Reply to Considering a Move to Alexandria or Arlington Questions Re: Neighhborhoods

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Where are you moving from OP?

I think you are priced out of Arlington, based on what you want for your budget (not to say that there isn’t housing available, but it isn’t going to be a SFH in an excellent school district, walkable to metro and quaint dining/shopping boutiques).

In Alexandria, Del Ray is probably your best bet, but your budget will be on the low side for a SFH. If you are OK with a townhouse, you could look in North Old Town or Cameron Station. ACPS aren’t great though.

The Fairfax County Alexandria suburbs are really post-war commuter communities. There really aren’t any with a Main Street commerce area. They are pretty car-dependent and pre-date metro, so you’ll find the stations are sort of out of the way.

You could look in the Belle Haven area (although it may be above your budget). Easy drive/bike ride to Old Town, walkable to the Belle View shopping center. Quick bus ride to metro.

If you want a single family house, check in Hollin Hall. You could walk to the shopping center, and it’s a 10 minute drive to Old Town. Excellent ES, so you will hold your property value. These houses will be a little below your budget. They are on the smaller side.

Ft Hunt (further south of Hollin Hall) doesn’t have a lot of walkability. It’s a lovely neighborhood and I loved living there, but it’s very suburban.

Groveton has walkability to the Beacon Hill plaza, and will be far below your budget, but that is not the old town-like feeling you’re going for. Also the schools aren’t great (for property value purposes).

Huntington is (maybe) gentrifying and walkable to metro, but schools aren’t great and housing is duplexes.

22310 really doesn’t have walkability. You could look at the parts of Bush Hill that are close to Franconia Rd, but the Rose Hill shopping center doesn’t have much draw for someone with a $750k housing budget. Rose Hill ES isn’t fantastic (since you want to follow the GS scores).

There are lovely neighborhoods down Telegraph, closer to Ft Belvoir, but this puts you too far from Old Town and Metro.

DC is a frustrating real estate market for many of us. You really need to decide what your priorities are, and what you are willing to give up.[/quote]

We’re moving from a different state and more used to walkable area. It’s really different and it has been frustrating. I guess we’re not alone. Thank you for going into so much detail about the neighborhoods. We have to reassess everything. We thought more areas would be walking distance to Old Town or a short drive to it or something like it. :([/quote]

If you just want a short drive to Old Town, you might consider West Alexandria (not a seperate municipality, but the neighborhoods in the City of Alexandria west of Quaker Lane)  As long as you are driving during non rush hour, its a short drive to Old Town (Duke Street is pretty bad at rush hour).  There are a bunch of different neighborhoods with slightly different charecters, and slightly different price points.  They also are mostly bikeable to Old Town, and have local bus service going there.   They don't have the most desired schools, for the most part (and unlike Del Ray, mostly not on the "upswing") and are mostly not walkable. If you want a nabe that IS walkable, and a short (offpeak) drive to Old Town, I would suggest Cameron Station - but its few detached SFHs are pretty expensive I think - but lots of good sized town homes.[/quote]

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