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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don’t think OP was fair to judge the entire county of one industrial area.

However, having lived in Fairfax Co and Arlington, I will say I like where I live in Arlington (walkable to Westover and EFC metro) a lot more than much of Fairfax. I like the mix of older and newer homes, all the parks and trails that are walkable nearby, and the emphasis on neighborhood schools (which carries over into seeing the same kids in sports and other rec activities) versus kids being split off to AAP. I also feel like we spent way more time in the car in Fairfax (we were in Centreville and things just felt much more spread out).

But I also know there are desirable parts of Fairfax and people have budgets and cannot always afford to live close-in (or have jobs farther out) so that is the draw. I think there are parts of Fairfax (near City of FFX and Vienna that seem cute enough) and nice areas in McLean. Clifton is also cute although too red politically for me.

That said, I really don’t get the appeal of the far flung parts of Fairfax. Once you hit Centreville/Chantilly you are just so far from DC, yet still paying the heightened DC area housing prices, to live in a fairly unattractive suburb that could be plopped down anywhere in the US. [b]The drive along 50 and 29 is just ugly run down shopping center after run down shopping center with cash for gold signs in the median. [/b]At that point why not just go over the border to Loudoun County and embrace the HOA, better maintained neighborhoods where things are newer.

Western FFX just seems like the worst of all worlds. But some other parts are nice. [/quote]

Didn't you say you live in Arlington, LOL? This should be familiar to you then.[/quote]

Ehhh it’s different. Some of the shopping centers in Arlington are definitely old and ugly, but at least they’re built to human scale and the county has a plan to create a more walkable/more aesthetic area along Langston.

The big shopping center along 50/29 are along roadways that are 3-4 lanes in each direction with mammoth parking lots in front of all the buildings. It’s the ugly generic suburbia you can find anywhere. Not many old growth trees along the roadway.

But different people like different things and that’s ok. I like the scale of Arlington much better.[/quote]

NP but I get that everyone is going to like where they live the most, but that's no reason to dump on someone else's choices. I have lived in DC, North Arlington, and now western Fairfax County. There have been pros and cons to every location. I loved being a city girl in my 20s, I enjoyed being close to DC in Arlington and being in a walkable area (we lived in Westover, we enjoyed being able to pop over to the beer garden, go to the library, farmer's market, or grab a slice of pizza without getting in the car); however I am also enjoying that we have a bigger, newer house with usable outdoor space, and while everything is a little more spread out in western Fairfax County, there's not as much traffic, and I have a lot more choices in terms of where to go to buy something, eat something, etc. It's also far more diverse than where I lived in North Arlington and the families in o ur neighborhood, anyway, seem a lot more inclusive. I am not white, I didn't feel welcome among the North Arlington moms groups and I was worried that would spill over to my children. I recognize that not everyone shares my experiences, but I'm happy with where we live now. [/quote]

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