West Springfield

[Anonymous]

Hello! I am not from this area and my husband and I found a nice new neighborhood where a developer is building new
single family homes. I currently live in Alexandria and love it but we are growing out of our townhouse. Can someone give me their perspective on West Springfield vs. Alexandria (fairfax county side).

[Anonymous]

West Springfield is fine. Most houses were built decades ago and there’s little new construction. Lots of military. Relatively narrow economic gap compared to other areas - the lower-income areas are higher-income than in other parts of the county and the higher-income areas are lower-income than in other parts of the county. The Alexandria part of Fairfax County has more extremes - there are more really nice houses there than in West Springfield, but also more serious poverty off Route 1.

[Anonymous]

Got it. So would you recommend West Springfield over Alexandria for a family of four?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Got it. So would you recommend West Springfield over Alexandria for a family of four?

NP and yes, I would.

WS was my hometown and parents still live there.

[Anonymous]

Kingstowne is nice, too. A lot of people will say West Springfield over Kingstowne, but it's good. Schools are solid. You're also nearer to three metro stops than West Springfield, and Kingstowne is a lot more walkable than WS. You can actually walk to the stores in Kingstowne, it's a planned community. Worth looking into.

[Anonymous]

I love Kingstowne but thought the schools were better in West Springfield?

[Anonymous]

Check which schools the new houses feed to. People love to claim west Springfield schools but then it feeds to key/Lewis for middle/high school.

[Anonymous]

Schools are Cardinal Forest, Irving, West Springfield HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Got it. So would you recommend West Springfield over Alexandria for a family of four?

I don't know. If you love the City of Alexandria, would you rather stay close to it? That would favor the Alexandria part of Fairfax County.

Do you see your kids as needing a calmer environment in school, as opposed to confident self-starters who can navigate bigger schools? That would favor West Springfield.

I'd probably go with West Springfield. Alexandria apparently used to be a more attractive area before they decided to merge two of the high schools (Groveton and Fort Hunt). Fort Hunt was excellent; West Potomac is huge. And now they are going to make West Potomac even bigger because the local School Board representative won't act to make sure the extra capacity at another school (Mount Vernon) is used.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check which schools the new houses feed to. People love to claim west Springfield schools but then it feeds to key/Lewis for middle/high school.

There's very little new construction in West Springfield so I'm betting OP is referring to this development that would put them right between West Springfield HS and the shopping centers at Old Keene Mill and Rolling:

https://www.redfin.com/VA/West-Springfield/6233-Mcconnell-LN-22152/home/176249596

[Anonymous]

Correct ^

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love Kingstowne but thought the schools were better in West Springfield?

Kingstowne splits to Hayfield and Edison. Hayfield is considered "better" than Edison.

[Anonymous]

Thoughts on the new construction in west Springfield?

[Anonymous]

I think they are sold out

[Anonymous]

Do you think they are worth the price?