potentially walkable to something. For example, my neighborhood is older Cape Cod-style houses and ramblers from 1940s and 50s. I can walk less than a mile to a CVS, Dunkin Donuts, Zoes Kitchen, Washington Sport and Health, Chipotle, 5 Guys, 7-11, several nicer restaurants, a Latin grocery store that actually has a lot, Barber, Hair salon, nail salon, my vet, Burger King, McDonald's, Indian food, Honeybaked Ham, Hallmark store, Gas Stations, Fabric stores, paint stores and of course car dealerships (Fairfax has a lot of dealerships). So I can walk to a lot and that is great because I have two small children and I don't always have to pile into the car. I can also walk into my neighborhood and there are little parks and a neighborhood pool. There is a bus route nearby that goes to the Vienna Metro and I took it every day when I worked downtown. Fairfax City has two bus routes that wind through the city and both go to the Metro. From where I live, the old town district is about a mile or 1.5 miles and that is definitely walkable depending on when or what you are doing. If you live deep in a neighborhood then walking might not be as easy and some parts of the City may not have as much stuff close by. Fairfax tends to have older homes and many are more modest than you will find in Vienna. There are some developments of newer and larger houses in Fairfax but as I mentioned yesterday, it is older and developed as a suburb before much of Vienna--many houses here were built in the 40s and 50s rather than the 60s or 70s as is the case in some of Vienna.

Hope that helps.

Thanks again for a thorough response. I appreciate it.