Neighborhoods in Arlington, Alexandria or Fairfax with close, family communities? (Annandale: rent, lawyers)

[michgc]

Well, I don't know what people in Falls Church do, but it was definitely done in Maryland. People in some areas of Gaithersburg live in "North Potomac" and people in some areas of Rockville live in "North Bethesda." Yes, people like to say/think/pretend they live in fancy neighborhoods.

[cdmurphy]

Originally Posted by JEB77

Really? There's nothing wrong with Falls Church. The people I know who live in that area say they live in Falls Church, but their kids attend McLean High.

Yeah. I rented a house on Haycock Road, right off Westmoreland, for 4 years (could see Haycock Elementary from my front door) and we never said that we lived in McLean. Falls Church all the way. I wish we could have afforded to buy something there...McLean High School pyramid, sandwiched between EFC and WFC Metro stations...sigh.

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by michgc

Well, I don't know what people in Falls Church do, but it was definitely done in Maryland. People in some areas of Gaithersburg live in "North Potomac" and people in some areas of Rockville live in "North Bethesda." Yes, people like to say/think/pretend they live in fancy neighborhoods.

Fair enough. The best example I know is in Westchester County up in New York, where some people who like to think of themselves living in Bronxville (a very posh suburb) actually have Yonkers mailing addresses. Personally, I think Yonkers is a exceptionally cool name for a town, but some residents say they live in "Bronxville, with a Yonkers mailing address"!

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by JEB77

Really? There's nothing wrong with Falls Church. The people I know who live in that area say they live in Falls Church, but their kids attend McLean High.

It just sounds a little insecure. The people who live in Shouse Village in Vienna say they live in Vienna, but their kids attend McLean High. If they called their area "McLean with a Vienna postal code," it would definitely provoke laughter. I'm not trying to pick a fight, but if I were adamant on telling others I lived in McLean, I'd want to be in either 22101 or 20102.

It may sound insecure to you, but it's really not.

Your example about Shouse village is a little off because it has nothing to do with McLean High School. It has everything to do with the area called McLean. As you know, McLean feeds into both McLean HS and Langley HS.

In any regard, those who live in that Falls Church (22043) part of FFX Cty that overlaps the Dranesville Small 1a district for example pay McLean taxes (tax to the McLean Community Center) and also fall within the boundary for the McLean Little League.

I think Claire Marie is the one with the strong argument that backs this.

[TheseGoTo11]

Originally Posted by michgc

People in some areas of Gaithersburg live in "North Potomac"

Yeah, I laughed at someone who said that to me recently, think I bruised a very fragile ego. Almost as bad as the people who live in 20165 and have fits because the store owners call it Sterling, but they want to be known as "Potomac Falls".

[live_strong28]

Here's the boundary for the McLean Tax District:

North: The Potomac River
East: Arlington County Line
West: Difficult Run
South: Route 66, Dulles Access Road, or Route 7, whichever is farthest north

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by live_strong28

Here's the boundary for the McLean Tax District:

North: The Potomac River
East: Arlington County Line
West: Difficult Run
South: Route 66, Dulles Access Road, or Route 7, whichever is farthest north

OK - thanks for the info; provides some context. I hope the Falls Church residents who are part of the "Small District 1A - Dranesville" assessment area (aka the "McLean Tax District") for the MCC get their monies worth.

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by JEB77

OK - thanks for the info; provides some context. I hope the Falls Church residents who are part of the "Small District 1A - Dranesville" assessment area (aka the "McLean Tax District") for the MCC get their monies worth.

I hope everybody who pays that tax gets their monies worth.

The McLean Little League follows this boundary also.

They only allow kids to join that go to Haycock, Chesterbrook, Franklin Sherman, Kent Gardens, Spring Hill, Churchill Road, and Colvin Run (for kids that fall east of the Difficult Run boundary).

Schools just south of the DTR, per the aforementioned boundary requirement, such as Westgate and Lemon Road are not included. Haycock kids could have easily been "booted" to the FC Little League since they have a FC postal code, but they fall within the eastern Arlington Cty border and north of DTR McLean Tax District.

[claremarie]

Didn't know that McLean LL had "boundaries," but FWIW I had always considered folks who lived around Haycock to be living in McLean, regardless of the mailing address. It's part of the McLean HS pyramid, which tends to be the driving force for community identification in many neighborhoods.
And living in McLean is really not a big deal. Many of the neighborhoods inside the beltway are filled with drab early 1970s splits or cape cods. "Downtown" McLean is nothing like Bethesda or even Potomac. We loved it for the convenience, but the image of posh manicured lawns and grand estates is not particularly accurate.

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by claremarie

Didn't know that McLean LL had "boundaries," but FWIW I had always considered folks who lived around Haycock to be living in McLean, regardless of the mailing address. It's part of the McLean HS pyramid, which tends to be the driving force for community identification in many neighborhoods.
And living in McLean is really not a big deal. Many of the neighborhoods inside the beltway are filled with drab early 1970s splits or cape cods. "Downtown" McLean is nothing like Bethesda or even Potomac. We loved it for the convenience, but the image of posh manicured lawns and grand estates is not particularly accurate.

I agree for the most part.

There are pockets of wealthy areas like Ballantrae and Evans Farms inside the beltway and more 70's style splits and colonials too that can be found off Kirby (Chesterbrook area), Westmoreland, Great Falls, Chain Bridge, etc.

Same goes for McLean outside the beltway along Lewinsville and some beat up homes in McLean Hamlet and off Old Dominion in the Langley district. But, those 70's style homes probably are worth 750k-850k in McLean, but 225k in Manassas.

It goes back to location, location, location and that means schools, shopping, proximity to jobs, and ease of transportation.

Downtown McLean is nothing like Bethesda because the people who live in McLean don't want it to be like Bethesda. I didn't understand your reference to Potomac though, b/c there is no downtown Potomac.

Even in Potomac and Bethesda, there are homes that are 70's style and small and drab.

Most of the NoVA wealth (large, expensive homes) is concentrated in the western part of McLean and Great Falls. Median cost of a home in Great Falls is about 1,050k, while in McLean it's the 2nd highest in NoVA at roughly 850k.

Here are the McLean Little League boundary requirements:

Boundary Requirements

Here's info on the McLean CC with regard to the McLean Tax District.

McLean Tax District