Falls Church vs. Alexandria

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alexandria is more desirable. As cute as it can feel to live in a city that is basically one big neighborhood, Alexandria can really be a pleasant and insular environment that is connected and accessible to any area of the core region. Old town is a pretty dynamic place, with a lot of growth near old town north and Potomac Yard. Del Ray provides quaint living, and when you combine all that with Rosemont, Beverly Hills, and Seminary Hill, you get a relatively large area that is safe, engaging but still grounded.

Falls church is simply too small.

Pretty much this. Both have good parts and not great parts. But the best parts of either are in Alexandria -- Old Town+Del Ray+Beverly Hills/Ridge+Rosemont. Great housing stock and variety (and mercifully few McMansions), lots of parks and non-chain bars/restaurants/store to walk to, very safe, and real sense of community.

But the OP's question is too vague and FCC has some great qualities.

FWIW, Belle Haven/Belle View/Hybla Valley/Fort Hunt has some terrific pockets of housing gems, especially if you're looking for a mid-century modern. Wrong part of the metro for us, but when we were house shopping a few years ago we almost took a 25min longer commute to snag a gorgeous mid-century on a perfect lot for 900k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Different markets. FCC is significantly more expensive than Alexandria other than a few houses around Old Town.

This, they are not exactly comparable markets.

Alexandria is largely middle class ranch/ramblers or just large apartment complexes, except for some pockets around Old Town.

Falls Church City has been one of the wealthiest jurisdictions in the country for a long time. It’s uniformly wealthy and highly educated with one of the best school systems in the DMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alexandria is more desirable. As cute as it can feel to live in a city that is basically one big neighborhood, Alexandria can really be a pleasant and insular environment that is connected and accessible to any area of the core region. Old town is a pretty dynamic place, with a lot of growth near old town north and Potomac Yard. Del Ray provides quaint living, and when you combine all that with Rosemont, Beverly Hills, and Seminary Hill, you get a relatively large area that is safe, engaging but still grounded.

Falls church is simply too small.

Pretty much this. Both have good parts and not great parts. But the best parts of either are in Alexandria -- Old Town+Del Ray+Beverly Hills/Ridge+Rosemont. Great housing stock and variety (and mercifully few McMansions), lots of parks and non-chain bars/restaurants/store to walk to, very safe, and real sense of community.

But the OP's question is too vague and FCC has some great qualities.

FWIW, Belle Haven/Belle View/Hybla Valley/Fort Hunt has some terrific pockets of housing gems, especially if you're looking for a mid-century modern. Wrong part of the metro for us, but when we were house shopping a few years ago we almost took a 25min longer commute to snag a gorgeous mid-century on a perfect lot for 900k.

FCC has gorgeous neighborhoods walking distance to metro, schools, stores. Broadmont is gorgeous but you can’t find anything for 900k there. Like a PP said, it’s just a lot more expensive than Alexandria.

[Anonymous]

Alexandria > FCC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I prefer living in FCC, I smell a lot of pot walking in Alexandria-otherwise I like hanging out there, I personally do not mind but really do not want my kids exposed to second hand marijuana.

What a weird comment? I’ve lived in Alexandria for 20 years in OT, Del Ray and Rosemont and never have I ever smelled pot anywhere. And I work from home so I am out and about in Alexandria 7 days a week. This has to be a troll.

100% troll

The amount of random flack Alexandria gets on these forums is pretty remarkable. It's like people truly don't know anything about this place or they're the old guard who live here and don't want anybody else to moving in. I guess it doesn't matter either way, as the city continues to grow by leaps and bound and my property value has skyrocketed. I'm not selling as there's nowhere else in the metro I'd rather live, but it's pretty entertaining to hear the wild claims that get bandied about

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I prefer living in FCC, I smell a lot of pot walking in Alexandria-otherwise I like hanging out there, I personally do not mind but really do not want my kids exposed to second hand marijuana.

What a weird comment? I’ve lived in Alexandria for 20 years in OT, Del Ray and Rosemont and never have I ever smelled pot anywhere. And I work from home so I am out and about in Alexandria 7 days a week. This has to be a troll.

PP probably lived in Del Ray in the 90s/ early 2000s when that was common. Besides that, nope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Different markets. FCC is significantly more expensive than Alexandria other than a few houses around Old Town.

This, they are not exactly comparable markets.

Alexandria is largely middle-class ranch/ramblers or just large apartment complexes, except for some pockets around Old Town.

Falls Church City has been one of the wealthiest jurisdictions in the country for a long time. It’s uniformly wealthy and highly educated with one of the best school systems in the DMV.

Comparable properties across both are going to be more expensive in Alexandria. Comparing median costs doesn't really help when Alexandria has so many low-income housing that swaths over most of the West End, but 3-5k square foot homes in the East End of the City are not going to be cheaper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I prefer living in FCC, I smell a lot of pot walking in Alexandria-otherwise I like hanging out there, I personally do not mind but really do not want my kids exposed to second hand marijuana.

lOL more than once I have smelled pot wafting out of someone’s car while out on a weekend morning jog in FCC. The smell of pot is everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Different markets. FCC is significantly more expensive than Alexandria other than a few houses around Old Town.

This, they are not exactly comparable markets.

Alexandria is largely middle-class ranch/ramblers or just large apartment complexes, except for some pockets around Old Town.

Falls Church City has been one of the wealthiest jurisdictions in the country for a long time. It’s uniformly wealthy and highly educated with one of the best school systems in the DMV.

Comparable properties across both are going to be more expensive in Alexandria. Comparing median costs doesn't really help when Alexandria has so many low-income housing that swaths over most of the West End, but 3-5k square foot homes in the East End of the City are not going to be cheaper.

Not true. Alexandria has a lot of older expensive homes but they simply don't have a large number of houses on par with the wealthier jurisdictions of FCC, Mclean, North Arlington etc.

Alexandria has always been the affordable backup.

[Anonymous]

^^ Alexandria has a lot more historic homes*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I prefer living in FCC, I smell a lot of pot walking in Alexandria-otherwise I like hanging out there, I personally do not mind but really do not want my kids exposed to second hand marijuana.

What a weird comment? I’ve lived in Alexandria for 20 years in OT, Del Ray and Rosemont and never have I ever smelled pot anywhere. And I work from home so I am out and about in Alexandria 7 days a week. This has to be a troll.

100% troll

The amount of random flack Alexandria gets on these forums is pretty remarkable. It's like people truly don't know anything about this place or they're the old guard who live here and don't want anybody else to moving in. I guess it doesn't matter either way, as the city continues to grow by leaps and bound and my property value has skyrocketed. I'm not selling as there's nowhere else in the metro I'd rather live, but it's pretty entertaining to hear the wild claims that get bandied about

We got outbid so much in Alexandria that we actually bought a townhouse in Falls Church City. It doesn't compare to Old Town Alexandria. At 9 pm Broad St. and Washington St. are deserted (unless Clare and Don's or the State Theatre is doing something on the weekends). Also, the old hippy ladies who seem to run everything all need to buy some new clothes and see a hairdresser.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Different markets. FCC is significantly more expensive than Alexandria other than a few houses around Old Town.

This, they are not exactly comparable markets.

Alexandria is largely middle class ranch/ramblers or just large apartment complexes, except for some pockets around Old Town.

Falls Church City has been one of the wealthiest jurisdictions in the country for a long time. It’s uniformly wealthy and highly educated with one of the best school systems in the DMV.

100% This. Alexandria is a good place for that good old backhome feeling. Falls Church is a town full of executives and highly successful individuals. It is McClean with charm / Bethesda with small-town feel without the challenges of a small town. People are friendly, it is incredibly safe and children do well. It just makes sense.

Falls Church is much more expensive but I know the services work. How many years and multi million dollar renovations has ACPS done without showing any improvements. Doubling down on the one school efforts is not the way to go. You can also send your kids to TJ.Despite all the 'investments' the students who were behind are no better off than they were a decade ago. Couple that with flooding, and declining services, you have a recipe for disaster.

If it wasn't for Amazon, I would say Alexandris is probably the worst inner suburban area in VA to possibly consider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Different markets. FCC is significantly more expensive than Alexandria other than a few houses around Old Town.

This, they are not exactly comparable markets.

Alexandria is largely middle-class ranch/ramblers or just large apartment complexes, except for some pockets around Old Town.

Falls Church City has been one of the wealthiest jurisdictions in the country for a long time. It’s uniformly wealthy and highly educated with one of the best school systems in the DMV.

Comparable properties across both are going to be more expensive in Alexandria. Comparing median costs doesn't really help when Alexandria has so many low-income housing that swaths over most of the West End, but 3-5k square foot homes in the East End of the City are not going to be cheaper.

Not true. Alexandria has a lot of older expensive homes but they simply don't have a large number of houses on par with the wealthier jurisdictions of FCC, Mclean, North Arlington etc.

Alexandria has always been the affordable backup.

LOL. This is all stupid. FCC has a population of 15K. Alexandria has 150K. They're simply not comparable. And the idea that Alexandria doesn't have as many nice homes as FCC has got to be one of the dumbest comments of the day.

[Anonymous]

Getting to dc or metro is way harder in Alexandria.

Falls church city is like 10 square blocks. It is tiny.

Both areas are fall back locations from n Arlington so pick your poison and what works for your commute.

If I were looking in NOVA it would be n Arlington or suburb in Woodson school district or farther out. Alexandria and falls church are not dc centric and not suburban. They are densely populated but not Arlington level commute or access to dc.

[Anonymous]

FCC is not "10 square blocks" it's two square miles.

It's also not a fall back location from n Arlington. I grew up in Arlington, partly in N. Arlington and partly in S. Arlington. I deliberately chose FCC over Arlington to raise my kids and have zero regrets on that.

Most people with families who move to FCC do it because of the schools. Most who move to City of Alexandria do it in spite of the schools.