Fairfax vs Arlington

[Anonymous]

For a relatively lower cost McLean neighborhood with the perhaps the best good schools in the Region (Cooper/Langley) and lots of kids, keep an eye out for housing inventory in “McLean Hamlet” (search on it in Zillow/Redfin). Single family homes in that neighborhood routinely become available for under $1.3M, but they rarely stay on the market for more than 5 days. You sacrifice walkability in this area, but Safeway, Wegmans, the McLean metro, and some of the area’s best pool facilities are a <5 minute drive.

Just don’t buy anything too close to the Dulles Access Road or 495, which will be expanded in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, Langley and McLean school zones you recommended are outside of the budget.

There might not be any stock available now, but there are routinely townhomes zoned for Haycock/Longfellow and McLean in the $1.1 to $1.2 range. There are fewer townhouses zoned for Cooper-Langley (arguably the best public school pyramid in the DMV), but there are some, usually in the $1.2 to $1.4 range. Both of those school pyramids are better than any pyramid in Arlington, but Arlington schools are still solid (and a fair bit better than the schools in your original post).

No one thinks of Langley as the best public school pyramid in the DMV. It's as expensive as Walt Whitman in Montgomery, but Whitman is hands-down stronger academically. And in NoVa McLean is apparently stronger than Langley, even though not as wealthy.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/maryland/districts/montgomery-county-public-schools/walt-whitman-high-school-9150

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/fairfax-county-public-schools/mclean-high-school-20452

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/fairfax-county-public-schools/langley-high-school-20448

The Arlington high schools aren't as highly rated, but they are still well regarded and more relaxed.

U.S. News rating are imperfect, as are any ratings that attempt to compare results across states using state-specific tests. Some schools (and some states) are more strict about the students they will graduate, and who they count in (or exclude from) their scores. All three of the above schools are excellent schools with student SAT averages regularly in the 1290 to 1320 range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, Langley and McLean school zones you recommended are outside of the budget.

There might not be any stock available now, but there are routinely townhomes zoned for Haycock/Longfellow and McLean in the $1.1 to $1.2 range. There are fewer townhouses zoned for Cooper-Langley (arguably the best public school pyramid in the DMV), but there are some, usually in the $1.2 to $1.4 range. Both of those school pyramids are better than any pyramid in Arlington, but Arlington schools are still solid (and a fair bit better than the schools in your original post).

No one thinks of Langley as the best public school pyramid in the DMV. It's as expensive as Walt Whitman in Montgomery, but Whitman is hands-down stronger academically. And in NoVa McLean is apparently stronger than Langley, even though not as wealthy.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/maryland/districts/montgomery-county-public-schools/walt-whitman-high-school-9150

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/fairfax-county-public-schools/mclean-high-school-20452

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/fairfax-county-public-schools/langley-high-school-20448

The Arlington high schools aren't as highly rated, but they are still well regarded and more relaxed.

U.S. News rating are imperfect, as are any ratings that attempt to compare results across states using state-specific tests. Some schools (and some states) are more strict about the students they will graduate, and who they count in (or exclude from) their scores. All three of the above schools are excellent schools with student SAT averages regularly in the 1290 to 1320 range.

This nitpicking over schools is ridiculous. The OP clearly isn't prioritizing the absolute best schools considering their first post with bad to mediocre school.

Any of the N Arlington or Falls Church City and many Fairfax pyramids are good. That's enough. We don't need to endlessly debate which pyramid is "best." If that matters to you, go ahead and focus on that one metric in your own home search. But that wasn't OP's question. Take your fixation elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Providence / Johnson / Fairfax are good schools where families are happy and have excellent outcomes. I wouldn’t fixate too much on the Great Schools numbers. If your kids qualify for what’s called Advanced Academic Programs (AAP) in Fairfax County Public Schools, they would be in the program grades 3-8 and would go to a different school (Mosaic) for grades 3-6.

There are a couple of swimming pools in the area that it’s possible to join without a 10-year wait, which isn’t the case everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Providence / Johnson / Fairfax are good schools where families are happy and have excellent outcomes. I wouldn’t fixate too much on the Great Schools numbers. If your kids qualify for what’s called Advanced Academic Programs (AAP) in Fairfax County Public Schools, they would be in the program grades 3-8 and would go to a different school (Mosaic) for grades 3-6.

There are a couple of swimming pools in the area that it’s possible to join without a 10-year wait, which isn’t the case everywhere.

+1, my kid attended both PES and KJ. Now at FHS and doing well. We love City of Fairfax, small town feel I the middle of huge county. Great services from city and we personally know several council members, school board and the mayor. We have a lot of great events: Rock the Block, July 4th parade etc. Currently our pool does have a list wait but it would be about a year to get in vs many, many years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Providence / Johnson / Fairfax are good schools where families are happy and have excellent outcomes. I wouldn’t fixate too much on the Great Schools numbers. If your kids qualify for what’s called Advanced Academic Programs (AAP) in Fairfax County Public Schools, they would be in the program grades 3-8 and would go to a different school (Mosaic) for grades 3-6.

There are a couple of swimming pools in the area that it’s possible to join without a 10-year wait, which isn’t the case everywhere.

+1. And think long and hard about whether you want to be in the Langley pyramid, where people talk about being "the best" without behaving the nicest.

[Anonymous]

So the consesus is either an older SFH home or a TH in Arlington school district, or out of the new TH the one on Fairfax.

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll start using redfin more, seems like everyone used it here!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No to the Falls Church. Have you visited? These are surrounded in the parking lot of a strip mall. Traffic is horrible to access.

This is what I was going to say. Essentially in the Giant parking lot. The library being right there would be nice but otherwise absolutely not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So the consesus is either an older SFH home or a TH in Arlington school district, or out of the new TH the one on Fairfax.

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll start using redfin more, seems like everyone used it here!

Generally speaking, in Arlington, it’s a good idea to focus your search to the north of Route 50 (Arlington Blvd), or even better, north of the orange line metro.

[Anonymous]

Remember the the gs rating of the elementary school and poverty levels directly correlate to the neighborhood and people who live next to you so watch out for that.

[Anonymous]

What about this? https://www.redfin.com/VA/Reston/12098-Kinsley-Pl-20190/home/9217021 It generally has everything you want except new construction. It's been on the market for a while so you could probably negotiate down. While the schools may not be as good as some of the others mentioned, they are perfectly fine and better than some of the new construction boundaries you are looking at.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about this? https://www.redfin.com/VA/Reston/12098-Kinsley-Pl-20190/home/9217021 It generally has everything you want except new construction. It's been on the market for a while so you could probably negotiate down. While the schools may not be as good as some of the others mentioned, they are perfectly fine and better than some of the new construction boundaries you are looking at.

It's too far from where I work. But looks good indeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So the consesus is either an older SFH home or a TH in Arlington school district, or out of the new TH the one on Fairfax.

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll start using redfin more, seems like everyone used it here!

One advantage of the older SFH is they hold their value and appreciate at a higher rate than townhomes.

[Anonymous]

If you are looking for sfh in Arlington you may find something in the ashlawn es district.

It splits between Swanson and kenmore ms which are about equal for white kids. Kenmore has a lot of Latino kids from lower income areas but the school is basically segregated for whites in higher math and science classes.

New builds are more like 1.5 and up though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remember the the gs rating of the elementary school and poverty levels directly correlate to the neighborhood and people who live next to you so watch out for that.

Also know that Arlington rezones almost annually, so be aware of surrounding schools and don't count on your in bounds schools staying the same.