Is Arlington the Best Place to Live in the DC Area?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We live in Arlington and honestly it's a crapshoot on what neighborhood you fall into. Some neighborhoods in 22205 are better than 2207 and vice versa. Same with different parts of south arlington. Some days I love our neighborhood, other days I dislike and feel like it's a rat race. The benefits: kids walk to school, can walk to pre-teen/teen hang out places, once my kids get their license, we won't have to worry AS MUCH about them driving on major high ways, back roads, etc. I DO NOT love our schools especially after what Arlington County pulled during the pandemic. My son has ADHD and my other son has dyslexia and I am ALWAYS fighting and advocating for them. We are seriously considering private school next year for them because they have lost a year and the county seems to be doing nothing to meet them where they're at. If I had to do it all over again, I would probably choose Vienna or certain pockets of Falls Church.

OP here. We are hoping to live in a diverse neighborhood (both socioeconomically and racially mixed). I don't want it to be like a rat race. We don't want the top-rated schools, because those are too white and wealthy (and I get that your calculus is different because you have to think about accommodations for learning differences - our kids are neurotypical so it's less of a concern for us). What neighborhoods would you recommend?

Welp. That's the whole area, not just Arlington.

OP, I highly recommend you rethink moving to the DC area if you don't want to live in a place that's like a rat race. This area is highly-competitive and pretty stressful, and I say that as someone who is from here and loves it. But that's the reality and from what you say, I'm not sure you'll like it. Have you spent any significant time here? I really recommend you do so if you haven't already.

OP here, I guess I am just hoping if we go to those bad schools that everyone seems afraid of, we'll avoid the competitive and stressful vibe? We tried living in a more chill place but we're really unhappy not being right by a big city.

On that note, will someone please clarify what "bad school" means??? Like they're very violent or something? Even at the elementary/middle level? Or it's bad in the sense that it has poor kids so the test scores aren't high?

Arlington School parent here. I think when people are saying "bad schools" and talking about Arlington, they're saying that since they're not the best in the area/state, they're bad. I'm just one data point, so grain of salt, but that doesn't really jive with my experience. My kids are middle of the road, neurotypical kids. They seem reasonably well prepared for school and life without a lot of intervention from me. They're not going to Ivies, and that's fine with me.

I do think that APS sucked in their response to the pandemic, but I think this area gets a lot of pressure from crazy parents/people who create noise and make decision-making difficult.

+1 No, the schools are not violent. My kids (now in HS) have had good teachers, good friends, plenty of resources, and seem appropriately challenged. From friends' stories more of the competitive/stressful stuff is in the more uniformly affluent schools farther north.

Some of the "bad schools" perceptions are because of low Great Schools scores but a lot of that is because GS changed their scoring to essentially penalize schools that have SES diversity and low-income students do not score as well as high-income (which is the case everywhere and IMO not the schools' fault). Some of the actual "bad" practices IMO are an emphasis on computer games (kids get their own iPads starting in 2nd grade) and, until recently, use of Lucy Calkins for reading. They are supposed to be dropping that in favor of actual phonics instruction. The county also grew very rapidly in the recent past so there were a lot of overcrowded schools. The ES situation has been relieved somewhat but there are still needed boundary adjustments. And, HS overcrowded is a mostly unaddressed issue, they basically decided to put an annex on W-L and it will be like 3000+ students. Handling growth is a big challenge because space for expansion/new buildings is extremely limited. Boundary changes are always fraught but I think that's probably the case in most areas. And, some people don't like the lack of a dedicated gifted program/track, although I think that tends to weed out some of the more intense/competitive parents who go to Fairfax for that.

As PPs have said, your best bet is likely in the middle of the county, where the schools tend to have a better SES mix (Ashwlawn and Long Branch have been mentioned but I'd also add Fleet, Abingdon, Oakridge)

Thank you, this is so helpful!!

You have to sort through all the verbiage, but the upshot is that APS is taking the one high school that people tend to think of as having a desirable demographic balance if you value diversity and letting it get way too big (W-L), while the other high schools offer fewer academic options and are either very white (Yorktown) or mostly poor kids (Wakefield). And they got there through a combination of neglect, poor planning, and avoiding demographic balancing by prioritizing the ability of a sub-set of kids to walk to school.

Choose wisely.

The biggest problem with APS schools is when it comes to planning decisions they tend to cave to the loudest factions. People don't want to leave W-L for either of the other two HSs so rather than making a bunch of people angry, they are just making that school bigger. Remains to be seen how much the annex actually relieves crowding in the main building.

There is also a re-districting planned in which about 160 Wakefield students will be zoned to W-L. The are counting on the 600 seats to accommodate W-L overcrowding and new students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The major draw of DC as a city is that it is medium-density, walkable, and has many high paying jobs. You can live in the city and not own a car but still don't have to be in that sort of suffocating, NYC level density. If you must live the life of detached SFH, look at close-in northwest (Cleveland park, glover, etc.). There is really no major benefit of being in Arlington over any other semi walkable suburban area. Walkability in Arlington is not the same as walkability in, say, Cambridge. It's mostly a lie. Yes there are sidewalks, but very few people have the ability to actually walk to the grocery store for a daily shop.

I can and do walk to three different grocery stores (giant, WF and Trader Joe's) in Arlington. Lots of people can walk to a grocery store in Arlington. I see tons of people walking home from Trader Joe's in my neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The major draw of DC as a city is that it is medium-density, walkable, and has many high paying jobs. You can live in the city and not own a car but still don't have to be in that sort of suffocating, NYC level density. If you must live the life of detached SFH, look at close-in northwest (Cleveland park, glover, etc.). There is really no major benefit of being in Arlington over any other semi walkable suburban area. Walkability in Arlington is not the same as walkability in, say, Cambridge. It's mostly a lie. Yes there are sidewalks, but very few people have the ability to actually walk to the grocery store for a daily shop.

I can and do walk to three different grocery stores (giant, WF and Trader Joe's) in Arlington. Lots of people can walk to a grocery store in Arlington. I see tons of people walking home from Trader Joe's in my neighborhood.

+1 again, as PPs have said, in Arlington this lifestyle is pretty uniquely available just in the center of the county, along the metro line. Or neighborhoods like Westover. Farther north Arlington is just like any other car-dependent suburb.

[Anonymous]

Look at Fairfax just outside the beltway. Easy drive to DC for weekend trips, close to shopping and great restaurants at Mosaic District, Vienna, Fairfax City, Tysons if you have to go to the mall, several grocery stores within walking distance or a short drive, we walk to our elementary school and several parks… we are also very close to several medical buildings…. we have half an acre in a kid friendly neighborhood but are near everything we need and have easy access to the Beltway, 66 and the Metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The major draw of DC as a city is that it is medium-density, walkable, and has many high paying jobs. You can live in the city and not own a car but still don't have to be in that sort of suffocating, NYC level density. If you must live the life of detached SFH, look at close-in northwest (Cleveland park, glover, etc.). There is really no major benefit of being in Arlington over any other semi walkable suburban area. Walkability in Arlington is not the same as walkability in, say, Cambridge. It's mostly a lie. Yes there are sidewalks, but very few people have the ability to actually walk to the grocery store for a daily shop.

I can and do walk to three different grocery stores (giant, WF and Trader Joe's) in Arlington. Lots of people can walk to a grocery store in Arlington. I see tons of people walking home from Trader Joe's in my neighborhood.

Yes, some have that ability. But indeed that number is very low. Basically just lyon village, lyon park, and then houses that happen to be within half mile of a grocery store.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The major draw of DC as a city is that it is medium-density, walkable, and has many high paying jobs. You can live in the city and not own a car but still don't have to be in that sort of suffocating, NYC level density. If you must live the life of detached SFH, look at close-in northwest (Cleveland park, glover, etc.). There is really no major benefit of being in Arlington over any other semi walkable suburban area. Walkability in Arlington is not the same as walkability in, say, Cambridge. It's mostly a lie. Yes there are sidewalks, but very few people have the ability to actually walk to the grocery store for a daily shop.

The advantage that Arlington has over Cleveland Park or Bethesda is in-state university options.

[Anonymous]

I live in Falls Church City, and I can walk to several parks, community center, library, grocery store, my dentist and G.P., restaurants, etc, within ten minutes. Lots more, if, like my family, you don't consider a twenty minutes walk to be a big deal.

[Anonymous]

Downtown FCC is probably the most walkable area in DC. Route 7 goes down the middle of it but only at 30 mph. Other parts of Arlington and DC that are "walkable" have cars zooming around too fast for my comfort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Downtown FCC is probably the most walkable area in DC. Route 7 goes down the middle of it but only at 30 mph. Other parts of Arlington and DC that are "walkable" have cars zooming around too fast for my comfort.

Yea, right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Downtown FCC is probably the most walkable area in DC. Route 7 goes down the middle of it but only at 30 mph. Other parts of Arlington and DC that are "walkable" have cars zooming around too fast for my comfort.

By that logic, downtown Bethesda, Reston Town Center and the Mosaic District are all more walkable than FCC. Don't be a putz.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Downtown FCC is probably the most walkable area in DC. Route 7 goes down the middle of it but only at 30 mph. Other parts of Arlington and DC that are "walkable" have cars zooming around too fast for my comfort.

Tell me you never get out of your car in the city without telling me you never get out of your car in the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The major draw of DC as a city is that it is medium-density, walkable, and has many high paying jobs. You can live in the city and not own a car but still don't have to be in that sort of suffocating, NYC level density. If you must live the life of detached SFH, look at close-in northwest (Cleveland park, glover, etc.). There is really no major benefit of being in Arlington over any other semi walkable suburban area. Walkability in Arlington is not the same as walkability in, say, Cambridge. It's mostly a lie. Yes there are sidewalks, but very few people have the ability to actually walk to the grocery store for a daily shop.

The advantage that Arlington has over Cleveland Park or Bethesda is in-state university options.

I live in Ashton heights and my friends in Woodley park are jealous about all the grocery options I have walking distance. I stop into Trader Joes on my way home from work all the time, they do not have an equivalent option.

[Anonymous]

No, West Springfield by far

[Anonymous]

Wakefield is not “a bunch of poor kids.” Sheesh. It’s a good high school with a relatively diverse student body.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Here it comes, OP. 14 pages of people telling you that Arlington SUCKS and place XYZ is far superior.

FWIW, I live in the Westover part of Arlington and I really like it. I've also lived in Shirlington and Ballston. I liked those spots too. It's expensive because it's the closest place to DC. Some of the neighborhoods are ugly and people say that the schools are going downhill, but I think people just like to complain or rationalize expensive decisions they've already made.

Best of luck!

The schools have never been great and yes it's ugly and full of strip malls.

Quelle Horreur! A strip mall!

That strip mall has my District Taco in it. Watch yourself.

I lived in that neighborhood (Tara-Leeway) for several years and I think Westover is super cute and charming (we spent a lot of time at the beer garden and Lost Dog) but the Lee-Harrison area is kind of depressing (although I did love District Taco and Taqueria Pablano, LOL). That said, we are an inter-racial couple and I couldn't help but notice I was frequently one of the, if not THE, only minorities pretty much everywhere we went (except for people working in restaurants). I grew up being one of two minority children in my grade K-12 and I didn't want my children to be subjected to that life, so we moved a little further out to Fairfax County and the difference in amount of diversity is unreal! My kids go to a highly rated ES that is minority white and it makes me really happy!! I understand that this may not be your concern if you are not a minority or married to a minority, but it was really important for us for our child to not be surrounded by one homogenous group of people, so we moved out of north arlington when we had kids. Arlington is really nice, and very convenient if you work in DC, but definitely not diverse.*

*Note that south arlington is far more diverse than the northern half of the county but it's mostly hispanic, whereas fairfax county ALSO has really large asian, south asian, african, and middle eastern communities.

This must have been particularly galling for you because Arlington has been encouraging the fast gentrification of the nearby Halls Hill and High View Park, a long time African American community. Twenty five years ago you could have sent your bi-racial children to the majority African American Glebe ES but now it is a segregated white school like all North Arlington elementary schools.

You do know that not all minorities are African-American, right?