Please recommend your family friendly neighborhood with playground, metro and good schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like a lot of people are telling OP about THEIR neighborhood without actually thinking about whether it's what OP is looking for. OP is looking for 1) great schools, 2) close to DC, 3) a long-term home, 4) close to metro, and 5) walkable to a playground. Budget appears to be open-ended, which I would guess means at least $1.5M. Some of these suggestions are absurd. For example:

--Capitol Hill does NOT have great public schools. They may be acceptable at the elementary level but nowhere near on par with many of the other places mentioned, and after elementary who knows.

--Ditto Del Ray and Rosemont. These are nice places but NOT where you live if you can spend whatever you want.

--Mantua is NOT close to DC or a metro. It's way the hell out in Fairfax--total suburbia. Also largely not walkable to a playground. THe houses are very 70s and affordable, not great at all.

--The area of Falls Church that is technically Fairfax County is VERY hit or miss. All of the schools are Fairfax County so will be fine, but some of them have almost 50% non-English-proficient students, which obviously changes the educational environment. Haycock is nice but it's very average for the area--again, not where you live when you're spending $1.5 million or more.

Agree with the suggestions for Falls Church City and anywhere in Arlington along the orange line. Lyon Village is lovely but not so lovely as to justify the ridiculous hype and inflated prices, IMHO. Many other great small neighborhoods fit all of OP's criteria and don't require a 2-year wait and a bidding war.

OP here. Thanks PP for the analysis. I am looking for a home that can last us through HS, but I still appreciate all the suggestions. Regarding Haycock area, would you care to elaborate what did you mean by "nice but it's very average for the area"? TIA!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where is this charming downtown city of Falls Church? Is it that little strip where Lost Dog is?

That's Arlington (Westover). City of Falls Church is at the intersection of Lee Highway and Rte. 7 (Broad St.). Ireland's 4 Provinces is right there.

[Anonymous]

I live near Haycock Road in the fairfax county section pf Falls Church. It's lovely. Those neighborhoods are a mixture of nice and really nice homes. Not many mansions like other parts of McLean school district but certainly above average with more renovations happening.

What I like is the accessibility factor. I can walk to the metro. I can walk to the neighborhood pool. I can walk to the Falls Church farmers market. I can walk to some decent (not fancy but decent) restaurants. I can walk to the grocery store. It takes me 25 minutes to drive to work, door to door, to L street. I have a hybrid so I can zip down 66. And the schools (McLean high) are great. It's pretty ideal for me but certainly not status-y like McLean or Great Falls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like a lot of people are telling OP about THEIR neighborhood without actually thinking about whether it's what OP is looking for. OP is looking for 1) great schools, 2) close to DC, 3) a long-term home, 4) close to metro, and 5) walkable to a playground. Budget appears to be open-ended, which I would guess means at least $1.5M. Some of these suggestions are absurd. For example:

--Capitol Hill does NOT have great public schools. They may be acceptable at the elementary level but nowhere near on par with many of the other places mentioned, and after elementary who knows.

--Ditto Del Ray and Rosemont. These are nice places but NOT where you live if you can spend whatever you want.

--Mantua is NOT close to DC or a metro. It's way the hell out in Fairfax--total suburbia. Also largely not walkable to a playground. THe houses are very 70s and affordable, not great at all.

--The area of Falls Church that is technically Fairfax County is VERY hit or miss. All of the schools are Fairfax County so will be fine, but some of them have almost 50% non-English-proficient students, which obviously changes the educational environment. Haycock is nice but it's very average for the area--again, not where you live when you're spending $1.5 million or more.

Agree with the suggestions for Falls Church City and anywhere in Arlington along the orange line. Lyon Village is lovely but not so lovely as to justify the ridiculous hype and inflated prices, IMHO. Many other great small neighborhoods fit all of OP's criteria and don't require a 2-year wait and a bidding war.

OP here. Thanks PP for the analysis. I am looking for a home that can last us through HS, but I still appreciate all the suggestions. Regarding Haycock area, would you care to elaborate what did you mean by "nice but it's very average for the area"? TIA!!

Another PP here who lives in the Haycock area. Of course PP is right, there are nicer parts of Falls Church and not so nice parts. This is also true of Arlington, Alexandria, DC, etc. Obviously you have to do your legwork and figure out which areas feed into good schools, are near the metro, etc, etc. Assuming you have $1.5 million or more, sure you can probably get something nice closer in. We had an $800,000 budget and didn't find anything nice near the metro in Arlington. Also, while Falls Church City is nice in many ways, those homes actually are farther from the metro than some of the Fairfax homes (and also homes within city bounds are fairly limited). Just mentioning this since metro access was one of your major criteria. Oh, and not sure what his gripe is with Haycock. It's a very good school, and we're happy. The MS and HS are supposed to be excellent too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live near Haycock Road in the fairfax county section pf Falls Church. It's lovely. Those neighborhoods are a mixture of nice and really nice homes. Not many mansions like other parts of McLean school district but certainly above average with more renovations happening.

What I like is the accessibility factor. I can walk to the metro. I can walk to the neighborhood pool. I can walk to the Falls Church farmers market. I can walk to some decent (not fancy but decent) restaurants. I can walk to the grocery store. It takes me 25 minutes to drive to work, door to door, to L street. I have a hybrid so I can zip down 66. And the schools (McLean high) are great. It's pretty ideal for me but certainly not status-y like McLean or Great Falls.

We live in Falls Hill so we're practically neighbors. We love Falls Hill, although the status conscious would probably not be interested (which is fine with me).

[Anonymous]

10:54 PP here - not trying to sound racist/classist. The city of falls church has a charming, walkable downtown area and very expensive houses. That expensive housing limits who can live there; those people are more likely to be rich and white. Parts of Fairfax that are "falls church" include more low-income housing. Stuart and Falls Church High are two of the lowest-performing schools in the county, along with the schools in Alexandria. Just pointing out that the earlier poster was lumping the city of falls church in with "fairfax" falls church, which wasn't entirely valid. the school systems are different; the demographics are different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like a lot of people are telling OP about THEIR neighborhood without actually thinking about whether it's what OP is looking for. OP is looking for 1) great schools, 2) close to DC, 3) a long-term home, 4) close to metro, and 5) walkable to a playground. Budget appears to be open-ended, which I would guess means at least $1.5M. Some of these suggestions are absurd. For example:

--Capitol Hill does NOT have great public schools. They may be acceptable at the elementary level but nowhere near on par with many of the other places mentioned, and after elementary who knows.

--Ditto Del Ray and Rosemont. These are nice places but NOT where you live if you can spend whatever you want.

--Mantua is NOT close to DC or a metro. It's way the hell out in Fairfax--total suburbia. Also largely not walkable to a playground. THe houses are very 70s and affordable, not great at all.

--The area of Falls Church that is technically Fairfax County is VERY hit or miss. All of the schools are Fairfax County so will be fine, but some of them have almost 50% non-English-proficient students, which obviously changes the educational environment. Haycock is nice but it's very average for the area--again, not where you live when you're spending $1.5 million or more.

Agree with the suggestions for Falls Church City and anywhere in Arlington along the orange line. Lyon Village is lovely but not so lovely as to justify the ridiculous hype and inflated prices, IMHO. Many other great small neighborhoods fit all of OP's criteria and don't require a 2-year wait and a bidding war.

This is very good advice. I've been house hunting for a while and use DCUM to vet neighborhoods, schools, etc. One thing you learn quickly is that people tend to promote their own neighborhoods. And it's understandable, in a lot of ways. People pay a lot of money for homes here, and you want to be able to tell yourself that you made a good decision. The two things I think people oversell most often are commute and schools.

With respect to commute, I think people say "door-to-door" when what they mean is "pull out of my driveway to pull into the garage" or "time actually on the metro." And I think they generally refer to their best traffic days, and not the average, and often people don't mention if they commute during peak rush hour.

Schools are obviously subjective, but by and large, you'll find very, very few people who think that their schools are anything other than "great." Of course most people have a vested interest in believing that, plus, my guess is that they're having a good experience and that's sufficient for them. I think some people go in wanting the best school district possible, some just want a solid overall education and aren't worried if another district has somewhat higher test scores, and some value other factors outside of academics (such as diversity or overcrowding).

[Anonymous]

Stay in Dupont! There's Ross Elementary, Stead Park and other parks, lots of families with young kids, lots of restaurants, easy metro access. We love it here.

[Anonymous]

if you are looking for good schools, close-in to dc, walkable to metro and playgrounds and a long-term investment, i would recommend chevy chase. there are lots of great areas - there is chevy chase village, chevy chase west, village of drummond, town of chevy chase and town of somerset. norwood and livingston park are fantastic and depending on where you end up along wisconsin, you will most likely be able to walk to either the friendship heights metro or the bethesda metro. bethesda row has lots of cute restaurants and friendship heights has all the shopping you could ask for. that cluster of homes is largely in the somerset/westland/bcc cluster (some go to a different elementary school, which is also very good, and then meet up for middle and high school). although the middle school gets mixed reviews, my understanding is that they are likely building a new one to reduce the school population and class size -- at least by the time that your kids will be in middle school.

i will caveat that we do live in the area, but we really love it for a lot of the reasons that you have identified so i figured i would respond.

the major downside is that housing stock is neither plentiful nor fantastic. we've got (at least in my opinion) a very expensive fixer-upper but i'm quite certain we'll see our money back on the other end.

good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are hilarious. I grew up in Tysons, graduated from McLean, and currently coach at Falls Church and do not think it is "ghetto." Are many students on reduced or free lunch? Yes. Are most of the students white? No. I am guessing those are the criteria you are using to label it as such. Sad. I would be happy to show you around sometime and introduce you to a lot of hardworking students. Also, the idea of "Yale or Jail" is just silly because there is no reason it has to be one or another...I have coached kids that have gone on to UVA, William and Mary, Virginia Tech, University of Maryland, JMU, University of Richmond, and the list goes on.

I'd wager that more kids graduating from FCHS go to jail than kids graduating from Madison, Oakton, or McLean (as a percentage of the student body.)

Also, if you coach, you are, by definition, dealing with the more successful kids at that HS, especially if you're coaching a sport like field hockey, lacrosse, etc.

If you're coaching football, basketball, soccer, or a sport that is more likely to attract non-upper middle class students, then you have a broader perspective.

"Yale or jail" is shorthand for a type of public middle/high school in more downscale areas, where if you're in the honors/AP track, you'll be fine and largely isolated from the rest of the school -- which is heavily ESOL and heavily free/reduced lunch.

Administrative focus outside the honors/AP track will be on the needs of at-risk/ESOL/FRL students, and not the average/slightly above-average student who's otherwise not at risk. I won't go into whether there'll be gangs, etc., putting your kid at risk, but even if the vatos leave your kid alone (they're probably more a risk for kids who are Hispanic and not in gangs), he/she will have a harder time fitting in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where is this charming downtown city of Falls Church? Is it that little strip where Lost Dog is?

Wow - you really need to get a map. Lost Dog is in Arlington. The area everyone keeps calling Westover.
The best streets in City of FC are bordered by Roosevelt (heading to EFC metro), route 29 and up towards 7 Corners. Don't have all the street names but there are some truly beautiful homes in there. I couldn't afford to live there but there are some dream homes for sure.

[Anonymous]

Everyone stay out of Arlington! I feel it is a tiny haven of great schools, tons of kids, small government, and lots of parks and trails and great proximity to DC. Stay out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone stay out of Arlington! I feel it is a tiny haven of great schools, tons of kids, small government, and lots of parks and trails and great proximity to DC. Stay out!

Um, I think the cat's out of the bag on that one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd wager that more kids graduating from FCHS go to jail than kids graduating from Madison, Oakton, or McLean (as a percentage of the student body.)
Also, if you coach, you are, by definition, dealing with the more successful kids at that HS, especially if you're coaching a sport like field hockey, lacrosse, etc.
If you're coaching football, basketball, soccer, or a sport that is more likely to attract non-upper middle class students, then you have a broader perspective.
"Yale or jail" is shorthand for a type of public middle/high school in more downscale areas, where if you're in the honors/AP track, you'll be fine and largely isolated from the rest of the school -- which is heavily ESOL and heavily free/reduced lunch.
Administrative focus outside the honors/AP track will be on the needs of at-risk/ESOL/FRL students, and not the average/slightly above-average student who's otherwise not at risk. I won't go into whether there'll be gangs, etc., putting your kid at risk, but even if the vatos leave your kid alone (they're probably more a risk for kids who are Hispanic and not in gangs), he/she will have a harder time fitting in.

If you have data that compares the number of students that are now in jail after graduating from these schools, I would be interested in seeing it. In fact, this would be interesting to look at across the county.

Yes, studies do show that student athletes have better grades. I assure you there are uninvolved and “lost” students at every school.

As for your last point, you may be interested in this program. http://www.fcps.edu/dis/OMSI/avid/index.htm

[Anonymous]

For those PP that suggested Falls Church-Haycock area, where is the playground that most families congregate? thanks!!