We love Falls Church City but it is definitely starting to lose some of its charm and everything is a lot more crowded due to all the new apartments/condos/businesses. I get that ultimately this is good for the city, and brings in more money, but it's frustrating as someone who has lived here for 20+ years and seen the massive changes. Our favorite breakfast/ice cream spot already moved 5 years ago due to a condo building being stood up, and we recently found out the same thing is going to happen to them again! Soon, all the great mom & pop shops will be gone for new, trendy restaurants and exercise studios and it's really sad. Thank goodness the community center and park aren't going anywhere.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:High taxes in FCC. Can’t imagine choosing to live there when you don’t even have kids in school.

+1

FCC is also absolute hell to drive through. They are constantly adding "traffic calming" measures- low speed limits even on main roads, no turn on red, no left turn signs, adding more and more traffic lights and stop signs, poorly planned light timing- I am looking at you the entire area near the new Whole Foods.

I agree with this person but adding that I don't even go down to the area that she is talking about as we live just outside city limits near Meridian HS and all of the new development (with much more to come) has made navigating the whole city a nightmare. Most of the time we go the back way around and avoid Broad St. altogether. Unfortunately, I think they are planning to do to 29 what they'e done to Broad St in the next 5-10 years. They are turning Falls Church City into Clarendon.

FCC is also very risky if Virginia ends up passing a state level zoning reform like SB79 (in California). If that happens, hundreds of acres in the city will upzoned to 60-100 units per acre by-right. The population of FCC would double or even triple within a decade if VA gets its own version of SB 79.

Because of this I would not recommended buying any single family houses within a mile of a metro station or VRE station.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:High taxes in FCC. Can’t imagine choosing to live there when you don’t even have kids in school.

+1

FCC is also absolute hell to drive through. They are constantly adding "traffic calming" measures- low speed limits even on main roads, no turn on red, no left turn signs, adding more and more traffic lights and stop signs, poorly planned light timing- I am looking at you the entire area near the new Whole Foods.

I agree with this person but adding that I don't even go down to the area that she is talking about as we live just outside city limits near Meridian HS and all of the new development (with much more to come) has made navigating the whole city a nightmare. Most of the time we go the back way around and avoid Broad St. altogether. Unfortunately, I think they are planning to do to 29 what they'e done to Broad St in the next 5-10 years. They are turning Falls Church City into Clarendon.

FCC is also very risky if Virginia ends up passing a state level zoning reform like SB79 (in California). If that happens, hundreds of acres in the city will upzoned to 60-100 units per acre by-right. The population of FCC would double or even triple within a decade if VA gets its own version of SB 79.

I live in FCC and we're moving when my oldest child graduates high school. I love the city but the taxes are pretty high. I would live just outside of FCC but it isn't as nice / walkable.

Is there a reason you're not considering MOCO if you were in the community there?

Anonymous wrote:Old housing stock, dark and dingy neighborhoods, traffic jams on narrow lanes. Overgrown trees that you cannot cut down unless you get permission from the city.

Completely untrue. We live in a 1999 build and also own a 1998 townhome in FCC. Both with 2 car garages. Is that old to you? We actually moved here from Arlington where it was old and dingy, unless you have 2-3 million budget for a new, cheap as hell build. The tree canopy is why the average sales price in FCC is higher than in surrounding areas. People actually pay grand money to maintain and retain the tree cover. The heat in the summer is more tolerable which cannot be said about many areas in Arlington.

Anonymous wrote:

lol out of control pedestrian safety!! That’s actually a big plus for most people - walkability.

I'm all about pedestrian safety and walkability, but at least get the lights timed so you can get the traffic through (note to FCC - some protected green arrows might help, too). Walkability, yes, but you have to be honest about the volume of traffic and moving that traffic - I mean even pedestrians would say inhaling the fumes of all those idling cars and trucks is unpleasant!

The extremely close togethet and abundant lights make driving and walking around FCC a nightmare. Extremely poor planning.

OP, you should consider Vienna over Falls Church City. There are some nice newish 55+ condos near the Vienna metro.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:High taxes in FCC. Can’t imagine choosing to live there when you don’t even have kids in school.

+1

FCC is also absolute hell to drive through. They are constantly adding "traffic calming" measures- low speed limits even on main roads, no turn on red, no left turn signs, adding more and more traffic lights and stop signs, poorly planned light timing- I am looking at you the entire area near the new Whole Foods.

We left FCC a year and a half ago after living there for 15 years. The traffic is a mess and only getting worse with all of the development and it played a role in us leaving. Oh, and I'll see your "entire area near the new whole foods" and raise you a "that total mess at Haycock/Shreve and 7."

LOL! Yes, I should have kept reading, but this is what I am referring to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:High taxes in FCC. Can’t imagine choosing to live there when you don’t even have kids in school.

+1

FCC is also absolute hell to drive through. They are constantly adding "traffic calming" measures- low speed limits even on main roads, no turn on red, no left turn signs, adding more and more traffic lights and stop signs, poorly planned light timing- I am looking at you the entire area near the new Whole Foods.

I agree with this person but adding that I don't even go down to the area that she is talking about as we live just outside city limits near Meridian HS and all of the new development (with much more to come) has made navigating the whole city a nightmare. Most of the time we go the back way around and avoid Broad St. altogether. Unfortunately, I think they are planning to do to 29 what they'e done to Broad St in the next 5-10 years. They are turning Falls Church City into Clarendon.

Look at renting at verso in founders row

I love Falls Church City and am among the growing number of people planning to stick around after their kids graduate from Meridian. I love the walkability and honestly don’t care that the traffic calming has inconvenienced the people trying to fly through on their way to somewhere else.

But I have to be honest — in your case, being older and with no kids in the schools (past or present), finding a social group is going to be a heavier lift. Most retirees/people with college-aged kids have an established circle built largely on the connections they formed when they were in the parenting trenches. It’s going to be harder to get to know people if you’re starting from scratch at an older/kidless age. Not impossible, but you’re going to have to be heavily proactive.

My $.02 would be to find a large multi bedroom condo or elevator TH in the walkable Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. You’re not going to want a bunch of stairs as you age.

Old housing stock, dark and dingy neighborhoods, traffic jams on narrow lanes. Overgrown trees that you cannot cut down unless you get permission from the city.

Anonymous wrote:The only thing I'll add as it relates to resale - people seem to send kids through elementary and maybe middle school, but the numbers at the High School seem very low. Beautiful facility, but a lot of folks opt of of Meridian.

We know a ton of folks in FCC and noone has sent their kids to Meridian.

I'll second what a PP said about the stop lights. It's out of control.

Really? We don't have kids but when we moved out of FCC a year and a half ago we rented our home out and were flooded with applicants who only wanted Falls Church schools, including families with high school age kids. People were actively seeking to send their kids to Meridian over all of the other schools in NoVA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:High taxes in FCC. Can’t imagine choosing to live there when you don’t even have kids in school.

+1

FCC is also absolute hell to drive through. They are constantly adding "traffic calming" measures- low speed limits even on main roads, no turn on red, no left turn signs, adding more and more traffic lights and stop signs, poorly planned light timing- I am looking at you the entire area near the new Whole Foods.

We left FCC a year and a half ago after living there for 15 years. The traffic is a mess and only getting worse with all of the development and it played a role in us leaving. Oh, and I'll see your "entire area near the new whole foods" and raise you a "that total mess at Haycock/Shreve and 7."