Are there any bad neighborhoods in McLean?

[Anonymous]

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

When I was single I owned a condo at the westerlies...no offense but the neighbors left some to be desired. Saw cars on cinder blocks, alot of garbage laying around. Alot of renters who just didn't care. I'd avoid that area.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! That answered my question....I guess there are some bad areas Is that the area of McLean near Tysons? I was thinking more of the area near Falls Church or around Kent Gardens? We're looking for a Single Family closer to Arlington.

[Anonymous]

When we were house hunting we looked at a house on the Falls Church side of Great Falls St. that had a Mclean address and I don't know if it was a "bad" neighborhood but it definitely had a little more character than I was looking for (i.e., some cars on blocks, houses in disrepair). We live in Kent Gardens and I haven't heard of any problems and have walked most of it and like what I've seen. There is definitely a mix of older homes that have never been renovated, homes that have and brand new houses. I like the mix personally - gives the neighborhood character!

[Anonymous]

LOVE LOVE LOVE Franklin Park area near Arlington border. Check it out.

[Anonymous]

thats where I live and have to admit--it's great!! As for bad neighborhoods, it's all relative--what's bad to some isn't too others. I don't like the split levels by Mclean High school--they are very 70's but..I am sure they have nice people living in them and great school district--possibly some of those nice people wanted to be in Mclean for the school and are going to gradually remodel after sticker shock wears off since even small and old is soooooooooooooooooo much in mclean!!!

[Anonymous]

Well, who knows....you may have a new neighbor in those split levels soon!

We are indeed one of those couples looking to break into the area. We figure we have to try while we may be able to. If the market picks up, it will jump there at a higher rate than here, but if we're already in we won't worry about that. We live in MD now and it's a really hard decision to move from our 2000 sq. ft. house that is fully updated to one that may be smaller and less updated but cost much more! My family in Baltimore thinks we're crazy. There, the bigger houses are all together and they are all more than the little houses. Here the littlest oldest houses are the most per sq. ft.! We gave our agent our parameters and she suggested McLean. I figured since we we're looking to spend around $550K - $610K in a place that SFHs go for over $1.3M on AVERAGE we may need to check to make sure we didn't get a bad area!

Thank you all for your comments.

I feel a little better about the area now. The places that were mentioned as bad were areas I was already thinking may be bad. I usually drive there for lunch from work and it's SO beautiful around the McDonalds. I want to live somewhere that it's beautiful around a McDonalds!

[Anonymous]

The area you are looking in is fabulous. Yes, there are 1.5 million homes mixed into those "small and old" split-levels with nice people in them, but you'll find those "small and old" homes are pretty much the norm for the Kent Gardens area. A lot of people have started additions - and most of my friends have updated kitchens and bathrooms. It's all relative. McLean is a fantastic place to live - great schools and a great town center. I love walking to the grocery store, bookstore, bank and everything else!

Good luck - you'll love it here.

[Anonymous]

Mclean is great, even the older, non-McMansion sections, and some of those 50s-70s split levels aren't bad. You can definitely get something in the $550-650 range, although it will be dated or a bit smaller than you may want. The location is great too: near the beltway and 66, Rt 7, Tysons, and still near N. Arlington and the city. Also, some houses are near West Falls Church metro.

The zip code you want is 22101, I believe. Also check out Falls Church, zip codes 22046 and 22043 for a similar area.

Most of the elementary schools that feed into Mclean High School are great.

[Anonymous]

I live in the Kent Gardens school district. To answer your question, there really are no "bad" areas of Mclean if you mean where there's high crime or it is unsafe, etc...Certainly, this isn't really the "posh" side of Mclean, although there are some pretty nice houses sprinkled around, but it is a great place to live with well regarded Fairfax County schools.

We love, love, love the location -- not far from the metro, easy access to Arlington and DC, close to Tysons. It is an area with tons of activities for little kids -- you can take advantage of Fairfax County parks, Falls Church City parks and Arlington parks as well as programs at libraries in the different jurisdictions. The Mclean Community Center and Falls Church Community Centers both have great community events and there are farmers markets in both Mclean and Falls Church.