Going to Marshall over Robinson wouldn't be worth the downgrade in house I'd have to take at that price point. Pimmit Hills is a wasteland.

Pimmit Hills - but the house will be small. If schools are important, there's no other option I can think of unless you are willing to buy a townhouse. If so, then you can consider Vienna or Falls Church - but Falls Church is very large with a wide range of schools so check the FCPS Boundary locator for each address to look at the schools' demos and test scores.

You can get more bang for your buck in Alexandria, but it's tricky finding a good school district and it would take too long to type where is good and where is not.

When I looked in the summer of 2011, there were some houses around $500K feeding into Woodson, but there weren't very many of them and they sold pretty quickly.

You might consider South Arlington if you can go a bit above $500K - the schools are not as highly ranked as those in North Arlington, but you'd be close-in and your husband would have a decent commute to Alexandria and DC. We saw some cute places around $520-$540K though the good ones sold very quickly.

Anonymous wrote:From what I can tell, the biggest issue at South Lakes at this point is the IB program (vs. AP). The redistrict that happened a few years ago has changed the make-up of the student body a bit and scores are going up. My daughter's preschool friend has older brothers at South Lakes and they are very happy with the school. People hold on to old stereotypes for a LONG time when it comes to schools.

this should be helpful to you. south lakes sat scores are quickly closing the gap with the other pyramids you mentioned.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/northern-virginia/1697440-2012-sat-scores-updated-w-loudoun.html

I just thought of one more suggestion for you - annandale in the woodson district. The house will likely be older, smaller and need updating, but it wouldn't be far from alexandria.

I don't think you can get a SFH in the Woodson district for $500k - Annandale or not.

From what I can tell, the biggest issue at South Lakes at this point is the IB program (vs. AP). The redistrict that happened a few years ago has changed the make-up of the student body a bit and scores are going up. My daughter's preschool friend has older brothers at South Lakes and they are very happy with the school. People hold on to old stereotypes for a LONG time when it comes to schools.

this should be helpful to you. south lakes sat scores are quickly closing the gap with the other pyramids you mentioned.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/northern-virginia/1697440-2012-sat-scores-updated-w-loudoun.html

I just thought of one more suggestion for you - annandale in the woodson district. The house will likely be older, smaller and need updating, but it wouldn't be far from alexandria.

Burke. Maybe a townhome there for that price, or an older home in need of some work. You are in for sticker shock, you just don't know it yet. It's a decent commute to Alexandria, near the VRE commuter train if he ends up working in DC. Reasonably good schools.

Whoops, looks like PP beat me to it!

Yes, OP, a commute from Reston to Old Town would be deadly. Silver line gets you nothing there as a Metro ride would take far longer (you'd have to go into Roslyn and then back out again)

If your budget is $500K and your DH works in Alexandria, I'd look into West Springfield or Burke. You'll get more bang for your buck on the house and DH's commute won't be too bad. He could take VRE to King Street or drive to Metro. Schools are also good.

Burke or Springfield are my best suggestions.

What part of Alexandria? Old Town?

We live in Western Fairfax, and our price range was around that last year. There were a few neighborhoods we zeroed in on off of the Fairfax County Parkways from Herndon to Fair Lakes/Chantilly area. We love our neighborhood (Greenbriar) but I have no idea what the commute to Old Town would be from here. We have commuter busses to Vienna out this way, but I haven't taken them yet. My neighbor claims she can get to her office downtown in about an hour.

Reston is a great area, but getting a SFH on that budget isn't easy, especially not one is the better school zones. I will say, though, that the park and rides for the commuter busses are very easy to use. I was a regular commuter from Herndon/Monroe for several years, and very rarely had problems.

And, what does "a bit" of diversity mean, anyway, sweetie?

rent. $500K won't get you anything but a dump. Reston is not even considered the "DC area".

We're coming from atlanta, so we are ready for the sticker shock. Kids in the near future. Coming from atlanta, the schools have no where to go but up and we are used to god-awful traffic. I've been looking around in the Oakton, South County, Chantilly, Centreville pyramids and just recently started looking in the Reston area, but people seem to be very polarized when it comes to South Lakes. I'm a teacher, so schools are important but I also like a bit of diversity, so it is hard to make out what the actual concerns are with South Lakes.

As a recent newcomer from the Northeast....get ready. It is most likely more expensive here than where you came from. $500k doesn't buy you a lot, unless you move out far away from Alexandria, or, be willing to live in a dump.
My advice is rent first, check out the traffic around here. See if you can handle that first. Do you have kids/plan on having them? That factors into things in a big way. The Silver isn't due to run til late next year, I think. Good luck!

ha!

Looking for advice on neighborhoods in NOVA....Want to spend around 500K on a house w/ yard (3 dogs) that has access to metro/bus (most likely silver). DH will be working in Alexandria for now, but could be commuting to DC in the future. Schools and community are a priority.