Would you move to McLean from Alexandria if your kids are thriving?

[Anonymous]

I am considering doing the same soon.

I grew up in an area in CA that is very much like McLean, probably even more extreme ( Silicon Valley suburb--talk about tiger moms), and went to an Ivy, so I'm very familiar with the school culture, etc.

I have very mixed feelings about all this, but I realize that McLean, even if people want to think it's all that, is nowhere near as crazy as Silicon Valley.

[Anonymous]

If you move to McLean, expect to spend all of your time going elsewhere for entertainment and good food and restaurants. if you move to McLean, make DARN sure you are inside the beltway and not dependent upon it to get you anywhere. I was at a 400 person traffic meeting last night with the VDOT officials trying to figure out traffic flow and it went nowhere. Too many cars and not enough flow on the belway. Try your drives and commutes several times during main rush hour periods. It's usually horrendous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you move to McLean, expect to spend all of your time going elsewhere for entertainment and good food and restaurants. if you move to McLean, make DARN sure you are inside the beltway and not dependent upon it to get you anywhere. I was at a 400 person traffic meeting last night with the VDOT officials trying to figure out traffic flow and it went nowhere. Too many cars and not enough flow on the belway. Try your drives and commutes several times during main rush hour periods. It's usually horrendous.

You clearly have never driven in Alexandria! It can take 30 minutes to go from one side of the city to another. The kicker is that it is on purpose. Our powers that be don't seem to have to go anywhere like the rest of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Traffic is horrible from McLean into DC. We live in Alexandria and drive to McLean in the am up the Parkway. The commute into DC is much shorter from Alexandria.

FWIW, I live blocks from downtown McLean and the commute to my office on K Street near Franklin Sq averages 30 min (leaving 7:15am) and 40 min to get home (leaving ~5:30pm). I find it pretty manageable and even better than my old commute from FCC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here, and some food for thought: Its an unspoken rule amongst VA in-state college admissions that they accept a certain percentage of kids from each high school in the state. If you have a kid at McLean or Langley, the odds of them being in that top percentile are much more difficult than if your kid is at Edison, WestPo or TC Williams. We have decided to give our kid the opportunity to shine and be in the top 10% at Edison/WestPo/TC with our sights set on UVA. The odds of DS getting into the top 10% at Langley or McLean are much lower with all the crazy competition and tiger moms.

Stay put.

Total BS -Former admissions admin at a well known in-state university

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Traffic is horrible from McLean into DC. We live in Alexandria and drive to McLean in the am up the Parkway. The commute into DC is much shorter from Alexandria.

FWIW, I live blocks from downtown McLean and the commute to my office on K Street near Franklin Sq averages 30 min (leaving 7:15am) and 40 min to get home (leaving ~5:30pm). I find it pretty manageable and even better than my old commute from FCC.

Same here. It is is a fantastic location and incredibly popular right now for proximity to DC, schools, Metro, restaurants, shopping.

[Anonymous]

We were in the same situation and moved to McLean last year (but our kids were only in 1st and 3rd grade). Both of us work in DC and above all else we wanted our kids to go to a better school system than <3 ranked pyramid we were zoned to. Of course we knew many families and kids that were thriving in that system - but it seemed to be more the exception than the norm based on test schools and other parents first hand accounts.

A year later and we have no regrets. The 'soul-sucking' commute is perfectly fine to us (~35-40 min each way). The 'evil' 'snobby' people have been even more welcoming and friendly than they were in our old neighborhood in FC. We have already made some very good friends and they are all down to earth. Yes, you see more BMW's and Mercedes and some of the homes are $$$, but we find the majority of parents are nice - and surprisingly normal vs what we expected after reading DCUM propaganda for years prior to moving. And no, they don't obsess about the possibility of their kids going to TJ. McLean certainly may not be what many want, but it is a solid place to live if you want a great public school pyramid inside the beltway.

[Anonymous]

any place of above average wealth gets ripped on DCUM (McLean, Bethesda), people of wealth (admitting to HHI above $500K etc) get ripped... just look at all the threads about people who drive Range Rovers and luxury SUV's. People trash these places, people and spending choices like someone shat on their lap. It's all par for the course here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:any place of above average wealth gets ripped on DCUM (McLean, Bethesda), people of wealth (admitting to HHI above $500K etc) get ripped... just look at all the threads about people who drive Range Rovers and luxury SUV's. People trash these places, people and spending choices like someone shat on their lap. It's all par for the course here.

Oh, please. No more so than places DCUM sees as below average wealth (south Arlington, Annandale, Pimmit Hills and other areas of Falls Church that aren't in FCC, etc., etc.). Which, of course, is a joke because pretty much all of suburban MD and VA are above-average in wealth compared to the US as a whole...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We bought our home in Alexandria when we just finished graduate school. We cleaned out our savings to purchase our single family home in Alexandria. At the time, we had massive student loans and I worried about paying our mortgage, childcare and student loans. Fast forward to now, our income has gone up significantly, we have no debt besides the mortgage, have two kids in elementary and have enough savings to pay off our mortgage if we wanted. Older child is in AAP and younger child should also get into AAP in the future. Kids are thriving, play sports and have lots of friends. Neighbors are great. Life is good. We have seen many people move to better school districts. We like our house. Never thought it would be our forever home. It isn’t perfect but good enough. Kitchen, bathrooms and deck could use a renovation.

We work in DC so commute time could decrease if we move to McLean or Arlington. Places like Bethesda would also decrease commute time. These areas are also more expensive. Instead of being debt free, we would have to start over and get a new bigger mortgage. We would want a better home, not a worse home for the same price.

Would you move or stay put?

For these reasons, I would stay put. You children are happy and settled, that's critical. Use the extra $$ you have to renovate the kitchen, bathroom, and/or deck.

[Anonymous]

I'd stay. Spend the extra money on tutoring, fancy camps, fancy vacations, more savings towards their medical/law/masters degree.

[Anonymous]

OP was many months ago. But moving to McLean is a smart move. Perfect location and the best public schools in NoVa, hands down.