Reston vs Alexandria
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Anonymous
Do you even actually live there? |
Anonymous
Used to live 10 minutes from it. So glad i left. |
Anonymous
DP. They are correct. Robert E Smith (RESton’s founder) intended it to be an urban family friendly place that’s walkable. But since he passed, Reston got commercialized and bought out, all while charging their residences 700-800 bucks for their association fees to pay for everything. Now Reston seems...confused. It’s trying to be a city but it’s mainly just suburbia with a bunch of businesses nearby. Town Center is decent but it’s honestly nothing special, a bunch of chain restaurants at best. |
Anonymous
There is a bus that takes about 30-40 minutes that is direct route to Crystal City, I took that for a few months. DS drives from Reston/Herndon area at 9 AM and gets into the office around 9:45. He is planning on switching to the Metro when the new stops open. Driving and parking at Weihle at his commute time takes too long and parking is hard to find. But several of the new stops will be about 5-10 minutes away. There are walkable areas in Reston/Herndon. There are some great schools, to include several language immersion Elementary Schools. Wehave had good experiences with rec sports and Scouts. It is a good place to raise a family. We looked at Arlington and Alexandria and did not want to spend that type of money on a house that would need a good amount of renovation. And that was before kids entered the picture. I am thrilled to not being deal with APS right now. We are a 1/2 mile walk to DS ES so I am pretty comfortable with our boundaries. |
Anonymous
| DH, not DS, commutes |
Anonymous
I mean that's fair if that's your preference. I would question how much grit there really is in Old Town or Del Ray these days though. It's not exactly Columbia Heights. Even Arlandria (which is much lower income) is pretty chill, IMO. Most people are more worried these days about Arlandria being scrubbed, post Amazon. |
Anonymous
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I personally like both (City of Alexandria AND Reston - I will leave discussions of the FFX part of Alexandria to others, that's not really to my taste, but it works for many people)
Alexandria has a variety of very interesting neighborhoods, very lively (if not always civil) politics, good access to DC via metro, plenty of local buses, walking, biking. There are mixed opinions about the schools, the more conventionally desirable public school choices would be Reston (but the Mayor of Alexandria sends his kids to Alex public schools) Reston Town Center, despite the chain stores (which Alex also has, BTW) is a pretty vibrant example of modern suburban "urbanism". The other neighborhoods of Reston are quieter, but have a diversity of housing types and a network of walking trails that are very nice. Historically Reston was the first new development in NoVa to be racially integrated and it has a progressive legacy (though the current upswell of NIMBYISM is - "interesting") The new metro station near RTC will make transit commuters more doable for more Restonians. The Washington and Old Dominion Trail makes it a great location for people who bike. (note I also like the Lake Anne part of Reston, and older vision of suburban "urbanism") |
Anonymous
With kids, pick Reston. Old town, Alexandria is an awesome town. I heard they have a powerful “dog” lobby and that you don’t want to go up against the dog owners there. Dogs rule old town. Lots of rich people with dogs. Total utopia! |
Anonymous
This! Lots of retirees also. Don’t really care about schools. Just not on the radar and obviously does not affect housing prices there. The new condos on the river start at $2m plus. Heard lyles-crouch has a good reputation though. After that many parents that stay in public schools do move to a better school system area. |
Anonymous
| Reston is nice actually |
Anonymous
Nah. I've lived there 20 years, this is bullshit. |
Anonymous
What part? |
Anonymous
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I live in FFX Alexandria, out by Hayfield and Edison. The best I can say for this part of the county is it's cheap without the schools being apocalyptic - outside of an elementary or two they're not good, but they're usable. If you can afford a little more and don't mind the commute, I'd go with Herndon.
But why isn't Springfield on your list? |
Anonymous
It’s not BS. Most of Reston is uber expensive because of the HOA.Reston 10 years ago was a different place than it is now. The town center is nice but it definitely isn’t “urban” at all. It might be different in a few years. But it is massively empty besides families by the time it’s 8 pm. If someone says Reston is “urban”, they’ve never lived in a city before. This is coming from someone who likes Reston a lot. |
Anonymous
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Herndon, right next to Reston, is a good fit for families. You can find schools that end up at a bunch of different high schools. Fox Mill is walkable, most of the kids walk to school. I can walk to the grocery store, a decent THai restaurant, a good Italian restaurant, the Doctor, dentist, pet store, pet hospital, Glory Days and a good bagel place. There will be a Metro stop about 1 1/2 miles from the neighborhood when the Silver Line expansion opens. Parks (small, school, and a nice size complete with soccer fields and three baseball diamonds), are near by. You woyuld have to join one of two community pools if you want a pool. I know some folks are less excited by South Lakes High School but I have friends who teach there and have not reported any issues outside the normal school issues. The Neighborhood kids who attend South Lakes have good things to say and most are taking some IB tests although I have no idea how many are working on an IB diploma.
People rave about Franklin Farm in there area. There are a lot of great neighborhoods in the area. With the Silver Line expansion, more of them become a bit more connected with another transportation alternative. Lake Anne is great, I enjoy hanging out down there. Downtown Herndon is quaint. There is strong community in the area. And there are a large number of reasonably priced houses and town houses in the area. |