I work at an elementary school in Vienna but live elsewhere. I’ve had time to observe the families in the area as well as my coworkers that live in Vienna. Lots of very nice people, but so many of these comments are spot on. There are absolutely regular people there, but definitely a strong vibe of competitive social types that are all trying to one up each other. They love to go on and on to each other about their grand home renovations. And when meeting new people they eagerly confirm “So you live in the Township?” in the first minute. One thing I’ve learned in my casual conversations with people from Vienna—never suggest that other places might be worth living in or might compare to Vienna. They will look at you like you have 3 heads. Act like Vienna is the best!

That vibe is definitely more Ashburn than Vienna but there is a contingent just like there would be in Mclean and north Arlington. Vienna is actually very international as well. No one cares if you live in or out of the town unless you are dealing with politics in the town. If you want to have a lot of say in the Vienna town government I'd live in the town.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The person who runs the Vienna Foodies page is so cringe. If I see another post of “I’ve been keeping a big secret!” And then proceeds to talk about a new place opening up. Such pick-me energy.

+1

The energy is almost manic. A special kind of marketing-major manic. It's not normal.

She’s not that different than most Vienna moms, TBH. The whole place feels like they paired off 10,000 defense contractors with 10,000 former cheerleaders.

NP. I’ve been following along just out of curiosity because I don’t live there but this made me laugh because it so perfectly describes my good friend’s family. Nicest guy and his wife is really sweet and a great mom but yes, that’s exactly who they are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Vienna but not TOV and it’s been great. Friendly families lots of welcoming social events in our neighborhood. My kids literally don’t do any sports and we are happy here and so are they.

Do I mind asking what Elementary School they attend? Unsure if and how the culture is different between Vienna Elementary and Louise Archer

The main difference between VES and LAES is AAP services. Louise Archer is a center school and Vienna offers a local program proving advanced math and some LA support.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The person who runs the Vienna Foodies page is so cringe. If I see another post of “I’ve been keeping a big secret!” And then proceeds to talk about a new place opening up. Such pick-me energy.

+1

The energy is almost manic. A special kind of marketing-major manic. It's not normal.

She’s not that different than most Vienna moms, TBH. The whole place feels like they paired off 10,000 defense contractors with 10,000 former cheerleaders.

omg, you have nailed it.
I don't live in Vienna anymore, but I'm still in that group and it's just so strange.
Also, I'm chuckling at all the posts who are like "well, I live in Vienna not TOV and it seems great to me...." When I lived there, if you were not with TOV boundaries, the mean girls made sure you knew you were not part of the community. Maybe that changed, I moved during the pandemic, but they REALLY cared about whether you were in TOV or not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The person who runs the Vienna Foodies page is so cringe. If I see another post of “I’ve been keeping a big secret!” And then proceeds to talk about a new place opening up. Such pick-me energy.

+1

The energy is almost manic. A special kind of marketing-major manic. It's not normal.

She’s not that different than most Vienna moms, TBH. The whole place feels like they paired off 10,000 defense contractors with 10,000 former cheerleaders.

Anonymous wrote:The person who runs the Vienna Foodies page is so cringe. If I see another post of “I’ve been keeping a big secret!” And then proceeds to talk about a new place opening up. Such pick-me energy.

+1

The energy is almost manic. A special kind of marketing-major manic. It's not normal.

The person who runs the Vienna Foodies page is so cringe. If I see another post of “I’ve been keeping a big secret!” And then proceeds to talk about a new place opening up. Such pick-me energy.

Anonymous wrote:As PPs have said, just choose to opt out. Vienna gives you the best of small town and community focused, just don't get lost in the weeds of rat race/Foodie FOMO/keeping up with the Joneses. That's good advice in in general for the DMV.

This pretty much OP. It’s up to you/you can make of it what you will. I do think it’s nice most moms work outside of the home so it’s less intense in some ways than say, Ashburn.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not move to Vienna if you are neither competitive nor sporty. There’s not another community in the DC area where the hierarchy is based as much on sports and “fitting in.”

Do you live here? I do and can't relate to what you are saying. I think there is a conformity in the sense that everyone I know puts their family and kids first, but maybe that appeals to OP. Someone criticized the Vienna Little League - that was an amazing experience for my kids - mostly because of the parents willing to devote their time to it. Vienna is full of so many nice, generous, and wonderful people.

Other than the current situation at Madison with the terrible administration and constant experimentation, we have been really happy here. There will probably be a new principal by the time your kids are in high school OP.

Lived there for several years. Now that we've detoxed, have some perspective on living in Vienna that I wouldn't necessarily expect a current resident to acknowledge.

I have no dog in the Vienna or not fight but this comment just feels "off" to me and kind of tells me all I need to know.

Anonymous wrote:I would not move to Vienna if you are neither competitive nor sporty. There’s not another community in the DC area where the hierarchy is based as much on sports and “fitting in.”

We live in Vienna and I do not understand this PP at all. In fact, the post confuses me!
We have had a wonderful experiencing living in Vienna. Our kids are not into sports at all. Vienna and its strong sense of community has been wonderful for my family.

Anonymous wrote:I live in Vienna but not TOV and it’s been great. Friendly families lots of welcoming social events in our neighborhood. My kids literally don’t do any sports and we are happy here and so are they.

Do I mind asking what Elementary School they attend? Unsure if and how the culture is different between Vienna Elementary and Louise Archer

I live in Vienna but not TOV and it’s been great. Friendly families lots of welcoming social events in our neighborhood. My kids literally don’t do any sports and we are happy here and so are they.

Really stressed out, striving mom scene.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not move to Vienna if you are neither competitive nor sporty. There’s not another community in the DC area where the hierarchy is based as much on sports and “fitting in.”

Do you live here? I do and can't relate to what you are saying. I think there is a conformity in the sense that everyone I know puts their family and kids first, but maybe that appeals to OP. Someone criticized the Vienna Little League - that was an amazing experience for my kids - mostly because of the parents willing to devote their time to it. Vienna is full of so many nice, generous, and wonderful people.

Other than the current situation at Madison with the terrible administration and constant experimentation, we have been really happy here. There will probably be a new principal by the time your kids are in high school OP.

Not PP, but I do live in Vienna and can "relate" to what they were saying.