NW DC vs. NoVa

[Anonymous]

12:18 here.
It is a fair point that NoVa has more non-black racial diversity than DC, and, correspondingly, much better cheap ethnic restaurants than DC. We drive out to NoVa or MD for Burmese, Mexican, Vietnamese, Korean, and Indian food. Economic diversity also exists in NoVa, but unlike EOTP in DC, poor and rich don't live as close together and mix and mingle in public spaces much.

Also, while you can find dead spots in DC, EOTP you can walk to somewhere hustling and bustling with a variety of people and reasonable the expectation of novel experiences. I'm in Northeast and EOTP Northwest on the weekends and downtown on the weekdays, and there is always some remarkable facet of humanity on display when I'm walking around on the main streets. I did not have that experience living in Arlington. (To some that might be a positive, to me is was a negative.)

In NoVa, the main streets where walking is fun are farther apart, and getting from one lively area to another without a car was not something most people have time to do multiple times a day. That's what I missed most while living in NoVa.

Also -- depending on what hot neighborhood in DC you live in, you can walk/run/bike to work in the same time it will take you to bus and metro. That is the best commute ever, in my opinion. It was not possible for me, working downtown and commuting from Arlington.

[Anonymous]

We are in the process of moving from a leafy upper NW neighborhood to Falls Church City. Moving to a dated house on a lovely, leafy street. Super yard. 4 beds, 2 baths in your price range. It's not walkable, but the schools are great. Commute will be a challenge. We would have loved to stay in DC but just couldn't afford the neighborhoods/schools we wanted. Not saying whether or not you should move. Frankly I'm not sure if I would in your shoes (we are in a condo). But it can be done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in the process of moving from a leafy upper NW neighborhood to Falls Church City. Moving to a dated house on a lovely, leafy street. Super yard. 4 beds, 2 baths in your price range. It's not walkable, but the schools are great. Commute will be a challenge. We would have loved to stay in DC but just couldn't afford the neighborhoods/schools we wanted. Not saying whether or not you should move. Frankly I'm not sure if I would in your shoes (we are in a condo). But it can be done.

This kids will be happy good job!

[Anonymous]

12:49, it sounds like Northeast and EOTP Northwest are areas I want to visit and check out (I'm not OP.) The areas of NW I visit are always strikingly white and affluent compared to my usual NoVA haunts (not Arlington, which is very similar to NWDC demographically IMO.)

In my experience, I see way more mingling between rich and poor and multiple cultures here in NoVA in public places - like public schools, libraries, grocery stores, etc. There isn't much of a sidewalk culture so I don't see homeless people panhandling, but my daughter goes to school every day with a significant number of kids on FARM, which I think is a much more meaningful interaction.

[Anonymous]

13:38 again. I do concede we have very few black people and Jews here, which looks especially weird to me because where I grew up, those were the main minorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What would I be missing by crossing the river? Also, is a $700K budget doable for a 3 bed, 2 bath in some kind of wooded setting?

I don't know about a "wooded setting", but you can get a nice house with a yard within walking distance from parks with woods on that budget in parts of Arlington. I think that if you're an involved parent who pushes education and reading, your kid can get a great education at any Arlington public school, although I know some folks on here will try to tell you otherwise.

What you will miss:
- seeing DC friends who don't drive to the 'burbs a lot
- diversity (economic and racial)
- the amount of retail and food/entertainment options
- a short commute without driving in traffic (assuming you currently walk/metro/bus to work in DC)
- not having to drive; walking or biking a lot
- frequent casual encounters with other people
- the excitement that you never know what you might come across when you're out an about.

The last three are part of that "hustle and bustle" of city life. Even in the most urban parts of Arlington (i.e., around the metro stops) it's not quite the same hustle and bustle that you have in DC (even in the more quiet residential areas).

Good luck with your decision!

This is absolute BS.

My kids' school in Alexandria is 20% white, 20% black, 25% Asian, and 25% Hispanic, the rest "other." 60% free and reduced lunch. Puhlease.

The are great food and retail options in Virginia. The NOVA suburbs actually house most of the ethnic food options in the area. DC has none except for Ethiopian and a few random other things. It's all overpriced new American cuisine. And DC isn't exactly known as a shopping mecca.

Regarding the commute, we live 10 miles outside the city and my commute is 40 minutes door-to-door with bus and metro. It would be faster if my office wasn't a 10 minute walk from the metro.

Don't get me wrong--I like DC just as much as NOVA, but you are way off base with your assumptions.

The poster you are quoting specified Arlington

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What would I be missing by crossing the river? Also, is a $700K budget doable for a 3 bed, 2 bath in some kind of wooded setting?

I don't know about a "wooded setting", but you can get a nice house with a yard within walking distance from parks with woods on that budget in parts of Arlington. I think that if you're an involved parent who pushes education and reading, your kid can get a great education at any Arlington public school, although I know some folks on here will try to tell you otherwise.

What you will miss:
- seeing DC friends who don't drive to the 'burbs a lot
- diversity (economic and racial)
- the amount of retail and food/entertainment options
- a short commute without driving in traffic (assuming you currently walk/metro/bus to work in DC)
- not having to drive; walking or biking a lot
- frequent casual encounters with other people
- the excitement that you never know what you might come across when you're out an about.

The last three are part of that "hustle and bustle" of city life. Even in the most urban parts of Arlington (i.e., around the metro stops) it's not quite the same hustle and bustle that you have in DC (even in the more quiet residential areas).

Good luck with your decision!

This is absolute BS.

My kids' school in Alexandria is 20% white, 20% black, 25% Asian, and 25% Hispanic, the rest "other." 60% free and reduced lunch. Puhlease.

The are great food and retail options in Virginia. The NOVA suburbs actually house most of the ethnic food options in the area. DC has none except for Ethiopian and a few random other things. It's all overpriced new American cuisine. And DC isn't exactly known as a shopping mecca.

Regarding the commute, we live 10 miles outside the city and my commute is 40 minutes door-to-door with bus and metro. It would be faster if my office wasn't a 10 minute walk from the metro.

Don't get me wrong--I like DC just as much as NOVA, but you are way off base with your assumptions.

You must be talking about some school in the Alexandria part of Fairfax County or a private school. No school in ACPS has that demographic balance or anywhere near that percentage of Asian students.

[Anonymous]

One more vote for the diversity in NoVa. You have to understand that diversity means different things to different people. In DC, diversity is code for "black" and maybe "Hispanic" in some parts of the city. In NoVA, diversity means actual diversity, lots of people from lots of places. In my close-in, non-posh NoVa neighborhood I can count people from 15 countries off the top of my head in the 5-block radius:

French
Lebanese
Thai
Philippines
Indian
Pakistani
Russia
Kazakhstan
China
Egypt
KSA
Nepal
etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One more vote for the diversity in NoVa. You have to understand that diversity means different things to different people. In DC, diversity is code for "black" and maybe "Hispanic" in some parts of the city. In NoVA, diversity means actual diversity, lots of people from lots of places. In my close-in, non-posh NoVa neighborhood I can count people from 15 countries off the top of my head in the 5-block radius:

It's not 'code' for anything it's basic math. Those are the 2 largest minority groups in the United States. I think it's fair to say an area lacking people from those backgrounds lacks diversity. And before you start, I'd say the same thing for most parts of Prince George's county - they lack diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What would I be missing by crossing the river? Also, is a $700K budget doable for a 3 bed, 2 bath in some kind of wooded setting?

I don't know about a "wooded setting", but you can get a nice house with a yard within walking distance from parks with woods on that budget in parts of Arlington. I think that if you're an involved parent who pushes education and reading, your kid can get a great education at any Arlington public school, although I know some folks on here will try to tell you otherwise.

What you will miss:
- seeing DC friends who don't drive to the 'burbs a lot
- diversity (economic and racial)
- the amount of retail and food/entertainment options
- a short commute without driving in traffic (assuming you currently walk/metro/bus to work in DC)
- not having to drive; walking or biking a lot
- frequent casual encounters with other people
- the excitement that you never know what you might come across when you're out an about.

The last three are part of that "hustle and bustle" of city life. Even in the most urban parts of Arlington (i.e., around the metro stops) it's not quite the same hustle and bustle that you have in DC (even in the more quiet residential areas).

Good luck with your decision!

This is absolute BS.

My kids' school in Alexandria is 20% white, 20% black, 25% Asian, and 25% Hispanic, the rest "other." 60% free and reduced lunch. Puhlease.

The are great food and retail options in Virginia. The NOVA suburbs actually house most of the ethnic food options in the area. DC has none except for Ethiopian and a few random other things. It's all overpriced new American cuisine. And DC isn't exactly known as a shopping mecca.

Regarding the commute, we live 10 miles outside the city and my commute is 40 minutes door-to-door with bus and metro. It would be faster if my office wasn't a 10 minute walk from the metro.

Don't get me wrong--I like DC just as much as NOVA, but you are way off base with your assumptions.

You must be talking about some school in the Alexandria part of Fairfax County or a private school. No school in ACPS has that demographic balance or anywhere near that percentage of Asian students.

Yes, a Fairfax County public school with kids that feed in from W Alexandria and parts of N Springfield.

Also, the 6 houses on my cul-de-sac have families from 4 different countries. Very homogenous, you think?? I can't stand when people say NOVA is not diverse--these people must have never been anywhere in NOVA besides Old Town or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One more vote for the diversity in NoVa. You have to understand that diversity means different things to different people. In DC, diversity is code for "black" and maybe "Hispanic" in some parts of the city. In NoVA, diversity means actual diversity, lots of people from lots of places. In my close-in, non-posh NoVa neighborhood I can count people from 15 countries off the top of my head in the 5-block radius:

It's not 'code' for anything it's basic math. Those are the 2 largest minority groups in the United States. I think it's fair to say an area lacking people from those backgrounds lacks diversity. And before you start, I'd say the same thing for most parts of Prince George's county - they lack diversity.

But diversity isn't connected to who is the largest minority group, is it? Diversity means lots of people from lots of places. A classroom with a white, black, Hispanic, Korean, Indian and French kid is more diverse than a classroom with a white and a black kid, and certainly more diverse than a classroom with only black kids. NoVa doesn't lack blacks or Hispanics, it just has plenty of other people, too. In DC, a "diverse" school means a school with white and black kids, which I would argue is a very limited expression of diversity (except the Janney kind of diversity with WB/IMF/embassy kids).

[Anonymous]

Here's the demographic breakdown for all ACPS:
http://www.apsva.us/cms/lib2/VA01000586/Centricity/Domain/11/civilrights/Civil%20Rights_2012-13_Web.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One more vote for the diversity in NoVa. You have to understand that diversity means different things to different people. In DC, diversity is code for "black" and maybe "Hispanic" in some parts of the city. In NoVA, diversity means actual diversity, lots of people from lots of places. In my close-in, non-posh NoVa neighborhood I can count people from 15 countries off the top of my head in the 5-block radius:

It's not 'code' for anything it's basic math. Those are the 2 largest minority groups in the United States. I think it's fair to say an area lacking people from those backgrounds lacks diversity. And before you start, I'd say the same thing for most parts of Prince George's county - they lack diversity.

But diversity isn't connected to who is the largest minority group, is it? Diversity means lots of people from lots of places. A classroom with a white, black, Hispanic, Korean, Indian and French kid is more diverse than a classroom with a white and a black kid, and certainly more diverse than a classroom with only black kids. NoVa doesn't lack blacks or Hispanics, it just has plenty of other people, too. In DC, a "diverse" school means a school with white and black kids, which I would argue is a very limited expression of diversity (except the Janney kind of diversity with WB/IMF/embassy kids).

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Long time resident of a "hot" area in DC. Tons of restaurants/shopping/etc... It was great before kids, but now that I have a full house, my row house is feeling rather tight. Also, lamenting the lack of reliable schools, no green space, mean/jaded people etc... I'm thinking of cashing in while I can and jump ship for NoVa. I know the grass is always greener, but would this be a wise decision? The worst schools there are 10 x better than most DCPS's. Also, I can't stand that my kids don't have any woods to hike around in like I did growing up. Plus, most restaurants tolerate kids, but really they're more adult friendly. So, can someone chime in? What would I be missing by crossing the river? Also, is a $700K budget doable for a 3 bed, 2 bath in some kind of wooded setting?

Wow, what amount of BS per word. We will miss you sooooooo much. Enjoy the woods!

[Anonymous]

^^OP here! You're the exact type of person that has me high tailing it outta here as soon as I can get my shit together. The vitriolic attitudes for no reason whatsoever on top of the lack of quality options for my kids makes an area I've called home for far too long totally beneath me now. Unlike you, my kids' welfare comes first and it's best for them to grow up around nature vis a vis green space and in a healthy challenging educational environment. Sorry, a lot of people sacrifice their kids' future to serve their own desires. I just can't be one of those people. So, one thing we can agree on- we won't miss each other. But, I do feel sorry for your kids. To the other posters, thanks for all of the great feedback. Gave me plenty to think about.