It’s funny to me that people move here and are surprised there’s no outside pools. Welcome to the south, dear! Most of these pools were started in the 50s...

I agree with the point, made by some above, that the pool waitlists can be absurd. But for someone looking to buy, that just needs to factor into the decision of whether a neighborhood works for you -- i.e. is it a deal-breaker that you may need to wait many years to be a pool member.

If it is a deal-breaker, there are plenty of great areas in NoVA where the pools have no waitlist or only a short waitlist. We got in to both Langley and Great Falls recently without a wait (joined GFS&T, as that's only a few blocks from our house). Hunter Mill is Vienna also doesn't have a wait (or at least hasn't in recent years).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This system is a bummer for people who move to this area from another part of the country while their kids are in elementary school. It makes me sad that there isn't a network of public pools (enough so none are super crowded) like there are in other parts of the country. I love so many things to about living in the DMV, except the pool system.

Knights of Columbus

This.

Yes we did this but the pool membership issue still means that my kid can't be on the same summer swim team as his friends. Whereas if there was a bigger network of county pools, that would presumably be easier to do. It would also be easier to meet friends from the neighborhood at the pool if everyone had access to all pools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Army Navy Country Club - you don't have to do the full membership, there is a pool option

Isn't the pool membership like $10k?

It is a Social Membership, and when we joined ~10 years ago it was $10K. Full membership for non-government was close to $70K, but greatly reduced if you qualified due to your job. I don't know the cost to join now, but likely going up due to the transformation in Crystal City. We did not need to be government or military-based to join- just a community member in Arlington. Our monthly fees are now about $400 and were recently raised to pay for some upcoming pool big improvements. They have 4 pools, and one just for adults. But you also get to do everything at the club like brunches, special events, etc.., except no tennis and no golf unless invited by a full member.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This system is a bummer for people who move to this area from another part of the country while their kids are in elementary school. It makes me sad that there isn't a network of public pools (enough so none are super crowded) like there are in other parts of the country. I love so many things to about living in the DMV, except the pool system.

Knights of Columbus

This.

Anonymous wrote:This system is a bummer for people who move to this area from another part of the country while their kids are in elementary school. It makes me sad that there isn't a network of public pools (enough so none are super crowded) like there are in other parts of the country. I love so many things to about living in the DMV, except the pool system.

Knights of Columbus

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do people deal with 5-10 year waiting lists for pools? Are your kids in grade school before they get to swim on a regular basis?

I joined a waitlist while I was pregnant. However, I think a lot of people buy memberships at pools in mclean or falls church until they get into the one they want. I know highlands has a summer only option and a lot of people join Kent Gardens because it is relatively cheap. Also not all the lists are that long. Chesterbrook I believe has like a 1-2 year wait likely because they’re a little bit pricier.

Doesn’t Chesterbrook have a new waitlist every year?

There are two kinds of waitlists there: the summer waitlist that turns over every year and the full membership waitlist. We got off that the first year but sometimes it takes longer.

Anonymous wrote:How do people deal with 5-10 year waiting lists for pools? Are your kids in grade school before they get to swim on a regular basis?

I sign my kids up for swim lessons at our neighborhood pool where we're waitlisted. They don't care if we stay for the entire two hour afternoon period when lessons are offered. I'm not a big pool person, so that's enough for me.

This system is a bummer for people who move to this area from another part of the country while their kids are in elementary school. It makes me sad that there isn't a network of public pools (enough so none are super crowded) like there are in other parts of the country. I love so many things to about living in the DMV, except the pool system.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do people deal with 5-10 year waiting lists for pools? Are your kids in grade school before they get to swim on a regular basis?

I joined a waitlist while I was pregnant. However, I think a lot of people buy memberships at pools in mclean or falls church until they get into the one they want. I know highlands has a summer only option and a lot of people join Kent Gardens because it is relatively cheap. Also not all the lists are that long. Chesterbrook I believe has like a 1-2 year wait likely because they’re a little bit pricier.

Doesn’t Chesterbrook have a new waitlist every year?

Anonymous wrote:How do people deal with 5-10 year waiting lists for pools? Are your kids in grade school before they get to swim on a regular basis?

I joined a waitlist while I was pregnant. However, I think a lot of people buy memberships at pools in mclean or falls church until they get into the one they want. I know highlands has a summer only option and a lot of people join Kent Gardens because it is relatively cheap. Also not all the lists are that long. Chesterbrook I believe has like a 1-2 year wait likely because they’re a little bit pricier.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do people deal with 5-10 year waiting lists for pools? Are your kids in grade school before they get to swim on a regular basis?

You get lucky and buy a house with a membership transfer or you have to get on the list long before you have kids.

You buy a cheap condo with pool access as an investment property. I'm not even kidding. This is for people who don't care about things like swim team.

Maybe, but that won't give your kid the "pool with friends" option without inviting them over.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do people deal with 5-10 year waiting lists for pools? Are your kids in grade school before they get to swim on a regular basis?

You get lucky and buy a house with a membership transfer or you have to get on the list long before you have kids.

You buy a cheap condo with pool access as an investment property. I'm not even kidding. This is for people who don't care about things like swim team.

Anonymous wrote:How do people deal with 5-10 year waiting lists for pools? Are your kids in grade school before they get to swim on a regular basis?

You get lucky and buy a house with a membership transfer or you have to get on the list long before you have kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Building a pool in Arlington is not easy. If you are already on waitlists and don't have a contractor lined up, you'll probably get off those before you can have a pool in your yard, unfortunately.

Can you provide more details on this? My husband and I are interested in building a pool eventually. Is it a zoning issue? Lack of pool contractors?

+1

I'd love more info on this. We were thinking about putting one in next year, but maybe we need to get on a list now for contractors?

The lots in Arlington aren’t that big, so most people who want to put one in run into setback issues, and Arlington is not generous with the variances for pools. There are also maximum lot coverage limits may prevent you from putting in anything but a dipping pond. If you’re on a half acre and have a reasonably sized house, though, you might be able to do it.

Are the restrictions documented somewhere? We haven't been able to figure out what the restrictions actually are.

For example - does the patio around the pool count towards lot coverage? What if it's permeable?

What are the setback requirements for side and back yard lines for the pool vs. patio?

We tried asking a contractor we know but they don't normally do pools so they were clueless.