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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We live in the Ft Hunt area (so Fairfax County part of Alexandria) but we live our lives in Alexandria City. Kids schools, sports, exercise classes, shopping are all in Alexandria. We love the Old Town restaurants and small businesses and go to nearly all the annual parade and community events. If we could afford Old Town, we would live there. DH and I talk about buying in Old Town when the kids are out of the house.

Yes, the city government is incompetent and property tax increases are a concern. Yes, the schools seem questionable (everyone I know likes their ACPS elementary, but is at a loss about what to do with middle school and high school....but thats the same for a lot of places). Yes, crime is increasing (kids preschool is right by a housing project where there have been shoot outs).

But its still a desirable place to live.

My biggest gripe about Alexandria are the people who get huffy when anyone who lives in the Belle Haven to Mt Vernon corridor says they live in Alexandria....even if their address is Alexandria. Such a touchy subject!  [/quote]

Most people who live in Belle Haven or Fort Hunt, etc say they live in those neighborhoods, if they think the person they're talking to knows the area. Otherwise, it's "Alexandria."

But it's a silly debate, because the entire area of Alexandria (including the part that is in Fairfax County) was originally "Alexandria." To make a long story short, the current "City of Alexandria" is a more modern entity that exists separate from the Fairfax County portion only because it was the part of Virginia that was ceded to the District of Columbia. What is now the City of Alexandria *and* Arlington County were all originally in Fairfax County, but were ceded to the federal government to become part of the District of Columbia. The part of Alexandria that was left remained in Fairfax County. When the Old Town & Arlington areas were returned to Virginia in the 19th C., the entire retroceded area became "Alexandria County" until 1870, when the "City of Alexandria" was split off. The remainder was "Alexandria County" until it was eventually renamed "Arlington County" in 1920. So, if anything, the folks in the portion of Alexandria that remained in Virginia as part of in Fairfax County should turn up their noses at the upstarts in the City that have claimed the name. [/quote]

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