Where to move in Arlington??

[Anonymous]

I have lived in DC for 10 + years and am ashamed to admit that I have never/rarely been in Arlington, for anything. Just Clarendon a few times. Now, I'm thinking of moving to North Arlington for the schools (next year when my oldest will enter kinder). I am particularly interested in the Montessori school (Drew?) or Spanish immersion (Key?). What neighborhoods are close to those schools? Specifically, what neighborhoods are good for people who like city living (ie, we only want to have 1 car, don't need a large house, just 2 bedrooms, etc). I've looked on the site at the boundary maps, but they honestly do nothing for me, since I know nothing about Arlington yet!

Thanks so much from this clueless DC Mommy!

[Anonymous]

If you like city living, live on the metro corridor. That eliminates a lot of "preferred schools," but that's ok.

The boundary maps will tell you if your zoned immersion school is Key or Claremont. Not everyone who wants to get in to Key can (depends on where you live, and the year). Claremont tends to be easier to get into. Drew is county-wide, so where you live is irrelevant. I think you want to live in "the Team" to be guaranteed a spot at Key. Otherwise, you need to live in the Eastern half of the county, and draw a lucky lottery number.

How much money you have will tell you the rest.

[Anonymous]

if you want to live on the Orange line, look for houses in zip codes: 22201, 22205, 22207, and 22213. For the blue line, look in zips 22204 and 22206. Not all areas of these zip codes are metro accessible, but it helps to know what zips are near what stations.

[Anonymous]

To be within walking distance to metro and close to a lot of restaurants and shops, look in the Clarendon, Courthouse, Rosslyn (not as many SFHs), Lyon Village, and Lyon Park neighborhoods. These houses will probably be more expensive because they are close to metro. We live in Waverly Hills (22207) which is not within walking distance to metro, but we could take a bus that would bring us to Rosslyn metro fairly easily. We also have shops and restaurants within walking distance (Lee Heights). The Westover neighborhood (22205) also has restaurants and shops close by, and is fairly close to East Falls Church metro, but not really walking distance. There are plenty of smaller houses in Arlington so you should have no trouble there. I can't really help you with schools since my older is only 2, but I believe Key is in the 22209 zip code which is mostly Rosslyn/Courthouse. Don't know anything about Drew. Welcome to Arlington!

[Anonymous]

PP -- I'm sort of interested in Waverly Hills myself. Isn't parts of Waverly Hills just a mile or so from the Ballston metro down Gleber Road? Are you happy with the schools in Waverly Hills? Glebe Elementery right? Do you know which middle schools/HS it feeds into?

[Anonymous]

Yes, that would be Waverly Hills. It is bordered by Glebe Road, Lee Highway, and Washington Blvd. We have been there about a year and are happy with it. There is a real neighborhood feel and lots of the houses are original, not tear downs like some other neighborhoods. The elementary school is Glebe and the middle school is Swanson and the high school is Washington-Lee which has a brand new building. I don't know much about the schools since my kids are still too young for school, but I think they are pretty good. I believe Glebe is more diverse than some of the other elementary schools in N. Arlington, and their building also looks fairly new. Cherrydale is also a nice neighborhood right next to Waverly Hills - I believe their school is Taylor Elementary. We like it because we can walk to shops, etc, there are parks close by, and we are still very close to Clarendon/Courthouse/Ballston, etc., without having to deal with traffic/parking issues of the metro corridor.

[Anonymous]

PP again - I have a great real estate agent if you are looking as well. Her name is Renee Fisher and she lives in Arlington (Maywood), but she also has lived in Waverly Hills and Lyon Village and is very familiar with the different neighborhoods. She works for McEnearney.

http://www.reneefishersells.com/

[Anonymous]

22203 is also on the Orange line - Ashton Heights and Arlington Forest. Much cheaper than Lee Heights. Ballston may be without charm, but there is a lot there.

[Anonymous]

Everyone I know in Waverly Hills/Cherrydale walks to the Metro. It is very expensive. We sold our tiny house there a year and a half ago for over $650k, and the market hasn't really dropped off appreciably for "affordable" homes in Arlington. Many of the homes are being torn down for infill development and/or undergoing major renovations. It is difficult to buy into that neighborhood, because the homes are in great demand.

You might consider living on one of the ART bus routes as well, if you need public transit at least some of the time.

[Anonymous]

Poster who lives in Waverly Hills here again. In regards to the last post, yes Arlington is expensive, especially N. Arlington. I assume the OP knows that already or she would be looking further out. But the market has slowed somewhat, we bought our house last year for under $600,000 and it is a nice house, although smallish. But the neighborhood is great and we plan on building out at some point. As for walking to the metro, I suppose you could do it on a daily basis, but it would be quite a walk. From where we are, it would be at least a mile and probably closer to a mile and a half. As for the tear downs, I disagree. There are some places where this happens (it seems to be more common in Cherrydale for some reason), but every time I walk around my neighborhood I am struck by how many of the original houses still exist. Yes, people may have put on additions, but most of the houses look pretty much the same as they did when they were built 60+ years ago.

[Anonymous]

In response (I am the poster previous to you) we lived in Waverly for close to 7 years and I am an Arlington native so I may have a little more historical perspective. I still drive through the neighborhood all the time (we just moved down the road about a mile and we still visit the neighbors) and there has been a definite uptick in the number of teardowns. Just look at the house on Utah and 19th Rd., which came in 2 years ago and replaced a much smaller house, and there is another teardown in progress on 19th Road itself. I've noticed 3 other homes in the past year being torn down completely. I agree it is not as drastic as other neighborhoods and some of the new builds are quite well done, but in the time I lived there, ALL but 2 houses on my block changed hands, with the older occupants leaving or dying. The newer, younger occupants want more amenities and everyone I know was talking about renovating or tearing down and rebuilding. What happened in Cherrydale is rolling down Lee Highway--that neighborhood became desirable first which is why you see more infill development, and then the people who couldn't buy into there moved further out a bit. So I think change is inevitable, although it is still an amazing neighborhood.

I know of at least 4 people who walk to the metro in Ballston from Waverly Hills every single day. I don't think a mile or two is that far for most urban dwellers.

[Anonymous]

I guess I am just lazy then for not wanting to walk all that way!

Thanks for the longer-term perspective.

[Anonymous]

Cherrydale is the way to go! From most of the neighborhood, you can walk easily to Clarendon, VA Square, or Ballston metros. A bus also runs down Lee Hwy. You can also easily walk to all the Lee Heights and Clarendon shops, the public library, and Science Focus Elementary (and the fabulous park across the street). There is a strong neighborhood association with periodic events--parades, July 4th parties, chili cookoffs, halloween parties, and christmas caroling. Also, you can elect to attend Key or some of the other "team" elementary schools, as I understand it.

[Anonymous]

There will be boundary changes in North Arlington. Some may spill into the portion of S Arlington Along route 50.

To some degree this shouldn't matter to you: your kid isn't in school yet, and all the options are pretty good. However, depending on your preferences it may matter (Key v Claremont). There are no answers yet as to what the new boundaries will be.

[Anonymous]

Re: boundary changes - the superintendant has posted his recommendations: http://www.apsva.us/15401081152149600/site/default.asp