Falls Church City, McLean, or N. Arlington?

[Anonymous]

Homes close to the metro are risky if you value the character of your single family neighborhood . If the VA passes a law similar to Californias SB 79 at some point, you could end up with 80-100 foot tall apartment towers in next to your house. I would make sure your neighborhood has strong covenants if it is very close to metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Falls Church City is small. Falls Church City Public Schools (FCCPS) reflects that. Many like the elementary schools. There is a single MS and a single HS, Meridian HS. (Oddly, "Falls Church HS" is outside FCC and is part of FCPS).

Meridian is mostly an IB school, with limited AP offerings. People who prefer an IB curriculum like that. People who prefer an AP curriculum dislike that. Because it is smaller, it might have fewer clubs or offerings than a larger HS might. Meridian HS is academically strong.

Advantages of a smaller high school is also that your kid can actually make the sports teams and school plays without being a prospective professional athlete or actor

+1. Were in McLean but if we had it to do over again, would have settled in FCC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Falls Church City is small. Falls Church City Public Schools (FCCPS) reflects that. Many like the elementary schools. There is a single MS and a single HS, Meridian HS. (Oddly, "Falls Church HS" is outside FCC and is part of FCPS).

Meridian is mostly an IB school, with limited AP offerings. People who prefer an IB curriculum like that. People who prefer an AP curriculum dislike that. Because it is smaller, it might have fewer clubs or offerings than a larger HS might. Meridian HS is academically strong.

Advantages of a smaller high school is also that your kid can actually make the sports teams and school plays without being a prospective professional athlete or actor

+1. Were in McLean but if we had it to do over again, would have settled in FCC.

*we’re

[Anonymous]

Falls Church City is too small for a lot of folks. Parents think they know everything there is to know about your kid by the time they are in fourth grade. The sports teams in high school also have to travel long distances to play other teams because all the other high schools in the area are larger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Falls Church City is too small for a lot of folks. Parents think they know everything there is to know about your kid by the time they are in fourth grade. The sports teams in high school also have to travel long distances to play other teams because all the other high schools in the area are larger.

I believe Meridian High School in Falls Church City is about 900 students. That’s small compared to 2500+ in Fairfax and Arlington high schools, which are ridiculously large, but midsize by national standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure why everyone is assuming OP needs to live near a metro? I have never taken the metro to work. From Falls Church (FFX just outside FCC), my commute is usually 30-45 minutes by car. My employer pays for parking. I'd rather drive than metro, maybe OP does too.

OP. We don’t have to use the metro. Both our offices (Foggy Bottom and Farragut Square) have garages. But if the car commute is awful, then maybe metro proximity is something to consider.

I’d stick to the SFH neighborhoods flanking the orange line corridor in Arlington - you’ll be able to drive in 15 min without traffic and 25-35 during rush hour or take the metro if you prefer.

Not sure about budget - if you’re above $3 or close to it high 2s look at Waverly Hills, Cherrydale, Lyon Village, Ashton Heights, Lyon Park. Closer to $2-2.5 look at Bluemont. Closer to $1.5-2 look at a renovated / bumped out Arlington Forest home if it comes up.

PP here, apparently I can’t read and missed your $2M budget. Look at Bluemont.

Prices are not this high in real life unless you insist on 6000 sq ft or something. We recently bought in Lyon Park under $1.5. The $2-3 is just the giant boxy new builds.

This. I'm N of Langston in Discovery / Williamsburg / Yorktown school zone, and you can absolutely get an updated and decently sized house for under $2. The only over $2 in my neighborhood is the newest, ugliest house on the block.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure why everyone is assuming OP needs to live near a metro? I have never taken the metro to work. From Falls Church (FFX just outside FCC), my commute is usually 30-45 minutes by car. My employer pays for parking. I'd rather drive than metro, maybe OP does too.

OP. We don’t have to use the metro. Both our offices (Foggy Bottom and Farragut Square) have garages. But if the car commute is awful, then maybe metro proximity is something to consider.

I’d stick to the SFH neighborhoods flanking the orange line corridor in Arlington - you’ll be able to drive in 15 min without traffic and 25-35 during rush hour or take the metro if you prefer.

Not sure about budget - if you’re above $3 or close to it high 2s look at Waverly Hills, Cherrydale, Lyon Village, Ashton Heights, Lyon Park. Closer to $2-2.5 look at Bluemont. Closer to $1.5-2 look at a renovated / bumped out Arlington Forest home if it comes up.

PP here, apparently I can’t read and missed your $2M budget. Look at Bluemont.

Prices are not this high in real life unless you insist on 6000 sq ft or something. We recently bought in Lyon Park under $1.5. The $2-3 is just the giant boxy new builds.

This. I'm N of Langston in Discovery / Williamsburg / Yorktown school zone, and you can absolutely get an updated and decently sized house for under $2. The only over $2 in my neighborhood is the newest, ugliest house on the block.

Here's an example: https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/2307-N-Wakefield-St-22207/home/11232111

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure why everyone is assuming OP needs to live near a metro? I have never taken the metro to work. From Falls Church (FFX just outside FCC), my commute is usually 30-45 minutes by car. My employer pays for parking. I'd rather drive than metro, maybe OP does too.

OP. We don’t have to use the metro. Both our offices (Foggy Bottom and Farragut Square) have garages. But if the car commute is awful, then maybe metro proximity is something to consider.

I work at the GW med school right at the Foggy Bottom metro and lived right near WFC metro. I took the metro and very much avoided driving. I hated the drive. YMMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure why everyone is assuming OP needs to live near a metro? I have never taken the metro to work. From Falls Church (FFX just outside FCC), my commute is usually 30-45 minutes by car. My employer pays for parking. I'd rather drive than metro, maybe OP does too.

OP. We don’t have to use the metro. Both our offices (Foggy Bottom and Farragut Square) have garages. But if the car commute is awful, then maybe metro proximity is something to consider.

I’d stick to the SFH neighborhoods flanking the orange line corridor in Arlington - you’ll be able to drive in 15 min without traffic and 25-35 during rush hour or take the metro if you prefer.

Not sure about budget - if you’re above $3 or close to it high 2s look at Waverly Hills, Cherrydale, Lyon Village, Ashton Heights, Lyon Park. Closer to $2-2.5 look at Bluemont. Closer to $1.5-2 look at a renovated / bumped out Arlington Forest home if it comes up.

PP here, apparently I can’t read and missed your $2M budget. Look at Bluemont.

Prices are not this high in real life unless you insist on 6000 sq ft or something. We recently bought in Lyon Park under $1.5. The $2-3 is just the giant boxy new builds.

Some people want better schools than what you get in Lyon Park.

The schools are fine! Not amazing but DMV public schools aren’t amazing anywhere. There is no New Trier in the DMV.

What?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You want N Arlington walkable to Metro. There are lots of houses in Bluemont.

Bluemont is not walkable to metro. Frankly, most of N Arlington is not walkable to metro but instead requires a not-so-fun drive to the East Falls Church metro, which has very limited parking.

It’s walkable and we do it daily to commute to downtown DC. It’s a 20 min walk mostly via the trail and Wilson then 15 min on the metro and another 5 min to the office. So 40 min total. Driving is a little less during rush and a lot less on off hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Homes close to the metro are risky if you value the character of your single family neighborhood . If the VA passes a law similar to Californias SB 79 at some point, you could end up with 80-100 foot tall apartment towers in next to your house. I would make sure your neighborhood has strong covenants if it is very close to metro.

This is true; I watched our FCC street completely turn over -- completely -- with new builds over the course of about 7 years. No apartment towers, but the character of the block is completely different.

[Anonymous]

We moved from arlington to fcc. I dramatically prefer fcc. The schools are better and more personal, you will know the school board members and they are parents, not controlled by the Arlington county democrats. I also find fcc much more walkable. My kids can walk or bike to any friends house in fcc. We have probably 2 dozen restaurants less than .5 mile from our house.

[Anonymous]

OP, check FCC extracurriculars- they are missing a lot including orchestra. Also make sure you like IB since that’s what they have. And don’t go to FCC if your child is significantly above average academically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, check FCC extracurriculars- they are missing a lot including orchestra. Also make sure you like IB since that’s what they have. And don’t go to FCC if your child is significantly above average academically.

Yeah the IB would not work for our kids so I’m glad we ended up in Arlington even though I agree most of the school board members don’t really care about the quality of education and the use of tech is out of control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure why everyone is assuming OP needs to live near a metro? I have never taken the metro to work. From Falls Church (FFX just outside FCC), my commute is usually 30-45 minutes by car. My employer pays for parking. I'd rather drive than metro, maybe OP does too.

OP. We don’t have to use the metro. Both our offices (Foggy Bottom and Farragut Square) have garages. But if the car commute is awful, then maybe metro proximity is something to consider.

I’d stick to the SFH neighborhoods flanking the orange line corridor in Arlington - you’ll be able to drive in 15 min without traffic and 25-35 during rush hour or take the metro if you prefer.

Not sure about budget - if you’re above $3 or close to it high 2s look at Waverly Hills, Cherrydale, Lyon Village, Ashton Heights, Lyon Park. Closer to $2-2.5 look at Bluemont. Closer to $1.5-2 look at a renovated / bumped out Arlington Forest home if it comes up.

PP here, apparently I can’t read and missed your $2M budget. Look at Bluemont.

Prices are not this high in real life unless you insist on 6000 sq ft or something. We recently bought in Lyon Park under $1.5. The $2-3 is just the giant boxy new builds.

Some people want better schools than what you get in Lyon Park.

The schools are fine! Not amazing but DMV public schools aren’t amazing anywhere. There is no New Trier in the DMV.

What?

Not sure what you are confused about. The DC areas public schools are not as good as the best schools in the NYC, Boston or Chicago suburbs. County based schools here just aren’t as good because people won’t tolerate the necessary level of property taxes ($30k- $40k a year) when money isn’t necessarily going to their kids schools and schools are too heterogeneous. County based schools may be better for society but for those who can afford the best suburban school districts, the town based schools are academically stronger.