Talk to me about Alexandria City

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The market suggests that Alexandria is very desirable as prices are high and demand is strong. So for the doubters, maybe visit, walk around, and try to see what you’re missing. If you still don’t get it, that’s fine. But this thread contains posts from people whose sole source of info about Alexandria seems to be typing “Alexandria crime” into google. It’s like all the people talking about how terrible DC is yet when I go out on weekends, every restaurant is full, there are people everywhere, and everyone is enjoying themselves.

But the regulated utility bills are through the roof by an extra $20/month. Therefore, it’s waterworld waiting to happen and a total dump.

+100 BUT My utility bills are higher than an extra $20 extra a month. They're insane. If you live in a complex with ratio billing the bills are criminal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the people that I know in Old Town are single older adults or empty nesters. It is very charming and has cute restaurants and retail and a waterfront. I think for that demographic, it's one of the best places to live in the DMV if you want walkability.

+1. I am an empty nester and don't care at all about schools. OTA is pretty much crime free and beautiful, that is why people that live here love it.

[Anonymous]

I can see the appeal if you don’t have kids. There are very pretty neighborhoods with nice houses. The school situation ruins it for me.

[Anonymous]

Old Town is fun to walk around, but living there is challenging due to housing costs, limited parking, and traffic/people density. It suits some, and not others. Schools are not good, which again matters only for some people.

For many, the relatively high cost of relatively small residential properties is a major drawback. You have to really value the walkability dimension of Old Town to balance that out.

Other parts of Alexandria are generally unremarkable, although crime is a concern in places. Population density is high, as might be expected in such a close-in suburb.

As with all locations, attractiveness depends on what you value and how you prioritize those attributes.

[Anonymous]

Like another PP, my kids went to public schools K-12 in ACPS. They wound up at UVA and William & Mary.

When you have one large high school, two things happen:
1. The concentration of resources means that there is an incredible amount of resources: tons of AP classes but also lots of electives.
2. You have a greater awareness of the full range of American teenagers. There are struggling kids across the country, in every jurisdiction. Sometimes they are intentionally segregated away from the people living the typical DCUM life.

My kids' "exposure" to this broader span of reality did not negatively impact their trajectory. If anything, I think they enter adulthood with more awareness than those that live within a narrow band.

Also, I live in a nice neighborhood in the West End. Yes, those exist in Alexandria beyond Del Ray and Old Town.

I don't think this city is perfect by any means, but the level of rage displayed on this thread is... odd.

[Anonymous]

Individuals are entitled to their opinions but the market says it’s a place a lot of people want to be.

Home prices wouldn’t be what they are in Alexandria city if it was undesirable.

That said, the vibe is very different from one neighborhood to the next.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Old Town is fun to walk around, but living there is challenging due to housing costs, limited parking, and traffic/people density. It suits some, and not others. Schools are not good, which again matters only for some people.

For many, the relatively high cost of relatively small residential properties is a major drawback. You have to really value the walkability dimension of Old Town to balance that out.

Other parts of Alexandria are generally unremarkable, although crime is a concern in places. Population density is high, as might be expected in such a close-in suburb.

As with all locations, attractiveness depends on what you value and how you prioritize those attributes.

The density is understated it's on par with queens!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like another PP, my kids went to public schools K-12 in ACPS. They wound up at UVA and William & Mary.

When you have one large high school, two things happen:
1. The concentration of resources means that there is an incredible amount of resources: tons of AP classes but also lots of electives.
2. You have a greater awareness of the full range of American teenagers. There are struggling kids across the country, in every jurisdiction. Sometimes they are intentionally segregated away from the people living the typical DCUM life.

My kids' "exposure" to this broader span of reality did not negatively impact their trajectory. If anything, I think they enter adulthood with more awareness than those that live within a narrow band.

Also, I live in a nice neighborhood in the West End. Yes, those exist in Alexandria beyond Del Ray and Old Town.

I don't think this city is perfect by any means, but the level of rage displayed on this thread is... odd.

Move to the west end to understand what you call "rage."

[Anonymous]

The city of Alexandria was built on the backs of slaves. Old town was a major port for the slave trade industry.

Classy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like another PP, my kids went to public schools K-12 in ACPS. They wound up at UVA and William & Mary.

When you have one large high school, two things happen:
1. The concentration of resources means that there is an incredible amount of resources: tons of AP classes but also lots of electives.
2. You have a greater awareness of the full range of American teenagers. There are struggling kids across the country, in every jurisdiction. Sometimes they are intentionally segregated away from the people living the typical DCUM life.

My kids' "exposure" to this broader span of reality did not negatively impact their trajectory. If anything, I think they enter adulthood with more awareness than those that live within a narrow band.

Also, I live in a nice neighborhood in the West End. Yes, those exist in Alexandria beyond Del Ray and Old Town.

I don't think this city is perfect by any means, but the level of rage displayed on this thread is... odd.

I usually don't bother with the Alexandria City posts, because there are people who very angry about the city and just want me to believe I am a fool living here with a family. I look around at my neighbors who along with me have children in the schools. We all seem like normal people with good jobs living in nice enough housing and wonder what is wrong with us. What potential harm are we doing to our children who are doing well at the schools and friends of many socioeconomic levels, races, and nationalities. We see older kids in our neighborhood graduate from the high school and go to good colleges, get jobs, and a few of them are even able to buy houses in the city or off the parkway in Fairfax/Alexandria.

I just wonder why if Alexandria is so horrible why hasn't everyone figured it out and moved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The city of Alexandria was built on the backs of slaves. Old town was a major port for the slave trade industry.

Classy.

That is correct and Arlington was part of Alexandria when the slave trade occurred. Georgetown had the largest slave market and Georgetown, including the university, was built on the backs of slaves, including those who were sold by the university to that more buildings could be built. Alexandria was occupied by the Union troops during the Civil War and Fort Ward had watchtowers looking into the countryside for Confederate troops. A house still stands in our neighborhood that a hospital for Union troops.

The White House, the Capitol and early federal buildings were built on the backs of slaves. If you are in a snit about slavery in Alexandria, you better be in a snit about your first president who owned slaves which he freed but his lovely wife, Martha, did not free her slaves. She gave them to her son for his Arlington Plantation. One of the slaves at Arlington was impregnated by Martha's son and bore a child who would become her white sister's maid. The white sister went on to marry Robert E. Lee and was thrown out Arlington Plantation when the Union made her taxes so high she could not pay them. She fled to Richmond and Arlington became a cemetery for - first Union soldiers killed in the Civil War -- then those enslaved at Arlington Plantation. The maid married into a family of free blacks who became prominent black educators in Arlington and Arlington's public school admin building is name after her family. Meanwhile, everything public property in Arlington bearing the name "Lee" is being renamed while the maid's name lives on.

So you don't think people should live in Alexandria because it had a slave port? Tell me about a part of the United States where people were not exploited?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Individuals are entitled to their opinions but the market says it’s a place a lot of people want to be.

Home prices wouldn’t be what they are in Alexandria city if it was undesirable.

That said, the vibe is very different from one neighborhood to the next.

Close. What the housing prices are actually saying is that DC crime has gotten too high to stay and people still want to be close to their jobs. That’s about it.

It’s a their loss is our win kind of scenario.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like another PP, my kids went to public schools K-12 in ACPS. They wound up at UVA and William & Mary.

When you have one large high school, two things happen:
1. The concentration of resources means that there is an incredible amount of resources: tons of AP classes but also lots of electives.
2. You have a greater awareness of the full range of American teenagers. There are struggling kids across the country, in every jurisdiction. Sometimes they are intentionally segregated away from the people living the typical DCUM life.

My kids' "exposure" to this broader span of reality did not negatively impact their trajectory. If anything, I think they enter adulthood with more awareness than those that live within a narrow band.

Also, I live in a nice neighborhood in the West End. Yes, those exist in Alexandria beyond Del Ray and Old Town.

I don't think this city is perfect by any means, but the level of rage displayed on this thread is... odd.

I usually don't bother with the Alexandria City posts, because there are people who very angry about the city and just want me to believe I am a fool living here with a family. I look around at my neighbors who along with me have children in the schools. We all seem like normal people with good jobs living in nice enough housing and wonder what is wrong with us. What potential harm are we doing to our children who are doing well at the schools and friends of many socioeconomic levels, races, and nationalities. We see older kids in our neighborhood graduate from the high school and go to good colleges, get jobs, and a few of them are even able to buy houses in the city or off the parkway in Fairfax/Alexandria.

I just wonder why if Alexandria is so horrible why hasn't everyone figured it out and moved.

I suspect the posters here can be divided into two groups. Those who pay attention to the local news (or receive local crime alerts from their Ring camera) and those who do not. You do you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The market suggests that Alexandria is very desirable as prices are high and demand is strong. So for the doubters, maybe visit, walk around, and try to see what you’re missing. If you still don’t get it, that’s fine. But this thread contains posts from people whose sole source of info about Alexandria seems to be typing “Alexandria crime” into google. It’s like all the people talking about how terrible DC is yet when I go out on weekends, every restaurant is full, there are people everywhere, and everyone is enjoying themselves.

The "doubters?!?!" WE LIVE HERE. HELLO! Don't you get it WE LIVE HERE AND IT SUCKS. I'M MOVING AS SOON AS I CAN.

Sorry you are so angry. If you own, sell now and just rent in your preferred location. Prices are sky high so you should do very well. You can even put the proceeds from the sale in a money market fund paying 5.5%, and that will probably pay most of the rent in wherever you move to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The city of Alexandria was built on the backs of slaves. Old town was a major port for the slave trade industry.

Classy.

This is not a thing anyone cares about.