Try the Fairfax area of Falls Church, just over the FCC border. Timber Lane and Haycock are the elementary schools, depending on where you are. It's like Mayberry over here and I think some of the older homes might be in your price range.

Fairfax city is as nice as Vienna and less pricey. Better services, lower taxes.

I have looked and looked at other affordable communities to get closer to DC since I've been working downtown again. I personally have not been able to find better schools for my housing buck. The drive on 66 takes me 40 minutes from Vienna/Fairfax Metro to the front desk in my office suite.

"In May, 2009, the City of Fairfax was rated as #3 in the "Top 25 Places to Live Well" by Forbes Magazine.[18] Forbes commended Fairfax for its strong public school system, high median salary, and a rate of sole proprietors per capita that ranks it in the top 1% nationwide. According to the magazine, "These factors are increasingly important in a recession. When businesses and jobs retract, as they have nationwide, municipalities with strong environments for start-ups, and those that offer attractive amenities, are better suited to recover from economic downtimes, as there are more business activity filling the void."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairfax,_Virginia

Anonymous wrote:Someone already mentioned Greenbriar; I grew up there and it was great. Still have family, and now friends with kids, living there. I think Greenbriar West ES is highly regarded (AAP?) so that might be a great option for OP. Not all homes in the community feed to Greenbriar West so just check the boundry map. (And I think there was a recent boundry change, so be mindful and check out what areas may be affected.)

oh, and awesome community pool! (I heard it can be difficult to find an available membership for purchase, however.)

good luck!

we bought here a couple months ago. Our favorite part of this community is the ability to walk to all 3 levels of school and the shopping center. We do not have a pool membership - sometimes they come with your house purchase, and sometimes you have to put your name on a waiting list to buy in. We have taken our daughter for swimming lessons to Cub Run REC Center, though, and that place is very nice.

Our house does not have a basement (I have heard that it is not easy to build a basement in our community - the soil is too hard), but it does have a two car garage with an attic, so we have plenty of storage. We bought the largest model (the Essex), which has one extra living space that the rest of the models do not. We have 2200 sf with the original house footprint. You may be able to find the largest model with additions, which probably would bring the place up to 2500 sf or so.

We saw many of the models as we househunted, and since the houses are 40 years old, they are in all levels of repair. We actually passed up a house with tons of renovations in favor of a house in need of renovations because the other house was further from the schools and the shopping center. We live just a few houses up from the elementary school and we have been very happy with that decision.

We did househunt in a few other places closeby with our budget of $450K - we liked Chantilly Highlands/Oak Hill ES district and Lees Corner ES district. We have friends who live in the Waples Mill ES district and are happy, as well.

The biggest problem we have encountered here is the traffic, which we weren't expecting. 50 and Stringfellow SUCK! My husband commutes to Ashburn, and the commute home in the evening is nasty. We are hoping that Stringfellow will be better once the construction is done. There is also construction currently at Fair Lakes and 7100, so lots of roads are in limbo in the immediate area right now. Not sure what the area is like WITHOUT construction - hopefully a bit better!

We live in a neighborhood called Prosperity Heights behind FFX hospital. Love it. Friendly families - just met some great ones at the annual block party. We're on a cul-de-sac do our kids play out front all the time. Houses are in your price range.
Camelot elementary is the local school and we are very happy with it. We'll have to deal with being at Falls Church HS, which is not one of the best. But that is 10 years away.

Someone already mentioned Greenbriar; I grew up there and it was great. Still have family, and now friends with kids, living there. I think Greenbriar West ES is highly regarded (AAP?) so that might be a great option for OP. Not all homes in the community feed to Greenbriar West so just check the boundry map. (And I think there was a recent boundry change, so be mindful and check out what areas may be affected.)

oh, and awesome community pool! (I heard it can be difficult to find an available membership for purchase, however.)

good luck!

Pimmit Woods might not meet OP's desires for a large house as many of the places don't have basements. At least the Vienna ramblers do have basements.

OTOH, if someone did an expansion or rebuilt in the 1970s, it might fit OP's needs.

I'm the PP that mentioned Fair Woods. I love it here. We are in a th but have 2500 sq ft and I know all of my neighbors kids and vice versa. Just across 7100 behind Fair Oaks Hospital is a community of SFH called Fair Woods. I would love to buy a home there someday. It's not a cut through neighborhood so local traffic only. There is also a Toll Brothers community off of 7100, west side, just south of Stringfellow. Again, not a cut through, established.

Good luck with your search. Keep an eye on FFarm, something might come up.

A commute from south-of-Alexandria FFX to either Chantilly or Arlington would totally blow. I don't think our realtor friend is very successful in her field.

We live in pimmit hills squeezed between tyson and mclean . You can fine some decent houses in the range we have side walks, larger lots and schools are the same as the pricier surrounding area. We are near 66, 495, toll road, west falls church.metro and upcoming silver line metros. http://www.pimmithills.org/ our location can't be beat

Anonymous wrote:Virginia Run elementary in Centreville (it pulls from Chantilly & Centreville)

We have friends in this neighborhood and have been to their HOA pool--its very nice and they are really happy with the elementary school, have lots of kids on their street who are outside playing, etc. Would be a great commute to Chantilly but not so great to Arlington unless you left early in the a.m. & drove to Vienna and/or could do HOV all the way in on 66.

Ditto here on the wakefield area of annandale. good family neighborhood, we joined a pool a few years ago and love it. Kids are everywhere and definitely hang out in various homes. Mine has to text each time she switches homes so I know where she is. Not overly expensive but not much on the market right now for some reason unless you go west of wakefield chapel rd. I think all the people who really want to sell are waiting until the school district (for jh and hs) officially changes over to woodson in 2012. Elementary is the same for everyone. we could not imagine living anywhere else. there are cheaper homes in the low 500s that can be fairly updated, not updated more in the upper 400s. into the 600s are really nice and then some that a bit higher.

Virginia Run elementary in Centreville (it pulls from Chantilly & Centreville)

OP Here. Thank you all for your suggestions. They are very helpful.

Anonymous wrote:Waynewood in Fairfax County

As a realtor, you would know that a commute to Chantilly from Waynewood would not be as easy as from points west in Fairfax County.

Waynewood in Fairfax County is as close to the Wonder Years that you can get in Fairfax County. You can get a great house for 600-650 and live in a truly unique community.

I am a realtor but also raising 2 kids here and love the area.