Where to move in Virginia, walkable to metro, with good public schools, budget 1.3M

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try South Arlington, Crystal or Pentagon City area with Arlington Ridge, Aurora Hills subdivision. One light to DC, and Metro in area. You’ll spend under your budget for big close in home. Elementary School is good, same with Middle School (they are just about side by side on Arlington Ridge). High School is Wakefield, new building, good AP track. Also eligible for charter (H.B.Wooten sp?) high school, populated with high SAT scorers. If you don’t like those schools there are several private schools, several Catholic ones. Lower house price allows for private tuition. My 2 cents.

Wakefield High isn't good and H.B. Woodlawn (not H.B. Wooten) isn't a charter. Plus admission to HB is by lottery and nothing anyone in S. Arlington can count on.

Wakefield isn’t bad either. Son graduated from there. Some low test scores due to lack of English skills,due to international students but they come from hard working families, mainly Spanish speaking. Scores improve over time as English skills improve. Lot more Russian and Asian students now so STEM scores pretty high. Absolutely no gangs, aside from a few wannabees and that’s about it. Plus you can’t predict how zoning will change school boundaries in the years to come. And as Arlington becomes pricier that will include S. Arlington so wealthier families move in. Before I retired it took me 25 minutes door to door to office in Chinatown. Just saying, Might be something you might want to investigate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try South Arlington, Crystal or Pentagon City area with Arlington Ridge, Aurora Hills subdivision. One light to DC, and Metro in area. You’ll spend under your budget for big close in home. Elementary School is good, same with Middle School (they are just about side by side on Arlington Ridge). High School is Wakefield, new building, good AP track. Also eligible for charter (H.B.Wooten sp?) high school, populated with high SAT scorers. If you don’t like those schools there are several private schools, several Catholic ones. Lower house price allows for private tuition. My 2 cents.

Wakefield High isn't good and H.B. Woodlawn (not H.B. Wooten) isn't a charter. Plus admission to HB is by lottery and nothing anyone in S. Arlington can count on.

Wakefield isn’t bad either. Son graduated from there. Some low test scores due to lack of English skills,due to international students but they come from hard working families, mainly Spanish speaking. Scores improve over time as English skills improve. Lot more Russian and Asian students now so STEM scores pretty high. Absolutely no gangs, aside from a few wannabees and that’s about it. Plus you can’t predict how zoning will change school boundaries in the years to come. And as Arlington becomes pricier that will include S. Arlington so wealthier families move in. Before I retired it took me 25 minutes door to door to office in Chinatown. Just saying, Might be something you might want to investigate.

Mostly low test scores, and definitely gang activity at that school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you can get this in Clarendon. Something like this...

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/1204-N-Nelson-St-22201/home/11248458

Yes, the schools are crowded and don't get too attached to your elementary because boundaries are changing but the schools along the Orange line in Arlington are good, if you don't mind your kids going to a more diverse school. They aren't all 8-10 rated but if you dig further into the scores, they are all 9-10 for not-disadvantaged kids.

We're a few blocks from metro, zoned Long Branch / Jefferson / W-L and have been happy with our schools (now have 1 at Jefferson and 1 at W-L).

If I’m paying $1.2 million, I want something nicer than that house.

Problem with this house is backyard is to commercial alley and eventual low income housing at American legion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The sweet spot for you would be Falls Church 22043, walking distance to West Falls Church and zoned for Longfellow-McLean pyramid.

Aka Pimmit Hills — tons of threads on that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sweet spot for you would be Falls Church 22043, walking distance to West Falls Church and zoned for Longfellow-McLean pyramid.

If OP wants a new construction, this area’s price tag is over 1.6M now.

You can still get new construction in 22043 that feeds into Lemon Road or Westgate for $1.2M or $1.3M.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sweet spot for you would be Falls Church 22043, walking distance to West Falls Church and zoned for Longfellow-McLean pyramid.

Aka Pimmit Hills — tons of threads on that.

Pimmit Hills is Kilmer/Marshall. There are other parts of 22043 close to the West Falls Church Metro zoned for Longfellow/McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginia didn’t do as good of a job as Maryland in planning and building around Metro stops. They were mostly planned like a regular train station.

Wut? https://www.smartergrowth.net/virginia/arlington/

Winner of the first EPA Smart Growth Award and the Coalition for Smarter Growth’s Capital Region Visionary Award, Arlington County is a national leader in transit-oriented development, affordable housing, transit, and street design.

Arlington’s journey began when it decided to construct Metro’s Orange Line under the Rosslyn-Ballston (R-B) corridor, rather than aboveground in the middle of I-66, and created their “bullseye” plan for the Metro stations.

Today, Arlington boasts 50 million square feet of transit-oriented development in the R-B corridor alone and has done so without increasing traffic. The land in their two Metro corridors (their other one is Pentagon City/Crystal City) occupies just 11 percent of the county, but provides 50 percent of the tax base. 39 percent of trips in the R-B corridor are made by transit, walking, and bicycling.

What’s the point in this? You don’t point out one or a few well designed station and say Virginia planned the metro stations well. That literally doesn’t mean that. Unless you think Arlington is Northern Virginia and all the rest of the stations are Central VA. Maryland has done a better job developing around the Metro. That’s a fact. Virginia is trying to improve.

Then why can’t all the Maryland people who drive to Virginia for jobs commute by Metro?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try South Arlington, Crystal or Pentagon City area with Arlington Ridge, Aurora Hills subdivision. One light to DC, and Metro in area. You’ll spend under your budget for big close in home. Elementary School is good, same with Middle School (they are just about side by side on Arlington Ridge). High School is Wakefield, new building, good AP track. Also eligible for charter (H.B.Wooten sp?) high school, populated with high SAT scorers. If you don’t like those schools there are several private schools, several Catholic ones. Lower house price allows for private tuition. My 2 cents.

Wakefield High isn't good and H.B. Woodlawn (not H.B. Wooten) isn't a charter. Plus admission to HB is by lottery and nothing anyone in S. Arlington can count on.

Wakefield isn’t bad either. Son graduated from there. Some low test scores due to lack of English skills,due to international students but they come from hard working families, mainly Spanish speaking. Scores improve over time as English skills improve. Lot more Russian and Asian students now so STEM scores pretty high. Absolutely no gangs, aside from a few wannabees and that’s about it. Plus you can’t predict how zoning will change school boundaries in the years to come. And as Arlington becomes pricier that will include S. Arlington so wealthier families move in. Before I retired it took me 25 minutes door to door to office in Chinatown. Just saying, Might be something you might want to investigate.

What don't you understand about "walkable to metro?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sweet spot for you would be Falls Church 22043, walking distance to West Falls Church and zoned for Longfellow-McLean pyramid.

Aka Pimmit Hills — tons of threads on that.

Not all of 22043 is PH. It also includes the very nice Falls Hill neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try South Arlington, Crystal or Pentagon City area with Arlington Ridge, Aurora Hills subdivision. One light to DC, and Metro in area. You’ll spend under your budget for big close in home. Elementary School is good, same with Middle School (they are just about side by side on Arlington Ridge). High School is Wakefield, new building, good AP track. Also eligible for charter (H.B.Wooten sp?) high school, populated with high SAT scorers. If you don’t like those schools there are several private schools, several Catholic ones. Lower house price allows for private tuition. My 2 cents.

Wakefield High isn't good and H.B. Woodlawn (not H.B. Wooten) isn't a charter. Plus admission to HB is by lottery and nothing anyone in S. Arlington can count on.

Wakefield isn’t bad either. Son graduated from there. Some low test scores due to lack of English skills,due to international students but they come from hard working families, mainly Spanish speaking. Scores improve over time as English skills improve. Lot more Russian and Asian students now so STEM scores pretty high. Absolutely no gangs, aside from a few wannabees and that’s about it. Plus you can’t predict how zoning will change school boundaries in the years to come. And as Arlington becomes pricier that will include S. Arlington so wealthier families move in. Before I retired it took me 25 minutes door to door to office in Chinatown. Just saying, Might be something you might want to investigate.

What don't you understand about "walkable to metro?"

Aurora Hills and Arlington Ridge are both walkable to metro. The discussion about Wakefield is whether or not they have "good schools".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try South Arlington, Crystal or Pentagon City area with Arlington Ridge, Aurora Hills subdivision. One light to DC, and Metro in area. You’ll spend under your budget for big close in home. Elementary School is good, same with Middle School (they are just about side by side on Arlington Ridge). High School is Wakefield, new building, good AP track. Also eligible for charter (H.B.Wooten sp?) high school, populated with high SAT scorers. If you don’t like those schools there are several private schools, several Catholic ones. Lower house price allows for private tuition. My 2 cents.

Wakefield High isn't good and H.B. Woodlawn (not H.B. Wooten) isn't a charter. Plus admission to HB is by lottery and nothing anyone in S. Arlington can count on.

Wakefield isn’t bad either. Son graduated from there. Some low test scores due to lack of English skills,due to international students but they come from hard working families, mainly Spanish speaking. Scores improve over time as English skills improve. Lot more Russian and Asian students now so STEM scores pretty high. Absolutely no gangs, aside from a few wannabees and that’s about it. Plus you can’t predict how zoning will change school boundaries in the years to come. And as Arlington becomes pricier that will include S. Arlington so wealthier families move in. Before I retired it took me 25 minutes door to door to office in Chinatown. Just saying, Might be something you might want to investigate.

What don't you understand about "walkable to metro?"

What don’t you understand about the blue line having stops in South Arlington? I’m embarrassed for you.

[Anonymous]

Realistically, there aren't many neighborhoods in South Arlington walkable to the Metro stations that were designed with shopping malls, workers and travelers (Pentagon, Pentagon City, Crystal City, and Reagan National) in mind.

A few are, but they are zoned for Wakefield HS, which has some of the lowest test scores in NoVa and is not what most people have in mind when they ask about "good schools."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Realistically, there aren't many neighborhoods in South Arlington walkable to the Metro stations that were designed with shopping malls, workers and travelers (Pentagon, Pentagon City, Crystal City, and Reagan National) in mind.

A few are, but they are zoned for Wakefield HS, which has some of the lowest test scores in NoVa and is not what most people have in mind when they ask about "good schools."

So you’re just gonna discount everything written about parents with experience at Wakefield above? Cool cool cool. Shopping and transit that is walkable is typically desirable. But do go on...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sweet spot for you would be Falls Church 22043, walking distance to West Falls Church and zoned for Longfellow-McLean pyramid.

Aka Pimmit Hills — tons of threads on that.

Not all of 22043 is PH. It also includes the very nice Falls Hill neighborhood.

No, not Pimmit Hills, it's not walkable to WFC or zoned for Longfellow-McLean. The other part of 22043.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Realistically, there aren't many neighborhoods in South Arlington walkable to the Metro stations that were designed with shopping malls, workers and travelers (Pentagon, Pentagon City, Crystal City, and Reagan National) in mind.

A few are, but they are zoned for Wakefield HS, which has some of the lowest test scores in NoVa and is not what most people have in mind when they ask about "good schools."

So you’re just gonna discount everything written about parents with experience at Wakefield above? Cool cool cool. Shopping and transit that is walkable is typically desirable. But do go on...

I made the original recommendation about considering S. Arlington and comment about Wakefield. I was only talking about the neighborhood (22202) that I know—Crystal City, Pentagon City, Arlington Ridge and Aurora Hills subdivisions. SFHs there walkable to Pentagon City Mall and Pentagon City and Crystal City Metros. Also bus routes takes you to Mall and actual Pentagon Metro. Elementary school (Oakridge) is great. Next door Middle School (Gunston) is good. 20 years ago there were some really dicey apartments and high crime demographics in area. They are gone. Turned into Condos or redone with lots of updates and way higher rents. Lots of families or younger professionals working in DMV now in those apartments. SFHs are are basically families. Many are big or if small they are candidates for renovations. Look up stats of Wakefield if you want, (test scores and crime stats).

It’s just an option for you to look at...don’t know why others who don’t know you are saying nooooooo don’t go there. Can’t figure that out.