The Town taxes are worth it if your home is under $500-$600k.

The Town taxes cover very good snowplowing (seriously, I could have made it every day of Snowmageddon except the Tuesday snowstorm), trash/leaf pickup, a dedicated police force, lower rates on parks and rec stuff, etc.

I will agree if you get a custom home for $900k and up you'll want to value the walkability to Maple/Church and the such, the neighborhoods just outside the town aren't really near very many amenities as they are heavily residential.

I left since my wife and I work west of Route 28 and could conceivably stay outside 7100 for the duration of our careers. I know many folks on this board do work in very DC/Arlington-centric fields, and so Fairfax, Vienna, or Falls Church are probably the best options there -- and even Fairfax is a bit iffy if you're going to work downtown for the rest of your career.

We ended up buying a place in Leesburg very near the historic downtown. But, since your hubby works in Arlington, I wouldn't recommend that at all (*) unless he can work 6-3 or something like that, and even then, that's not something everyone would want.

(*) At least not until the Loudoun Board of Supervisors gives the final approval for Dulles Rail Phase 2.

Vienna is Mayberry if you can afford it . It really has a great family feel, packs of roaming kids, block party etc effect. We really love it. Had a blast at the Vienna Halloween parade and the Holcroft pumpkin carvers event. It really does feel like a family friendly community,
You don't have to live in the Town to feel this effect and if you live close to town but not within the limits you don't have to pay the taxes.

I certainly do not think Fairfax is as nice as Vienna, but it is cheaper being that it is a city verses a town for taxes and the housing prices are a little cheaper. If Vienna could have the same pricing structure as Fairfax City does or even the rest of Fairfax County, I think Vienna would win, hands down.

Anonymous wrote: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

I doubt the services are better and City of Fairfax is a longer commute to Tysons and DC, if that matters, but it's certainly more affordable.