Husband taking a job in Springfield, VA -- where to live?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here - I should also add that my commute into G'town is much faster then when I went downtown because, with the latter, I had to cross the 14th street bridge, but with the former, I have more options to get into the city when there is a traffic issue.

I'm about ready to take a job that requires going over the 14th St Bridge. I was going to take slugs to L'Enfant. Any guess as to how long that will take me from the slug lines? TIA!

[Anonymous]

Haven't read all the responses, but check out the 22152 zipcode, or Burke. All great neighborhoods!!

[Anonymous]

We had to do the same sort of thing (find a house in a weekend, essentially) and we got a real estate agent. It was TOTALLY worth it. We told her what we wanted, she got us plans, we looked at a few, and rented one. In one day. (of course, we talked to her plenty before we actually came to the area).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, do people really try to intentionally avoid schools where there are poor kids? I don't have elementary aged children of my own, so I guess I am clueless, but I'm surprised.

ABSOLUTELY! It's a rough substitute for kids who are not bringing a lot of academic experience to the classroom, don't have a stable/loving/disciplined home environment, need more time/attention/services to stay at grade level, etc., etc.

Yes, I said it's a ROUGH estimate, but the test scores nationally and within a school bear this out. Also, the "cultural" environment of the school is usually tougher/rouger if the percentage of FARMs is higher.

I live in the Franconia/Rose Hill area of Alexandria (Fairfax County, NOT Alexandria City) and you're probably talking about a school like ours (Rose Hill, Twain, Edison). There is NOTHING 'rough' about any of these schools. I bet the graduation rate, SAT scores and percentage of graduates attending high education for any of the schools you classify as "rough" signficantly exceed those of most midwestern schools. Does Langley have fewer FARM kids and high scores than Edison? Certainly! But, from my perspective as a transplant from a homogenous farming community in the midwest, there isn't a single Fairfax County school that I would avoid. I'm not buying into the hysteria many people on this forum have about poor people, minorities and test score. I hope OP doesn't buy into it either.

I know the area well (I'm the poster you quoted) and yes, if I had a choice, I'd take Orange Hunt over Rose Hill. I do know someone whose two children went to Rose Hill and later went to TJ -- so it obviously didn't hurt them b/c they are uber smart and come from uber smart, educated parents. However, the facts are the facts. I said it was a ROUGH estimate. And no, to the poster who asked about mingling with a "few" FARMs kids --- I have not problem with that or those kids. I do have a problem with schools that have 25, 35, 50% FARMs kids. It does make a difference. The upside is that if your school is that high on the FARMs percentages, it might be a title I school and they get tons of extra federal funding so that instead of 30 kids in a class (that has low FARMs numbers) those Title 1 schools end up with 18 kids in a class.... in which case, your above average kid may just get a lot of attention. But, on the whole, kids who come from non-poverty (I'm not talking about richy rich here), are going to be better prepared, have better vocabularies, more experiences to share and simply be able to move along further in the class, which benefits every kid in the class.... not all learning comes from the teacher.

[Anonymous]

White flight has turned into poor flight. Pathetic, actually.

[Anonymous]

You can have your philosophical discussions if you want -- if you prefer a school with 40% of kids who are living in poverty -- good news -- you can pick a school like that. If you want a school that has 15% or less of kids coming from poor backgrounds -- you can pick that as well. I'll pick the school that I like for my kids and if I can, I'm going to pick the school that has fewer poor kids.

You're reaction that this is shocking or pathetic is actually quite unbelievable. There is a reason houses in certain areas cost more than an equivalent house in another area. It has to do with the wealth demographics which directly or indirectly affect the reputation of the school (via test scores). This is not to say that the teachers at those high-poverty schools are doing a bad job, but yes, the schools are labelled as bad b/c the kids at high poverty schools do not pass standardized tests at the same rates as middle/high income kids. Are the teachers worse? Probably not. Do I want to find out by sending my kid to a school that has high poverty and low passing rates on tests? NO.

If you are shocked or disheartened that people don't want to send their kids to high-poverty schools, it's time to wake up and smell the coffee.

[Anonymous]

Rationalize your decisions anyway you want. Just remember, people used to say the same thing about going to school with kids of color. You are the 21st century version of those folks. Congrats!

[Anonymous]

Getting back to the subject at hand, I live in West Springfield (22153) in a neighborhood across from Hunt Valley Elementary School, just down the street from Orange Hunt Estates. The downside, if you like to eat out, is that Springfield is a culinary wasteland. Oh well- it's better for our waistlines and wallet, right? Our neighborhood is a mix of military, blue collar, and white collar folks. We have easy access to a bus line and a slug lot, and the metro is about a 10 min drive. My sister lives in Daventry where there are a lot of families. She has it better with access to several bus lines, slug, and of course the metro.

FWIW, we are an interracial family.

[Anonymous]

Try Burke Centre. VRE stop, great community, good schools.

[Anonymous]

OP again, thank you for all the responses!

We are moving from Madison, Wisconsin, so the prices on Craigslist are a bit of a shock for us. We contacted some ads for townhouses in Alexandria, Burke, Springfield and Falls Church, but they were already rented. I take it the apartments go really quickly here?

Re: the posts on sex offenders... Is that a big problem in the area?!? Is Maryland safer? I keep hearing good things about Montgomery County schools, but it looks like the commute would be horrible for my husband.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again, thank you for all the responses!

We are moving from Madison, Wisconsin, so the prices on Craigslist are a bit of a shock for us. We contacted some ads for townhouses in Alexandria, Burke, Springfield and Falls Church, but they were already rented. I take it the apartments go really quickly here?

Re: the posts on sex offenders... Is that a big problem in the area?!? Is Maryland safer? I keep hearing good things about Montgomery County schools, but it looks like the commute would be horrible for my husband.

No. I am the person that posted the link to the registry. There are sex offenders everywhere. Go to the site and look up your own town. You will probably be shocked by what you find. And these are just the ones who are registered.

The first poster who said that Springfield is a hotbed of sex offenders doesn't know what they are talking about. That area does not have a monopoly on those creeps. (there are a bunch even around Chevy Chase MD and a few in McLean VA). Just check the registry before you sign your lease and make sure that there isn't one too close for your comfort.

[Anonymous]

I am the OP. Not a liberal... not really conservative either. I guess I'm middle-of-the-road. I support taxation and government funding for universally important institutions like public schools, universities, etc., but I am very much a supporter of the death penalty for child molesters/murderers/etc. What is the Springfield area like re: religion/politics?

[Anonymous]

OP,
A horrible commute from Montgomery County would be an understatement, and also unnecessary. The areas are comparable. You have lots of good suggestions here within Fairfax County, as well as Alex and Arl.

In the DC area, commute is everything. Can't emphasize that enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the OP. Not a liberal... not really conservative either. I guess I'm middle-of-the-road. I support taxation and government funding for universally important institutions like public schools, universities, etc., but I am very much a supporter of the death penalty for child molesters/murderers/etc. What is the Springfield area like re: religion/politics?

A moderate mix of people who are not obsessed with others political views.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again, thank you for all the responses!

We are moving from Madison, Wisconsin, so the prices on Craigslist are a bit of a shock for us. We contacted some ads for townhouses in Alexandria, Burke, Springfield and Falls Church, but they were already rented. I take it the apartments go really quickly here?

Re: the posts on sex offenders... Is that a big problem in the area?!? Is Maryland safer? I keep hearing good things about Montgomery County schools, but it looks like the commute would be horrible for my husband.

OP, you got several recommendations for Kingstowne (one from me) and to the extent you want or need things narrowed down for you to help your search, the Kingstowne zip code is 22315. That should help on search engines. Other than craigslist, longandfoster.com has a pretty good search function for rentals. Alexandria in particular can be confusing because there is the city of Alexandria and then the Alexandria section of Fairfax County, which is where Kingstowne is located. Good luck!