Where to live in NOVA? (Arlington, McLean: credit, buying a house, transfer to)

[mississippimagnolia]

Burke is a great area! Friendly people. Great schools! Tons of stuff for the kids to do. If I had to choose where to live in NOVA, it would be Burke.

[dcbound2009]

Hi, We have now finalized our moving date (Aug 1) and we still have no place to live! We have bumped our budget upto $900K but lot of houses in Mclean/arlington seem to be near a very busy road. Any suggestions for something withing 10 miles of tenleytown and good high school and good neighborhood?

[michgc]

The problem with Tenleytown is that it's in DC and the schools aren't good, so you could look north to Maryland - in Bethesda or Chevy Chase, but they are both very expensive and your wife would need to cross the river which is usually a bear. If you cannot afford what you want in McLean I second the suggestion for Vienna. The houses are more affordable than McLean. It's definitely not as prestigious, but it's a good town with good schools and nice, down-to-earth people. There is the Town of Vienna and the surrounding areas also called Vienna - some of which do feed into McLean schools. The zip codes are 22180, 22181, and 22182.

[terrence81]

Originally Posted by Skapov

Definitely you would be a great fit for Burke, it's very down-to-earth with friendly people who say "Hi" or "Good Afternoon" when you walk your dog or are out-and-about. With your budget, you'll have a wide variety to choose from and there are many lovely townhome communities in Burke. In addition, it's very residential with many SFH neighborhoods and the schools are stellar.

Good Luck with making your decision!

Yeah I was just over in Burke visiting a co-worker and I was impressed! Her condo was surrounded by trees you almost forgot you were in a building with neighbors on top on you when you're on the balcony because all you saw were trees. I had an apartment like that it backed up to some woods and it was nice to live in an apartment but still feel like I'm dealing with a little nature. I love the condo i'm in now but not as many trees as I like. There were a lot of walking trails too. So maybe next time I'll look at Burke even though I kinda wanna move back inside the Beltway. So yeah Burke is real nice seemed like a great place to raise kids too.

[terrence81]

Originally Posted by dcbound2009

Hi, We have now finalized our moving date (Aug 1) and we still have no place to live! We have bumped our budget upto $900K but lot of houses in Mclean/arlington seem to be near a very busy road. Any suggestions for something withing 10 miles of tenleytown and good high school and good neighborhood?

Yeah McLean gets all that Tysons Corner traffic which is beyond belief. Good luck though.

[irvine]

With little traffic on Chain Bridge, parts of North Arlington are easily within a 10-15 minute drive of Tenleytown: Cherrydale, Maywood, Woodmont, Dover Crystal, Riverwood, Bellvue Forest, Chain Bridge Forest, Williamsburg, Country Club Hills, Old Dominion, Donaldson Run, Yorktown et al., are all very convenient to Chain Bridge via Military Rd or N Glebe Rd. The commute to Tysons would most likely involve Old Dominion Drive and Chain Bridge Road. The above neighborhoods are within the 22207 and the northern part of the 22201 zip codes. Even during rush hour a drive to or from Tenleytown (and Tysons) is fairly easy. Many homes in these neighborhoods are in or near quiet, forested areas far from busy roads. The traffic during rush hour is moderate across the bridge and into the Palisades neighborhood of DC, but very doable.

The high schools are either Yorktown or Washington-Lee, and both are excellent. I wrote a very detailed post on the similarities and differences of the two schools last week which might be helpful.

Bethesda and Chevy Chase are also very close to Tenleytown. Some homes off of River Rd just across the MD line should be within your price range. The high school would be Bethesda-Chevy Chase, another excellent high school.

In addition to North Arlington, parts of Mclean/Vienna, and Bethesda/Chevy Chase, perhaps look into some DC neighborhoods. Upper NW has some of the region's most attractive SFH neighborhoods. DC neighborhoods with excellent elementary schools, and homes that might fit within your price range include Palisades, Tenleytown, AU Park, and Chevy Chase (DC side). Concerning the secondary schools, Alice Deal Junior High (gr 7-9) has always had a pretty good reputation... the city is currently transitioning the junior highs into middle schools (gr 6-8). Wilson Senior High is generally a good school for high achieving kids who grew up in the local neighborhood schools (and it does have a significant minority of students from wealthy, educated families) but otherwise doesn't come close to the suburban high schools academically. The private secondary school options in DC are excellent if you are willing to pay.

Look at all your options, but I think Arlington will meet and exceed your expectations.

[dcbound2009]

Thanks, I will take a second look at Arlington. I was under the impression Washington & Lee is not a good high school. I will do some more research.

I will also look into Vienna. We dont care for prestige but just want to keep our commute as short as possible and provide a good eduacation for our child.

We are also wary of older houses as they tend to have problems like lead, asbestos etc.

If anybody has any other ideas I look forward to hearing them.

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by dcbound2009

Thanks, I will take a second look at Arlington. I was under the impression Washington & Lee is not a good high school. I will do some more research.

I will also look into Vienna. We dont care for prestige but just want to keep our commute as short as possible and provide a good eduacation for our child.

We are also wary of older houses as they tend to have problems like lead, asbestos etc.

If anybody has any other ideas I look forward to hearing them.

Washington & Lee is a very good high school, and Irvine's prior post on W&L and Yorktown was excellent. I suspect, however, that if you are trying to find newer single family homes in Arlington around $900K that are not near major traffic arteries, you'll have a hard time.

You might have more luck in McLean, and even more options in Vienna. Here's one example of a SFH in McLean around $900K that's in another good school district and, at least measured by DC standards, would be a reasonable drive to either Tysons or Tenleytown. If you want a newer house in this price range on a larger lot than this house in McLean has, you'll likely need to look further out.

FX7036832 on FranklyMLS.com 1555 HUNTING AVE, MCLEAN VA for $869,900 in HUNTING RIDGE Home For Sale

Burke is a wonderful area, as others have noted, but it would be a substantially longer commute to Tysons or Tenleytown than Arlington, McLean or Vienna.

[dcbound2009]

Originally Posted by JEB77

Washington & Lee is a very good high school, and Irvine's prior post on W&L and Yorktown was excellent. I suspect, however, that if you are trying to find newer single family homes in Arlington around $900K that are not near major traffic arteries, you'll have a hard time.

You might have more luck in McLean, and even more options in Vienna. Here's one example of a SFH in McLean around $900K that's in another good school district and, at least measured by DC standards, would be a reasonable drive to either Tysons or Tenleytown. If you want a newer house in this price range on a larger lot than this house in McLean has, you'll likely need to look further out.

FX7036832 on FranklyMLS.com 1555 HUNTING AVE, MCLEAN VA for $869,900 in HUNTING RIDGE Home For Sale

Burke is a wonderful area, as others have noted, but it would be a substantially longer commute to Tysons or Tenleytown than Arlington, McLean or Vienna.

That is a lovely home - my only concern would be the proximity of Chain Bridge Rd and Great Falls St. Would that be a concern?

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by dcbound2009

That is a lovely home - my only concern would be the proximity of Chain Bridge Rd and Great Falls St. Would that be a concern?

It's really a matter of personal choice. As you can tell from the map, the street has a suburban character, despite its proximity to Chain Bridge and Great Falls. I personally wouldn't live on a lot that small, but there are quite a few families with children in McLean (or Arlington) who do and the location is certainly convenient to the local schools - including Longfellow and McLean. Good luck.