can anyone tell me about living in Falls Church City ? (Arlington: to rent, crime rate) - City-Data Forum

tenzi · 01-15-2008, 07:53 AM

We are looking at a property in Falls Church City but don't know anything about the area. I just found out that it is not part of fairfax county and has its own school system and tax etc. Can anyone shed some light as to how is it in comparison to Mclean or Vienna ?

How does George Mason High School compare to Mclean or Madison ?
We have an 8 yr old ... so good schools are a priority.

What is the community like ? I am a stay at home mom, so it'll be nice to be in a good community/neighbourhood.

Thanks so much.

PAFAMILIY · 01-15-2008, 11:05 AM

I am not even from here...I am trying to find where to live md vs va but in researching schools at GreatSchools.net, I learned that it was it's own school district...seems like a good one though...check out the site...You can compare the schools you have questions about on this site...let me know if the area is affordable. I need to rent initially...my husband is working at DOJ in DC...we are moving down from the Philadelphia, Suburbs-good luck

brucewayne · 01-15-2008, 03:15 PM

Falls Church, McLean, Vienna are all kind of connected together.

Its a very nice area and its a bit upscale compared to other parts of NOVA. So its not surprising if someone says they're from Falls Church/Tysons Corner when they're actually from Vienna, McLean, or any city closeby.

It's an interchangable term in my experience. Nice area.

questioner2 · 01-15-2008, 03:35 PM

The City of Falls Church is an oasis of nice sourounded by run down older neighborhoods with mostly immigrants.

claremarie · 01-15-2008, 07:40 PM

The City of Falls Church is a wonderful place to live. It's only about two square miles, and mostly middle to upper-middle class. Virtually no poor people, but very few multi-million dollar houses either. Falls Church has more of a small-town feel than most other parts of close-in northern Virginia. Sidewalks, smaller homes, stores and restaurants within walking distance of many neighborhoods. In the last 20 years, the City has become much more ethnically if not economically diverse, and you will find people from all over the world as neighbors, as well as many military and State Department types who have lived all over the world. We have lived nearby in Arlington and McLean, and regularly visit the (now year-round) farmer's market. In our pre-child days, we spent many hours on the W&OD bike trail that runs right through Falls Church. No personal experience with the schools, but residents seem to like them, and families pay a premium for a house in the City, so that tells you something. High test scores, and a relatively small high school with an IB program -- Fairfax County puts its IB programs in lower-income schools in order to increase white and Asian enrollment. You will find plenty of SAHMs in Falls Church, with parks and playgrounds for kids. Northern Virginia has wonderful community swim and tennis clubs -- Poplar Heights and High Point are nearby (though I believe both are actually in Fairfax County), with swim teams to keep the kids busy all summer. Falls Church doesn't have a real rec center, but you can use the centers in Fairfax County for a small extra fee. The library is small, but very nice, and, again, you can use the libraries in Arlington and Fairfax County (no extra fee). Commuting to DC is easy, with two nearby metro stops, but the drive isn't bad either. Tyson's Corner is also close by.
It is true that some of the Fairfax neighborhoods adjacent to Falls Church are kind of run-down, but these areas are mostly near the commercial rather than the residential parts of Falls Church. If you can find a nice house in your price range in Falls Church, grab it.

tenzi · 01-16-2008, 06:10 AM

Thanks for the replies. As Claremarie mentioned, I noticed some questionable looking neighbourhoods nearby falls church city and was worried about it not being a good location for a small family ... how is the crime rate etc. So we are planning to drive around the neighbourhood this weekend to try and get a better feel. I really like the idea of it having a small town feel with stores and restaurants within walking distance. I hate to be driving everywhere. I don't know if I'm being overly anxious but buying a home is a major event and one can't be too cautious. (friends of mine hurriedly bought a house in Colorado and found that there was a strip club 2 blocks in the other direction !!!!)

The next question that comes to mind is since George Mason High School is pretty small, how does it compare with much bigger high schools in the area. With its small size, is it able to provide enough programs for its students ? I like small elementary and middle schools but for high schools, I would think bigger means more funding and more resources !!! Please pose your thoughts.

Thanks,

PAFAMILIY · 01-16-2008, 07:33 AM

Tenzi,
I am in similiar boat-need to move to nova or md since husband got job in DC. I can't decide between MD or NOVA. CUrrently my husband has an apart in Alexandria, VA. I will be coming down this weekend too with my Kindergarten to drive around areas..Not sure if we will drive in VA or MD...so much to see. I too can't decide if we should sell our house here (in philly suburbs) on rent. SInce we don't know neighborhoods too well, we thought we should rent first. Given this, my mother in law thinks we should NOT sell our house (even though our current area is going down hill not up). SHe thinks it is dangerous to sell when the mark is low and possibly buy when the market is high...we could potentially loose money doing it this way. I am debating on just going with a realitor and buying in an area but am afraid of that committ too especially not knowing the area. Your thoughts?

Anyway, if you see a couple and little boy driving REALLY slowly in front of you this weekend...IT IS PROBABLY ME

goldenmom7500 · 01-16-2008, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PAFAMILIY

Tenzi,
I am in similiar boat-need to move to nova or md since husband got job in DC. I can't decide between MD or NOVA. CUrrently my husband has an apart in Alexandria, VA. I will be coming down this weekend too with my Kindergarten to drive around areas..Not sure if we will drive in VA or MD...so much to see. I too can't decide if we should sell our house here (in philly suburbs) on rent. SInce we don't know neighborhoods too well, we thought we should rent first. Given this, my mother in law thinks we should NOT sell our house (even though our current area is going down hill not up). SHe thinks it is dangerous to sell when the mark is low and possibly buy when the market is high...we could potentially loose money doing it this way. I am debating on just going with a realitor and buying in an area but am afraid of that committ too especially not knowing the area. Your thoughts?

Anyway, if you see a couple and little boy driving REALLY slowly in front of you this weekend...IT IS PROBABLY ME

It just seems to me that if you sell and buy at the same time, then things will probably even out (that market is down, the VA market is down). I don't know how well, ultimately, it can be timed on both ends.

If you have a fairly short list of suburbs, I'm sure you can get some strong impressions in a short amount of time. I would suggest identifying specific houses in specific neighborhoods to drive past (a GPS would help) rather than just saying "OK, now Vienna, now Bethesda". Otherwise, it's hard to know if you're really getting to the interior of a specific neighborhood or suburb.

claremarie · 01-16-2008, 04:01 PM

I really like the idea of it having a small town feel with stores and restaurants within walking distance. I hate to be driving everywhere.

Even if there are stores nearby, you'll probably still be driving many places. Not many people want to shop every day, and it's difficult to walk very far with a week's supply of groceries. But the nice thing about Falls Church, and much of Arlington, is that you don't have to drive very FAR to handle your day to day errands.

The next question that comes to mind is since George Mason High School is pretty small, how does it compare with much bigger high schools in the area. With its small size, is it able to provide enough programs for its students ?

My personal feeling is that smaller is better, even in high school. Having lots of programs and course offerings is great, but the reality is that no student can possibly take advantage of all of them. I went to a high school with over 3000 students, and I would never send a child to a school that size. You are a number, not a name, no matter what they tell parents on back to school night. We chose to send our children to a small private school, where there are only 50 boys in my son's graduating class. The high school still manages to offer 24 AP classes and more than a dozen varsity sports. True, the school does not offer filmmaking, home economics, advanced studio art, Japanese or Russian, or drivers' ed, but since our kids would not be taking advantage of these programs, their absence is not a problem.

Spend some time on the websites for George Mason and the other school districts you are considering. GM has extremely high test scores, graduation rates, National Merit scholars, the coveted (by many) IB program, and just about anything else that college-bound students need.

tenzi · 01-17-2008, 06:46 AM

Thanks Claremarie .... that's definately a good point that my husband and I talked about yesterday. We decided to go visit the area ....visit the nearby supermarket and schools and then make some decisions.

You also mentioned Arlington ... so can I ask you about Washington-Lee High School ? I find that it is rated very low on Greatschools.net but its high up on the Newsweek's top 100 high schools??? Have you any experience with that school ?

Thanks!!