Life in Falls Church

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, our taxes, not are! Been a long day.

LOL completely understand. Is the tax difference really that much? I see something like 1% property tax in Arlington versus 1.25% in FCC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi all,

We are relocating to the DMV and are seriously considering a house in Falls Church City. In our naive minds, it would be a good spot because we have young kids about to enter schools, enjoy the mix of small town and big city life, and like the downtown vibe as a nice alternative to going into DC proper. We can just barely afford a house there.

Could anyone weigh in on the community in Falls Church that they have experienced? Generally friendly? Generally family and kid-oriented? Generally able to talk about something other than work?

I'll be commuting into downtown a few days per week, and my spouse will WFH, if that matters.

Any real world experience or thoughts would be helpful. Much appreciated.

Amy Coney Barrett lives there

She actually lives in the Fairfax County part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you decide to go the Falls Church/Fairfax County route (as we did), look carefully at the school pyramid you're getting into. Some are better than others.

+1. Generally speaking, you should look to avoid Falls Church in Fairfax County, as their schools are subpar to say the least.

The schools in 22043 are just as good or better.

We quit public there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, we live in 22043 on the border of Falls Church City and Fairfax County. We participated in many Falls Church activities through the years. Our kids played sports through FCC Rec and were on the same Little League teams. Our local pool membership pulls from FCC and Fairfax County. So we get lots of exposure to kids from various school pyramids (Meridian, McLean and Marshall, plus those that go to St. James).

I don't think you can go wrong with any of those schools.

+1 Totally agree, we live in the same area as this PP and my kids have friends at all of these schools - all great kids, great families. Fairfax County schools are definitely more diverse, but that has both benefits and drawbacks, obviously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"downtown vibe??" I'm not sure what you're referring to here. Do you just mean that there are things you can walk to?

Yes, just the sense of some walkability compared to many of the suburbs in Northern Virginia that seem almost exclusively car-bound. Again, we are searching from a distance and not from the area so we might not be seeing things correctly.

It's not really as walkable as it seems, honestly. The roads are very busy and other than a couple blocks, there isn't much to walk to. That may change with the new developments popping up, but I'm just concerned that it will make the roads even busier and unsafe.

[Anonymous]

If you are a joiner, you will love Falls Church City. The small structures of the schools, government, and community organizations lend themselves to people being able to connect and get involved. It's easy to get to know your neighbors because there are certain things -- the schools, the farmer's market, the rec and high school sports -- that regularly draw people in. I joke that during the annual Memorial Day parade, one half of the city marches while the other half watches, and people trade off those roles from year to year.

I love that my kids can play, work, and volunteer in our community, and that there are always other people looking out for them. In that way, it's very small-towny.

Some people may prefer a larger, more anonymous community, and that's OK. The flip side of a small town is that news can travel fast, and you have to decide how much stock you're going to put into the stories.

My neighborhood is a nice mix of incomes, generations and ethnicities. The older, lifelong residents of FCC might be overwhelmingly white, but my kids' schools are increasingly diverse. The city's segregated past is shameful, but I appreciate that there has been a concerted effort to acknowledge and address that, and to shine light on continuing areas of inequality.

I'm excited for the newest redevelopment projects to come online, but I know others are not. It's a bone of contention, and only time will tell if I've been foolishly optimistic. But in the meantime, I appreciate what earlier redevelopment has added to the tax base, the shopping and dining options, and the streetscape.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are a joiner, you will love Falls Church City. The small structures of the schools, government, and community organizations lend themselves to people being able to connect and get involved. It's easy to get to know your neighbors because there are certain things -- the schools, the farmer's market, the rec and high school sports -- that regularly draw people in. I joke that during the annual Memorial Day parade, one half of the city marches while the other half watches, and people trade off those roles from year to year.

I love that my kids can play, work, and volunteer in our community, and that there are always other people looking out for them. In that way, it's very small-towny.

Some people may prefer a larger, more anonymous community, and that's OK. The flip side of a small town is that news can travel fast, and you have to decide how much stock you're going to put into the stories.

My neighborhood is a nice mix of incomes, generations and ethnicities. The older, lifelong residents of FCC might be overwhelmingly white, but my kids' schools are increasingly diverse. The city's segregated past is shameful, but I appreciate that there has been a concerted effort to acknowledge and address that, and to shine light on continuing areas of inequality.

I'm excited for the newest redevelopment projects to come online, but I know others are not. It's a bone of contention, and only time will tell if I've been foolishly optimistic. But in the meantime, I appreciate what earlier redevelopment has added to the tax base, the shopping and dining options, and the streetscape.

The notion that a community is “anonymous” if it isn’t as small and gossipy as Falls Church City is a false dichotomy.

[Anonymous]

big city vibe? i mean, jfc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you decide to go the Falls Church/Fairfax County route (as we did), look carefully at the school pyramid you're getting into. Some are better than others.

+1. Generally speaking, you should look to avoid Falls Church in Fairfax County, as their schools are subpar to say the least. [/quote

what does subpar mean?

[Anonymous]

Hardscrabble, depressing and ugly area. Can’t be fixed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"downtown vibe??" I'm not sure what you're referring to here. Do you just mean that there are things you can walk to?

Yes, just the sense of some walkability compared to many of the suburbs in Northern Virginia that seem almost exclusively car-bound. Again, we are searching from a distance and not from the area so we might not be seeing things correctly.

It's not really as walkable as it seems, honestly. The roads are very busy and other than a couple blocks, there isn't much to walk to. That may change with the new developments popping up, but I'm just concerned that it will make the roads even busier and unsafe.

It's walkable enough for the middle school and high school students to swarm Birch and Broad after dismissal. I'm another 22043 interloper who uses a few services in FCC and I've never gotten a "small town" vibe from it. It's sandwiched between Tysons and Arlington! It's by no means an isolated community, and when we're at swim class or the pediatrician or picking up dinner, we don't feel like outsiders. The vibe is no different from running to the dentist in Tysons, or going to a store in McLean. Maybe it's different if you live there, but this area is just so densely populated that any activities you do outside of school is going to overlap with multiple school clusters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are a joiner, you will love Falls Church City. The small structures of the schools, government, and community organizations lend themselves to people being able to connect and get involved. It's easy to get to know your neighbors because there are certain things -- the schools, the farmer's market, the rec and high school sports -- that regularly draw people in. I joke that during the annual Memorial Day parade, one half of the city marches while the other half watches, and people trade off those roles from year to year.

I love that my kids can play, work, and volunteer in our community, and that there are always other people looking out for them. In that way, it's very small-towny.

Some people may prefer a larger, more anonymous community, and that's OK. The flip side of a small town is that news can travel fast, and you have to decide how much stock you're going to put into the stories.

My neighborhood is a nice mix of incomes, generations and ethnicities. The older, lifelong residents of FCC might be overwhelmingly white, but my kids' schools are increasingly diverse. The city's segregated past is shameful, but I appreciate that there has been a concerted effort to acknowledge and address that, and to shine light on continuing areas of inequality.

I'm excited for the newest redevelopment projects to come online, but I know others are not. It's a bone of contention, and only time will tell if I've been foolishly optimistic. But in the meantime, I appreciate what earlier redevelopment has added to the tax base, the shopping and dining options, and the streetscape.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you decide to go the Falls Church/Fairfax County route (as we did), look carefully at the school pyramid you're getting into. Some are better than others.

Thanks, this is good to keep in mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, our taxes, not are! Been a long day.

LOL completely understand. Is the tax difference really that much? I see something like 1% property tax in Arlington versus 1.25% in FCC?

It’s been a few years since we were home buying, but our budget was up to ~$1m and I remember looking at the monthly break down and it seemed like the taxes were really pushing up the monthly payment in FCC vs. Arlington. But assessed values in Arlington have really been going up the past few years so maybe it’s catching up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"downtown vibe??" I'm not sure what you're referring to here. Do you just mean that there are things you can walk to?

Yes, just the sense of some walkability compared to many of the suburbs in Northern Virginia that seem almost exclusively car-bound. Again, we are searching from a distance and not from the area so we might not be seeing things correctly.

It's not really as walkable as it seems, honestly. The roads are very busy and other than a couple blocks, there isn't much to walk to. That may change with the new developments popping up, but I'm just concerned that it will make the roads even busier and unsafe.

It's walkable enough for the middle school and high school students to swarm Birch and Broad after dismissal. I'm another 22043 interloper who uses a few services in FCC and I've never gotten a "small town" vibe from it. It's sandwiched between Tysons and Arlington! It's by no means an isolated community, and when we're at swim class or the pediatrician or picking up dinner, we don't feel like outsiders. The vibe is no different from running to the dentist in Tysons, or going to a store in McLean. Maybe it's different if you live there, but this area is just so densely populated that any activities you do outside of school is going to overlap with multiple school clusters.

Don't live in FCC, as have no interest in paying higher taxes or sending my kids to IB schools like Meridian (prefer AP), but one thing I've noticed is that the FCC residents seem to be much more invested in local elections. In particular, if you drive around FCC near an election, it seems like every house or every other house has campaign signs out in front, presumably supporting someone they know running for local office. Cross a block or two into parts of 22046 that are in the county, and there are far fewer signs.

It's a mixed bag. Not sure I'd really want to get pressured by a neighbor to put up their campaign signs in my yard, but some of the local representatives in Fairfax County (thinking of the low-life, despicable Karl Frisch) could care less about being responsive to the needs of the community.