Question about communities in Herndon area
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Anonymous
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Hi,
I have been looking for houses in the 20171 area and notice that Chantilly Highlands (Oakhill ES) and Franklin farms (Navy ES) are most sought after based on the sq ft price and days on market. The nearby community Franklin Glen (Lees Corner ES) also moves fast , but not like the other two. AFAIK, all three communities were build around the same time, close to each other and the entire school pyramid is comparable to each other (at least based on the rating.). Are there any specific reasons why the first two are more popular than the Glen? Also, between Chantilly Highlands and Franklin farms , are there any significant differences from the community wise? Thanks, |
Anonymous
| Pools at Franklin Farm |
Anonymous
Thanks. OP here. The brochure and listing for Glen did mention there was a community pool. So it is just not nicer like the Franklin farm ones? |
Anonymous
| Franklin farm is much more appealing visually, has the best amenities, and is walkable. |
Anonymous
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Franklin Farm has two pools, and is split in half by the Fairfax County Parkway. Kids in FF either go to Oak Hill ES, Crossfield ES, or Navy ES. The high schools are also different - Chantilly or Oakton depending on which side of the parkway you live.
Kids in Chantilly Highlands go to Oak Hill ES. The HS is Chantilly. CH has a community pool. The elementary school is right in the middle of the neighborhood so you can walk or ride your bike from any of the houses. Kids in Franklin Glen go to Lees Corner I believe. It has a community pool as well. |
Anonymous
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I am very familiar with all three of these. I don’t think you can really go wrong with any, but I will say that for whatever reason there seems to be a little more crime west of Fairfax County Parkway than east of it. Nothing too crazy but things like cars being broken into and bikes being stolen. All of FG and CH are west of the parkway whereas FF has some homes west of the parkway but most are east of it.
When comparing FG and CH, a couple reasons CH homes might go more quickly is that a lot of them are at a slightly lower price point (not all; I know some are larger and more expensive) and the fact that the elementary school is right in the neighborhood. If summer pools are important to you, one big advantage of FF is that it has two pools. This allows the swim team to use one pool while leaving the other unaffected. In FG there has been a bit of drama because the pool was completely closed in the afternoons after school due to swim team practice. I guess they had to stagger the groups more due to Covid and it was taking from 4pm-9pm to get all the groups in, so no weekday afternoon pool time for anyone else. People not on the team were not happy about this. One con of FF is the school split that PP mentioned. It is nice when the entire community goes to the same schools. Overall it seems that FF homes sell for the most and the most quickly, so take that for what it’s worth. It is a beautiful community that will always attract families. |
Anonymous
| Maybe some of the areas have more airplane noise from flight paths? |
Anonymous
| The only time airplanes fly over these neighborhoods is when it is windy and the flight paths change. This is rare but it's kind of cool and dramatic when it happens. |
Anonymous
| FARMS rate. Lees Corner is ~14%, Oak Hill is ~5%, and Navy is ~4%. 14% is not that high, but apparently people factor it in. |
Anonymous
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Franklin Farm is my least favorite of the the three exclusively because the neighborhood is split by FFX County Parkway and Franklin Farm Road is a major cut through. I also don't love that the neighborhood feeds into so many different schools. But, the homes are nice and the neighborhood is pretty.
Chantilly Highlands and Franklin Glen are appealing because the kids can easily get around the neighborhood to their friend's houses without hitting any major roads, the pools are accessible, and for CH, the elementary school is walkable for everyone. FG buses to Lee's Corner though it's not that far away. There are more 3 bedroom homes in CH than ever make sense to me in this area but the houses are not small. If you are sure you are getting into the AP programs, then you don't have to change elementary schools to be at Oak Hill in CH Otherwise, the elementary school itself is pretty segregated between AP and gen ed. Smaller houses but similar to FG and CH, is Fox Mill. Elementary school is in the neighborhood, two pools, no major roads cutting through it. |
Anonymous
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I live in Franklin Glen. Poster mentioning pool drama is correct. Honestly there is always drama in the neighborhood as is evidence by the postings on Facebook. FG gets lots of cut through traffic which you should consider when looking at houses. I am not impacted by the traffic, but many homes are and there were many discussions about how to address it. Things died down with COVID, but I suspect the issue will arise this fall. Some people feel LCES has gone down hill a bit over the past few years. As a parent with two elementary aged children at LCES there is nothing impressive about the school, IMO.
Also, part of the neighborhood is across the parkway. Many people probably think that area belongs to FF, but part is definitely FG. A few other parts of the neighborhood are only connected by trails (roads off Stringfellow). There are several Tot lots, tennis courts, and the pool is large enough for the community size. FG is only about 700 homes, I believe FF is over 2000. I am not sure if the size of CH. FG looks nice, but there are complaints of cliques. LCES is fairly diverse, but FG itself is less diverse, though that has definitely changed over the last few years (a positive, IMO). I have no idea whether FF or CH experience the same issues I mentioned above. My guess is you have some of this in every neighborhood. |
Anonymous
| Franklin Farm and (I think) Franklin Glen have lots of trails in woods that are easily accessible. Chantilly Highlands has very few trails in comparison. |
Anonymous
| 20171 also includes Fox Mill Estates. We love it here. The elementary school is great, several pools in the area, and the neighborhoods are easy for kids to get around in. |
Anonymous
I've heard (elsewhere) that South Reston is not the safest place and the same for parts of Herndon. Are all of these neighborhoods excluded from those admonishments? I know none of these are technically in "South Reston," but Fox Mill Estates at least looks pretty close. |
Anonymous
We have lived hear for 13 years and have not seen any crime. The BB&T has been robbed a few times but that is it. I can’t think of anything happening at the shopping center. Parents let their kids walk to school on a daily basis. Kids are currently walking and biking to the pools without supervision. You can walk to the other neighborhoods you are discussing from Fox MIll. The biggest complaint that I have heard is the lack of a traffic light at Pinecrest and Fox Mill, which is currently being rectified. People seem to greatly exaggerate the crime stats in the area. Stuff happens every where. The crime in South Reston is minimal, and it the rare event seems to be in apartment/townhouse areas not single family homes. I have not even heard of much crime in Dogwood, which is near by. I read the Facebook groups and this idea that South Reston is dangerous is brought up fairly regularly but I have never seen the stats to back up the concern. |