Is Nova community focused and friendly? (Alexandria, Burke: 2013, house, neighborhoods)

[eyeye]

My husband is seriously considering a job in falls church and I really am...worried. I have spent 14 years in Houston because of his job. While there are good things about Houston, both my kids and I want to move some place more quiet and friendly with a great community spirit. Are there any areas in Nova that have that vibe?

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by eyeye

My husband is seriously considering a job in falls church and I really am...worried. I have spent 14 years in Houston because of his job. While there are good things about Houston, both my kids and I want to move some place more quiet and friendly with a great community spirit. Are there any areas in Nova that have that vibe?

Falls Church would be one

for example

Best of Falls Church 2013: The Winners!

Its a great little city which unlike most of NOVA retains a personality and community vibe.

[LynchburgLover]

NoVa is a very spread out, diverse area. Generally speaking, community focused and friendly are not the first descriptive words. There are massive traffic issues and a very fast pace of life.

Falls Church, however, does have a reputation for retaining a bit of small-town America feel. The biggest problem with Falls Church is price. If you give an idea of your maximum price and size of house, people may be able to give you suggestions of neighborhoods.

Best of luck.

[NOVA_guy]

Due to how fast paced it is compared to other parts of Virginia and the traffic issues, overcrowding etc community focused is probably the last word to describe NoVa.

With that being said, there are definitely parts that are family friendly like Falls Church, Lake Ridge or Vienna.

[JfromReston]

Originally Posted by eyeye

I want to move some place more quiet and friendly with a great community spirit. Are there any areas in Nova that have that vibe?

Reston!

Welcome to Reston Association

[PK12]

This is not small-town America. Align your expectations accordingly.

Don’t get shocked if people come across as ‘rude’, always on the move, and ‘look foreign’

[gomason]

If you think Houston is loud and unfriendly, then you're going to hate Northern Virginia.

[FindingZen]

A lot depends on your housing budget as much of Northern Virginia can be as hectic if not more so than I imagine the greater Houston metro can be.

Besides Falls Church and Reston as already suggested, consider Vienna, Del Ray (in Alexandria), Belle View (in "unincorporated" Alexandria), Ashburn, Leesburg, Haymarket, Bristow and Gainesville, among others.

Really much of Northern Virginia is family-friendly but you will experience a lot of suburbs blending into each other and, depending on the time of day or week, a lot of people endeavoring to balance work, life and family.

[LakeLifePA]

Originally Posted by gomason

If you think Houston is loud and unfriendly, then you're going to hate Northern Virginia.

Have you been to Houston? It has a higher cost of living than DC (by evidence of the higher federal locality pay) and traffic is at least just as bad. Yes NOVA has its challanges, but it's certainly no worse.

[FCNova]

There's lots of great communities here that are family friendly. The key is finding one in your price range, because Nova has high cost of living. You didn't list your budget. Falls Church is a great area, I used to live there(but couldn't afford a house there). It's very family friendly but also very expensive because of it's proximity to DC. Vienna is a little further out(where I live now), and while still expensive is cheaper than Falls Church, and is a great community. You can continue to go out further and it gets cheaper and cheaper...Reston, Burke, Ashburn. In summary, there are tons of neighborhoods in NOVA that have the qualities you desire.