Tysons is the county’s designated growth engine, and the pipeline of new housing isn’t slowing down. Expect continued pressure on the Langley pyramid as that development delivers.

Anonymous wrote:The various Tyson’s developments will likely erode the quality of Langley anyway. The current crop of 100 or so transfers are some of the strongest students at Langley. Look at the percentage of NMSF and National Merit commended at Langley that are not zoned for Langley.

Langley will be just fine and if some strong students can no longer transfer to Langley then maybe it’s a boost for the schools like Westfield that have been sending kids to Langley.

In the vernacular, you seem to be trying to make fetch happen.

The various Tyson’s developments will likely erode the quality of Langley anyway. The current crop of 100 or so transfers are some of the strongest students at Langley. Look at the percentage of NMSF and National Merit commended at Langley that are not zoned for Langley.

Anonymous wrote:A good portion of Tyson’s is now zoned for Langley. Purchasing a home zoned for Forestville is a huge gamble.

There are many large projects in the works for Tysons which will push Langley’s enrollment above capacity in the coming years. These are all zoned for Langley.

Tysons Concourse redevelopment (~1,000+ units proposed)
Exchange at Spring Hill Station (~500+ affordable/workforce units)
Somos at McLean Metro (~450+ units)
Piazza at Tysons (~400–500 units conceptual)

While about 30% of Tysons will begin to feed into Langley starting this fall, you have the school assignment for 3 of the 4 redevelopment projects you mentioned wrong:

Tysons Concourse - Marshall
Exchange at Spring Hill Station - Marshall
Somos at McLean Metro - Marshall
Piazza at Tysons - Langley

And, of course, the yields from these proposals will vary depending on the types of units built (studio and 1-bedroom units won't result in a lot of HS-age kids), and in any event could be offset by declines in the number of students coming from other Langley neighborhoods. Further, as mentioned earlier, Langley has been accepting about 100 pupil placements per year for foreign language and AP. FCPS is shutting off student transfers for foreign language, and if Langley gets more crowded it can shut down transfers for AP as well.

A good portion of Tyson’s is now zoned for Langley. Purchasing a home zoned for Forestville is a huge gamble.

There are many large projects in the works for Tysons which will push Langley’s enrollment above capacity in the coming years. These are all zoned for Langley.

Tysons Concourse redevelopment (~1,000+ units proposed)
Exchange at Spring Hill Station (~500+ affordable/workforce units)
Somos at McLean Metro (~450+ units)
Piazza at Tysons (~400–500 units conceptual)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of peple work at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Navy Federal, Akamai and Great Falls is actually on the right side of highway and can take backroads to work.

It is far out depending on where you commute from.

I think the old paradigm was that you needed to work in DC to make the type of money needed to afford a house in Great Falls. That hasn't been true for years. There are plenty of high-paying jobs along the Tysons-Dulles corridor, and some people can make a lot of money working from home.

True, but there is more to it than job commutes. There isn’t much around GF in terms of amenities compared to more central areas closer to Tysons,DC, Arlington. GF retail/dining/entertainment is rather anemic. Also the roads, while beautiful are more in danger of closures during any type of bad weather event. You have to be prepared for power outages and being stuck unable to leave if the road is blocked. Some roads are private too. It’s not for everyone. This type of maintenance costs money.

Still cheaper than the 1,000+ a month HOA dues for a luxury condo in Tysons.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of peple work at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Navy Federal, Akamai and Great Falls is actually on the right side of highway and can take backroads to work.

It is far out depending on where you commute from.

I think the old paradigm was that you needed to work in DC to make the type of money needed to afford a house in Great Falls. That hasn't been true for years. There are plenty of high-paying jobs along the Tysons-Dulles corridor, and some people can make a lot of money working from home.

True, but there is more to it than job commutes. There isn’t much around GF in terms of amenities compared to more central areas closer to Tysons,DC, Arlington. GF retail/dining/entertainment is rather anemic. Also the roads, while beautiful are more in danger of closures during any type of bad weather event. You have to be prepared for power outages and being stuck unable to leave if the road is blocked. Some roads are private too. It’s not for everyone. This type of maintenance costs money.

Anonymous wrote:Langley HS is at 102% of its capacity with the new boundary adjustment. The demographic projections have it at 107% of capacity in five years. Therefore boundaries are highly to change when reexamined in 2031.

Unless your children are currently in 5th grade or higher, I would not purchase a Forestville ES house unless you are comfortable with Herndon MS and HS. If you are worried about the value going down, I probably would not purchase a Forestville ES house anyway since the value will likely go down when it is rezoned to Herndon in five years.

I'm not aware of any published demographic projections that put Langley at 107% capacity in five years.

Based on the most recent program capacity for Langley (2323), 107% capacity is 2486 students.

Current enrollment is 2175 students. The elimination of the Spring Hill feeder is estimated to add 200 students to Langley. That takes you to 2375. However, Langley has 94 transfers this year, including 84 pursuant to the student transfer regulation (i.e., for AP or foreign language). Langley can shut down pupil placements and regain those seats, which takes you down to 2291. There would need to be substantial growth in the Spring Hill area that's not offset by fewer students in other parts of the catchment area to even get to 105% capacity (2439 students). Could that happen? Possibly. It is a certainty or even "highly likely" within five years? Probably not.

And, again, there's no consistency in the School Board's processes. The next School Board could redistrict a school under 105% capacity if it wanted to based on transportation considerations. On the other hand, West Springfield was sitting at 114% capacity this year, well over the purported 105% threshold for redistricting, and they did not redistrict a single neighborhood out of WSHS.

Langley HS is at 102% of its capacity with the new boundary adjustment. The demographic projections have it at 107% of capacity in five years. Therefore boundaries are highly to change when reexamined in 2031.

Unless your children are currently in 5th grade or higher, I would not purchase a Forestville ES house unless you are comfortable with Herndon MS and HS. If you are worried about the value going down, I probably would not purchase a Forestville ES house anyway since the value will likely go down when it is rezoned to Herndon in five years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of peple work at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Navy Federal, Akamai and Great Falls is actually on the right side of highway and can take backroads to work.

It is far out depending on where you commute from.

I think the old paradigm was that you needed to work in DC to make the type of money needed to afford a house in Great Falls. That hasn't been true for years. There are plenty of high-paying jobs along the Tysons-Dulles corridor, and some people can make a lot of money working from home.

But even those five days in the office You be surpised at places like Freddie Mac SVPs/EVPS are getting $450,000 to $550,000 a year. That is a bad commute from DC but to Great Falls dont even need to get on the highway

And there is work from home. But GF is very close to high paying jobs without even getting on a highway!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are currently looking in Great Falls and I just made note of the lack of appreciation...glad I did a search before I started a new thread! Has the rezoning issue been decided yet?

School board officially votes on it Feb 22nd. The recommendation they are voting on does not include any change to Forestville homes. So appears the neighborhood somewhat safe, but keep in mind in the new policy mandates a county wide review every five years.

This vote already took place on January 22nd. Nothing was moved out of Great Falls but about 1/3 of Tysons that had been zoned to McLean got moved to Langley. That will create enrollment pressure on Langley in the future that could result in moving part of Great Falls and the small pockets of Herndon and Reston zoned to Langley to Herndon at some point. Herndon got a big expansion a few years ago but around the time it was finished started to lose kids.

This.

The growth in Tysons has been substantial. Forestville is going to be zoned to Herndon the next go around.

I wouldn't be so certain about that. Rezoning to Herndon is a risk factor if you buy in western Great Falls or the parts of Herndon and Reston zoned to Langley. It was also a risk factor when the School Board started the last boundary review, since kids in that area travel such a long distance to Langley (and are so close to Herndon) and the School Board's policy says they should limit transportation times. How many kids got moved out of Langley? Zero.

Next time around Langley may be overcrowded due to Tysons growth, but by then they'll have cut back on pupil placements for AP and foreign language and there may be fewer school-age kids living in the other Langley-zoned neighborhoods. There will be a new School Board by 2030, and they might persuade the next School Board to abandon five-year boundary reviews or to add a modular to Langley. The School Board has shown it's no match for parents who organize, and no other community mobilizes so effectively to protect their own interests.

Anonymous wrote:A lot of peple work at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Navy Federal, Akamai and Great Falls is actually on the right side of highway and can take backroads to work.

It is far out depending on where you commute from.

I think the old paradigm was that you needed to work in DC to make the type of money needed to afford a house in Great Falls. That hasn't been true for years. There are plenty of high-paying jobs along the Tysons-Dulles corridor, and some people can make a lot of money working from home.

A lot of peple work at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Navy Federal, Akamai and Great Falls is actually on the right side of highway and can take backroads to work.

It is far out depending on where you commute from.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are currently looking in Great Falls and I just made note of the lack of appreciation...glad I did a search before I started a new thread! Has the rezoning issue been decided yet?

School board officially votes on it Feb 22nd. The recommendation they are voting on does not include any change to Forestville homes. So appears the neighborhood somewhat safe, but keep in mind in the new policy mandates a county wide review every five years.

This vote already took place on January 22nd. Nothing was moved out of Great Falls but about 1/3 of Tysons that had been zoned to McLean got moved to Langley. That will create enrollment pressure on Langley in the future that could result in moving part of Great Falls and the small pockets of Herndon and Reston zoned to Langley to Herndon at some point. Herndon got a big expansion a few years ago but around the time it was finished started to lose kids.

This.

The growth in Tysons has been substantial. Forestville is going to be zoned to Herndon the next go around.

Anonymous wrote:The main reason for buying in Great Falls is because big lots cost less than 22012 and 22101.

Houses themselves cost less, not just lots. You could buy a large relatively new home for less in GF than you would in premium Mclean, for example, where older Mcmansions go for 3 mil. You get a nicer home with more land for 3 mil in GF hands down. New construction homes north of 4 mil in Mclean on paltry .5 acre lots are common now.