Pros and Cons of Great Falls, VA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in McLean a mile or so outside the beltway between downtown McLean and great falls. Closer to downtown McLean though. It's the best of both worlds there. Trees, privacy, parks, nice houses and big lots but also just a 40 min commute downtown on I66 during rush hour (we qualify for HOV). The drive home is about 25 mins.

But that part of town is VERY pricey. 22102 is way too expensive for most of us.

+1

McLean One Hundred is coveted for this reason. Proximity (commute) - but also, the houses are similarly built to certain specs, so there is no belly aching about "new house" trauma by the old house owners, because there are no old houses. Very aesthetically appealing, spacious, great lots, and location, location, location.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in McLean a mile or so outside the beltway between downtown McLean and great falls. Closer to downtown McLean though. It's the best of both worlds there. Trees, privacy, parks, nice houses and big lots but also just a 40 min commute downtown on I66 during rush hour (we qualify for HOV). The drive home is about 25 mins.

But that part of town is VERY pricey. 22102 is way too expensive for most of us.

+1

McLean One Hundred is coveted for this reason. Proximity (commute) - but also, the houses are similarly built to certain specs, so there is no belly aching about "new house" trauma by the old house owners, because there are no old houses. Very aesthetically appealing, spacious, great lots, and location, location, location.

All these places have a different feel. Being outside the Beltway will never strike some people as a prime location.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in McLean a mile or so outside the beltway between downtown McLean and great falls. Closer to downtown McLean though. It's the best of both worlds there. Trees, privacy, parks, nice houses and big lots but also just a 40 min commute downtown on I66 during rush hour (we qualify for HOV). The drive home is about 25 mins.

But that part of town is VERY pricey. 22102 is way too expensive for most of us.

+1

McLean One Hundred is coveted for this reason. Proximity (commute) - but also, the houses are similarly built to certain specs, so there is no belly aching about "new house" trauma by the old house owners, because there are no old houses. Very aesthetically appealing, spacious, great lots, and location, location, location.

All these places have a different feel. Being outside the Beltway will never strike some people as a prime location.

Well, it is only slightly outside the beltway, so there is that. It's not like Ashburn or something.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, there are no parts of McLean that are too far out. Everything is right on the beltway. Technically, the nicest parts of McLean are outside the beltway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, there are no parts of McLean that are too far out. Everything is right on the beltway. Technically, the nicest parts of McLean are outside the beltway.

Being near the Beltway isn't especially relevant if you're trying to get into DC. The appreciation in inside-the-Beltway McLean, as in North Arlington, has been much greater than in outside-the-Beltway McLean and Great Falls over the past 10-15 years. Outside-the-Beltway McLean still has the most expensive single-family homes, but the gap has been narrowing. The influx of Loudoun commuters on Fairfax roads has made GF and outside-the-Beltway McLean less appealing to a lot of people, but that's compensated for by some degree by the emergence of the Tysons-Dulles corridor as a major employment center in its own right.

[Anonymous]

Great Falls has a generational problem. Younger home buyers do not want to live on 2 acres in the woods. This is why home values have stagnated in 22066.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great Falls has a generational problem. Younger home buyers do not want to live on 2 acres in the woods. This is why home values have stagnated in 22066.

Do you make sweeping judgements about everything or is this information you have because of your gift for intuition?

There are literally hundreds of 30s and 40s couples in GF with very young families - we are one of them - our friends are here, our lives are here. Great Falls will be fine - you worry about you.

There will never be, and never have been, 20 somethings in Great Falls because there is no entry level housing stock and nobody here is trying to change that fact - very content with the status quo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, there are no parts of McLean that are too far out. Everything is right on the beltway. Technically, the nicest parts of McLean are outside the beltway.

Being near the Beltway isn't especially relevant if you're trying to get into DC. The appreciation in inside-the-Beltway McLean, as in North Arlington, has been much greater than in outside-the-Beltway McLean and Great Falls over the past 10-15 years. Outside-the-Beltway McLean still has the most expensive single-family homes, but the gap has been narrowing. The influx of Loudoun commuters on Fairfax roads has made GF and outside-the-Beltway McLean less appealing to a lot of people, but that's compensated for by some degree by the emergence of the Tysons-Dulles corridor as a major employment center in its own right.

Appreciation doesn't mean what I think you think it means. North Arlington and the cheaper parts of McLean (22101) have certainly become more expensive over the last few years, but they'll never be the same as those mansions up in 22102. I bought in the Chesterbrook part of McLean and I love it, but I don't delude myself that my house will be worth millions one day just because I'm inside the beltway.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the part of McLean. The parts that border Falls Church are considered the ghetto of McLean.

McLean gets nicer the farther out you go, but it also gets very expensive outside the beltway. This is why people have started calling it Upper McLean. A lot of it has to do with the shear size of the houses and lots. We're talking real mansions, not McMansions like in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, there are no parts of McLean that are too far out. Everything is right on the beltway. Technically, the nicest parts of McLean are outside the beltway.

Being near the Beltway isn't especially relevant if you're trying to get into DC. The appreciation in inside-the-Beltway McLean, as in North Arlington, has been much greater than in outside-the-Beltway McLean and Great Falls over the past 10-15 years. Outside-the-Beltway McLean still has the most expensive single-family homes, but the gap has been narrowing. The influx of Loudoun commuters on Fairfax roads has made GF and outside-the-Beltway McLean less appealing to a lot of people, but that's compensated for by some degree by the emergence of the Tysons-Dulles corridor as a major employment center in its own right.

Appreciation doesn't mean what I think you think it means. North Arlington and the cheaper parts of McLean (22101) have certainly become more expensive over the last few years, but they'll never be the same as those mansions up in 22102. I bought in the Chesterbrook part of McLean and I love it, but I don't delude myself that my house will be worth millions one day just because I'm inside the beltway.

Appreciation is a relative, not absolute concept, so the notion that a less expensive house will never be worth as much as a mansion has nothing to do with their relative rates of appreciation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great Falls has a generational problem. Younger home buyers do not want to live on 2 acres in the woods. This is why home values have stagnated in 22066.

Do you make sweeping judgements about everything or is this information you have because of your gift for intuition?

There are literally hundreds of 30s and 40s couples in GF with very young families - we are one of them - our friends are here, our lives are here. Great Falls will be fine - you worry about you.

There will never be, and never have been, 20 somethings in Great Falls because there is no entry level housing stock and nobody here is trying to change that fact - very content with the status quo.

Mr. Market tells me otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great Falls has a generational problem. Younger home buyers do not want to live on 2 acres in the woods. This is why home values have stagnated in 22066.

Great Falls is really three markets

- The estate on 5 acres - $3M and up
- The big McMansion on 2 acres - $1.5M+
- The 1980's developments (and there are a lot) - $800K - $900K

The lower end of the market used to fly because people would kill to get into Langley schools for <$1M - bidding wars for over asking, etc - that is no longer the case. That means that they younger buyers are not showing up in GF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, there are no parts of McLean that are too far out. Everything is right on the beltway. Technically, the nicest parts of McLean are outside the beltway.

Being near the Beltway isn't especially relevant if you're trying to get into DC. The appreciation in inside-the-Beltway McLean, as in North Arlington, has been much greater than in outside-the-Beltway McLean and Great Falls over the past 10-15 years. Outside-the-Beltway McLean still has the most expensive single-family homes, but the gap has been narrowing. The influx of Loudoun commuters on Fairfax roads has made GF and outside-the-Beltway McLean less appealing to a lot of people, but that's compensated for by some degree by the emergence of the Tysons-Dulles corridor as a major employment center in its own right.

Appreciation doesn't mean what I think you think it means. North Arlington and the cheaper parts of McLean (22101) have certainly become more expensive over the last few years, but they'll never be the same as those mansions up in 22102. I bought in the Chesterbrook part of McLean and I love it, but I don't delude myself that my house will be worth millions one day just because I'm inside the beltway.

This is true, but I think the parts of McLean inside the beltway are getting nicer as people tear down some of the older houses and build new construction.

To bring this back to GF, I think the opposite is true for GF. The nicest parts of GF are the parts closer to the parkway. The property values tend to reflect this. So while McLean is nicer the further out you go, GF is nicer the further in you go. The parts where the two meet are very pricey (some of the most expensive real estate you can find).

[Anonymous]

Pro: the public library and its grounds.
Con: Other than Safeway, there are no grocery stores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends on the part of McLean. The parts that border Falls Church are considered the ghetto of McLean.

McLean gets nicer the farther out you go, but it also gets very expensive outside the beltway. This is why people have started calling it Upper McLean. A lot of it has to do with the shear size of the houses and lots. We're talking real mansions, not McMansions like in Arlington.

No one uses the term "Upper McLean" in NoVa except for 1-2 DCUM posters, just as no one uses the phrase "Good Falls" to describe the less expensive parts of Great Falls except for 1-2 DCUM posters. I think you'll have to rent a helicopter and fly banners over the sky if you really want the phrases to catch on.