Neighborhoods within Langley Pyramid (Arlington, McLean: new home, schools, gated)

[ncviswan]

We currently live in Arlington and are looking to move to a house in the Langley pyramid, commuting to Tysons. I'm curious about the different neighborhoods within that part of McLean & Great Falls. Are there stereotypes? For example, I once heard someone say something like "River Bend Road is where all the lobbyists live." Or are there neighborhoods that have a clear premium over others nearby (more than the general Great Falls vs McLean difference)? Would love to hear about the nitty-gritty as well as the broad strokes. Thanks!

[JD984]

Langley has the largest attendance area of any HS in the county, because the lots tends to be big. So it covers a lot of territory.

There are some typical 1960s and 1970s subdivisions that aren't super fancy, but still expensive because of their location and schools - Langley Oaks, McLean Hamlet, McLean Hunt. There are some 1980s and 1990s neighborhoods subdivisions that are more expensive - the Reserve, McLean 100, the newer section of Evermay. Then there are older areas where there are lots of teardowns and expensive new homes - Langley Forest, Old Dominion Gardens, River Oaks. In Great Falls, you have lots of individual homes that aren't part of a subdivision built by a single developer, but are very expensive. It gets less expensive in Great Falls as you head further west towards the Loudoun border, where there are also more subdivisions.

Politically, it gets more conservative outside the Beltway. McLean/22102 and Great Falls tend to vote Republican, while McLean/22101 tends to vote Democratic.

I have no idea where the lobbyists live. It takes quite a while to get from Great Falls to DC now, with all the additional traffic heading east from western Fairfax and Loudoun. If you really investigated, you might find most live in Rosslyn now.

Overall, the schools in the Langley pyramid are going to feel richer than anything in Arlington. McLean HS and its feeders are similar to Yorktown HS and its feeders in Arlington, but Langley is kind of a world unto itself in NoVa. It's more like Walt Whitman HS and its feeders in Montgomery County than anything else in NoVa.