Do you think Annandale will ever take off?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised how defensive people are about Annandale. The original question was - when was Annandale going to take off - this is a discussion of what dragging it down and which direction it's headed. The fact that Annandale is getting less desirable has to be caused by something - schools and gangs are just a couple of causes - FACT.

This. And the schools are 100% of the reason why we moved away from Annandale.

So no, Annandale will not take off anytime soon because no young families want to buy into the school district. this is just a fact. [/quot

this is simply not true in my neighborhood, Sleepy Hollow woods/Columbia Pines. There has been a ton of young families moving in and many that I know that are school age attending the local public school. You can trash the high school but I think a lot for a lot of these young families high school isn’t even on the radar and we have no idea what these schools are going to be like in 10 to 15 years.

Sure people can live wherever they want but I think it’s really short sighted to pay xxx more to live in a more desirable neighborhood when they’re worrying about the middle schools and high schools, and their kids may not even be there for another 10. Ruth, how are you?

And again people continue to trash schools that they have no first-hand experience with. Pitiful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised how defensive people are about Annandale. The original question was - when was Annandale going to take off - this is a discussion of what dragging it down and which direction it's headed. The fact that Annandale is getting less desirable has to be caused by something - schools and gangs are just a couple of causes - FACT.

This. And the schools are 100% of the reason why we moved away from Annandale.

So no, Annandale will not take off anytime soon because no young families want to buy into the school district. this is just a fact.

+1
We didn't look anywhere there when we house hunted - just skipped straight over it to Fairfax and Burke/WS given the schools.

That’s too bad well now you can deal with more traffic and live further away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised how defensive people are about Annandale. The original question was - when was Annandale going to take off - this is a discussion of what dragging it down and which direction it's headed. The fact that Annandale is getting less desirable has to be caused by something - schools and gangs are just a couple of causes - FACT.

This. And the schools are 100% of the reason why we moved away from Annandale.

So no, Annandale will not take off anytime soon because no young families want to buy into the school district. this is just a fact.

+1
We didn't look anywhere there when we house hunted - just skipped straight over it to Fairfax and Burke/WS given the schools.

That’s too bad well now you can deal with more traffic and live further away.

Eh, better than having my kids shot up by MS-13 gang members

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised how defensive people are about Annandale. The original question was - when was Annandale going to take off - this is a discussion of what dragging it down and which direction it's headed. The fact that Annandale is getting less desirable has to be caused by something - schools and gangs are just a couple of causes - FACT.

This. And the schools are 100% of the reason why we moved away from Annandale.

So no, Annandale will not take off anytime soon because no young families want to buy into the school district. this is just a fact. [/quot

this is simply not true in my neighborhood, Sleepy Hollow woods/Columbia Pines. There has been a ton of young families moving in and many that I know that are school age attending the local public school. You can trash the high school but I think a lot for a lot of these young families high school isn’t even on the radar and we have no idea what these schools are going to be like in 10 to 15 years.

Sure people can live wherever they want but I think it’s really short sighted to pay xxx more to live in a more desirable neighborhood when they’re worrying about the middle schools and high schools, and their kids may not even be there for another 10. Ruth, how are you?

And again people continue to trash schools that they have no first-hand experience with. Pitiful.

The percentage of URMs, particularly hispanics has only continued to rise year by year, as have the percentage of students on free or reduced lunch and english learners. If anything it’s going to depreciate even more.

[Anonymous]

Typical liberal DCUM thread. Look at the border.

[Anonymous]

Must avoid the scary Hispanics, immigrants, poors and ESOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Must avoid the scary Hispanics, immigrants, poors and ESOL.

You made it seem as though that’s four different groups of folks. It’s the same one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Must avoid the scary Hispanics, immigrants, poors and ESOL.

You made it seem as though that’s four different groups of folks. It’s the same one.

Liberal DCUMers hate poors

[Anonymous]

So DCUM, insult Annandale HS without acknowledging the gerrymandering of school districts so all the low income housing funnels to Annandale. Be glad (and honest) you got what you want, all the poor kids in a few schools so your kids can be safe(r).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Must avoid the scary Hispanics, immigrants, poors and ESOL.

You made it seem as though that’s four different groups of folks. It’s the same one.

Liberal DCUMers hate poors

The one topic the DCUM liberal and conservative agree on is the need for all the poors to stay out of their schools and neighborhoods and for house prices to keep going up!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So DCUM, insult Annandale HS without acknowledging the gerrymandering of school districts so all the low income housing funnels to Annandale. Be glad (and honest) you got what you want, all the poor kids in a few schools so your kids can be safe(r).

The district isn't especially gerrymandered, but when FCPS converted Jefferson High into a magnet they sent everyone who'd been at Jefferson to Annandale to smooth things over with the Jefferson community. That meant Annandale got the poverty from two different areas off Route 236: (1) the area right inside the Beltway (already at Annandale) and (2) the area near Lincolnia and the West End of Alexandria (which had been at Jefferson).

In short order Annandale ended up overcrowded, and they started moving single-family areas to Falls Church (the area north of Columbia Pike near Gallows), Lake Braddock (Ravenworth), Woodson (Wakefield Forest), and Edison (Edsall Park/Bren Mar Park) to relieve the overcrowding. Over time, the "death by a thousand paper cuts" led to a concentration of poverty there.

If they wanted to change things, they'd probably need to reclaim some of the areas now at Woodson and Edison, get rid of IB, and build an addition to Annandale. There are still nice, prosperous areas that feed into the school but the overall poverty rate is quite high. And because it's IB, it was easy to transfer to AP schools like Woodson and Lake Braddock with space for many years, although it's probably hard to transfer to Woodson now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Must avoid the scary Hispanics, immigrants, poors and ESOL.

You made it seem as though that’s four different groups of folks. It’s the same one.

Liberal DCUMers hate poors

The one topic the DCUM liberal and conservative agree on is the need for all the poors to stay out of their schools and neighborhoods and for house prices to keep going up!

So you guys realize that even families at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder and immigrants/minorities want to get out of bad neighborhoods? This isn't just a rich people thing. Most immigrants that I know - and I know a lot because it's the field that I'm in - want to make more money to move to nicer, safer neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So DCUM, insult Annandale HS without acknowledging the gerrymandering of school districts so all the low income housing funnels to Annandale. Be glad (and honest) you got what you want, all the poor kids in a few schools so your kids can be safe(r).

+1000

[Anonymous]

I live in annandale outside the beltway and love it- towering trees, big yards, great schools, and access to extensive trails. My neighborhood is a gem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in annandale outside the beltway and love it- towering trees, big yards, great schools, and access to extensive trails. My neighborhood is a gem.

Annandale outside the beltway is great. You're zoned for Woodson and are a completely separate neighborhood. Annandale inside the beltway zoned for Annandale HS is a different bag