Moving to Alexndria, VA (Arlington, Alexandria: best neighborhood, real estate, townhomes)

[Erw]

We are moving from CA, to Alexandria, VA very soon. Our biggest concern is the best schools for my elementary son. And home prices. We want a 4 bdr, and cannot pay more than $500,000? What would be the best neighborhood for us?

[adctvmonkey]

Could you specify if your job or planned residence is in Alexandria? Traffic is very heavy in every direction during rush hour, so if your workplace is inside the beltway, being as close as possible would be nice.

The area with the Alexandria address is very large. It covers Alexandria proper (Alexandria City) and Alexandria secondary (in Fairfax County). If you have a job in Alexandria and want good schools, you'd probably want to look in an area away from Alexandria proper (Alexandria City) and the Alexandria portion of Fairfax County and into other parts of Fairfax County or Arlington County.

However, I happen to live in the Fairfax County portion of Alexandria in a large master-planned neighborhood called Kingstowne (zip code 22315, surrounding zips include 22310, 22079, 22135). Although Alexandria proper is very expensive because it is inside the beltway and closer-in, Alexandria secondary is more suburban and has many homes in that price range like mine, though most would be 3 bdr townhomes.

As with schools, the elementary schools in the Kingstowne/Alexandria secondary area are decent, though the schools start becoming less desirable after middle school and into high school. My neighborhood elementary is Hayfield, which IMO and others that I know is excellent. Surrounding ones in the same vicinity include Lane, Island Creek, and Franconia. However, Hayfield secondary (high/middle combined) school across the street from the elementary, along with all other Alexandria high schools, is not considered a good school.

You'll have to balance home price and wants v. distance and school quality.
Good luck!

[Alanboy395]

Originally Posted by Erw

We are moving from CA, to Alexandria, VA very soon. Our biggest concern is the best schools for my elementary son. And home prices. We want a 4 bdr, and cannot pay more than $500,000? What would be the best neighborhood for us?

I would be willing to say that there are a couple of good elemantary schools in both Alexandria City and Alexandria in Fairfax County, but your $500k price tag for a 4-bed will knock you Alexandria City for sure and probably the Fairfax County Alexandria anyway.

You may consider Falls Church City and Fairfax which are both more affordable and have good schools. Avoid the Bailey's Crossroads/Seven Corners area which uses a Falls Church mailing address.

[Yankeesfan]

Check out the Hayfield Farms neighborhood, zip code 22315 on realtor.com. There are nice four-bedroom houses in your price range. It's in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County rather than Alexandria City (and the school is Hayfield Elementary, which was previously mentioned).

[adctvmonkey]

Good point Yankeesfan, I forgot to mention Hayfield Farms. Yes, there are homes available with 4 bdrms less than the $500s.

Btw, you'll also be able to find homes on an interactive map and databases based on personal preferences on ziprealty.com, but realtor.com is an excellent site also.

Good luck!

[Erw]

We are looking into the Fairfax, Burke, and West Springfield area. The schools system is our number one concern. What zip codes are the best in these three areas for the schools?

[cmartin]

The schools in Fairfax county are one of the best in the nation. U.S. News & World Report identified Thomas Jefferson High School as the top HS in Fairfax Fairfax County high school ranked the best in the nation; two other county schools... | Reuters .

Are you looking for HS, Middle or Elementary? Comparisons can be done in the areas you are looking in with Virginia Schools

I am an agent in NoVA and, if you'd like, I can help you narrow down your search. So that when you are ready to relocate it would be easier to find a home. I wish you good fortune either way.

[claremarie]

If by the "best" schools, you mean the ones with the highest test scores, you'll generally find that those are in the most expensive neighborhoods, which have the demographics that produce high test scores (few poor/minority/immigrant kids). This is not politically correct, but it's how the school world works. You can get test scores and demographic information (the key figure is % students eligible for free lunches) from the FCPS website, or from independent websites like greatschools. Once you have a list of schools you like, run their zipcodes into realtor.com or another real estate website, and you'll get a pretty good idea of what is available in your price range. As you probably know, $500K is about mid-range in many of the areas you are considering.

Make sure to check out the middle and high schools in your pyramid as well, since some relatively high-performing elementary schools feed into not so stellar high schools. High schools to avoid are Edison, Lee, Annandale, and Stuart. Lake Braddock, Robinson, Woodson are much better. If you want a shortcut to the best high schools list, try looking up the average SAT scores.

[msjack]

I second the poster above about Annandale High. I used to live in Alexandria (22312) which was considered Fairfax County and the kids in my neighborhood all went to Annandale. The neighborhood I was living in was not the greatest and there was a lot of gang activity, which I have heard has gone into the school. I would stay clear away from Annandale High neighborhoods, if you are planning to stay long enough for your son to reach h.s. age. Just seeing the kinds of kids that were in my neighborhood, I wouldn't want my children going there if I had any. Good Luck!

[Alanboy395]

Originally Posted by msjack

I second the poster above about Annandale High. I used to live in Alexandria (22312) which was considered Fairfax County and the kids in my neighborhood all went to Annandale. The neighborhood I was living in was not the greatest and there was a lot of gang activity, which I have heard has gone into the school. I would stay clear away from Annandale High neighborhoods, if you are planning to stay long enough for your son to reach h.s. age. Just seeing the kinds of kids that were in my neighborhood, I wouldn't want my children going there if I had any. Good Luck!

Were you off Edsall Rd? I live a 5 min walk from Edsall and i agree that area aint great. I'm with ya'll on avoiding Annandale and I graduated from TC Williams. With TC Williams it is just wannabe thugs, with Stuart/Annandale it is gangs. You'd probably like the West Springfield HS area just fine.