I first moved to Crystal City 20 years ago (Crystal Towers) and I thought it was really nice. The metro and indoor mall surrounding it is nice when its raining outside. A library in the neighborhood was nice before I had a home personal computer. There wasn't as much in terms of the restaurants as what there is today. There was always a few in the mall but they didn't have much on Crystal Drive which was a one way street to manage the traffic flow. One thing I really didn't like was the apartments there are too close to the airport and you could hear the planes fly which at times were as loud as a missile.

I did experience some crime there, I had an aftermarket car stereo removed from my Honda. Restaurant row on 23rd can be somewhat rough as there is a strip club and hookah lounges. Back in the day cabs would roll up and down the street so it felt like a little Las Vegas. Cab companies BTW have really disappeared replaced by Lyft and Uber which have relationships with the credit cards to provide discounts. Its a mix of an airport neighborhood like LAX and an urban center. I still have a space there to park near the metro in Crystal City and find that its a good staging point for commuting into the city.

Clarendon I feel is better for families and just as much access to downtown on the metro. Clarendon always had more restaurants than Crystal City but one thing that has really changed in 20 years is how much the center of gravity has shifted into DC as the main destination with the top restaurants peppered throughout the neighborhoods. DC has eclipsed NoVa as the place to be.

My mom used to live in Crystal Towers, it was a very nice, large apartment with good amenities. There's a library, rec center and park about two blocks away. There's lots of shopping over near costco and the shopping mall there. It's a block or two to metro. I think you'll love it. Arlington schools there are pretty good. It's not a low SES area as some have said, houses and condos there are expensive.

You’re probably aware but it’s going to continue to be a huge construction zone for years to come….

I've lived in Crystal City, Pentagon City, Aurora Highlands (the SFH neighborhood) and Long Branch Creek for almost 15 years. I've been here single, married, and with young kids. I definitely prefer Aurora Highlands with kids, but you can walk or drive there from the big apartment complexes. Also, if you're ever driving around when busses pick up you'll see there are A LOT of kids living in the apartments. Plenty of people rent when they first move here and then figure out where to move (usually much further out, but some decide they like the convenient commutes). There are some VERY expensive apartment complexes in Crystal City and Pentagon city. But also more more "reasonably" priced ones. Its all relative. Yes, the area is very, very transient. Proximity to the Pentagon at least means a lot of military families are in and out, but they're far from the majority of the transient population. Think political appointees who come for one administration or another or congressional staffers who put in their time and then move on to something else. Also students at GW, George Mason and Georgetown. Young professionals starting their careers and wanting short commutes and then still here when they start families.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools are not good in CC or Del Ray. Look in Arlington.

You do realize that Crystal City is Arlington?

🥰🥰🥰🥰

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SFHs that are adjacent are a decent area and a great location. The condos and apartments, whatever, mostly for singles and maybe some retired people. There's plenty of stuff around there for sure.

OP here, are there any neighborhoods with SFHs you can give me the names of. We're looking to rent initially since we're moving from out of state and don't know the area at all.

Addison Heights
Aurora Hills
Oakcrest
Club Manor Estates

Just search for single family homes in the 22202 zip code.

Anonymous wrote:Schools are not good in CC or Del Ray. Look in Arlington.

You do realize that Crystal City is Arlington?

Eh. I lived in one of the fifteen story apartment buildings there. Moved out in 2018 so my info is a bit dated.

I’m not a fan because you get the noise of a city but the boringness of the suburbs. It’s kind of a weird place.

I lived in Crystal Towers. There are a ton of kids in that building. I now live in another building (I’m single). And I would say Crystal Towers has a boatload of children. They also had a lot of kids activities which is one reason I moved.

Anonymous wrote:Aurora Hills, mentioned above, is an Arlington neighborhood that is just across Route 1 from crystal city. If you google it on a map, the area I’m thinking of includes what’s called “Aurora Highlands.” Some of the houses in the northern part of that area are walkable to pentagon city metro. It all seems very family oriented whenever I drive through that area.

This rental listing is in the area near pentagon city. Obviously unattractive exterior but looks like a convenient location. I know nothing about Arlington schools as we send our child to private school in Alexandria.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/816-18th-St-S-Arlington-VA-22202/12106223_zpid/

Aurora Hills, mentioned above, is an Arlington neighborhood that is just across Route 1 from crystal city. If you google it on a map, the area I’m thinking of includes what’s called “Aurora Highlands.” Some of the houses in the northern part of that area are walkable to pentagon city metro. It all seems very family oriented whenever I drive through that area.

The only person I've know who lived at Crystal Towers was a congressman who spent most of his time back in his district, and that seemed pretty typical for the area. I couldn't imagine living there with kids.

Anonymous wrote:OP here, is it too bland for anyone to have an opinion?

If you’re already thinking it… Crystal City is/was the spill over back offices for the Pentagon. There’s potential, and that is what attracted Amazon, but it’s certainly not family oriented.

Anonymous wrote:Innovation has been warm and inviting. Some great teachers moved from ASFS and from the rest of APS. Awesome
Library with brand new books. Very diverse school. I occasionally heard from my upper level elementary student about behavior problems in his class at ASFS. So far no reports this year at innovation.

Thank you for the feedback! Much appreciated!

Innovation has been warm and inviting. Some great teachers moved from ASFS and from the rest of APS. Awesome
Library with brand new books. Very diverse school. I occasionally heard from my upper level elementary student about behavior problems in his class at ASFS. So far no reports this year at innovation.