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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Reston has more contemporary houses and more emphasis on nature. Alexandria is more about history.

Both places have art galleries, and the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria offers art classes too through the Art League.

Both places have excellent bike paths. Both are near some type of water (river or lakes). Part of Alexandria does have flooding. That may become more concerning with global warming?

Our kids love visiting the used bookstore at Lake Anne (in Reston).

Reston has a nice indoor ice rink (plus small outdoor one in the town center). The indoor place offers figure skating classes and lessons, plus ice hockey.

Both places offer Spanish immersion if you’re in the right school boundary or lottery in.

Reston has a great location of Lifetime Fitness with indoor and outdoor pools, a yoga studio, and child care and classes for kids.

OP, what are your family values? Do you have any special interests like figure skating or language immersion? Or just want a reasonable commute and good schools?

I used to live in Alexandria but personally prefer Reston (live in Vienna). I love driving down the big wide streets and seeing names like “American Dream Way.” [/quote]

This was great, thank you! We like doing things outdoors, walkable areas. My daughter is into swimming and we love traveling as well. Cute coffee shops, not too many chain stores, charm & quaint and diverse with a big sense of community would be on our list. Would love a place where kids can play together, play  outside freely but also provides entertainment for adults. I love nature but I also love the city and urban areas. Good schools and commute are also important, seems like the commute would be to Arlington mostly these days[/quote]

Lake Anne and Downtown Herndon are really nice places. They are compact but have pretty much all local shops, DQ stands out as one of the few larger chains in either location.

There is Japanese Immersion at Fox Mill and Spanish Immersion at Lake Anne.

Reston Town Center is fine but nothing exciting. It has changed a fair amount since the owners added paid parking. Most of the local businesses were forced out due to the hit that came from people not shopping at RTC. Why pay to park and shop when there are plenty of free places to shop that don't require paying? We do go there, we like some of the restaurants and the like but we only go there after 5 PM and on the weekends.

There are lots of parks and walking paths and neighborhood communities that are walkable.

I would look in Herndon and Vienna as well.

Herndon has, in my opinion, the benefit of being able to use pretty much all of the Reston amenities without the fees. There are solid schools and a good amount to do. It also has the benefit of new metro stops coming in so there will be an increase in commuting options for folks. Hopefully the new stops will also relieve Weihle Metro of some of the parking issues because people will be able to use the new stops in Herndon.

There is no denying that Reston has a different feel then Herndon and Arlington and Alexandria and Vienna. But they each have a good number of pros and some cons that are going to matter for different people. Take a look at each of the areas and go with what fits your budget and feels right to you. [/quote]

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