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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I (non-American) will move to the DC area for work in downtown DC and currently looking to rent a 3-4 bedroom home.  Have kids, so school is priority.  Actually, I have been focusing my search between Arlington and Bethesda (and maybe DC) only primarily to the relative proximity to work (I'd rather take the metro and bike in good weather)  and good schools.  We are partial towards Catholic schools simply because 1) We are catholic 2) they tend to be smaller, and in my impression this might be better for kids to manage their culture shock)  but are limited by housing choices since without a school bus for privates we would need to stay near the school for logistics purposes.

I never really considered Falls Church because it seemed too far out, but for some reason it went into my radar and I did some searching.  It seems attractive to me because of what I perceived, (based simply on google maps!) and reading some opinions here and there, so I wanted to see if my impressions are correct or entirely inaccurate.  Please let me know if the following impressions about Falls Church City that I like are correct:

1) It seems to be more compact (specifically W. Broadstreet) , in the sense that a) all of the conveniences are available, walkable, in the same street (schools, groceries, weekend activities for kids)  b) the Main Street seems narrow so that it seems like it is designed as a pedestrian town and doesn't feel like a car-town.  I keep reading about downtown Bethesda being walkable, but (again just based on Google Maps) it feels massive, roads are wide, things spread out and it still feels like a town for cars.  Same about Arlington.

[b]2) Seems to be compact and small enough for middle school kids to go out and about by themselves, go to their after school lessons, meet with friends, walk to school, meet at the park etc.  I am not so sure if I get this same impression with Arlington and Bethesda where I'd have to drive there everywhere. [/b]

Compared to some areas of Arlington (i.e. Ballston Quarter) , I will only add 5-7 minutes of additional commute time to DC one way by metro, but plus 20 mins by bike).

3) Rent for a 3-4 bedroom seems to be ever so slightly cheaper than Bethesda/Arlington.

Downsides I've read just based on impression are:

a) Its a small town so new kids would probably have a hard time breaking into established friendships
b) Not diverse.  We are not white so it may be an issue for the kids in school?.

Can't get enough info about the schools.  I saw a catholic school (St. James) but the size seems to be almost as big as the local public middle school (Mary Ellen Henderson), and there is minimal recent reviews of both schools in DCUM. (Also what's up with the Elementary School further divided between K-2 and 3-5?)

What do you think? Am I way off?  Are these accurate observations? [/quote]

You definitely get this "kids walking around" experience in Arlington neighborhoods like Westover and Lyon Park/Ashton Heights. We live in LP/AH and my kids walked to school and all over Ballston/Clarendon with their friends starting in middle school. But these relationships were centered on their public middle schools. You might ask the Catholic schools you are interested in where the families tend to live.

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