Looking for a Kid-Unfriendly Neighborhood (Arlington, Alexandria: condo, low crime, houses)

[Carlingtonian]

OK, I'm not quite that severe--but I would like suggestions for SFH neighborhoods that skew heavily toward middle-aged and older adults. (We like kids OK in small doses, but when a neighborhood is overrun with screaming tots and their tot-centric parents, it gets old.) We'd like to be near other quiet, child-free people--DINKs ("double income/no kids"), empty nesters, widows/widowers, old gays, crusty bachelor woodworkers, and slowly pickling divorcees.

Can anyone recommend a neighborhood of smallish detached houses inside the Beltway that is not heavily populated by families with kids?

Looking for neighborhood with:

• Old 3BR houses (pre-WWII or postwar in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright); a historic-preservation covenant would be ideal.
• Big lots (at least 6500 SF)
• Big trees
• Bad schools but low crime
• Narrow streets
• No or minimal HOA
• Under $750K.

We're kind of ready to ditch Arlington. We'd love Lake Barcroft, but I think it'll be out of our budget, and the commute to DC on Route 50 would be rough for the wife.

So far we're considering:

• Sleepy Hollow (Fairfax County)
• Lee Boulevard Heights (tiny neighborhood of beautiful old houses just south of Route 50 in Falls Church/FFX County)
• Hollin Hills (Alexandria)
• Belle View (Alexandria)
• Beverly Hills/Rosemont (Alexandria) if we can find something in our budget.
• Merrifield (kind of far out there but seems otherwise promising)

What we don't want:

• Kids playing/screaming in the street or front yards.
• Block parties
• Rental houses (lest we have raucous college students partying nearby)
• McMansions

Thanks for any suggestions.

[HokieFan]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

OK, I'm not quite that severe--but I would like suggestions for SFH neighborhoods that skew heavily toward middle-aged and older adults. (We like kids OK in small doses, but when a neighborhood is overrun with screaming tots and their tot-centric parents, it gets old.) We'd like to be near other quiet, child-free people--DINKs ("double income/no kids"), empty nesters, widows/widowers, old gays, crusty bachelor woodworkers, and slowly pickling divorcees.

Can anyone recommend a neighborhood of smallish detached houses inside the Beltway that is not heavily populated by families with kids?

Looking for neighborhood with:

• Old 3BR houses (pre-WWII or postwar in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright); a historic-preservation covenant would be ideal.
• Big lots (at least 6500 SF)
• Big trees
• Bad schools but low crime
• Narrow streets
• No or minimal HOA
• Under $750K.

We're kind of ready to ditch Arlington. We'd love Lake Barcroft, but I think it'll be out of our budget, and the commute to DC on Route 50 would be rough for the wife.

So far we're considering:

• Sleepy Hollow (Fairfax County)
• Lee Boulevard Heights (tiny neighborhood of beautiful old houses just south of Route 50 in Falls Church/FFX County)
• Hollin Hills (Alexandria)
• Belle View (Alexandria)
• Beverly Hills/Rosemont (Alexandria) if we can find something in our budget.
• Merrifield (kind of far out there but seems othewise promising)

What we don't want:

• Kids playing/screaming in the street or front yards.
• Block parties
• Rental houses (lest we have raucous college students partying nearby)
• McMansions

Thanks for any suggestions.

My husband and I have this conversation almost every evening.

My response: we'd probably thrive in an "Over 55 Community". We're in our late 30s.

IMO, Rosemont and Beverly Hills has a lot of families with kiddos.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by HokieFan

My husband and I have this conversation almost every evening.

My response: we'd probably thrive in an "Over 55 Community". We're in our late 30s.

IMO, Rosemont and Beverly Hills has a lot of families with kiddos.

I know the feeling!

Thanks for the info on those 'hoods. (I'd assumed the Alexandria schools would keep the parents away for the most part.)

[NOVA_guy]

I like Merrifield and I feel like it would fit the bill for the most part.

[HokieFan]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

I know the feeling!

Thanks for the info on those 'hoods. (I'd assumed the Alexandria schools would keep the parents away for the most part.)

A lot of private schools in that area.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by NOVA_guy

I like Merrifield and I feel like it would fit the bill for the most part.

Great--thanks for the thoughts.

[Mnseca]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

OK, I'm not quite that severe--but I would like suggestions for SFH neighborhoods that skew heavily toward middle-aged and older adults. (We like kids OK in small doses, but when a neighborhood is overrun with screaming tots and their tot-centric parents, it gets old.) We'd like to be near other quiet, child-free people--DINKs ("double income/no kids"), empty nesters, widows/widowers, old gays, crusty bachelor woodworkers, and slowly pickling divorcees.

Can anyone recommend a neighborhood of smallish detached houses inside the Beltway that is not heavily populated by families with kids?

Looking for neighborhood with:

• Old 3BR houses (pre-WWII or postwar in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright); a historic-preservation covenant would be ideal.
• Big lots (at least 6500 SF)
• Big trees
• Bad schools but low crime
• Narrow streets
• No or minimal HOA
• Under $750K.

We're kind of ready to ditch Arlington. We'd love Lake Barcroft, but I think it'll be out of our budget, and the commute to DC on Route 50 would be rough for the wife.

So far we're considering:

• Sleepy Hollow (Fairfax County)
• Lee Boulevard Heights (tiny neighborhood of beautiful old houses just south of Route 50 in Falls Church/FFX County)
• Hollin Hills (Alexandria)
• Belle View (Alexandria)
• Beverly Hills/Rosemont (Alexandria) if we can find something in our budget.
• Merrifield (kind of far out there but seems otherwise promising)

What we don't want:

• Kids playing/screaming in the street or front yards.
• Block parties
• Rental houses (lest we have raucous college students partying nearby)
• McMansions

Thanks for any suggestions.

I think you'll need to take Belle View and Hollin Hills off the list. Those are pretty family-friendly neighborhoods. Lots of people with children moving in there because of the low housing cost coupled with the slightly better elementary schools in that area of Alexandria.

Too bad you don't want a condo - those tends to have way fewer children.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by Mnseca

I think you'll need to take Belle View and Hollin Hills off the list. Those are pretty family-friendly neighborhoods. Lots of people with children moving in there because of the low housing cost coupled with the slightly better elementary schools in that area of Alexandria.

Too bad you don't want a condo - those tends to have way fewer children.

Interesting; thanks. I'm surprised, in that the high schools down there are pretty low-scoring.

As a kid-free family, we're fine with there being a few kids here and there. We just don't want a neighborhood where they dominate.

[Flamingo13]

Except for the style of houses you want, my friends live in a nice neighborhood in Annandale (not many kids around there at all)

[The Dissenter]

Are you really sure you want out of Arlington? Because my part of South Arlington (Barcroft off the Pike) may be worth a look for your criteria.