Why does anyone want to live in Arlington?

[Anonymous]

Right now it’s more convenient for work so we stay here. I do like the walkability and access to DC. When we were looking out in Fairfax, I realized we weren’t quite ready to make the leap. Kids are in private but if we move someday I would look for a public school district that I like better and we would probably be happy with that. It wouldn’t be Fairfax, it would be a place out of the DC rat race.

Arlington is great- full of Type As (including myself!) and we complain. But when I really take stock, it’s a great place to live if you can afford it.

[Anonymous]

During the pandemic we looked at moving farther out in Fairfax county and realized that we couldn’t really stomach it. Where we were looking felt too “country” to me. I can only imagine what London county would feel like. We live in Arlington but in the corner right next to Falls Church and McLean so I could probably handle moving to McLean or falls church. But with anywhere else I get the I’m in the middle of nowhere feeling. I’m sure ppl who live in DC would say the same about Arlington. But for us arlington works. It has all the conveniences of suburbia, great parks, adequate schools, highly educated neighbors, yet is close to DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn’t I want to live in Arlington? I work for the federal government in DC and my commute from Arlington is a breeze. Yes I don’t go in as often but if I ever need to go in I can just hop on the metro or get there in 15 minutes in an Uber. We have four parks walking distance to our house. We have an amazing trail. If we want to go to DC to enjoy all it has to offer it is 15 minutes away. My friends who live further never bother to go to DC unless it’s for some special occasion. The people here are educated and man you feel the difference. So are the kids. APS is a good school system and probably one of the best in the country. Yes, it has gone downhill but the difference is that parents expect the best and that’s why you hear a lot of complaints. These are some of the most educated parents in the nation and have high standards on what they consider a good education to be. So yes arlingtonians will complain and complain but it’s because we only want the best.

One of the best school systems in the country?!?!? Hahaha

Yes of course it’s one of the best school systems in the country. The problem is of course that the bar is really low. Arlington parents know this and that’s why there are so many complaints.

It’s just not. You may not be that aware of other school districts and other states. APS is one of the best districts in a state that doesn’t value K12 ed as it should.

Even a middling district in a better state is better.

[Anonymous]

Moved down to the DC area from NYC and Arlington, where we lived initially, was the one place we liked the least. You get the density of a city and the competition for services but none of the charm. And the housing is so, so ugly.

[Anonymous]

My kid is almost done, and generally I’m happy. I chose Arlington for the short commutes, and when my kid was small, extended day was guaranteed, Fairfax seemed to close for a week every time there was a snowflake, and APS didn’t, and I don’t like the AAP model. I couldn’t afford to take a week off all the time (can’t work from home) and the idea that you had to apply a year out for SACC and still not get it was insane. They also did well by my kid who needed services.

[Anonymous]

Fewer RWNJs than FCPS or LCPS.

[Anonymous]

I like the schools. Most people here have never been to a real bad schools. But anyway I live here because in addition to the schools I like my neighborhood and neighbors. I have lots of friends and my kids have friends. It is close to everything. There is a million things to go and a million opportunities for me and my kids. My family has so many more educational and enrichment opportunities than I ever did growing up or my friends kids do back home (in Texas and Arizona).

I lile the restaurants. I love the parks. I like that I can be in DC in 10 mins and still walk to the stream to fish and kayak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We lived in Arlington for 25 years. Our kids all attended Arlington public schools from start to finish. We thought they got good educations from quality teachers. They went to good colleges (UVA etc). We moved into the city as empty nesters a little over a decade ago.

Squeaky wheel parents in Arlington is not a new thing. When we were there there was always a small group of unhappy and vocal parents who complained about everything. They called local government the “Arlington Way,” which was a nice way of saying all anybody did was complain.

One of my kids now works in the Arlington public school system. I think she puts it well: it’s a very good system but given the resources and population that it has it should be even better than that.

Couldn't be said any better!!!

[Anonymous]

We made the decision to buy a home in Arlington a long time ago when we were newly married and didn't yet have kids, based on proximity to DC, familiarity with Arlington, and the general perception that APS had good schools for our future kids. We decided to stay in Arlington a few years later when we needed to upsize with a growing family with kid #1 about to enter public schools. We didn't yet have firsthand knowledge of schools, but were aware of APS's reputation, and at that time, APS schools and classes were much smaller than FCPS. FCPS schools seemed huge. A lot has changed since then.

It's almost impossible to really know a school system before you get into it. Given what I know now at APS, I am not sure that was a good decision and I am not at all sure we would have made the same choice. Also, a lot has changed in APS since then. A lot. We made our decision to enroll in APS before all the overcrowding. We didn't know that APS class sizes and schools would grow exponentially. At the time, classes were small and schools were small. We didn't know APS would change boundaries every few years, throwing communities into turmoil. We didn't know about things like Lucy Calkins or standards based grading - but these are not limited to APS I don't think. We didn't know what a horror APS sped services are or how uneven gifted services are.

Anyways, this is all to say we made the best decision we could many years ago based on the then-current situation and the info we had at the time. I don't know if we would make the same decision knowing what we know today. I suspect we would have looked more closely at FCPS and FCC or maybe MCPS.

But we are now in a house we like in a nice neighborhood and our kids are settled in school with friends. Despite many frustrations with APS, we are not going to leave now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Moved down to the DC area from NYC and Arlington, where we lived initially, was the one place we liked the least. You get the density of a city and the competition for services but none of the charm. And the housing is so, so ugly.

Where did you move after Arlington? With kids in schools now, we’re less impressed. No sense spending over $1 mn for our next house

[Anonymous]

Seems like Arlington used to offer an alternative to FCPS. Had smaller class sizes, would go their own way on things like snow days.

Now we just act like an appendage of FCPS, class sizes have increased, teachers sound unhappy. Some good things happening in APS in reading, but I assume that's happening in FCPS too.

Alexandria sounds like a hot mess. FCCPS may be what Arlington once represented to families. But can't afford that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like Arlington used to offer an alternative to FCPS. Had smaller class sizes, would go their own way on things like snow days.

Now we just act like an appendage of FCPS, class sizes have increased, teachers sound unhappy. Some good things happening in APS in reading, but I assume that's happening in FCPS too.

Alexandria sounds like a hot mess. FCCPS may be what Arlington once represented to families. But can't afford that.

PP here, this reminded me that one of our reasons we bought in APS was quality of teachers. APS used to pay more so it got better teachers. Not true anymore either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like Arlington used to offer an alternative to FCPS. Had smaller class sizes, would go their own way on things like snow days.

Now we just act like an appendage of FCPS, class sizes have increased, teachers sound unhappy. Some good things happening in APS in reading, but I assume that's happening in FCPS too.

Alexandria sounds like a hot mess. FCCPS may be what Arlington once represented to families. But can't afford that.

yes ACPS is a hot mess, I would not even consider it. I might pick FCPS over APS, it's just so much better run. My top choice would probably be FCCPS if I had to do it over with young kids now. What do you mean you can't afford FCCPS? Is it really that much more expensive than Arlington? There are a lot of apartment in FCC if you can't afford to buy. And families live in them.

[Anonymous]

Wish we could move but for many reasons we are stuck. APS is not what it used to and our kiddos suffered during COVID and with LC.

[Anonymous]

Not sure what APS has that you can’t get other places.

It’s also awful the housing cost here and for what?!