Anonymous wrote:OP, your income is fine at all three areas. The key deciding factor would be what you value. Vienna is the densest by population, with a lot of local businesses, shops, and a town feel. ...

Sorry to nitpic your post, but unless there's a pocket of Vienna that I don't know about, I wouldn't call it a town feel. 123 is a gross collection of strip malls and 1970s stand-alone buildings. It has shopping/eating for sure, but it's not like Del Ray or the like.

Anonymous wrote:OP, your income is fine at all three areas. The key deciding factor would be what you value. Vienna is the densest by population, with a lot of local businesses, shops, and a town feel. The house lots tend to be smaller, and the homes are fairly cookie-cutter. Great Falls is the most rural feel. There are larger lots, homes are more "unique" which can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the home. Despite having a "rural" feel, its proximity to Sterling and Herndon makes it fairly convenient. McLean is kind of in the middle and offers a mix. You can buy in "south-central McLean" and get homes that are like what you find in Vienna. There is the McLean town center, which is somewhat like Vienna in the mix of businesses, but much smaller. There is also "upper McLean" and "west McLean", both of which are more like Great Falls in lot sizes and rural feel of homes.

Disclosure: we live in west McLean.

Thanks for letting us know your live on the “richer” side of McLean. “West McLean”??
Who cares - besides you?

We live in a house that's basically in Falls Church City, a 10 minute walk to West Falls Church metro and downtown FC, zoned for Longfellow and McLean. HHI around 250k. We love the location.

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $250k and we live comfortably in Vienna. Not a new build but a nice colonial that is ample space for our family of 4.

Similar HHI and we live comfortably in 22181 (outside TOV). The public elementary schools here are ethnically and economically diverse, and we've been happy with the teachers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of people rent in mclean just for the schools. They can't afford to buy but they blend in with the landed gentry.

What a mistake

Why is renting in a good school district like McLean a mistake?

Anonymous wrote:OP, your income is fine at all three areas. The key deciding factor would be what you value. Vienna is the densest by population, with a lot of local businesses, shops, and a town feel. The house lots tend to be smaller, and the homes are fairly cookie-cutter. Great Falls is the most rural feel. There are larger lots, homes are more "unique" which can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the home. Despite having a "rural" feel, its proximity to Sterling and Herndon makes it fairly convenient. McLean is kind of in the middle and offers a mix. You can buy in "south-central McLean" and get homes that are like what you find in Vienna. There is the McLean town center, which is somewhat like Vienna in the mix of businesses, but much smaller. There is also "upper McLean" and "west McLean", both of which are more like Great Falls in lot sizes and rural feel of homes.

Disclosure: we live in west McLean.

DP. I'm going to try something more detailed. Parts of the above post generalize quite a bit, and also seem a bit passive-aggressive.

Vienna - Vienna is the closest to the center of Fairfax County of the three, and the least expensive. It's about the same distance to DC as eastern Great Falls, but closer to Metro. It's generally understood to comprise the Town of Vienna (most but not all of the 22180 zip code), and nearby areas in Fairfax County with Vienna mailing addresses (parts of the 22180 zip code, and all of the 22181 and 22182 zip codes). The Town of Vienna was older than the other parts of Vienna, but it's seen more new construction in recent years than the 22181 and 22182 zip codes. Of the three areas, it has the most retail (setting aside Tysons) along a busy and at times congested section of Route 123 known as Maple Avenue inside the Town of Vienna limits and a few side streets (Church Street and Park Street). The families are younger than in Great Falls and McLean, and there are more "cheap eats." The Town of Vienna also sponsors a lot of community activities every year. If you had to ask people to describe Vienna in one or two phrases, "family-friendly" and "town-like" would probably be high on the list. Youth sports are very big in Vienna. The students in the Town of Vienna are zoned to Madison HS, but other parts of Vienna are zoned to Madison, Marshall, Oakton, Langley, South Lakes, and Falls Church HS, depending on the particular address. The median sales price for a single-family home in Vienna over the past year has been $1.02M.

McLean - McLean is the closest to DC of the three areas, and the most expensive. It consists of two zip codes - 22101 and 22102. The 22102 zip code also includes much of Tysons. People who live in McLean tend to be more likely than those who live in Great Falls or Vienna to be plugged into the political world in DC in some capacity, whether as politicians, political appointees, or professionals like lawyers whose work is related to the federal government. People tend to be very proud of the local schools (McLean students attend either Langley or McLean HS, except for a small number of students in the Tysons part of McLean who attend Marshall HS), but there are a significant number of families who send their kids to private schools. As in the Town of Vienna, there has been a lot of new construction in McLean in recent years, especially in the older parts of McLean inside the Beltway and south of Route 123 (which is called Dolley Madison Boulevard in McLean). The lots tends to be larger further north and/or further west. There is a drab but functional commercial area centered around the intersection of Chain Bridge Road and Old Dominion that is less congested than the commercial area in Vienna, as it gets less commuter traffic. If you had to ask people to describe McLean in one or two phrases, "wealthy" and "convenient" would probably be high on the list. The median sales price for a single-family home in McLean over the past year has been $1.52M.

Great Falls - Great Falls stretches across the northern part of the county from the edge of McLean all the way to the border with Loudoun County. It consists of one zip code - 22066. Compared to Vienna and McLean, much of Great Falls is comparative rural, with many large homes on large lots with private septic systems, although the subdivisions in western Great Falls near the Loudoun border are more similar to other suburban subdivisions in Fairfax County. Great Falls appeals to those who want a quieter, more private lifestyle, including many who work along the Tysons-Dulles corridor and others who are able to work from home. Compared to McLean and Vienna, there is little retail in Great Falls, although you are not too far from Reston and Vienna and there is a large grocery store, a few restaurants, and other amenities in Great Falls Village (near the intersection of Georgetown Pike and Walker Road). Over the past decade or so, Great Falls prices had not seen the type of appreciation seen in other parts of NoVa because commutes from Great Falls, especially to DC, tended to be lenghty, but those able to work from home have sparked renewed interest in Great Falls over the last two years in particular. All Great Falls students are zoned to Langley HS. If you had to ask people to describe Great Falls in one or two phrases, "beautiful" and "private" would probably be high on the list. The median sales price for a single-family home in Great Falls over the past year has been $1.33M.

Anonymous wrote:OP, your income is fine at all three areas. The key deciding factor would be what you value. Vienna is the densest by population, with a lot of local businesses, shops, and a town feel. The house lots tend to be smaller, and the homes are fairly cookie-cutter. Great Falls is the most rural feel. There are larger lots, homes are more "unique" which can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the home. Despite having a "rural" feel, its proximity to Sterling and Herndon makes it fairly convenient. McLean is kind of in the middle and offers a mix. You can buy in "south-central McLean" and get homes that are like what you find in Vienna. There is the McLean town center, which is somewhat like Vienna in the mix of businesses, but much smaller. There is also "upper McLean" and "west McLean", both of which are more like Great Falls in lot sizes and rural feel of homes.

Disclosure: we live in west McLean.

Do you live in 22102 outside the Beltway near Great Falls? Guess that would be considered “western McLean,” though people don’t really use that term in conversation. There is actually a neighborhood in McLean called “West McLean” just north of the downtown area and it’s not like Great Falls at all (if anything, it’s more like parts of North Arlington - lots of expensive new homes on relatively small lots within walking distance of a retail area).

OP, your income is fine at all three areas. The key deciding factor would be what you value. Vienna is the densest by population, with a lot of local businesses, shops, and a town feel. The house lots tend to be smaller, and the homes are fairly cookie-cutter. Great Falls is the most rural feel. There are larger lots, homes are more "unique" which can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the home. Despite having a "rural" feel, its proximity to Sterling and Herndon makes it fairly convenient. McLean is kind of in the middle and offers a mix. You can buy in "south-central McLean" and get homes that are like what you find in Vienna. There is the McLean town center, which is somewhat like Vienna in the mix of businesses, but much smaller. There is also "upper McLean" and "west McLean", both of which are more like Great Falls in lot sizes and rural feel of homes.

Disclosure: we live in west McLean.

Anonymous wrote:Aren't Vienna schools significantly lower rated?

Only by Great Schools, which now penalizes schools for having a mix of upper-income and lower-income kids. All the high schools serving these areas (Langley, McLean, Marshall, and Madison) are highly rated by US News as among the best in the state.

If you want schools with no economic diversity, however, the Langley pyramid is your best bet. I gather the School Board representative from the Langley area makes sure it stays that way.

Aren't Vienna schools significantly lower rated?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is between 250k-400k+
We are both well educated at good schools and have lived abroad. We aren’t too showy and do not come from wealthy families. We are looking for a nice single family home in a nice neighborhood with good schools. McLean has the best schools but I’m worried about being the “poor” family in an otherwise very rich area. What about Vienna?

Which would be a good fit for us?

Vienna sounds like the best fit for you. I’m sorry to tell you that elementary schools in McLean are not the best at all.

McLean, Great Falls, and Vienna all have top-tier elementary schools. I can only speak specifically to Great Falls, but parents here speak highly of all of the elementary schools that cover Great Falls (GFES, Colvin Run, and Forestville). School quality likely shouldn't drive the choice between these three areas.

Lived in both Vienna and McLean. Strongly prefer McLean - better schools, more convenient location, and not nearly as congested.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is between 250k-400k+
We are both well educated at good schools and have lived abroad. We aren’t too showy and do not come from wealthy families. We are looking for a nice single family home in a nice neighborhood with good schools. McLean has the best schools but I’m worried about being the “poor” family in an otherwise very rich area. What about Vienna?

Which would be a good fit for us?

Vienna sounds like the best fit for you. I’m sorry to tell you that elementary schools in McLean are not the best at all.

^ I meant public ES

Anonymous wrote:250-400k? Do kids at Langley or McLean really think that’s poor? OP in this area, there will always be people are more well off but geez

This is exactly what I was thinking. Some people need a serious reality check. i don’t consider my family poor at all but we likely bring in less than half of OP’s income. And we are educated. LOL can’t imagine how we would rate in OP’s book, something close to destitute. Maybe I should move my family under a bridge in shame.

Anonymous wrote:Lots of people rent in mclean just for the schools. They can't afford to buy but they blend in with the landed gentry.

What a mistake