How would you characterize Annandale? (Arlington, Franconia: affordable houses, neighborhood, elementary school)

[Mnseca]

Depends on what part of Annandale. Some parts have not-so-great schools, some parts are just butt ugly. But other parts are really nice. Vienna is overall prettier and has better schools. So you can get more house for the money in a part of Annandale that is unattractive and has less desirable schools, but not just anywhere in Annandale.

[Flamingo13]

Originally Posted by jung go hard

My wife and I moved into Annandale, specifically Broyhill Crest, a few months ago and love it. Conveniently located to major roadways, lots of bus service, a ton of options for things to do and you can catch an Uber for a few bucks back home.

I especially enjoy the diversity and working-class feel of the area, as it reminds me of where I grew up. This was important to me for future kids as I don't want them to attend entirely white, upper middle class schools. I work in Arlington and I definitely did not want to live in that area or raise our kids there. The older houses were a selling point for us, but this can very by person. Judging by the age and what's for sale, almost all of them are going to have had updating done, so it's not much to worry about. The area has never felt anything but safe to us, especially our neighborhood which has streetlights.

Good friends live there, I love it. They have a beautiful home.

[Old Guard]

When I was looking I looked in Annandale and there are some pretty cool and unique homes on property there. There are wooded lots to nice lawns. There seem to be some MCM type homes there. It is not a bad area, but the commute is not my favorite.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by apexgds

Actually, 22003

Thanks; 22203 is over in Arlington near Ballston.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by jung go hard

My wife and I moved into Annandale, specifically Broyhill Crest, a few months ago and love it. Conveniently located to major roadways, lots of bus service, a ton of options for things to do and you can catch an Uber for a few bucks back home.

I especially enjoy the diversity and working-class feel of the area, as it reminds me of where I grew up. This was important to me for future kids as I don't want them to attend entirely white, upper middle class schools. I work in Arlington and I definitely did not want to live in that area or raise our kids there. The older houses were a selling point for us, but this can very by person. Judging by the age and what's for sale, almost all of them are going to have had updating done, so it's not much to worry about. The area has never felt anything but safe to us, especially our neighborhood which has streetlights.

It's a nice area, but FCPS has concentrated poverty at Poe MS by redistricting many of the single-family neighborhoods previously at Poe to other middle schools like Jackson, Lake Braddock and Frost. Unless FCPS addresses this by redistricting, some people won't consider that part of Annandale, even though most of the neighorhoods north of 236 that feed into Poe are still pretty nice, or they'll send their kids to Mason Crest ES and pull them out before middle school. There's a bit difference between an "entirely white, upper middle class" school (of which there are very few in FCPS) and what FCPS has done to Poe.

[yamota]

I've heard it described as the "Koreatown of Northern VA"

[cheriex333]

Annandale was one of the first places I lived when I came to America. I love it! It's a lot nicer now than back in the early 90s, less hoodlums and the like. Tons of great Korean restaurants, bakeries, and conveniences. I would move to Annandale in a heartbeat if there was a metro station.

[cheriex333]

Originally Posted by yamota

I've heard it described as the "Koreatown of Northern VA"

This is pretty much correct. Centreville is Koreatown 2 and Falls Church (Eden Center) is Vietnamese town. Skyline and Tysons area in Falls Church has a ton of middle eastern shops, food, and eateries.
I actually like how certain areas are more congregated specific ethic business, makes for more competitive and better businesses (and food!).

The beautiful diversity and plentiful authentic dining options are things I love about NoVa.

[Falls Church Dude]

Home prices are almost always related to perceived school quality in these areas and Annandale fits the bill

To me elementary schools is the most important and there are "good and bad" elementary schools in Annandale

As far as Poe middle school is concerned people forget about tracking. Depending on how smart your kid is they will be surrounded by people at the same level. Who cares about the overall test scores. There will always be a high perforing section of classes in any school in Fairfax County

Demographically Annandale has a ton of cheap apartments and condos which mainly cater to the booming latino population. There are pockets of "questionable activity/day laborers/too many people in apartments" especially along little river turnpike and directly south but the crime rate is extremely low There are some townhomes and single family homes which generally have older residents and a few younger families. There are a fair amount of Korean establishments most of the Korean population is older.

Low crime, lower prices compared to most of the other parts of Fairfax, Annandale is a great place

[JD984]

Originally Posted by Falls Church Dude

Home prices are almost always related to perceived school quality in these areas and Annandale fits the bill

To me elementary schools is the most important and there are "good and bad" elementary schools in Annandale

As far as Poe middle school is concerned people forget about tracking. Depending on how smart your kid is they will be surrounded by people at the same level. Who cares about the overall test scores. There will always be a high perforing section of classes in any school in Fairfax County

Demographically Annandale has a ton of cheap apartments and condos which mainly cater to the booming latino population. There are pockets of "questionable activity/day laborers/too many people in apartments" especially along little river turnpike and directly south but the crime rate is extremely low There are some townhomes and single family homes which generally have older residents and a few younger families. There are a fair amount of Korean establishments most of the Korean population is older.

Low crime, lower prices compared to most of the other parts of Fairfax, Annandale is a great place

I agree with you to some extent, but to say that "people forget about tracking" actually reinforces the point that the increasing concentration of poverty at Poe (increasing from 36% in 2002 to almost 73% last year) will deter some people from looking at the area. They won't necessarily assume their kids will test into an advanced program or know that those kids have options in FCPS (Level IV services at Mason Crest/AAP centers at Belvedere ES and Glasgow MS) that are supposed to meet their needs.

Or, if they've really done their homework, they may be aware that FCPS has raised the possibility of moving some of the AAP kids who live in the Poe district, but are now at Glasgow, back to Poe, and that parents have raised concerns that, if that happens, Poe won't have the "critical mass" of AAP students needed to offer the type of program available at other schools.

So it's all well and good to claim that there will "always be a high performing section of classes at any school" in the county, but the fact is that FCPS needs to think about how to best ensure that's the case, and redistricting many of the single-family neighborhoods out of Poe probably wasn't a boost to the school or the single-family neighborhoods that remain in the district.