Which neighborhoods to avoid in NoVa?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Falls Church City (22046) is for all intents and purposes about as close to DC as North Arlington and its schools are well regarded. It's so small there is only one high school, but make sure you are in the city boundaries. The rest of Falls Church (referred to as just "Falls Church") is within Fairfax County and the schools are good, but not as good.

Your guide to falls church

Good

22046 (falls church city)
22046 (fairfax county mclean)
22043 (fairfax county either marshall or mclean)

not so good

22042 (falls church high)
22044 (stuart, could be considered good because parts are lake barcroft which is a lake area but the schools are not good)
22041 (stuart)

22042 is mainly Falls Church HS, but the area south of Rt. 50 and east of Annandale Road/west of Sleepy Hollow Road goes to Stuart

Up until Casilear Road/Roundtree Park, then it switches from Stuart to Falls Church all the way down to Route 236.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could probably rent a decent (not luxury, but safe and functional) place on the budget in North Arlington... But on your rental budget, you should be able to find a SFH north of Lee Highway, I would think.

I agree with these statements. If you want to be near Arlington, and are planning to send kids to public schools, I would only consider the areas that feed into Jamestown/Williamsburg/Yorktown or Taylor/Williamsburg/Yorktown. I would avoid the other areas, since you can afford to with that budget. We rent out our updated 3BR North Arlington house in these school districts to a family of 4 plus a dog well under your budget, so I imagine you can find others.

If your house is in these primo school districts, why are you only getting less than $3,500 per month in rent for it? Houses in Glebe, Swanson, Washington-Lee rent for more than that.

Because many are not as walkable to metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could probably rent a decent (not luxury, but safe and functional) place on the budget in North Arlington... But on your rental budget, you should be able to find a SFH north of Lee Highway, I would think.

I agree with these statements. If you want to be near Arlington, and are planning to send kids to public schools, I would only consider the areas that feed into Jamestown/Williamsburg/Yorktown or Taylor/Williamsburg/Yorktown. I would avoid the other areas, since you can afford to with that budget. We rent out our updated 3BR North Arlington house in these school districts to a family of 4 plus a dog well under your budget, so I imagine you can find others.

If your house is in these primo school districts, why are you only getting less than $3,500 per month in rent for it? Houses in Glebe, Swanson, Washington-Lee rent for more than that.

Because many are not as walkable to metro.

So are the properties that get the most in rent the properties near the Metro that turn into group homes with beer-pong parties on the weekends?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Falls Church City (22046) is for all intents and purposes about as close to DC as North Arlington and its schools are well regarded. It's so small there is only one high school, but make sure you are in the city boundaries. The rest of Falls Church (referred to as just "Falls Church") is within Fairfax County and the schools are good, but not as good.

Your guide to falls church

Good

22046 (falls church city)
22046 (fairfax county mclean)
22043 (fairfax county either marshall or mclean)

not so good

22042 (falls church high)
22044 (stuart, could be considered good because parts are lake barcroft which is a lake area but the schools are not good)
22041 (stuart)

FCC resident. There are legal FCC addresses with zip code 22042 south of East Broad Street and for the Oakwood apartments. There are also parts of 22046 that are outside of FCC, feeding into the McLean HS pyramids (off Lee Highway past Graham Rd, and around N. West Street north of Great Falls). 22046 isn't your magic number. Buyer beware.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You could probably rent a decent (not luxury, but safe and functional) place on the budget in North Arlington. The only neighborhood I can think of that some might avoid would be Halls Hill, which has been renamed High Point Park or something similar. I wouldn't have a problem living there, but it is a historically black neighborhood which was once known for drug traffic and crime. (I think that's changed now but the perception lingers, and there are still some run down small apartment buildings there that house low income folks.) It's south of Lee Highway between George Mason and Glebe Road. But on your rental budget, you should be able to find a SFH north of Lee Highway, I would think.

The Freedman's Village was called Hall's Hill. The remaining area surrounding it is mainly known as Highview Park or Betonia. You might recognize it from all the new houses being built in the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could probably rent a decent (not luxury, but safe and functional) place on the budget in North Arlington... But on your rental budget, you should be able to find a SFH north of Lee Highway, I would think.

I agree with these statements. If you want to be near Arlington, and are planning to send kids to public schools, I would only consider the areas that feed into Jamestown/Williamsburg/Yorktown or Taylor/Williamsburg/Yorktown. I would avoid the other areas, since you can afford to with that budget. We rent out our updated 3BR North Arlington house in these school districts to a family of 4 plus a dog well under your budget, so I imagine you can find others.

PP What's wrong with your house that you had to take a family of four AND a dog for less than $3,500 per month?

[Anonymous]

I would not buy in stuart or falls church zones. I know people who live there and do private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Falls Church City (22046) is for all intents and purposes about as close to DC as North Arlington and its schools are well regarded. It's so small there is only one high school, but make sure you are in the city boundaries. The rest of Falls Church (referred to as just "Falls Church") is within Fairfax County and the schools are good, but not as good.

Falls Church is the city. Those who refer to Skyline and Baileys Crossroads and other parts of Fairfax County as "Falls Church" are (a) the Postal Service and (b) people who enjoy being wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Falls Church City (22046) is for all intents and purposes about as close to DC as North Arlington and its schools are well regarded. It's so small there is only one high school, but make sure you are in the city boundaries. The rest of Falls Church (referred to as just "Falls Church") is within Fairfax County and the schools are good, but not as good.

Falls Church is the city. Those who refer to Skyline and Baileys Crossroads and other parts of Fairfax County as "Falls Church" are (a) the Postal Service and (b) people who enjoy being wrong.

My mail is delivered to my house in Falls Church, VA. How else do you suggest I refer to where I live?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Falls Church City (22046) is for all intents and purposes about as close to DC as North Arlington and its schools are well regarded. It's so small there is only one high school, but make sure you are in the city boundaries. The rest of Falls Church (referred to as just "Falls Church") is within Fairfax County and the schools are good, but not as good.

Falls Church is the city. Those who refer to Skyline and Baileys Crossroads and other parts of Fairfax County as "Falls Church" are (a) the Postal Service and (b) people who enjoy being wrong.

My mail is delivered to my house in Falls Church, VA. How else do you suggest I refer to where I live?

22041 here, +1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Falls Church City (22046) is for all intents and purposes about as close to DC as North Arlington and its schools are well regarded. It's so small there is only one high school, but make sure you are in the city boundaries. The rest of Falls Church (referred to as just "Falls Church") is within Fairfax County and the schools are good, but not as good.

Falls Church is the city. Those who refer to Skyline and Baileys Crossroads and other parts of Fairfax County as "Falls Church" are (a) the Postal Service and (b) people who enjoy being wrong.

My mail is delivered to my house in Falls Church, VA. How else do you suggest I refer to where I live?

22041 here, +1

7 corners or bailey's crossroads.

[Anonymous]

OP you haven't said whether you plan to use public schools or not. I've lived in Alexandria for 4 years and we have some neighborhoods I love with decent private school options (Del Rey & Old Town are my fav) but if you want to use public schools and be in/near Arlington, then I'd find the top ranted schools for Arlington and look to rent there. You can rent a home directly from the owners and that usually gets you more sq ft than renting from a property company. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alexandria City (bad schools, lots of rentals have roaches)

Annandale inside the beltway (bad schools)

THIS! So dead on. Even the roaches in Alexandria. Every rental I ever looked at or lived in had roaches or "they're just water bugs!" Twice in one day a roach was in the middle of the floor when we looked at rentals and the agent tried to pick them up without us noticing. I told my officemate, dont do it, but he did - he signed a lease in a "new" neighborhood in Alexandria. ROACHES. DH's officemate - same thing - ROACHES. And the schools inside the beltway in Annandale suck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Falls Church City (22046) is for all intents and purposes about as close to DC as North Arlington and its schools are well regarded. It's so small there is only one high school, but make sure you are in the city boundaries. The rest of Falls Church (referred to as just "Falls Church") is within Fairfax County and the schools are good, but not as good.

Your guide to falls church

Good

22046 (falls church city)
22046 (fairfax county mclean)
22043 (fairfax county either marshall or mclean)

not so good

22042 (falls church high)
22044 (stuart, could be considered good because parts are lake barcroft which is a lake area but the schools are not good)
22041 (stuart)

This is a good guide.

You could rent a house in Pimmit Hills, the most infamous neighborhood on DCUMs. I live in PH and love it. Very convenient to Arlington too. I can take Old Dominion Road from downtown McLean to Glebe Rd. There's other routes too. Should be a very easy commute, maybe 20 minutes in rush hour I am guessing more or less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Falls Church City (22046) is for all intents and purposes about as close to DC as North Arlington and its schools are well regarded. It's so small there is only one high school, but make sure you are in the city boundaries. The rest of Falls Church (referred to as just "Falls Church") is within Fairfax County and the schools are good, but not as good.

Falls Church is the city. Those who refer to Skyline and Baileys Crossroads and other parts of Fairfax County as "Falls Church" are (a) the Postal Service and (b) people who enjoy being wrong.

My mail is delivered to my house in Falls Church, VA. How else do you suggest I refer to where I live?

22041 here, +1

7 corners or bailey's crossroads.

I don't live anywhere near 7 corners of Bailey's Crossroads. There's really no other way to describe where I live other than Falls Church, which -- I repeat -- IS MY MAILING ADDRESS. I'm not sure why you think you're so much smarter than the post office.