Considering a Move to Alexandria or Arlington Questions Re: Neighhborhoods

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you have kids/planning to have kids?
Because realtors will always tell you when you’re buying not to look at the scores.
Then when you go to sell they will tell you it will be harder to get x amount in this many days due to the GS rating.

We don't need to worry about the schools anymore, but we are, of course concerned about resale someday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:22308 we love it here

Thank you for the recommendation. I will check for listings there. What are the attributes of the area that you love about your area?

[Anonymous]

22310 near Telegraph and Rt 1 or Metro doesn’t really meet your walkability needs. You might like Kingstowne, but it’s not that close to metro (there are busses though).

Oh, that's right. l'm having trouble keeping the areas straight. It was recommended to us because of our price range. Do you know anything about that area? I think it was suggested to us because it was a ten minute drive to Old Town and it wasn't far from a metro station.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're going to have a hard time finding something not near a busy street if you want to be anywhere remotely close-in.

It's actually not a bad thing to be a couple/few blocks off a busy street. I'm not talking route 66 or 395 - I'm talking a Glebe or Route 1 or Lee Hwy. We live 1 block off of George Mason in Arlington, and about 3-4 blocks off of Lee and about the same distance from Glebe. It is great to have the commuting options, and we never hear road noise. There is some cut-through traffic thanks to the mapping softwares - no way to avoid that. But we are walkable to all sorts of things BECAUSE we are near a busy road. That's where shops and restaurants are. Busy roads get plowed quickly, so you can generally make your way out during/after a storm.

I used to live 2 blocks off of route 50 and a few blocks from route 29 - again, no road noise, huge convenience factor.

Falls Church City would be awesome, but we'd need to know your budget.

Lots of us are Anonymous so I'll call myself HH for House Hunter.

It does make sense that in snow, those roads would be the plowed first. I didn't think about that. The roads we've traveled to get to some of the houses we've looked at were around Telegraph and Route 1 (Richmond Highway). Do you know those roads? How do Glebe, Route 1, Lee Highway and George Mason compare to those roads, which seem really run down? The zip code is 22310 and the High School is Edison which on GreatSchools is a 4. I'm told the school is very diverse and there is an advanced program that students can test into. We don't need the schools anymore but I'm definitely thinking about re-sale down the road. What zip code are you in, if you don't mind my asking?

Our price range is up to about $750,000. Maybe a little more if it's updated.

22310 near Telegraph and Rt 1 or Metro doesn’t really meet your walkability needs. You might like Kingstowne, but it’s not that close to metro (there are busses though).

Oh, that's right. l'm having trouble keeping the areas straight. It was recommended to us because of our price range. Do you know anything about that area? I think it was suggested to us because it was a ten minute drive to Old Town and it wasn't far from a metro station.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are probably looking for 22301 or 22305

Is that Potomac West? I think we looked at one there that was too small but I liked it's proximity to Del Ray and to the larger stores off the main road. I'll keep looking in those zip codes. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Look at 22202 (South Arlington).

Cheapest of the lot and closest to new Amazon HQ2. You have Crystal City, Aurora Highlands,and Arlington Ridge neighborhoods with Condos, town houses and SFHs.

Also two Metros, Upscale giant Mall, bus service, good elementary school, good middle school, new high school with ever increasing improving demographics.as well as a private K-8 (Catholic) school. 10-12 minutes by car to Old Town. Bike lanes, lots of trees and public parks.

All for less money than North Arlington, DC, and Old Town for similar type homes. Also the State is building a sound wall separating 395 from Arlington Ridge. Looked at Zillow last month, there were 10 or so SFHs. Today only 3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:22308 we love it here

Thank you for the recommendation. I will check for listings there. What are the attributes of the area that you love about your area?

22308 is just south of Old town (5-7 min drive down GW Parkway) in a very leafy suburban setting within walking or biking distance of the Potomac River. Good elementary school (Waynewood). Only one small shopping area (Hollin Hall) with a Safewya, 3-4 restaurants, and a few other shops. Major shopping is either on Richmond Hwy (Route 1) or Old Town. Most houses are in the $600-$900k range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avoid 22201

Why do you suggest avoiding 22201? Thanks!

DP. Entitled, spoiled UMC people in bad houses paid for by family. They daily erode the sense of community and have no consideration for others. One might say they are not civil.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avoid 22201

Why do you suggest avoiding 22201? Thanks!

DP. Entitled, spoiled UMC people in bad houses paid for by family. They daily erode the sense of community and have no consideration for others. One might say they are not civil.

Sounds like someone's jealous!

I live in 22201 in a townhouse, because I can't afford a SFH but I want a short commute to the city. We paid for it ourselves. But I didn't recommend it to OP bc it's out of his/her price range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:22308 we love it here

Thank you for the recommendation. I will check for listings there. What are the attributes of the area that you love about your area?

22308 is just south of Old town (5-7 min drive down GW Parkway) in a very leafy suburban setting within walking or biking distance of the Potomac River. Good elementary school (Waynewood). Only one small shopping area (Hollin Hall) with a Safewya, 3-4 restaurants, and a few other shops. Major shopping is either on Richmond Hwy (Route 1) or Old Town. Most houses are in the $600-$900k range.

Thank you. Is 22308 in the same area? I just saw something listed there that might work for us? How would you compare the schools and location to 22310?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at 22202 (South Arlington).

Cheapest of the lot and closest to new Amazon HQ2. You have Crystal City, Aurora Highlands,and Arlington Ridge neighborhoods with Condos, town houses and SFHs.

Also two Metros, Upscale giant Mall, bus service, good elementary school, good middle school, new high school with ever increasing improving demographics.as well as a private K-8 (Catholic) school. 10-12 minutes by car to Old Town. Bike lanes, lots of trees and public parks.

All for less money than North Arlington, DC, and Old Town for similar type homes. Also the State is building a sound wall separating 395 from Arlington Ridge. Looked at Zillow last month, there were 10 or so SFHs. Today only 3.

Thank you! I’ll look at those listings, too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:22308 we love it here

Thank you for the recommendation. I will check for listings there. What are the attributes of the area that you love about your area?

22308 is just south of Old town (5-7 min drive down GW Parkway) in a very leafy suburban setting within walking or biking distance of the Potomac River. Good elementary school (Waynewood). Only one small shopping area (Hollin Hall) with a Safewya, 3-4 restaurants, and a few other shops. Major shopping is either on Richmond Hwy (Route 1) or Old Town. Most houses are in the $600-$900k range.

Thank you. Is 22308 in the same area? I just saw something listed there that might work for us? How would you compare the schools and location to 22310?

DP. I'm not sure which schools are in which zipcode but here is what I know from being in the area. Waynewood Elementary is a gem. Belle View Elementary and Stratford Landing (AAP ?) are also quite good. Sandburg (middle school) and West Potomac (high school) are not as strong overall but you can still get a fine education. A lot of folks in that area will go public for elementary and then move to parochial or private for middle school and high school. The area overall is wonderful and has a lot to recommend it. A very small town feel with access to all the amenities of the big city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avoid 22201

Why do you suggest avoiding 22201? Thanks!

DP. Entitled, spoiled UMC people in bad houses paid for by family. They daily erode the sense of community and have no consideration for others. One might say they are not civil.

Sounds like someone's jealous!

I live in 22201 in a townhouse, because I can't afford a SFH but I want a short commute to the city. We paid for it ourselves. But I didn't recommend it to OP bc it's out of his/her price range.

Because you live in a townhouse you are not aware of the problems with peolple who are buying single family houses in Clarendon and Lyon Village where I live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avoid 22201

Why do you suggest avoiding 22201? Thanks!

DP. Entitled, spoiled UMC people in bad houses paid for by family. They daily erode the sense of community and have no consideration for others. One might say they are not civil.

Sounds like someone's jealous!

I live in 22201 in a townhouse, because I can't afford a SFH but I want a short commute to the city. We paid for it ourselves. But I didn't recommend it to OP bc it's out of his/her price range.

Because you live in a townhouse you are not aware of the problems with peolple who are buying single family houses in Clarendon and Lyon Village where I live.

[Anonymous]

Westover in Arlington, but not sure if you can find anything in the price range.

For proximity to Old Town in a beautiful, woodsy suburban setting, Fort Hunt/22308 is fabulous. Lots of options for private if you don’t want to do public schools. Homes run $550-1M on average.