Priced out of McLean and DC, would you live in Vienna or Great Falls?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, what is your budget?
Will you be driving or by metro to DC?

1.1-1.5, driving most likely but having a metro option is definitely enticing.

This home just came on the market in Great Falls and it’s a great neighborhood: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9419-Brian-Jac-Ln-Great-Falls-VA-22066/51724222_zpid/

It’s close to the Cross County trail, which takes you all the way to the Potomac. While it’s not within walking distance to GF Village, the neighborhood is centrally located (equidistant to Tysons and Reston; easy to get to GF Village, easy to get to 495, etc. They are upgrading Route 7 with a walking/biking path, so you could get to the Metro via bus or bike.) (the Metro is 3 miles from the cross street of Forestville and Route 7).

A lot of words just to say it's not really close to anything that op is looking for.

What are you talking about?

In budget (x)
In great falls (x)
SFH (x)
Space for family of 4 (x)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, what is your budget?
Will you be driving or by metro to DC?

1.1-1.5, driving most likely but having a metro option is definitely enticing.

This home just came on the market in Great Falls and it’s a great neighborhood: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9419-Brian-Jac-Ln-Great-Falls-VA-22066/51724222_zpid/

It’s close to the Cross County trail, which takes you all the way to the Potomac. While it’s not within walking distance to GF Village, the neighborhood is centrally located (equidistant to Tysons and Reston; easy to get to GF Village, easy to get to 495, etc. They are upgrading Route 7 with a walking/biking path, so you could get to the Metro via bus or bike.) (the Metro is 3 miles from the cross street of Forestville and Route 7).

A lot of words just to say it's not really close to anything that op is looking for.

Too far out. Your kids will spend sn hour in the dark in the am on a school bus heading for Langley

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, what is your budget?
Will you be driving or by metro to DC?

1.1-1.5, driving most likely but having a metro option is definitely enticing.

This home just came on the market in Great Falls and it’s a great neighborhood: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9419-Brian-Jac-Ln-Great-Falls-VA-22066/51724222_zpid/

It’s close to the Cross County trail, which takes you all the way to the Potomac. While it’s not within walking distance to GF Village, the neighborhood is centrally located (equidistant to Tysons and Reston; easy to get to GF Village, easy to get to 495, etc. They are upgrading Route 7 with a walking/biking path, so you could get to the Metro via bus or bike.) (the Metro is 3 miles from the cross street of Forestville and Route 7).

A lot of words just to say it's not really close to anything that op is looking for.

What are you talking about?

In budget (x)
In great falls (x)
SFH (x)
Space for family of 4 (x)

I was talking about location. Doesn't prioritize commute, far from schools for kids, no community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pimmit Hills/22043 will give you a much better commute than Great Falls and Vienna. Also look at Dunn Loring, which is Vienna outside of Town of Vienna.

Schools are subpar especially elementary, not apples to apples

22043 haycock pyramid is apples to apples.

Pimmit hills goes to Westgate and Lemon Road. My kids have attended both and they are fine schools.

That's ok but there is a major price difference between the same zip going to haycock and other regular McLean elementary schools

NP. Is the price difference based on the elementary schools alone? In other words, do all the kids in that zip code attend the same middle and high school? But the elementary school for the lower-prices homes is different?

Pimmit Hills goes to Kilmer/Marshall and is split between Westgate and Lemon Rd elementary schools. Those two schools are split feeders, and some of their classmates will go onto Longfellow/McLean. PP is describing them as lesser, because some lower income apartments feed into those schools, so their great schools rating isn’t as high as the more uniformly wealthy McLean elementary schools.

This is accurate but I'm going to chime in and say it's not the whole picture. This has been debated ad nauseam on this site, but there is no measurable difference between student outcomes at these schools if you are high income family with involved parents. In fact, red headed stepchild Marshall came in at 5 in last year's US News & World Report ranking despite having a higher college readiness ranking than either McLean (2) or Langley (3). Madison in Vienna was ranked 9th.

Any and all of these high schools are great high schools. Any and all of these elementary and middle schools will offer ample opportunities for your child to learn and succeed. The curriculum is uniform. It's not a huge mystery why majority white schools in FCPS or those in wealthy areas rank higher on Great Schools.

Life is more than high school, elementary and middle are 9 years of your kids life, high school is 4

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, what is your budget?
Will you be driving or by metro to DC?

1.1-1.5, driving most likely but having a metro option is definitely enticing.

This home just came on the market in Great Falls and it’s a great neighborhood: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9419-Brian-Jac-Ln-Great-Falls-VA-22066/51724222_zpid/

It’s close to the Cross County trail, which takes you all the way to the Potomac. While it’s not within walking distance to GF Village, the neighborhood is centrally located (equidistant to Tysons and Reston; easy to get to GF Village, easy to get to 495, etc. They are upgrading Route 7 with a walking/biking path, so you could get to the Metro via bus or bike.) (the Metro is 3 miles from the cross street of Forestville and Route 7).

A lot of words just to say it's not really close to anything that op is looking for.

Too far out. Your kids will spend sn hour in the dark in the am on a school bus heading for Langley

My kids don’t spend “hours” on the bus, but DCUM is obsessed with this. My kids liked riding the bus because it offered extended time to hang out with their friends (or, in my son’s case, sleep).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pimmit Hills/22043 will give you a much better commute than Great Falls and Vienna. Also look at Dunn Loring, which is Vienna outside of Town of Vienna.

Schools are subpar especially elementary, not apples to apples

22043 haycock pyramid is apples to apples.

Pimmit hills goes to Westgate and Lemon Road. My kids have attended both and they are fine schools.

That's ok but there is a major price difference between the same zip going to haycock and other regular McLean elementary schools

NP. Is the price difference based on the elementary schools alone? In other words, do all the kids in that zip code attend the same middle and high school? But the elementary school for the lower-prices homes is different?

Pimmit Hills goes to Kilmer/Marshall and is split between Westgate and Lemon Rd elementary schools. Those two schools are split feeders, and some of their classmates will go onto Longfellow/McLean. PP is describing them as lesser, because some lower income apartments feed into those schools, so their great schools rating isn’t as high as the more uniformly wealthy McLean elementary schools.

This is accurate but I'm going to chime in and say it's not the whole picture. This has been debated ad nauseam on this site, but there is no measurable difference between student outcomes at these schools if you are high income family with involved parents. In fact, red headed stepchild Marshall came in at 5 in last year's US News & World Report ranking despite having a higher college readiness ranking than either McLean (2) or Langley (3). Madison in Vienna was ranked 9th.

Any and all of these high schools are great high schools. Any and all of these elementary and middle schools will offer ample opportunities for your child to learn and succeed. The curriculum is uniform. It's not a huge mystery why majority white schools in FCPS or those in wealthy areas rank higher on Great Schools.

Life is more than high school, elementary and middle are 9 years of your kids life, high school is 4

Great point

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pimmit Hills/22043 will give you a much better commute than Great Falls and Vienna. Also look at Dunn Loring, which is Vienna outside of Town of Vienna.

Schools are subpar especially elementary, not apples to apples

22043 haycock pyramid is apples to apples.

Pimmit hills goes to Westgate and Lemon Road. My kids have attended both and they are fine schools.

That's ok but there is a major price difference between the same zip going to haycock and other regular McLean elementary schools

NP. Is the price difference based on the elementary schools alone? In other words, do all the kids in that zip code attend the same middle and high school? But the elementary school for the lower-prices homes is different?

Pimmit Hills goes to Kilmer/Marshall and is split between Westgate and Lemon Rd elementary schools. Those two schools are split feeders, and some of their classmates will go onto Longfellow/McLean. PP is describing them as lesser, because some lower income apartments feed into those schools, so their great schools rating isn’t as high as the more uniformly wealthy McLean elementary schools.

This is accurate but I'm going to chime in and say it's not the whole picture. This has been debated ad nauseam on this site, but there is no measurable difference between student outcomes at these schools if you are high income family with involved parents. In fact, red headed stepchild Marshall came in at 5 in last year's US News & World Report ranking despite having a higher college readiness ranking than either McLean (2) or Langley (3). Madison in Vienna was ranked 9th.

Any and all of these high schools are great high schools. Any and all of these elementary and middle schools will offer ample opportunities for your child to learn and succeed. The curriculum is uniform. It's not a huge mystery why majority white schools in FCPS or those in wealthy areas rank higher on Great Schools.

Life is more than high school, elementary and middle are 9 years of your kids life, high school is 4

Great point

The PP made that point.

[Anonymous]

OP --

This house in GF is coming on the market this weekend for $1.35M: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1009-Kimberly-Pl-Great-Falls-VA-22066/51706041_zpid/

The MLS "Coming Soon" listing has photos . . . it looks nice. Your agent can send you the link.

We looked at a house in this subdivision last year, but ended up buying another house in GF. The only real downside is that it is a few miles west of the Village.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP --

This house in GF is coming on the market this weekend for $1.35M: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1009-Kimberly-Pl-Great-Falls-VA-22066/51706041_zpid/

The MLS "Coming Soon" listing has photos . . . it looks nice. Your agent can send you the link.

We looked at a house in this subdivision last year, but ended up buying another house in GF. The only real downside is that it is a few miles west of the Village.

Thank you! It looks beautiful. I agree that the commute to DC may be a drawback but great to see more inventory out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pimmit Hills/22043 will give you a much better commute than Great Falls and Vienna. Also look at Dunn Loring, which is Vienna outside of Town of Vienna.

I live right on the edge of Tysons right now and really love it, but it's not for everyone. I would also live in Dunn Loring, Pimmit Hills, or probably even Great Falls before living in Vienna or McLean town areas. I HATE the feeling of the "fake small town vibe" present in both Vienna and McLean. It's just a bunch of roads with half as many lanes as they actually need, not enough parking (especially Vienna), pretty crappy local restaurant and stores (1-2 decent restaurants in each "town"...Bazin's on Church in Vienna is honestly the only semi decent restaurant there) and a bunch of glorified strip malls with chain stores made to look quaint. Like, welcome to the town of Vienna, we have a Chipotle, a CVS, a Giant, a Cava Meze, a Subway, some gas stations, four second rate asian restaurants and five bottom of the barrel american restaurants. So depressing.

OMG. My people. I loathe Vienna for all of these reasons. It has zero character.

[Anonymous]

I live in Great Falls. The commute will probably be easier from Great Falls, but I would choose Vienna for the community feeling and walkability score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Great Falls. The commute will probably be easier from Great Falls, but I would choose Vienna for the community feeling and walkability score.

Hard to see how commuting to NW DC would be easier from Great Falls than from Vienna.

I'd only live in Great Falls if working from home or working in Herndon, Reston or Tysons (and if working in Tysons would still prefer Vienna or Falls Church to Great Falls). The infrastructure hasn't kept up with the population growth in the surrounding areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Great Falls. The commute will probably be easier from Great Falls, but I would choose Vienna for the community feeling and walkability score.

Hard to see how commuting to NW DC would be easier from Great Falls than from Vienna.

I'd only live in Great Falls if working from home or working in Herndon, Reston or Tysons (and if working in Tysons would still prefer Vienna or Falls Church to Great Falls). The infrastructure hasn't kept up with the population growth in the surrounding areas.

Agreed. I can get to Metro Center in 30-35 minutes from where I live in Vienna.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Great Falls. The commute will probably be easier from Great Falls, but I would choose Vienna for the community feeling and walkability score.

Hard to see how commuting to NW DC would be easier from Great Falls than from Vienna.

I'd only live in Great Falls if working from home or working in Herndon, Reston or Tysons (and if working in Tysons would still prefer Vienna or Falls Church to Great Falls). The infrastructure hasn't kept up with the population growth in the surrounding areas.

Agreed. I can get to Metro Center in 30-35 minutes from where I live in Vienna.

These days, the drive from GF (near the Village) to Metro Center is also 30-35 mins. That will change as more people go back to the office, but so will the drive on 66 from Vienna. Vienna obviously also has the Metro option, but you need to factor in walking/driving time to the metro station.

To the extent it matters, the drive into DC from GF is far prettier than the drive in from Vienna.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Great Falls. The commute will probably be easier from Great Falls, but I would choose Vienna for the community feeling and walkability score.

Hard to see how commuting to NW DC would be easier from Great Falls than from Vienna.

I'd only live in Great Falls if working from home or working in Herndon, Reston or Tysons (and if working in Tysons would still prefer Vienna or Falls Church to Great Falls). The infrastructure hasn't kept up with the population growth in the surrounding areas.

Agreed. I can get to Metro Center in 30-35 minutes from where I live in Vienna.

I'd recommend looking at Bethesda. A little pricier than Vienna but great schools and easier to commute to NW.