More questions about Vienna... (Arlington, McLean: apartment complexes, lawyer, new house)

[eyeball]

We're moving to NoVa in the spring and have a couple question about potentially living in Vienna:

- What kind of a commute (driving) would Vienna to Ft. Myer be? I assume surface streets would be the way to go?

- We've heard there's a "downtown" but it's hard to get a feel for that without actually being able to scout it out ourselves. Can anyone provide any insight? A "town" feel would be great, but strip mall suburbia would not.

- We hear schools there are great, but are ALL the schools great, or must we be careful about which part of Vienna to live in?

- Are there distinct neighborhoods? I.e., Arlington has a number of neighborhoods with their own feel; how does Vienna compare?

- Are there many young children? Our son will be one when we get there and we're trying to find a place where there are a lot of other young families around.

Thanks in advance. Happy Thanksgiving!

- Eyeball

[JD984]

Here's my attempt to respond to your questions:

Originally Posted by eyeball

We're moving to NoVa in the spring and have a couple question about potentially living in Vienna:

- What kind of a commute (driving) would Vienna to Ft. Myer be? I assume surface streets would be the way to go?

[The commute depends upon whether you are traveling during rush hour. During rush hour, it could take 30-45 minutes to get to Ft. Myer; during non-rush hour, it should only take around 20 minutes.]

- We've heard there's a "downtown" but it's hard to get a feel for that without actually being able to scout it out ourselves. Can anyone provide any insight? A "town" feel would be great, but strip mall suburbia would not.

[Vienna does have a core "downtown" area, but it's not a New England village by any stretch. The core downtown is centered on Route 123 (Maple Avenue) between Beulah Road and Nutley Street, and consists of shops, many of which are located in upscale strip malls. On the positive side, there is a nice range of shops, as well as a public library and a bike path that runs through the middle of the town. Church Street runs parallel to Maple Avenue and has smaller stores (and a bit more of a "town" feel). In addition, there is a good variety of housing, which ranges from 50s ramblers to new, large suburban houses. The larger houses generally tend to be located in Fairfax County, rather than the town of Vienna, even though they have a Vienna mailing address. The housing in the town of Vienna tends to be older, although in recent years there have been a lot of "tear-downs," where an older home is torn down and replaced with a new house. A lot of these new houses (such as the ones that have been built on Park Street and adjacent side-streets) are very nice.]

- We hear schools there are great, but are ALL the schools great, or must we be careful about which part of Vienna to live in?

[I think that all the Vienna-area schools are great, but they are not all the same, so you should spend a lot of time focusing on this if you are considering moving to the area. Some of the Vienna-area schools have a very affluent, and relatively homogeneous, student body (i.e., Archer, Colvin Run, Vienna, Westriar and Wolftrap Elementaries; Thoreau Middle, and Madison, McLean and Oakton High Schools), whereas others are more diverse (i.e., Cunningham Park, Freedom Hill, Shrevewood and Stenwood Elementaries, Hughes and Kilmer Middle, and Marshall and South Lakes High). Some parents will steer you toward the most affluent schools, but almost all of these schools are high-performing schools and, in some cases, the more diverse schools out-perform the more affluent schools (for example, Marshall students are now scoring higher than Madison students on SATs). I would be very skeptical of any advice from parents to steer away from particular Vienna-are schools, and instead do more research on what types of programs, schools sizes, etc, are important to you and your children.]

- Are there distinct neighborhoods? I.e., Arlington has a number of neighborhoods with their own feel; how does Vienna compare?

[Vienna is much smaller than Arlington and doesn't have large apartment complexes such as those found in Ballston, Crystal City and Rosslyn. There is an older Wendover area in the NW part of the town of Vienna that has charming 80-100 year-old houses. The houses in the southern part of the town of Vienna tend to be a bit smaller, and the housing stock is aging, but the houses are in good condition and there are many new homes being built on older lots. There are also many nice subdivisions with Vienna mailing addresses in Fairfax County, and the homes there range in price from roughly $600,000 to well over $ 1.2 million. Examples of these neighborhoods can be found off of Beulah, Gallows and Lawyer Roads. There is also a brand new development of expensive housing being built on the old Moutoux Orchard site off of Beulah Road just south of Route 7).]

- Are there many young children? Our son will be one when we get there and we're trying to find a place where there are a lot of other young families around.

[Yes, definitely. Vienna is a very comfortable place to raise a family and there are lots of young families - although perhaps not as many as in a newer suburb such as Ashburn out in Loudoun. You and your kids will almost certainly find friends in the immediate neighborhood. In comparison, my friends who live on large lots in, say, Great Falls have to drive their children everywhere.]

Thanks in advance. Happy Thanksgiving!

- Eyeball

[saganista]

Originally Posted by eyeball

We're moving to NoVa in the spring and have a couple question about potentially living in Vienna:

- What kind of a commute (driving) would Vienna to Ft. Myer be? I assume surface streets would be the way to go?

It's not a fun drive, as there are only a couple of ways to get there. It depends some on which gate you need/want to get to, but for the most part you can do at least okay most days. Many people do way worse commutes than Vienna to Ft. Myer.

Originally Posted by eyeball

- We've heard there's a "downtown" but it's hard to get a feel for that without actually being able to scout it out ourselves. Can anyone provide any insight? A "town" feel would be great, but strip mall suburbia would not.

No car dealers in Vienna, and just the two fast food places (Wendy's & KFC)that managed to get in before they were zoned out, plus one special exception (Taco Bell). The downtown is basically all along either side of Route-123 from Nutley Street to East Street. There are some stores also along Church Street between Lawyers Road and Center Street. For the most part, beyond that first block off 123, it's residential right away. The W&OD Trail goes right through the middle of town, so there are walkers, joggers, bikers, and rollerbladers coming and going even when the weather isn't so nice. There are certainly strip malls, but also store fronts, and stand-alones. It's an odd setup, but it works well except perhaps on Saturday when everybody tries to go shopping at once. The town feel is quite noticeable and comes in large part from being incorporated. Unlike most other areas of NoVa, there is a very active local government, and that really does set a different tone.

Originally Posted by eyeball

- We hear schools there are great, but are ALL the schools great, or must we be careful about which part of Vienna to live in?

The schools within the actual town limit are all some degree of excellent. The north side of town is a tad more upscale than the south side, and the ES's there may reflect that. Almost all of the actual town goes to Thoreau MS and James Madison HS. There are no parts of Vienna to be careful about. There are nice areas. very nice areas, and really nice areas. That's about it. There is however a large area (primarily 22181 and 22182) that have Vienna mailing addresses but are not within the town limits. That's not usually a big deal, but it will pay to know where you are.

Originally Posted by eyeball

- Are there distinct neighborhoods? I.e., Arlington has a number of neighborhoods with their own feel; how does Vienna compare?

Not as marked as Arlington, which is a much larger place. But the town was developed in pieces beginning in the 1960's, and it is divided into sections by the W&OD Trail and also by Wolftrap Run. There are very few crossings over either one. So there are a half dozen sections each with multiple subdivisions within them. Some of the subdivisions are meaningful, most aren't.

Originally Posted by eyeball

- Are there many young children? Our son will be one when we get there and we're trying to find a place where there are a lot of other young families around.

Yes, it's mostly families, soon-to-be families, and empty-nesters who've set their roots. There are many children and tons of youth activities and sports.

[DC Oldtimer]

Here's what I would do:

Go over to Trulia. www.trulia.com and put in your parameters as to what you want in a house and where. It will bring up some possibilities with street addresses.

Then bring up Windows Live. *ttp://maps.live.com/ (replace * with h for some reason, system wont let me enter link)

Enter the address of any house you like into the search box. This will hopefully let you view each home within the neighborhood it "lives" in. That will let you "visit" Vienna from the comfort of your home. Well, sort of, depending on the quality of the birds eye views.

Hope this helps.

DCO