Anonymous wrote:My kid does swim lessons in Falls Church.

Sorry, but its dumpy. I've driven through most of the side streets and its not that charming. And dotted with lots of squat ugly apartment buildings from the 70s.

Weird place and so over-hyped. ELI5?

You probably weren't in Falls Church City.

Anonymous wrote:But the taxes are lower in VA compared to MD.

And certainly vs. New Jersey.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Number one for property tax bills that is!

The 11 counties with the highest median property tax payments all have bills exceeding $10,000:

New Jersey: Bergen, Essex, Hunterdon, Morris, Passaic, and Union Counties
New York: Nassau, New York, Rockland, and Westchester Counties
Virginia: Falls Church
All but Falls Church are near New York City, as are the next highest, Suffolk County ($9,911) and Putnam County ($9,855), New York.

This is idiotic. Whst matters is the tax rate, not the total taxes paid. Here you're comparing very high tax rate locations with Falls Church, which has a very high property value and not a very high tax rate. Compare Falls Church's tax rate with any in Montgomery County and you'll see that Falls Church is lower.

Someone above said that FCC's tax rate is $1.23 per $100. If so, that's higher than Bethesda and CC, and probably the rest of Moco also.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Number one for property tax bills that is!

The 11 counties with the highest median property tax payments all have bills exceeding $10,000:

New Jersey: Bergen, Essex, Hunterdon, Morris, Passaic, and Union Counties
New York: Nassau, New York, Rockland, and Westchester Counties
Virginia: Falls Church
All but Falls Church are near New York City, as are the next highest, Suffolk County ($9,911) and Putnam County ($9,855), New York.

This is idiotic. Whst matters is the tax rate, not the total taxes paid. Here you're comparing very high tax rate locations with Falls Church, which has a very high property value and not a very high tax rate. Compare Falls Church's tax rate with any in Montgomery County and you'll see that Falls Church is lower.

Tax rate in Baltimore can be very high with very low property taxes. A 2 percent tax rate on a 100k home is still cheap. So tax rate alone does not determine property taxes.

Falls church has a high tax rate plus high property values which equals high property taxes.

Anonymous wrote:Number one for property tax bills that is!

The 11 counties with the highest median property tax payments all have bills exceeding $10,000:

New Jersey: Bergen, Essex, Hunterdon, Morris, Passaic, and Union Counties
New York: Nassau, New York, Rockland, and Westchester Counties
Virginia: Falls Church
All but Falls Church are near New York City, as are the next highest, Suffolk County ($9,911) and Putnam County ($9,855), New York.

This is idiotic. Whst matters is the tax rate, not the total taxes paid. Here you're comparing very high tax rate locations with Falls Church, which has a very high property value and not a very high tax rate. Compare Falls Church's tax rate with any in Montgomery County and you'll see that Falls Church is lower.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid does swim lessons in Falls Church.

Sorry, but its dumpy. I've driven through most of the side streets and its not that charming. And dotted with lots of squat ugly apartment buildings from the 70s.

Weird place and so over-hyped. ELI5?

Falls Church does not have “lots of squat ugly apartment buildings.” It doesn’t have many at all.

Beg to differ.

Lots of multi family lining S Washington/Route 29: https://maps.app.goo.gl/7Rk6h5rP6LmfBqy68
Lots of squashed older townhouses: https://maps.app.goo.gl/2YpHshcqcXVSEyfc8

But that's not even my real bone to pick. When I drive the SFH streets all I see are these squashed homes built in the 1980s and 1990s + some obvious developer modern farmhouse flips.

Why does this town get so much hype? Falls Church aint cheap. I'd rather be in bucolic Bethesda at these prices.

That first picture is not in Falls Church City it's in the county.

Hype? It's not hype. There are very good reasons why FCC is very much in demand. You are welcome to stay in Md though.

NP but I don't know why you would deny that there are a lot of older apartment buildings in FCC (Lee Square, Winter Hill, Broadfalls, etc...). Not everything is shiny and new, and frankly I'm sad that so many older buildings are being demolished for apartment and office buildings that all look the same. It is taking away part of the charm of the little city.

I didn't deny anything about apartments except to point out the first picture is not in Falls Church City.

Anonymous wrote:No one is saying it but the reason people stay is because of the small, fairly homogenous school system. Interesting how different FCC schools are from schools that are practically in the city (I'm looking at you Timberlane, Graham Rd, even Shrevewood).

The main reason FCC is so in demand is because of the small, excellent school system, especially when compared to Fairfax and Arlington. As far as homogenous (62.6% white, 13.6% multiple races, 13.1% hispanic, 7.3% asian, 3.3% black; 11.7% economically disadvantaged; 8.2% english language learners) FCC schools demographics are similar to the top schools in surrounding districts. Compared to FC and Arl you will not see so many complaints on DCUM or anywhere else about FCC schools. There is a lot to value and appreciate in a small, well run school division and many people do, given the extremely high demand for any homes that are available, despite the higher taxes. The current average citizen in FCC is Democrat, liberal, enlightened, highly educated, and involved in the community. Some on DCUM like to remind you of the shameful racist history FCC had 60+ years ago (along with most of Virginia back then including Arlington and Fairfax) as if that continues today even though nothing could be further from the truth.

There are also many other reasons people love FCC and want to raise their kids there besides the schools.

Anonymous wrote:No one is saying it but the reason people stay is because of the small, fairly homogenous school system. Interesting how different FCC schools are from schools that are practically in the city (I'm looking at you Timberlane, Graham Rd, even Shrevewood).

Accurate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Falls Church City has such a high tax rate compared to Fairfax.

What’s the rate difference?

FCC is $1.23 per $100 of assessed value. Fairfax is $1.095 with a possible increase to $1.135 (vote on May 7).

FCC is small so they have to tax more. Simple enough.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Falls Church City has such a high tax rate compared to Fairfax.

What’s the rate difference?

FCC is $1.23 per $100 of assessed value. Fairfax is $1.095 with a possible increase to $1.135 (vote on May 7).

No one is saying it but the reason people stay is because of the small, fairly homogenous school system. Interesting how different FCC schools are from schools that are practically in the city (I'm looking at you Timberlane, Graham Rd, even Shrevewood).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid does swim lessons in Falls Church.

Sorry, but its dumpy. I've driven through most of the side streets and its not that charming. And dotted with lots of squat ugly apartment buildings from the 70s.

Weird place and so over-hyped. ELI5?

Falls Church does not have “lots of squat ugly apartment buildings.” It doesn’t have many at all.

Beg to differ.

Lots of multi family lining S Washington/Route 29: https://maps.app.goo.gl/7Rk6h5rP6LmfBqy68
Lots of squashed older townhouses: https://maps.app.goo.gl/2YpHshcqcXVSEyfc8

But that's not even my real bone to pick. When I drive the SFH streets all I see are these squashed homes built in the 1980s and 1990s + some obvious developer modern farmhouse flips.

Why does this town get so much hype? Falls Church aint cheap. I'd rather be in bucolic Bethesda at these prices.

That first picture is not in Falls Church City it's in the county.

Hype? It's not hype. There are very good reasons why FCC is very much in demand. You are welcome to stay in Md though.

NP but I don't know why you would deny that there are a lot of older apartment buildings in FCC (Lee Square, Winter Hill, Broadfalls, etc...). Not everything is shiny and new, and frankly I'm sad that so many older buildings are being demolished for apartment and office buildings that all look the same. It is taking away part of the charm of the little city.

Anonymous wrote:Falls Church City has such a high tax rate compared to Fairfax.

What’s the rate difference?

Falls Church City has such a high tax rate compared to Fairfax.

Pay so much and get so little. Add in the personal property tax and wonder why anyone stays there. Guess they cannot afford better.