Questions about possible move to Northern VA - McLean, Vienna etc. (Reston: transplants, house)

[ManaMist72]

We may relocate in the Summer of this year, and have narrowed our choices down to a few places. Colorado being one, and we also recently visited Northern VA and loved some suburbs out there.

In particular, McLean & Vienna were our favorites.

We are looking for a place that has a great public school system, accepting and diverse, very family oriented, and very easy to make friends with community events outside of church events.

In particular, we loved McLean. We don't have a need to commute to DC and both work from home, so either place would be great in terms of proximity to DC.

Just wanted to get some opinions of the general area. Has anyone moved from out of state to here, and any regrets?

We are moving from CA so we are aware of the drastic change in weather e.g.: harsh winters, and humid summers, but are very open to that because we feel the East Coast has so much to offer in terms of museums, culture, education etc.

Any feedback you can give us would be great! Especially any CA transplants, if you have any info or feedback on what it was like for you to move there, that would really be helpful!

Basically open to any and all feedback as we are trying to get a feel for the vibe of the overall area.

Thank you!

[LynchburgLover]

There is a great deal of information on this site about McLean/Vienna. You might want to use the search feature. There are as many opinions as there are people about what the area "vibe" is like.

People on this forum are extremely helpful once there are specific questions. Be prepared to detail house price, size, acreage desired. Since you're from CA, the prices won't be as much of a shock.

Best of luck.

[Badger21]

Just wanted to get some opinions of the general area. Has anyone moved from out of state to here, and any regrets?

Single guy, 23, moved from the Midwest seven years ago. I had a choice between going to graduate school on the West Coast (and accumulating more debt) or taking a job here and living on my own. I chose the latter and moved to Nova.

It's a beautiful area for all of those things you just mentioned. Mclean is essentially "rich professionals" and Vienna is "rich professionals with families". There is definitely a "rat race" element here and while not as rich or as developed as NYC or Southern California, it's definitely present. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I know it can turn a lot of people off.

Your kids will get a great education (private or public) for the areas you targeted and most will have immersion programs that I could only dream of attending as a child. You might also want to take a look at moving to the Leesburg, Ashburn, Reston or Great Falls area. Lots of events and the like for families during the summer and winter months.

If I had to do it all over again I probably would choose to go to school on the West Coast. Not because I "regret" moving here, but the chance to experience something different is just too hard to pass up. Good on you for trying something new.

[ACWhite]

I see McLean (not just Vienna) as a family-oriented suburb also.

[FCNova]

Originally Posted by ManaMist72

We may relocate in the Summer of this year, and have narrowed our choices down to a few places. Colorado being one, and we also recently visited Northern VA and loved some suburbs out there.

In particular, McLean & Vienna were our favorites.

We are looking for a place that has a great public school system, accepting and diverse, very family oriented, and very easy to make friends with community events outside of church events.

In particular, we loved McLean. We don't have a need to commute to DC and both work from home, so either place would be great in terms of proximity to DC.

Just wanted to get some opinions of the general area. Has anyone moved from out of state to here, and any regrets?

We are moving from CA so we are aware of the drastic change in weather e.g.: harsh winters, and humid summers, but are very open to that because we feel the East Coast has so much to offer in terms of museums, culture, education etc.

Any feedback you can give us would be great! Especially any CA transplants, if you have any info or feedback on what it was like for you to move there, that would really be helpful!

Basically open to any and all feedback as we are trying to get a feel for the vibe of the overall area.

Thank you!

Winters here aren't really harsh IMO, although I guess everyone's experience is relative to what they're accustomed to. For instance the past few days the temp has been in the 50s here. In late January(the dead of winter). We've hit 60 a couple times over the past month too. There will be periods of extreme cold during the winter and a few decent snowstorms a year but there are also a ton of mild days when it doesn't even feel like winter.

In terms of Vienna it's amazing. A great place to raise a family yet still fairly close to DC. Homes are very expensive because of how desirable it is. McLean is also nice but even more expensive but easier access to DC.

[ManaMist72]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

I have to admit, after perusing through a lot of threads, the "I hate NOVA/DC" thread put me off a little.

I noticed when we visited that people weren't AS friendly as I had anticipated (in NOVA), DC everyone seemed friendly there, but then again, we were just average tourists, and they were probably being helpful.

I could definitely sense the rat race mentality. I consider myself and A+ driver, and have driven with confidence in countries overseas, and I was honked at several times, which rarely even happens here in CA with all the road rage and traffic.

The area though is so pretty, and beautiful. I fell in love with a lot of places around there, but the general vibe is more important for us than the architecture, and surroundings... Otherwise I would probably have chosen CT or NY as an alternative place on the East Coast to move. Just not sure if we can handle those intense Winters though...

I also felt, after having visited NYC, and other bustling areas of the East Coast, that DC seemed, by far, the most stressed out/rat race oriented place, even more than NY during rush hour. It was quite astonishing, because I wasn't expecting it to be as intense as it felt.

At any rate, the area is gorgeous, and we loved many of the homes, and suburbs surrounding DC. McLean was by far our favorite, & I absolutely loved Georgetown, one of my all time favorite places we've ever visited on the East Coast, period.

Also, regarding weather, I heard the Winters are not as intense as NY, CT and those areas, so that is also why we choose to look here for the milder Winters that everyone told us about...

[JD984]

I've lived in both Vienna and McLean.

Personally, I'd probably live in Vienna if I wasn't commuting to DC every day, but if you have an interest in coming to DC regularly McLean is considerably more convenient. You also pay more for that extra convenience. Vienna has a more laid-back vibe; McLean attracts more people with high-profile jobs in DC. The central area of McLean (centered around Chain Bridge Road and Old Dominion Drive and off the main roads) is less congested than the heart of Vienna (which is centered around Maple Avenue/Route 123 and Park Street and gets more thru traffic).

Both Vienna and McLean cover a lot of territory The Town of Vienna is in the 22180 zip code, and the surrounding areas in Fairfax County with Vienna addresses are in 22182 (towards Tysons but also areas north of the Town towards Great Falls and Reston), 22181 (west of the Town towards Oakton), and a small part of 22180 near Merrifield. McLean isn't a "town" - it's just an unincorporated part of Fairfax County, but residents there pay an extra tax not imposed on other county residents to fund the McLean Community Center, which has a lot of activities for young kids. McLean consists of two zip codes: 22101 (almost entirely inside the Capital Beltway) and 22102 (which is mostly outside the Beltway but also includes the parts of Tysons with a McLean address).

If you live in McLean, you're zoned primarily for either McLean or Langley HS, with a small area near Tysons zoned for Marshall HS. All of the Town of Vienna is zoned for Madison HS; the surrounding areas in the county with Vienna addresses may be zoned, depending on the address, for Madison, Marshall, Oakton, McLean, South Lakes, Langley or Falls Church HS.

[sequon]

Originally Posted by ManaMist72

I could definitely sense the rat race mentality. I consider myself and A+ driver, and have driven with confidence in countries overseas, and I was honked at several times, which rarely even happens here in CA with all the road rage and traffic.

I consider myself an "average" driver, by this I mean I try to behave just as how my fellow drivers drive. I have driven in a bunch of different places in the world and the US (from the most populated areas to the opposite). Also I lived both in CA and CO and still travel (and drive) there quite often.

From my experience, for ease in driving (in terms of not having to worry about getting honked at), I would say NOVA is the best. I can tell you that once you move to either Vienna or McLean and live here, very soon you will ask yourself..."when was the last time someone honked at me?"

Driving in CO? In my opinion, they are not A+ driver by any means. Driving on I-70, a 6+% grade downhill, many cars run for 75+MPH bumper to bumper. Downtown Denver, and the suburb... a lot worse. Lived there for 5 years and got the finger at least 3 times as I remember (and countless times of honking of course).

We also lived in LA...I know both LA and NOVA/DC are notorious in terms of commute, but at least we have a better public transit system here (or I'd hope so )

[VAviaCA]

We moved from California to NOVA three years ago. I grew up and lived in the San Francisco area for a good part of my life, then we moved down to the LA area before we moved here.

I work from home so we focused on getting a house within a decent commute to my husband's office. We had done the same in LA and even then still had miserable commutes when something went wrong on the 405.

We live in Ashburn, so I can't comment on McLean or Vienna. COL is high here, but, depending on where you're coming from in CA, it won't be much of a shock. We were able to get a lot more house for the money than we did in CA.

The winters aren't so bad. Definitely different than CA, but I enjoy the seasons (although I do hate the humidity). The one thing I hadn't thought of was the preparation for winter. Clearing hoses, pipes, etc. Various other winter prep things that I never had to do in CA. Not a big deal, but something you'll experience here or if you chose Colorado.

Lastly, the schools here compared to those in CA are MUCH better. Not sure about schools in Colorado, but NOVA schools are leaps above those in CA.

Good luck in your decision!

[ManaMist72]

All very helpful comments, thank you again!

I agree, traffic is so relative, and road rage can happen ANYWHERE. It just so happened that I felt I was honked at more times than when we visited other places around the States. We did a huge road trip from NY all the way to Orlando, and I was never honked at once in that over 1500 mile journey. But for some reason around NOVA, drivers seemed a bit more impatient, and people a little more grumpy than I expected.

@VAviaCA - how do you like it compared to San Francisco, LA, and where you live now? Are you happy with your decision, or are there things you miss about those areas? (I can't think of much you'd miss about LA :P) Traffic is horrendous there, not worth fighting IMO.

The schools are one of the reasons we were looking into moving to NOVA - smaller class sizes are a plus for sure.

Thanks again for the help!