NOVA vs. Silver Spring please help (Arlington, Alexandria: condo, low crime, houses)

[shoesformyfriends]

Hello all,
Please understand that I have spent a lot of time on the forum reading earlier threads, but I still have a few questions regarding my personal situation. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My husband works in Annapolis and I work just south of Alexandria. We both leave for work before or around 6 am, so traffic is less of a concern. We are new to the area and are struggling to get to know the different communities around DC. We are looking to buy a single family home that is about 450-550k in the next few months. We need a minimum of 3 beds and two baths with at least a small yard. Right now we are strongly considering Silver Spring, Alexandria (though I feel it will be too pricey), Arlington and possibly Falls Church. We have two large dogs and in the next few years we plan to have children. As we are in our late 20's we are also looking for a community with good schools for children and an active population. We are really looking for a community to put down roots in and plan to stay for 15-20 years. It is our hope that in our community there will be local restaurants, cafes, and neighbors who are familiar with each other. We LOVE bungalow style or brick historic houses (pre 1950s). Here are some of our main concerns:

1. Safety- we want reasonable safety, but having lived in large cities before we do understand that there will be some crime. I would want to feel comfortable walking in our community during the day by myself.

2. Community feel with active population and LOCAL establishments- cafes, bakery, restaurants. Neighbors that know the people on their block is a huge plus.

3. Walkability and access to metro is a large plus.

4. Decent/good schools

5. Affordability of homes in our price range (plus we have heard NOVA has insane taxes) and affordability of other goods and services.

6. Longterm outlook of the community


Additional thoughts are welcome. Right now I am leaning towards SS due to affordability, but I really am looking for somewhere to live longterm.


Thank you so much for any help you can give!

[melaniey]

If you want decent public school, that may leave you to only Falls Church. There is no such place in NOVA/DC/MD that are in good school district, walkable to metro and is also relatively inexpensive.

Safety: All the places you mentioned are safe. (maybe parts of Silver Spring are a bit sketchy)

Community feel: All the places you mentioned have community feel but different vibe. Arlington and Silver Spring may cater to younger crowds while Old Town Alexandria and Falls Church is for older crowds (think 30+)

Walkability: I would rank Old Town Alexandria, Silver Spring, Arlington and Falls Church in that order.

Decent/Good School: Maybe only Falls Church will quality for this?

Affordability: All the places are expensive here -- sorry!

Longterm outlook of the community: well, not one can really tell.. Oldtown Alex has been around for very long time and will probably retain its charm over the years. Arlington and Silver Spring has been developed a lot in the past 10 years.

Hope this help!

[FindingZen]

Assuming that your husband would be accepting of an hour-plus commute to Annapolis from this side of the Potomac (even at 6am) then there are plenty of options to choose from with the possible caveat of your preferred price range. I will say that it's refreshing to see someone arrive with an appreciation of older houses. NOVA as a whole has relatively low crime; the would-be trouble spots are easy to avoid and are not necessarily intimidating as it is.

The first place that comes to mind that may interest you would be the City of Falls Church. It has pretty much everything you're looking for. Not so sure about home prices. It has its own school system which is about as well-regarded as Fairfax County Public Schools. Note that some Falls Church addresses are actually in Fairfax County; some here have expressed concern about these outlying neighborhoods.

Alexandria's Del Ray neighborhood may appeal to you as well. It's as close to a "funky" yet family-friendly neighborhood that one can get in NOVA. Lots of bungalows IIRC. Lots of involvement and cross-traffic between the elementary school and library right behind it. Alexandria does have one high school for the entire city - TC Williams - that covers the full socioeconomic spectrum of the city. Some parents embrace that and stay involved with their kids' education. Other parents opt for private high schools or a move out to Fairfax County. Arlandia is a working-class primarily Hispanic neighborhood to the north; I would predict little if any social tension, particularly during the day.

I don't know much about Silver Spring except it might be a fair compromise considering your husband's lengthy commute. Then again, there's a school of thought for families that one parent should have a relatively short commute in order to pick up the kids or deal with other family issues quicker.

[Middlin]

What are the insane taxes that Virginia has?

[shoesformyfriends]

I don't know, that is just what people have told us. Honestly, I am having trouble figuring out the tax differences between VA and MD and I was hoping to find more here. Sorry!

[Carlingtonian]

Hi and welcome. Interesting screen name, btw.

Given your preferences and budget, I suggest:

South Arlington, especially Penrose or Arlington Heights (as both are near Route 50 and half lots of 1930s Capes and bungalows)

North Arlington--if you guys are OK with a tiny house that may need some work. If you can be OK with two bedrooms and window-unit AC, then you could find something in your price range in Westover, which is exactly the kind of area you're wanting. Then you could expand/renovate later.

Something south of Old Town: your husband--and thanks, btw, for not using the cloying, gratuitously cute "DH"--could drive around on the Beltway via the SE side of the DC region to Annapolis

Falls Church city (as others have said)

NE or SE Washington, DC: Crime and taxes are higher than in VA, but prices are lower, and it's midway between both your jobs. Maybe you can get your kid into one of the better schools via their school lottery. Check out Hillcrest.

Annapolis itself: Such a beautiful town, and your commute (I believe) wouldn't be half bad.

In my view, S. Spring makes no sense for anyone who doesn't work in S. Spring/Bethesda/Rockville/Kensington/Gaithersburg/Germantown. Crappy schools, super-high taxes, almost as much crime as DC, and the commute to anywhere south of there is awful.

Easiest way to compare property taxes is to look at two similar houses on one of the RE search sites. From what I've seen, Montgomery County and DC have the highest, followed by Arlington, then Fairfax County and Falls Church city. (Not sure which of the latter two has the lower rate, but they're close.)

Good luck!

[brooklynborndad]

I am more familiar with downtown silver spring, near the metro. I think its a pretty reasonable choice for someone looking to be walking distance to a metro, esp if they are not concerned with local public schools. It compares reasonably well with comparable spots in NoV and DC, though I havent gotten to the point of a full financial comparison, including taxes.

But OP isnt looking for that, but for a SFH, and IS concerned about schools. (And is presumably not Jewish, as DW and I are, which is another plus for MoCo) And OPs commute situation, while not focused on NoVa, is not metro to downtown DC either.

Im guessing that the commute from SS to Annapolis is not that much better than the commute from Del Ray to Annapolis - so it seems like in that sense, Del Ray would be a better choice, and for older SFHs Del Ray probably is a better market relative to SS (DW and I would be looking for a condo, and preferring a hi rise, so that would weigh our choice more towards SS) They would need to investigate Alex Public schools and decide if they are for them - DW and I probably would have preferred TC over the FFX neighborhood HS's, but that was us and our kid.

[shoesformyfriends]

I really want to thank everyone for the insights they provided. It was extremely helpful!