WFH - Rank These DMV Neighborhoods -$1.5M Budget
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Anonymous
I love MoCo, and my kids did very well at BCC (all attended top 25 schools), so I have no clue what is referenced by "total mess." But as to taxes, I have family in Arlington, and it turns out that Arlington is rapidly raising taxes because companies are no longer interested in locating there: Car tax: https://www.reddit.com/r/arlingtonva/comments/1t25i8v/updated_arlington_car_tax_rate_calculation_for/ Property tax: https://www.arlnow.com/2026/04/30/why-real-estate-taxes-are-going-up-in-arlington-but-going-down-in-fairfax/ https://www.arlnow.com/2026/04/23/split-county-board-approves-2-cent-tax-hike-as-part-of-1-7b-budget/ |
Anonymous
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I would do Bethesda zoned for Walter Johnson. It's not very walkable but not any less walkable than the other options.
The only places that are super walkable are along the western leg of the red line out to Bethesda, and Rosslyn-Clarendon-Ballston. |
Anonymous
| It seems like everyone is just assuming you want a new build, which are indeed $2M+ everywhere on this list. But there are nicely renovated places that fit your budget. We are in the Falls Church Marshall pyramid and are happy, but realize that other places on this list are even more sought after. |
Anonymous
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Walkability means different things to different people. On one hand, it can mean a truly urban existence where you can easily walk to numerous restaurants, etc and can be a one car family. Others take it to mean that the neighborhoods are walkers-friendly and you can get to trails, take your dog out, etc.
I can walk to a Metro stop in 20 minutes and a grocery store in 15. I don’t for practical purposes, but I can. That probably makes my neighborhood walkable to some people and not to others. |
Anonymous
Town of Kensington is walkable to MARC, restaurants, parks, playgrounds, a farmer’s market, multiple drug stores, and a Safeway. I don’t know how it doesn’t meet the definition of walkable. |
Anonymous
OP this isn’t accurate. PP is glossing over the county tax in MD that’s in addition to state + property taxes. People here with a vested interest in MD property values will tell you it’s the same as the VA car tax. It’s not. |
Anonymous
Agreed. We ended up in Arlington near Ballston but we also loved Kensington, mostly for its walkability and relative affordability. It was just too far out for us compared to orange line adjacent Arlington. |
Anonymous
| OP, I wouldn’t recommend Falls Church City zoned to Meridian because of the high taxes and insular community. Many kids have a hard time socially because it’s so small with its one set of schools and few new people. They also have limited course offerings because it’s small. But if you like the walkability to the commercial strip on Broad Street (only a few blocks), library and farmers market, check out Falls Church zoned to McLean near the West Falls Church metro. You get lower taxes, better schools and walk to metro in addition to walk to the city’s amenities. |
Anonymous
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I would second the vote for Kensington but make sure you are walkable to the shop and restaurant area. In my opinion Kensington is a great balance for kids — older kids wanting some independence can walk to Chipotle, great yards/ playgrounds for younger kids, and good schools. GP is cute but not really walkable. You’ll have options in your budget also.
https://redf.in/kUpebD |
Anonymous
I live in Arlington, and of course it's accurate that our taxes are going up. They're not at MD levels, but we shouldn't deny that Arlington has historically relied heavily on commercial property taxes, and that income source is on a downward trajectory with no signs of improving. Arlington has a serious spending problem, and so I think our taxes are just going to keep getting worse. Unless you're extremely wealthy (which OP probably isn't given the housing budget), the overall tax difference between MD and VA is not that meaningful once you factor in Arlington's car tax and higher property taxes. |
Anonymous
$1.5M housing budget tells me ballpark $500K HHI give or take which is $15K moco county tax annually at the ~3% local tax rate. You mean to tell me the VA property tax difference (for comparable properties) and VA car tax is MORE than the $15K annual county tax? Please… |
Anonymous
$1.5M can buy some walkability near Westover / East Falls Church. Not DC-level walk ability, but enough to walk to some restaurants, metro, farmer’s market, W&OD trail, etc. It won’t be big or new construction. But there are still some cute updated homes in that price range that pop up on occasion in 22205 (which has houses zoned to Yorktown and WL depending on which part of the zip code you’re in). |
Anonymous
+1 I wfh in one of these, and it’s great. Everything is walkable, there are options for short term meeting space if I ever need them, great food and coffee options, quiet coffee places to work from if I want a change of scenery, etc. If you just base your school decision based on this website, you’d think schools and crime are terrible, but that’s not our experience at all. |
Anonymous
Well, let's say that a Bethesda property is $200K less than a comparable Arlington property. And once you factor in the car and property tax differences, the tax savings in Virginia is about $10K (we'll ignore for now that Virginia also has the grocery tax and a higher meals tax). In that case, it could make sense to choose Bethesda. Of course, this assumes that someone is solely focused on taxes. Taxes aren't everything, and lots of people prefer Maryland knowing full well that the taxes are higher. |
Anonymous
| You can live anywhere in Arlington and go to Yorktown- the accept all waivers in |