Leesburg What's it like? (Arlington, McLean: apartments, crime rate, house)

[midlifeman]

Pros/cons. Skinny on the schools. Let me know.

[tysonsengineer]

I really like the area for wine/country side, good retail, best food in Loudoun if you ask me. Negatives is, there is definitely the good parts of Leesburg and the bad parts of Leesburg and of course if you have to work in Fairfax or DC its hell on earth for a commute.

No idea about schools I'll let someone else answer that.

[globalburgh]

I live in Leesburg and have my kids in the public school system. The schools are good to very good. I see a number of great neighborhoods that I consider to be undervalued. I love being able to walk downtown. I agree with tysonsengineer about the proximity to rural Western Loudoun. I also appreciate the proximity to Eastern Loudoun and Dulles. I feel like I get the best of both worlds here. My family uses Ida Lee rec center a lot. It's a wonderful community resource with a public library on the campus.

Your household commutes have to be a major consideration. That could be a major con to living here. Also, the town has a lot to offer, but not everything. You might find yourself driving a long distance for some wants. As far as needs are concerned, Leesburg delivers.

[Kembek]

I have a good friend who lives there. When I visit I really enjoy the area and on more than one occasion I've wondered if I could live there. The answer is always, "no." It's to far out and the quickest, easiest way to get their is via an expensive toll road.

[slowlane3]

Loudoun County has I believe, branches of 5 of 6 different colleges/universities. That's more than P.G. County MD has, even though P.G. County has 2 to 3 times Loudoun's population.

[profesora]

Please let me know which branches you are referring to - I've lived here a year and the only ones I am aware of are the branch of Shenandoah University and the NOVA campus. There are possibly others but I'd like to know where. Thanks.

[globalburgh]

GWU has a Loudoun campus: The George Washington University Virginia Science and Technology Campus: Directions and Map

[Jib Jib]

I've lived in Leesburg since 1995. The schools are great, in fact they are usually some of the highest-rated in the state (Loudoun County Public School system). Both my kids went from K through 12, and had excellent results. I will plug the PTA/PTO here, though - get involved, it does make a difference in their lives.

The roads in town on the weekend, can get pretty congested, as most tend to do. Food options are increasing. I highly recommend "Ironwood Tavern" for great American food. It's kid-friendly, they have a good selection of beers and great ribs and steaks, etc. Other mentionables: Fireworks Pizza - eclectic pizza like you've never had. The owner goes out of his way to use locally grown food, and you can taste the difference.

Not any cons off the top of my head for Leesburg. Hopefully, your commute won't be long, as Route 7 can get packed during the week.

Overall, a safe town. The town police do a great job, imo. A quick look at some internet stats show that Leesburg's violent crime rate is about 65% below the national average (2009). Property crimes were 40% lower. I've always felt safe walking/driving around town. The Fire and EMS folks do a great job as well. They have paid and volunteer personnel.

Hope this helps.

[stpickrell]

Originally Posted by midlifeman

Pros/cons. Skinny on the schools. Let me know.

I live within walking distance of downtown.

The only real con would be if you need to work further in from Tysons due to the nature of your industry (e.g. Big Law, major NGO non-profit, etc.) A commute to anywhere outside the Fairfax County Parkway should be doable, as would Tysons/North Arlington if you can swing a 6-3 shift.

With the continued buildout around Routes 28/7 and now along the future Silver Line corridor, there will be more and more jobs coming out to Loudoun and northwestern Fairfax.

The schools? As a PP has mentioned, they range from good to very good, although nowhere in Leesburg or anywhere in Loudoun is as "great" as the Langley/McLean/Madison/Oakton grouping in Fairfax County. The Douglass Elementary zone will have a higher percentage of free/reduced lunch students and non-native English speakers than the other elementary zones, although those numbers are only high by Loudoun County standards.

Keep in mind there's really three "layers" of Leesburg:
1. The historic downtown.
2. The 70s and 80s buildout, clustered around the historic downtown and areas like Country Club.
3. The 90s and later buildout, what I'd call the Ashburn part of Leesburg.

[GMUAlum08]

Originally Posted by tysonsengineer

I really like the area for wine/country side, good retail, best food in Loudoun if you ask me. Negatives is, there is definitely the good parts of Leesburg and the bad parts of Leesburg and of course if you have to work in Fairfax or DC its hell on earth for a commute.

No idea about schools I'll let someone else answer that.

what bad parts of leesburg are you referring to? I lived there 25 years and there isn't a single area of Leesburg that I would be afraid to live in or visit.

There are some less desirable housing complexes like Loudoun House and Hancock Square but I had friends that lived in those apartments and I would hang out there regularly and never felt threatened or scared.

The funny thing is, those complexes are less than a half mile away from desirable 750k+ homes on Edwards Ferry road

Maybe there some bad complexes I don't know about that have cropped up over the past few years?