Anonymous wrote:I loved it prekids because you live right on top of the metro and there are plenty of fun places to hang out and eat. I think it would be miserable with kids though.

Not really. You have Long Bridge and Virginia Highlands parks, the mall, a library, kid friendly places to eat, etc.

it's very nice. everything becomes crystal clear over night

Anonymous wrote:The SFHs that are adjacent are a decent area and a great location. The condos and apartments, whatever, mostly for singles and maybe some retired people. There's plenty of stuff around there for sure.

OP here, are there any neighborhoods with SFHs you can give me the names of. We're looking to rent initially since we're moving from out of state and don't know the area at all.

I loved it prekids because you live right on top of the metro and there are plenty of fun places to hang out and eat. I think it would be miserable with kids though.

Anonymous wrote:It's actually quite great with little kids. Lots of playgrounds, the Mt. Vernon trail is right there, and in the hot summers or bad weather we let the kids run around the underground and also around the other connected buildings. I would live there again in a heartbeat.

Thank you, this is helpful! Do you mind specifying where in the area you lived? Also, if your children attended elementary school in the area, any feedback?

I used to live in the Concord at 2600 Crystal Drive. It was a nice building and we enjoyed our time there. When we were there the area was very quiet on evenings and weekends and was incredibly convenient. That was before all the Amazon related development, though. I expect it is busier now and yes, still transient. From what I understand there have been a surprising number of drunk people nuisance type issues from the bowling alley, so something to consider for exact location.

Anonymous wrote:Most of the families who live there seem pretty low SES to be honest. Are you looking at an apartment?

What? Depends maybe where. We were right by the metro and we are definitely not low SES. If you haven't lived there recently, the area has changed significantly.

We're not ready to buy because we don't know the area at all. We looked at a rental called Crystal Towers. The commute would be great but I didn't see much besides Costco. Granted, we didn't spend a lot of time looking in the area.

It's actually quite great with little kids. Lots of playgrounds, the Mt. Vernon trail is right there, and in the hot summers or bad weather we let the kids run around the underground and also around the other connected buildings. I would live there again in a heartbeat.

The SFHs that are adjacent are a decent area and a great location. The condos and apartments, whatever, mostly for singles and maybe some retired people. There's plenty of stuff around there for sure.

Most of the families who live there seem pretty low SES to be honest. Are you looking at an apartment?

Anonymous wrote:I don't actually know anyone who lives IN Crystal City. Are you looking at one of the condo buildings there? Or one of the surrounding neighborhoods? When I think of Crystal City I think of a pretty transient population but that may have changed. Honestly if you go a little further down Rt.1 there may be more family communities in Alexandria.

+1

I don't actually know anyone who lives IN Crystal City. Are you looking at one of the condo buildings there? Or one of the surrounding neighborhoods? When I think of Crystal City I think of a pretty transient population but that may have changed. Honestly if you go a little further down Rt.1 there may be more family communities in Alexandria.

OP here, is it too bland for anyone to have an opinion?

Moving to the area and considering Crystal City because it's a short commute to work. We have young kids and would want to connect with other families. We only visited briefly and I couldn't get a read on whether it would be a good fit for us.