What do you guys think about Burke, VA (Springfield, Fairfax: real estate, for sale)

[mlv311]

Originally Posted by mlv311

For the most part, "West Springfield" is 22153. However, a general guide is to look at homes that fall under "West Sprinfield HS."

Sorry for my mistake in my post. 22152 is West Springfield and 22153 has a mix. The more desireable areas are under West Sprinfield HS. Many listings will show the schools.

[NVAGIRL]

Yes, 22152 is correct zip code. I live in Cardinal Forest neighborhood that is acessible by Old Keene Mill on one side and Rolling Road on the other...great central location esp. if you have kids. All three schools are less than 1 mile or so...Cardinal Forest Elementary, Washington Irving Middle School and West Springfield High School. Very family oriented, safe community.

[kolobee]

My husband was raised in Burke and has fond memories of a good neighborhood while growing up. Although he went to private school, the schools zoned as Burke proper are good and the Burke, but not Burke high school named Robinson is one of the best. One note here on location, make sure you are really in Burke and not some of the other "wanna-be" areas that call themselves "Burke".

Old Burke, or real Burke remains a planned community. Typical complaints I've heard are more about home owners associations regs/rules, etc...Although, it is more relaxed than some planned communities in NoVA, ie: Reston. Reston was a great concept that unfortunately, just can't work. High crime, high cost of living, that seem to just increase, all the while you can be sure if you paint your front door a shade color off from the approved brand & color you will get litigated!

Having worked in the schools in Fairfax County (although not in Burke) and as a single mom for many years w/2 kids in FCPS, I would consider the school district to be of outstanding quality!

One of my children attended a "Burke" school, Robinson which is highly recognized for it's IB diploma program. This school is actually zoned as Fairfax City but pulls from the Burke region. The other public high school with a very good reputation is Lake Braddock. Somehow a lot of kids from Burke proper go there. I would caution against West Springfield because the school zones are not among the best. Although West Springfield shares the same irony as Burke: what is called West Springfield can actually be "Burke", Fairfax or Springfield proper.

Fairfax Station is WONDERFUL, but a very pricey location. Ironically, I think it crosses school zones with Clifton and Fairfax!

Bottom line on schools, check on the "actual" area name and evaluate from there.

Centreville High School for example serves not Centreville (as one would think) but rather the areas of "Clifton" outside of Clifton proper. A lot of "Clifton proper" students go to Robinson, Chantilly High serves Fairfax city (technically) as well as Chantilly and part of Herndon, while Herndon High School serves part of Reston.

Whew! It confuses me and I'm from there!

My personal opinion on best value, education, location, etc....Little Rocky Run Community in "Clifton". Although I sold my home there 2 years ago and moved out of state, I did so after my kids were in college.

It is a planned community with a reasonable homeowners association, low crime and in a Very good school district for all levels k-12. For specific programs, it should still be in the district for Robinson HS for the IB diploma program (which is like a step up from AP in my opinion because it has at least the same standards as AP with the added bonus of an international curriculum). The base school is Centreville, also a good school.

The downfall of Burke, Clifton, Centreville and all western Fairfax areas is the commute. No way to get around it, it is HORRIBLE. Burke is not on the metro line, so expect a short distance but a long time getting to the metro, or an incredibly long and ugly drive if commuting by car. I think this is true however of all areas outside the beltway....but the other person brought up a good point with West Springfield. It is closer to the metro, but depending on your destination, a metro commute can involve transferring at the dreaded Metro Center or even Roslyn.....

I miss the area of Clifton (it was Centreville when I left) very much. It was all I could want for my kids, pets and myself! While my work commute was technically only 2.5 miles (or 15-20 minutes) because of pupil placement of my kids at 2 different high schools, my commute just in western Fairfax was actually about 1 hour long both ways. (25 minutes on average Clifton/Centreville to Burke/Fairfax and 35 minutes from Burke/Fairfax to Fairfax/Chantilly!) You do get used to it.

As far as crime goes I would think areas directly around or even nearer to the metro in western NoVA tend to have a higher crime rate. I don't know this to be a documented fact, but my husband, friends and I all noted this opinion separately.

[pennylove76]

OK, guys I just saw this nice house in Springfield VA, but the zipcode is 22150, with a high school listed as LEE. I'm not sure what school district it is in...WOuld thisbe considered West Springfield? Or is this a place near the mall, where I should stay a way from.
Thanks

[walkingnoelle]

I am not from here, but from what I have learned, 22150 is not considered West Springfield. Most people will tell you to stay away from Lee High School and the Springfield Mall area. We were. We know a family whose daughter graduated from there and did very well (they were originally from Chicago).

Investment-wise, we would not purchase a house in an area with a high school that has an iffy reputation with the locals if we thought we would need to sell it again any time in the next 10 years.

The Old Keene Mill Road/Rolling Road intersection and parts west are considered West Springfield. Not sure where West Springfield ends and regular Springfield begins.

This region has the most confusing patchwork of boundaries!

[kolobee]

I would tend to stay away from Lee but if other factors pulled me there, I'm confident a good education could be obtained at Lee...to find the boundaries, or clusters as they used to/ still are? called, try FCPS Home Page Redirect Page
This should link you to a wealth of info.

Generally, a student can get a good education at any fcps school, it's all about the parental involvement and best program fit. I'd encourage any parent to talk frankly with their child's teacher/or admin about different services available.

Originally Posted by pennylove76

OK, guys I just saw this nice house in Springfield VA, but the zipcode is 22150, with a high school listed as LEE. I'm not sure what school district it is in...WOuld thisbe considered West Springfield? Or is this a place near the mall, where I should stay a way from.
Thanks

[Talk2T4Homes]

When did you move away from Burke? Things may have changed a little.

[Erw]

Originally Posted by kolobee

My husband was raised in Burke and has fond memories of a good neighborhood while growing up. Although he went to private school, the schools zoned as Burke proper are good and the Burke, but not Burke high school named Robinson is one of the best. One note here on location, make sure you are really in Burke and not some of the other "wanna-be" areas that call themselves "Burke".

Old Burke, or real Burke remains a planned community. Typical complaints I've heard are more about home owners associations regs/rules, etc...Although, it is more relaxed than some planned communities in NoVA, ie: Reston. Reston was a great concept that unfortunately, just can't work. High crime, high cost of living, that seem to just increase, all the while you can be sure if you paint your front door a shade color off from the approved brand & color you will get litigated!

Having worked in the schools in Fairfax County (although not in Burke) and as a single mom for many years w/2 kids in FCPS, I would consider the school district to be of outstanding quality!

One of my children attended a "Burke" school, Robinson which is highly recognized for it's IB diploma program. This school is actually zoned as Fairfax City but pulls from the Burke region. The other public high school with a very good reputation is Lake Braddock. Somehow a lot of kids from Burke proper go there. I would caution against West Springfield because the school zones are not among the best. Although West Springfield shares the same irony as Burke: what is called West Springfield can actually be "Burke", Fairfax or Springfield proper.

Fairfax Station is WONDERFUL, but a very pricey location. Ironically, I think it crosses school zones with Clifton and Fairfax!

Bottom line on schools, check on the "actual" area name and evaluate from there.

Centreville High School for example serves not Centreville (as one would think) but rather the areas of "Clifton" outside of Clifton proper. A lot of "Clifton proper" students go to Robinson, Chantilly High serves Fairfax city (technically) as well as Chantilly and part of Herndon, while Herndon High School serves part of Reston.

Whew! It confuses me and I'm from there!

My personal opinion on best value, education, location, etc....Little Rocky Run Community in "Clifton". Although I sold my home there 2 years ago and moved out of state, I did so after my kids were in college.

It is a planned community with a reasonable homeowners association, low crime and in a Very good school district for all levels k-12. For specific programs, it should still be in the district for Robinson HS for the IB diploma program (which is like a step up from AP in my opinion because it has at least the same standards as AP with the added bonus of an international curriculum). The base school is Centreville, also a good school.

The downfall of Burke, Clifton, Centreville and all western Fairfax areas is the commute. No way to get around it, it is HORRIBLE. Burke is not on the metro line, so expect a short distance but a long time getting to the metro, or an incredibly long and ugly drive if commuting by car. I think this is true however of all areas outside the beltway....but the other person brought up a good point with West Springfield. It is closer to the metro, but depending on your destination, a metro commute can involve transferring at the dreaded Metro Center or even Roslyn.....

I miss the area of Clifton (it was Centreville when I left) very much. It was all I could want for my kids, pets and myself! While my work commute was technically only 2.5 miles (or 15-20 minutes) because of pupil placement of my kids at 2 different high schools, my commute just in western Fairfax was actually about 1 hour long both ways. (25 minutes on average Clifton/Centreville to Burke/Fairfax and 35 minutes from Burke/Fairfax to Fairfax/Chantilly!) You do get used to it.

As far as crime goes I would think areas directly around or even nearer to the metro in western NoVA tend to have a higher crime rate. I don't know this to be a documented fact, but my husband, friends and I all noted this opinion separately.

WHAT ARE THE SO CALLED GOOD ZIP CODES FOR THE CITY OF BURKE, FOR THEIR SCHOOL SYSTEM?

[mlv311]

Originally Posted by Erw

WHAT ARE THE SO CALLED GOOD ZIP CODES FOR THE CITY OF BURKE, FOR THEIR SCHOOL SYSTEM?

Burke has only one zip code: 22015. That doesn't mean that other areas adjacent to it, including schools, are not good.

[scimitar12]

"There are plenty of $800k-and-up houses. And there are plenty of people still trying to sell $500k houses for $800K. But there are also lots of nice homes in nice areas for a lot less than that."

This true for all of NoVA. Too many houses on the market still priced on values from two years ago.