Anonymous wrote:Something to consider: it's virginia.

What's wrong with Virginia?

I live in the North Arlington near Lee Highway that a PP said has nothing to do, but surprisingly, has tons to do. We may not be walking distance to a metro, but can walk to at least 3 parks, 2 grocery stores, around 10 restaurants, a couple drugstores, a library, and a starbucks. So yeah, nothing to do.

Anonymous wrote:Something to consider: it's virginia.

Right, so you will no longer need to worry about the education of your children and will no longer have a reason not to exercise outside after dark.

We moved here for middle school. I did not want to leave DC but to my great surprise have loved living here. I expect we will stay even after the kids are gone (to VA state colleges!! yeah!!).

No regrets at all. My kids are spread out in age, so I have one in high school and two still in elementary. I'm not the least bit concerned about redistricting.

Bought a big TH walkable in the R-B corridor. Lifestyle is amply urban while accompanied by the suburban services and amenities that many families like us appreciate. If you earn enough to pay for all your services and schooling in addition to your property taxes then you'll probably be happier in the tonier sections of the district. Lots of commercial development in the RB corridor the last 3-4 years, so the lifestyle around those areas is spades more urban than it was earlier with both independent and local/national chain retailers, restaurants, coffee shops, bars etc.

I think it's fair to not like Arlington, but folks with kids who don't want to shell out $40k per kid per year can see a serious appeal!

We just moved from Cleveland Park (apt on CT Ave) to Waverly Hill (walkable to Ballston) and we love it. Lots of families with kids in the neighborhood.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a different experience. I've lived in DC, Arlington and Fairfax, and Arlington was the one place I disliked and could not wait to leave. Maybe the problem is that I'd previously lived in NYC, but I found it neither here nor there. It wasn't vibrant or particularly diverse, so it didn't seem like a city. On the other hand, it was crowded, with small lots and many tiny houses, so it didn't match my expectations for a suburb, either. I literally cried the day I moved to DC from Arlington, I was that happy to get out and be somewhere that had interesting streets and buildings again.

Do your own research, you might find you're among those who'd love it. But don't assume the cheerleaders here reflect everyone's views about N. Arlington.

Priced out?

Uh, no. But thanks for the typical Stepford response.

Anonymous wrote:I had a different experience. I've lived in DC, Arlington and Fairfax, and Arlington was the one place I disliked and could not wait to leave. Maybe the problem is that I'd previously lived in NYC, but I found it neither here nor there. It wasn't vibrant or particularly diverse, so it didn't seem like a city. On the other hand, it was crowded, with small lots and many tiny houses, so it didn't match my expectations for a suburb, either. I literally cried the day I moved to DC from Arlington, I was that happy to get out and be somewhere that had interesting streets and buildings again.

Do your own research, you might find you're among those who'd love it. But don't assume the cheerleaders here reflect everyone's views about N. Arlington.

Nor should we assume you're coherent or relevant.

Anonymous wrote:I had a different experience. I've lived in DC, Arlington and Fairfax, and Arlington was the one place I disliked and could not wait to leave. Maybe the problem is that I'd previously lived in NYC, but I found it neither here nor there. It wasn't vibrant or particularly diverse, so it didn't seem like a city. On the other hand, it was crowded, with small lots and many tiny houses, so it didn't match my expectations for a suburb, either. I literally cried the day I moved to DC from Arlington, I was that happy to get out and be somewhere that had interesting streets and buildings again.

Do your own research, you might find you're among those who'd love it. But don't assume the cheerleaders here reflect everyone's views about N. Arlington.

Priced out?

I had a different experience. I've lived in DC, Arlington and Fairfax, and Arlington was the one place I disliked and could not wait to leave. Maybe the problem is that I'd previously lived in NYC, but I found it neither here nor there. It wasn't vibrant or particularly diverse, so it didn't seem like a city. On the other hand, it was crowded, with small lots and many tiny houses, so it didn't match my expectations for a suburb, either. I literally cried the day I moved to DC from Arlington, I was that happy to get out and be somewhere that had interesting streets and buildings again.

Do your own research, you might find you're among those who'd love it. But don't assume the cheerleaders here reflect everyone's views about N. Arlington.

We did this. Couldn't be happier.

As for school redistricting, boundaries have been redrawn for elementary so that's done. Middle school is on the table right now and high schools may be an issue in the future. However, if you buy in N Arlington it's pretty low risk that you'll be rezoned somewhere you're not happy with. If you are super insistent that your child not go to Wakefield (the lowest-performing high school and it's still very good and just happens to have more diversity), just don't buy too close to the Rt 50 border as I can see some of those neighborhoods possibly eventually getting rezoned to Wakefield.

I lived all over NW DC--Foggy Bottom, Georgetown, Dupont Circle, Friendship Heights (husband lived on Capitol Hill)--and have made N Arlington our home since 1998. When we were looking for homes, I saw 50 in NW DC and at the last minute chose N Arlington (CCHills). I really love it here, and a lot of the housing stock in my neighborhood is similar to what exists across the Potomac. I really love our neighbors, the beauty of our neighborhood, the responsive government, amenities, my short commute and, of course, the schools. Especially the schools.

Having said that, I'm mostly car dependent out of habit--an ART bus stops very close to my house. I'm actually considering buying an electric bicycle to get around (the hills around here make it hard to use a regular bike). Other homes in our neighborhood are within walking distance to shopping on Lee highway, but we are not. It's the only trade off we made, although our neighborhood is no more car dependent than many areas of NW DC.

Rossyln to Ballston.

What is the R-B corridor?