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Looking to move- where are charming, but not snobby, N. Arlington neighborhoods?
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Anonymous
| We already live in N. Arlington and have for 5 years. We are looking to move next year and want a large neighborhood with a less urban feel. So, not Lyon Village or Ashton Heights. I love the charm and hometown feel of the Williamsburg/Yorktown/Rock Springs area, but we can't afford much there. Are there other neighborhoods with a similar feel? |
Anonymous
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Just because Williamsburg/Yorktown/Rock Spring are expensive, does not mean they are "snobby" neighborhoods. Most places in Arlington are pretty friendly. It really is what you make of it - if you are friendly, other people will be friendly back.
Also, most neighborhoods in N Arlington are charming in some way.. some more than others, sure. It depends what your priorities are - would you like something more walkable? Or a higher-end house , but farther from the Metro/amenities? What type of price range are you looking in, and how doable is the kind of place you want? |
Anonymous
| Waycroft |
Anonymous
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OP here, I don't think Williamsburg, Yorktown or Williamsburg is snobby- I just can't afford that area. I suppose I meant are there less expensive and equally charming areas. I also not want to feel like everyone is trying to "keep up".
I don't care about being close to a metro, but want a newish home, safety and great public schools. Our house is from 1940 and has no insulation in the walls- I also want my washer/dryer on the top floor. We need to be under 1 million. I am just wondering if there are areas I've never heard of which I should check out. l check out Waycroft. |
Anonymous
| Waverly Hills, Cherrydale, Maywood, Lee Heights, Berkshire Oakwood, Tara - pretty much any neighborhood that runs along Lee Highway toward Falls Church. I would just head down Lee Highway and take some random lefts and rights and see if you like what you see. Donaldson Run is also nice - off Military. |
Anonymous
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New SFH in North Arlington for under 1 million? Are you at all open to South Arlington?
Get thee to franklymls. I've heard some iffy things (in previous threads) about Culpeper St. between Lee/Glebe/George Mason, so I don't know if this http://franklymls.com/AR7658631 is as much of a bargain as it appears. This is in Aurora Hills one of the best parts of South Arlington IMO http://franklymls.com/AR7539541 This is on the corner of Quincy and 14th, so if you don't want that ... http://franklymls.com/AR7637659 and so on, so forth. Be prepared to move fast as I'm sure you know desirable and relatively affordable places in North Arlington WILL move fast. It might be better to buy a place for say $600k and then spend say $150k to renovate it to your standards. (I mean, I'd hate to see a lovely all-brick home get demolished so you can put up your 5000sf mullet house.) Washer-dryer on the top floor is something you'll probably have to cough up to get done. If you find an agent, see how many buys he has in North Arlington. The ones who have lots of volume in North Arlington will usually (between them and their co-agents) have an ear to the ground and be able to hook you up with a prospective seller before the house even hits the market. |
Anonymous
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We live between Westover and the EFC metro. Prices here are a bit lower than the areas to the north and east, but it's still a lovely neighborhood and zoned for fantastic schools (McKinley/Swanson/Yorktown). It has more "original" houses than some other 'hoods but still plenty of teardowns too. The people are incredibly friendly and down to earth. We can walk to Westover, which is not exactly Clarendon but it's very cute and has everything you need--a couple of decent casual restaurants, a library, a post office, a market, a pharmacy, and a cool old-school hardware/variety store. And we're walkable to the metro, convenient to everything. I work downtown but I drive in and it's usually under 35 minutes door to door. DH works in Tysons and it's even shorter than that. Love love love this location.
Our budget was similar to yours and the problem when we were looking was that every house seemed to be either an "original" (too small, needed work) or a huge brand new craftsman that was way out of or price range. I didn't think something in the middle existed, but we found it. A newly renovated--essentially rebuilt-- spacious 4 BR, 2.5 bath house with a huge finished basement and a really big yard. The finishes are mid-range--not high-end luxury but we do have hardwoods, granite, stainless, etc. It has tradeoffs-- not-huge kitchen, no garage, and it's on a busier street than we would have liked (though still not super busy). But overall it's pretty much perfect. We paid $900K. So yes, compromise houses do exist in N. Arlington. We looked for a FULL year and lost out on several houses before finding this one (and I'm so glad we did). We also were able to move fast and make a very good offer to the sellers-- full asking price with no home-sale contingency and they could rent back for a month. We had to borrow $ from family in order to make this offer before selling our old place, but I'm convinced it's what got us the house, as it was only on the market 2 days and they had 2 other offers. |
Anonymous
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Why do people use the word "charm" to describe North Arlington when there are many houses that look like this?
http://franklymls.com/AR7658631 If that's "charming," then Woodbridge is positively "captivating." |
Anonymous
I would not say this area is representative of Arlington. I live fairly close to there and it is a strange group of several streets with very few trees and wide open streets. Of course there are houses that were built in the 60s and 70s and may be considered "charmless" to most. But there are also really pretty streets with tons of trees and nice, older and new houses that are well maintained. I am thinking specifically of the areas off 16th St in Tara (N. Harrison, Ivanhoe, etc), houses in Waycroft near Woodlawn Park, as well as some streets near where I live (19th St in Waverly HIlls for example). There are many other places like this around Arlington - you just have to look around. Here are a couple of examples: http://franklymls.com/AR7511801 http://franklymls.com/AR7688728 |
Anonymous
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I just moved into the Yorktown area this past summer and I've found it to be extremely friendly. Our neighbors are fantastic, and I meet new moms every time we go to the neighborhood park. Strangers say hi on the street. I don't know what your range is, but it is possible to find something around $600K or less - you just have to accept that you might need to do a little work, and you won't likely get a garage. It's also easily accessible to Ballston and EFC metro (though not walkable) and there are ART buses. Westover is terrific too, though you definitely have to pay more to get into that neighborhood.
But that said, most of the homes are from the 40's. If you want a newer home in the established neighborhoods of North Arlington, you'd be better off buying a tear-down and building. Someone is doing that 2 blocks from me. there are plenty of tear-downs around here; you just need to make sure the lot is big enough. (maybe 0.17 acre+?) You could probably do this and stay under a mil. |
Anonymous
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OP here, thanks for all of your suggestions. Arlington is so large that I really needed help to discover new areas. I didn't know much about Cherrydale and it does seem like a viable options. I do think there is a gap in the market and that is the price range we're looking in (850-1M). We plan to rent while we look so we have time to wait for the right opportunity and make a non-contingent offer.
9:55 I didn't say all of Arlington is charming. I do think there are lots of charming areas- as there are in many other towns. I was just asking for some direction in finding them. Thanks. |
Anonymous
| OP - We have the same budget and same questions as you. I have no answers (sorry!), but I was happy to see we aren't the only ones wondering where the $800 - $1 mil houses are in N. Arlington. I thought I was just missing something. We've driven all through the neighborhoods mentioned on here, and we're thinking that maybe N. Arlington isn't in the cards for us. I like the shorter commute from there, but we're thinking we may need to look in Vienna or McLean for the size/price home we're seeking. We're currently renting and may do so for another year or two and just save to get into the $1.2 range. |
Anonymous
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Here's a really nice one in Country Club Hills, where a couple of my friends live:
http://franklymls.com/AR7616946 This one's really interesting, in Cherrydale: http://franklymls.com/AR7676798 Gorgeous houses in Bellevue Forest, a good neighborhood with great schools: http://franklymls.com/AR9000960 http://franklymls.com/AR7670922 Nice neighborhood, good schools, huge lot http://franklymls.com/AR7653419 |
Anonymous
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Following up on 10:17- I live in High View Park/Halls Hills, and so can give some more background... that your realtor won't/can't tell you. Some parts are not exactly the most "charming," but it is an incredibly friendly and well-established neighborhood.
It is a diverse neighborhood, which our family likes. Not everyone likes a diverse neighborhood, though most would not admit that- I know we got a better value on our home because of that. High View is a historically black neighborhood, but newer neighbors are of all different races, younger professionals, etc. More and more teardowns over the past couple years. Many neighbors have family roots in the area that go back generations, and live mortgage-debt-free. We're really happy to live here- great parks, walkable to everything, very close to transit, Yorktown HS district. I would highly recommend it. The caveat is that many of the houses for sale are serious fixer-uppers/tear-downs, etc. Relatively few houses go up for sale, compared to what you'd think. |
Anonymous
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I would suggest looking at some of the large THs in the N Arlington area at your pricepoint to get the 'newness', size, and location factors you're seeking. 2800-3300 sq foot THs (thus much larger than the SFHs in your price range) are available and quite popular ranging from $800k+....several of the Bromptons developments in the types of zones you're seeking, e.g Cherrydale. These are basically SFHs from an interior sense as each floor is quite large (some w/ small yards but most without) Maybe worth looking at as an option....
On the SFH we have friends who bought a renovated SFH..quite nice in terms of renos, but about 1600 sq feet for around 900k... |