Does Arlington have what I'm searching for? (Reston, Jefferson: to rent, house)

[livingbythesea]

We are moving back to the area after a 6-year absence. We used to live in the Mt. Vernon part of Fairfax County. We've considered it again as we love the parkway, the bike trail, and the marina, but it feels a little suburban for our tastes now. There is only one park that has a playground (and it's a baby playground), and there isn't much to bike to as we'd probably live down by the Stratford Landing School which is a good hike from Old Town. We have 2 kids, ages 7 and 1. This is what we are looking for: 7-year old son is very interested in science and would love a science-focused school. He loves robotics, computer programming, inventing, that kind of thing. His least favorite subject is art so an art magnet school would not be good! Currently we live on a busy road with a sidewalk, but we are not in a neighborhood. He wants desperately to live in a neighborhood where he can bike with friends. He loves to bike, and so do I (just got a nice trailer for the 1 year old) so being able to ride out our front door to a nice bike trail less than a mile away would be excellent. One that took us near a grocery or ice cream shop would be even more amazing (we have that where we live now). Husband's office is in the Dupont area so doesn't want too great of a commute. There are some schools in Vienna that sounded like they had a nice science focus, but they were just about in Reston and that is just too much of a commute.

So, that brings me to Arlington. It appears to have a lot of what we would want - bike trails, close-in, good schools, etc. Am I right? Is there a particular school one could recommend? Would the neighborhood of that school be one that is bikeable by a 7 year old and that would have other kids nearby? Do most kids in Arlington go to their neighborhood school or do they transfer to a different one? In other words, will all the kids in the neighborhood be going to different schools? Even though I lived in the Mt. Vernon area for 10 years, I don't know Arlington at all. Is it lots of concrete or are there pretty neighborhoods with trees?

We are looking to rent for now until we sell our current home. We would like to keep it under $3000/month, if possible. Any advice?

[claremarie]

Arlington has a lot to offer, including the Arlington Science Focus School (if you live in the right neighborhood and win admission in the lottery). When we lived in Arlington, nearly every child in the neighborhood attended the local elementary school -- but some communities have alternative school choices so it really depends upon the specific neighborhoods you are considering. Check out the Arlington Public schools website for information on the elementary school options. It's kind of complicated and, of course, always subject to change.

Arlington is not all concrete. The areas north of Lee Highway are very suburban, though homes and lots are smaller (and older) than what you might find in Fairfax County. You can definitely find a house within walking/biking distance of little stores, the library, etc, though biking to school by a 7 year old would be iffy because of the rather congested streets. (Some schools would probably not even permit it for that age group).
Some neighborhoods to consider are Madison Manor (really close to the W&OD trail and the East Falls Church Metro), Westover, Lyon Village.

[neighborhoodfind]

North Arlington has the reputation for the better schools (Yorktown triangle). It is suburban with pretty older homes on smaller lots and some retail mixed into certain areas. Other parts of Arlington are more urban but not all of the schools are good. The Greatschools website will give you some idea, along with the US News and World Report "Best High Schools" lists.

One thing about Arlington to consider, you are certainly close in to DC, but it's a bit of a hike to get out to the beltway. I also didn't see that Arlington has the extensive park system that Fairfax county has. I'm not an expert, but Fairfax has tons of public pools (no membership just pay nominal fee as you go) and many large parks. I believe you can use the pools within some of the high schools in Arlington though and there certainly are some parks around depending on where you live.

If you are working in DC, you may want to check out Bethesda and Chevy Chase. Those areas are more urban, close to the city and accessible. Top rate schools there but taxes are higher there.

If the above areas are too expensive, other areas to consider are Mclean, Falls Church and Vienna. Mclean borders on Arlington and there are some cute neighborhoods where you can bike and walk around to shops, schools and pools. Buses to the metro run through Mclean. Vienna, has a metro station. The elementary schools north of 123 generally are more highly rated and you can walk/bike to retail from homes that are closer to 123. The WO&D trail also runs through the middle of Vienna. Students in Fairfax county feed into Thomas Jefferson HS which is a magnet school for Science and Technology. I know nothing about Falls Church but have seen others recommend it. Some areas feed into Falls Church High which is not highly rated and others feed into George Mason which is supposed to be a good school.

[livingbythesea]

Thanks so much clairemarie and neighborhoodfind. I've read many of your posts on other threads and they've been most helpful. I've started focusing on Vienna. Although it is farther out than I'd ideally like, it appears to have more of the other things I'm searching for like bikeable neighborhoods, good schools, bike trails, families and family activities. I put out another post on Vienna specifically to learn about the neighborhoods there. It seems that while some are a bit better than others, I'd probably be happy with most of the schools. Therefore, I'm focusing on neighborhoods that have lots of kids playing outside, possibly a park nearby, and bikeable! I know Vienna stretches pretty far, so I'm only looking at places within or close to the Town of Vienna. If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them!