What are the most desirable zip codes in Alexandria? (Reston: real estate, rentals)

[researchqueen02]

You will find a TON of military families in the Kingstowne region. You are also close to Ft. Belvoir for medical care and commissary privileges. Kingstowne has lots of restaurants, shopping (not high end, just middle of the road) and a 16 screen theater. Easy to get around. Good elementary schools (as mentioned in an earlier post). My husband (before we met) came to DC as an Air Force major. His realtor told him to live in Kingstowne. We met, married and he retired from the AF -- now more than 14 years since he first arrived. Never left. If you are in Kingstowne proper, you will have access to community pools and there are lots of moms with young kids. Easy to walk. Safe. Not as congested as Old Town Alexandria. There are moms' groups for playdates. TONS of people commuting to the Pentagon on the Blue metro line or some who slug.

[researchqueen02]

Forgot to mention that Island Creek is a development that has a community pool. You will find diversity at both Island Creek and Hayfield elementary schools, but it is the kind of diversity that people like -- high achieving, not high poverty. When I say "diversity" I don't mean that there are 5% of something not white. I mean a school that has 45% white, 20% black, 20% asian, 15% hispanic, and only 10-15% free/reduced meals at these elementary schools.

At the veteran's day presentations, DD's 2nd grade (115 kids) had 40 parents come in military uniform to speak about being in the military. Very solid area.

[slduvall]

I second the Kingstowne area for military. We have lived here 4 years - longest ever. DD goes to Lane Elem and the diversity is fabulous. The majority of the neighborhoods in Kingstowne feed into Lane, with a small section going to Hayfield and another small group to Franconia. As you stated - high school isn't that important. With the great access to Belvoir, you really can't go wrong. The average 2 car garage TH seems to be renting for about $2700. Single family homes start at about $3000. You can find slightly lower rents in Island creek. There are also a couple neighborhoods just off of Telegraph Road, which actually have a Lorton address with more single family homes. They don't have amenities that Kingstowne and Island creek have (pools, walking paths etc) but are more standard newer neighborhoods. Those feed into Island Creek.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Tone509

If you decide to put down roots here, you will also want to know that all of the elementary schools in this stretch feed into the West Potomac High School pyramid. While not mentioned in the same breath as the "best" (and least economically diverse) high schools in the county, it is still easy to find motivated students there. One could say it's all relative as Fairfax County Public Schools have a general reputation for being among the best in the country.

There are also some nice neighborhoods at the end of the Parkway, off of 235 (22209 zip) that are part of the Mount Vernon pyramid. Same school quality but a slightly more diverse mix of students is reflected in somewhat lower test scores but I sent my kids to both pyramids and came away with similar results. Regardless of which school they go to, pretty much any kid will turn out as you'd expect. None of the schools around here are going to wreck your child's chances of becoming rich and famous.

[elacklen]

We visited the area briefly a few months back to get a feel for the area. I found Kingstowne to be almost all townhomes. I didn't see a lot of SFH? Townhomes are fine, but they didn't seem to have the charm of ones in old Town and such. We will only consider a townhome if we have a yard. Are there any recommend TH properties? Everything looked very new-as in new roads, big box stores, chain restaurants, new townhomes, no mature trees. That's not quite our style-we would prefer a slightly older more established neighborhood. Kingstowne seemed very...vanilla. And lots of traffic and stoplights. Of course I say this coming from Virginia Beach, we're the queen of vanilla! Am I not giving Kingstowne a fair shake?

[researchqueen02]

There are single family homes in the Kingstowne HOA off of VanDorn (south) and also on the west end (Stone Wheat, Warwick Circle, and a few others). There are single family home in Island Creek (John Thomas? or Thomas Grant? I can't remember which, plus Island Creek Ct, Cashland Ct.). Hawthorne (Rolling Creek or Morning Brook) has Single Family homes as well as Landsdowne (too many streets, tend to be smaller single family homes). Many more single family homes off of Valley View, also Autumn Chase (off of Beulah St.) -- these feed to Franconia.

If you really want older, mature streets, you should go to areas off the Fairfax County parkway west of 95. This is Springfield. Schools are excellent. Many military. Easy slugging to the Pentagon. More older homes, but some that are newer. Try South Run Forest, and the north side of the Parkway -- east of Huntsman to 95.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by elacklen

We visited the area briefly a few months back to get a feel for the area. I found Kingstowne to be almost all townhomes. I didn't see a lot of SFH? Townhomes are fine, but they didn't seem to have the charm of ones in old Town and such. We will only consider a townhome if we have a yard. Are there any recommend TH properties? Everything looked very new-as in new roads, big box stores, chain restaurants, new townhomes, no mature trees. That's not quite our style-we would prefer a slightly older more established neighborhood. Kingstowne seemed very...vanilla. And lots of traffic and stoplights. Of course I say this coming from Virginia Beach, we're the queen of vanilla! Am I not giving Kingstowne a fair shake?

I think you nailed it. Kingstowne is no Old Town, that's for sure. It reminds me a lot of the areas around the County government center out in Fairfax.

[slduvall]

Originally Posted by elacklen

We visited the area briefly a few months back to get a feel for the area. I found Kingstowne to be almost all townhomes. I didn't see a lot of SFH? Townhomes are fine, but they didn't seem to have the charm of ones in old Town and such. We will only consider a townhome if we have a yard. Are there any recommend TH properties? Everything looked very new-as in new roads, big box stores, chain restaurants, new townhomes, no mature trees. That's not quite our style-we would prefer a slightly older more established neighborhood. Kingstowne seemed very...vanilla. And lots of traffic and stoplights. Of course I say this coming from Virginia Beach, we're the queen of vanilla! Am I not giving Kingstowne a fair shake?

As stated there are about 8 SFH neighborhoods in Kingstowne. Most people that visit Kingstowne only see the north section near the shopping - there are other parts people don't see. As for no mature trees - that isn't Kingstowne, unless you are looking at the newest section along Van dorn. Most of the TH's and SFH, have very large trees - too many in fact, they planted trees that were not appropirate for the size of the yards. Having lived here 4 years - and in Springfield prior to that I find the traffic to be minimal - no way is the daily traffic compared to Fairlakes area. Unless you are headed to the shopping centers. There are grocery stores on all ends of the area - the smaller Giant is always easy to get into. Don't care for the bigger one. AND we are getting a Wegmans on the West end at Bealuh and Telegraph. Of course then traffic will be a nightmare - but worth it!

It is sort of Vanilla, but since you are renting and not buying and it is temporary - being close to the metro, fort Belvoir etc, make it worth while.

[JD984]

Don't know if you can find anything to rent there, but the Wilton Woods neighborhood in the Fairfax County part of Alexandria is really nice, too. Feeds into Clermont ES; is not far from the Huntington Metro; and is about halfway between Old Town (for charm fix) and Kingstowne (for big box stores and convenience). It's definitely a more established neighborhood with all the grown trees you could want.

[United_Caps_Skins_Fan]

Originally Posted by elacklen

We visited the area briefly a few months back to get a feel for the area. I found Kingstowne to be almost all townhomes. I didn't see a lot of SFH? Townhomes are fine, but they didn't seem to have the charm of ones in old Town and such. We will only consider a townhome if we have a yard. Are there any recommend TH properties? Everything looked very new-as in new roads, big box stores, chain restaurants, new townhomes, no mature trees. That's not quite our style-we would prefer a slightly older more established neighborhood. Kingstowne seemed very...vanilla. And lots of traffic and stoplights. Of course I say this coming from Virginia Beach, we're the queen of vanilla! Am I not giving Kingstowne a fair shake?

You will want to try 22301, which is the Del Ray neighborhood. Its on the pricey side, but within your budget, and has most of the things you are looking for. Think of Del Ray as a little "mini city" or "town" within the larger city of Alexandria. Its the north side of Old Town, but has its own "main street" along Mt. Vernon Ave. Loaded with charm and mom and pop shops, and convenient to just about everything, from Braddock Road metro, to Potomac Yard which has everything from shoppers, to pet smart, to best buy to target. There is also even a grocery store (giant) and CVS that are walkable for most of Del Ray. Check it out. I think you would probably be happy there.