Montclair, Lake Ridge: HOAs and other Relocating Qs (Richmond, Dale City: real estate, HOA)

[MDtoMO]

Hi folks,

We are a family of two adults and one toddler looking to move within a reasonable commuting distance from Ft. Belvoir. Right now we are in downtown Silver Spring, MD and while we love it here, almost anything would beat that commute! We are looking in the $300-$350k range, and commuting can easily be undertaken during off hours.

After poking around here for a bit, it seems like Montclair and Lake Ridge might be good fits for us. We don't mind older houses, like big trees and being outdoors, and as a stay at home mom, I am hoping to find somewhere with a decent sense of community since I won't have any friends/connections in the area. Is there a sense of community in either/both of these places? Are they generally places where ppl care about their neighbors and participate in community events? I'm not sure if this is the best way to get at what I'm trying to find out, but I can't think of any other way to ask .

I have never lived in a suburban community, so I'm wondering about these homeowner's associations. I know that theoretically they allow vegetable gardens & flowerbeds, but in reality how easy is it to get these things approved? Also, my partner insists that if you're going to keep your lawn up to HOA standards that you will have to use lawn chemicals. True? False? Any experience here? I am okay with the idea of HOA for keeping neighborhoods nice and whatnot, but I don't necessarily want to move into a restrictive, nit-picky place where there will be a notice on my door within minutes of the first dandelion to show its head ...

Lastly, any thoughts on the pros/cons/difference between Montclair and Lake Ridge, other than distance from Ft. Belvoir?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. I know this is a lot of questions!

[ChristineVA]

After poking around here for a bit, it seems like Montclair and Lake Ridge might be good fits for us. We don't mind older houses, like big trees and being outdoors, and as a stay at home mom, I am hoping to find somewhere with a decent sense of community since I won't have any friends/connections in the area. Is there a sense of community in either/both of these places? Are they generally places where ppl care about their neighbors and participate in community events? I'm not sure if this is the best way to get at what I'm trying to find out, but I can't think of any other way to ask

.

I think Montclair is going to have more of a tight-knit community feel. It is ONE large neighborhood and most of the kids all go to the same two schools. Lake Ridge is a very, very large community made up of smaller neighborhoods. For instance, my parents live in Springwoods which is one of the several neighborhoods within the community. They don't seem to network outside those individual neighborhoods and each neighborhood has it's own pool (yet you can use all the others if you want).

I have never lived in a suburban community, so I'm wondering about these homeowner's associations. I know that theoretically they allow vegetable gardens & flowerbeds, but in reality how easy is it to get these things approved? Also, my partner insists that if you're going to keep your lawn up to HOA standards that you will have to use lawn chemicals. True? False? Any experience here? I am okay with the idea of HOA for keeping neighborhoods nice and whatnot, but I don't necessarily want to move into a restrictive, nit-picky place where there will be a notice on my door within minutes of the first dandelion to show its head

Neither Lake Ridge or Montclair are that picky. You will be able to plant flowers to your heart's content without approval. Structural items will need approval (decks, fencing, statues, ponds, fountains, etc). You don't need a lawn service. Just cut your grass regularly and it will be fine. I think my parent's lawn is mostly green "weeds" but they keep it cut and no problem. Occasionally, the HOA will walk around and look for signs of dis-repair such as unpainted/rotting wood trim on the house, damaged front doors, rusty railings, and things like that and will leave you a notice to have them fixed.

Lastly, any thoughts on the pros/cons/difference between Montclair and Lake Ridge, other than distance from Ft. Belvoir?

Lake Ridge is much larger and spread out. Montclair is much more contained. I prefer the aesthetics of Montclair and the whole feel of the neighborhood. It is farther down I-95 but you also don't have to deal with the Old Bridge Rd. traffic which is no picnic. My mom isn't crazy about that portion of her commute. Both neighborhoods feed into decent schools.

[stpickrell]

If you'd prefer a downtowny feel and can commute off hours, why not look around downtown Fredericksburg?

The schools are as good as anything in Lake Ridge/Montclair and the place has been around since before Silver Spring was a glimmer in some land speculator's eye. If you have to commute on regular hours, the VRE goes to Springfield Metro and I'm sure there's buses that will shuttle you to Fort Belvoir.

Upside: You can look for jobs around Richmond.
Downside: Longer commute for sure than Lake Ridge/Montclair.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by stpickrell

If you'd prefer a downtowny feel and can commute off hours, why not look around downtown Fredericksburg?

The schools are as good as anything in Lake Ridge/Montclair and the place has been around since before Silver Spring was a glimmer in some land speculator's eye. If you have to commute on regular hours, the VRE goes to Springfield Metro and I'm sure there's buses that will shuttle you to Fort Belvoir.

Upside: You can look for jobs around Richmond.
Downside: Longer commute for sure than Lake Ridge/Montclair.

Overall? I don't think so. Fredericksburg has some of the worst schools in VA according to schooldigger.com. I think whenever Petersburg City Schools, which have a bad reputation, are ranked higher than Fredericksburg, I don't think that's a good sign. I'm sure there may be good schools here and there, but then you have to play the neighborhood game and of course that can always change with school re-districting.

[stpickrell]

Originally Posted by meatkins

Overall? I don't think so. Fredericksburg has some of the worst schools in VA according to schooldigger.com. I think whenever Petersburg City Schools, which have a bad reputation, are ranked higher than Fredericksburg, I don't think that's a good sign. I'm sure there may be good schools here and there, but then you have to play the neighborhood game and of course that can always change with school re-districting.

???

On Greatschools, the district gets a 4/10, compared to Petersburg City's 2/10.

Fredericksburg has:
K-2 Mercer
3-5 Lafayette 2/10
6-8 Walker Grant 6/10
9-12 James Monroe 4/10

Petersburg has:
K-5 AP Hill 1/10
K-5 JEB Stuart 1/10
K-5 RE Lee 3/10
K-5 Walnut Hill 2/10
6-7 Peabody MS 1/10
8-9 Johns JHS 2/10
10-12 Petersburg 4/10

I'm just going to guess here that Petersburg has a much higher FRL percentage than Fredericksburg, but I could be wrong.

These are based off of SOL scores, not sure how your site figures out the rankings. Fredericksburg City Schools are less well-regarded than Stafford or Spotsylvania to be sure. Whether that gap is too much for someone to handle is up to the individual.

I do think they hold up against anything in eastern PWC, especially Freedom and Potomac (and associated feeders). Woodbridge/Forest Park are probably somewhat better, Hylton probably about equal.

If school reputation is your primary concern, then you can get a condo or small TH in the town of Vienna for that price, there's even a few older SFH's in that range in Fairfax City (although a truly discerning school snob would not want to send their kids to Fairfax HS.)

[MDtoMO]

Thanks so much for your responses. We're definitely going to head down and check out both (and I will put Fredericksburg on my list of places to investigate as well), and it's really nice to hear perspectives beyond real estate ads & promotional materials. Montclair sounds like a slightly better fit overall, or maybe that's just me being lazy and not up for researching dozens of different sections within Lake Ridge .

I also appreciate the info on the HOA situation. Doesn't sound too bad at all!

Looks like the commute wouldn't be anything horrible going in around 5 or 5:30 and leaving 2 ish...

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by stpickrell

???

I do think they hold up against anything in eastern PWC, especially Freedom and Potomac (and associated feeders). Woodbridge/Forest Park are probably somewhat better, Hylton probably about equal.

If school reputation is your primary concern, then you can get a condo or small TH in the town of Vienna for that price, there's even a few older SFH's in that range in Fairfax City (although a truly discerning school snob would not want to send their kids to Fairfax HS.)

Both Montclair and Lake Ridge are going to feed into Forest Park HS or Woodbridge High School/Osborne Park HS--no need to worry about Freedeom, Potomac, or Gar-Field.

My biggest concern with moving to F'burg is the commute. Horrific. I wouldn't do it unless it was the ONLY way I could get a home. I doubt Carlingtonian will chime in on this thread but he has stated a few times that just getting on Ft. Belvoir is a nightmare. Add to that the parking lot/ride up from Fredericksburg OR the hassle of VRE to some sort of shuttle bus and, to me, it's an unneccessary nightmare.

That's not to say the F'burg isn't a great place to live because I think it is very nice. I would just never willingly put myself into a commute like that unless I needed to get that cheap house. Heck, even Woodbridge is probably a rough commute to Belvoir (well, I know it is as I have a few acquaintances that do it).

[MDtoMO]

Sorry for the double post, but since stpickrell's last post happened while I was writing ... we are not too concerned about schools. Mid-range or better would be nice, however, I am a product of the public school system in a state consistently ranked 48th or 49th in the country and I somehow managed to accumulate a variety of degrees from some fancy colleges/universities despite that . I think we'll manage as long as the schools are safe ...

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by MDtoMO

Looks like the commute wouldn't be anything horrible going in around 5 or 5:30 and leaving 2 ish...

Oh, didn't see that. Your commute will be a BREEZE. Even if you choose Fredericksburg. Well, except maybe on Fridays and throughout the summer. I-95 becomes a parking lot every Friday afternoon in the summer and it starts at the Dale City exit and goes all the way down to F'burg. That's 30 miles.

[MDtoMO]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

Oh, didn't see that. Your commute will be a BREEZE. Even if you choose Fredericksburg. Well, except maybe on Fridays and throughout the summer. I-95 becomes a parking lot every Friday afternoon in the summer and it starts at the Dale City exit and goes all the way down to F'burg. That's 30 miles.

Yeah, I'm thinking Fredericksburg may be pushing it a bit! We've driven down 95 on the way South to visit family on Fridays before, which was a horrible idea. Even leaving SS at 11 or 12 still puts us in hours of traffic. Blech.