Immigration from Loudoun to FFX

[airjay75]

Originally Posted by immig2015

Thank u PK12 & airjay 75! Precisely, my feeling right now...Commuter prison!

What I'm more concerned is that thru discussions and posts/info etc i have been reading and also opinions from friends as well still cite Loudoun as a better option to stay put than moving to FFX.

I'm more vested in my child's future education setting and I don't seem to get the right picture now...he goes to LCPS.

What reasons are people giving you to conclude that it is better to stay put in Loudoun than moving to Fairfax County? Aside from the cost/expense of moving, I just don't see why one county is necessarily better than the other. I don't have kids, but it seems like, on the whole, both LCPS and FCPS are well regarded - not without their individual challenges, but still well regarded on the whole. I suppose your housing dollar generally goes further in Loudoun than it does in Fairfax, but I don't see it being so drastic of a difference than your happiness gained by a better commute will be zeroed out by the happiness lost as a result of lesser housing, but these things certainly vary according to individual preferences and could be affected by your housing budget.

That said, we're talking pretty abstractly here. Both counties are quite large with multiple centers of employment and various areas to live. You could work and live in Fairfax County, and have a longer commuter than someone who lived in Loudoun and worked in Fairfax. So, it really depends on your individual circumstances as to what works best for you. Maybe if you tell us the area in which you work and what your housing budget would be, and people can give you more concrete suggestions.

[immig2015]

The Watchmen, i agree that they have really converted loudoun into one fine hub but now bcoz of the lack of generation of jobs in the county itself, people like us who are commuting out everyday for work has become a chore.

schools are average at best...loudoun's Futura program is no where comprable to Fairfax's GT program. Thru discussions, I hv learned that some LCPS teachers have taken up teaching as an alternate to not being able to find a decent job in their skill set right off college and later move on when they do...hence the problem of not being able to teacher turnover & lack of pay which leads to not being able to retain experienced teachers at LCPS.

Some LCPS ES even don't hv playgrounds on schools bcoz they are funded by the PTA.

[immig2015]

airjay75...the reasons people site are essentially that Loudoun will still continue to experience the growth uptrend and that due to the high level of immigrants the schools will eventually catch up with FFX.

I work in DC & my DH in Arlington. so, moving to FFX will essentially give us atleast shorten our commute times by about 40-45mts as we could utilize the metro.

We are considering Fairlakes, Vienna, Herndon areas as options for relocation. But homes in these areas come with a price tag as well!

[TheWatchmen]

Originally Posted by immig2015

The Watchmen, i agree that they have really converted loudoun into one fine hub but now bcoz of the lack of generation of jobs in the county itself, people like us who are commuting out everyday for work has become a chore.

Surely not every locale can be a career and residential hub. Loudoun makes a fine commuter/bedroom county. Friends and colleagues tell me that their various Loudoun neighborhoods are very pleasantville-like- not for me, but they love it.

I am not defending Loudoun, per se, and would never consider living there, and almost fired our real estate agent for repeatedly trying to take us to see houses there. This is just what I see with friends.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by immig2015

airjay75...the reasons people site are essentially that Loudoun will still continue to experience the growth uptrend and that due to the high level of immigrants the schools will eventually catch up with FFX.

I work in DC & my DH in Arlington. so, moving to FFX will essentially give us atleast shorten our commute times by about 40-45mts as we could utilize the metro.

We are considering Fairlakes, Vienna, Herndon areas as options for relocation. But homes in these areas come with a price tag as well!

To me, that sentence would make it easy for most people. The schools in different areas can improve or decline, and your jobs can change, but Fairfax will always be a more central location to a larger number of area jobs than Loudoun, and it's certainly closer to Arlington and DC.

The exception, of course, is if you're one of those people who really wants to live in a small-town, rural environment such as Round Hill or Middleburg. If you fall in that category, then the long commute is the price you willingly pay for the pleasure you get from living somewhat "away from it all."

[immig2015]

Thank u Jeb77. Commute is def the driving force behind the move. But finding a decent home in good school districts in FFX is also not easy either without breaking our savings

[airjay75]

Originally Posted by immig2015

Thank u Jeb77. Commute is def the driving force behind the move. But finding a decent home in good school districts in FFX is also not easy either without breaking our savings

I don't have kids yet, so you can take what I have to say about schools with a grain of salt, but at least from what I have seen about FCPS, even in schools with more socioeconomic diversity where the average test scores are not as high as some of the more homogenous schools, children from all backgrounds are given adequate opportunities to excel and be educated to the best of their ability. Many people in this area (and, in particular on internet forums) seem to obsess about average test scores and rankings of schools. But, from people I have met and who actually have experience with many of these "lesser" schools in Fairfax County, I typically hear very good things about them - yes, there is more SES diversity, but there is ample opportunity for students that come from solid families and want their children to get a good education. I guess my point is, I don't think you need to focus too much on finding a "good" school pyramid in Fairfax County because, in actuality, the vast majority of schools are probably going to be able to provide your children with a perfectly good education that will be what you and your children decide to make of it.

As to a decent home, well, it certainly depends on what you want and what your budget is. Personally, I'd rather live in a 40 year old town house than a new construction SFH, for example, if it meant my commute was 20 minutes instead of a 1.5 hours each way. But, that's not a trade off everyone is willing to make.

[gomason]

Originally Posted by airjay75

I don't have kids yet, so you can take what I have to say about schools with a grain of salt, but at least from what I have seen about FCPS, even in schools with more socioeconomic diversity where the average test scores are not as high as some of the more homogenous schools, children from all backgrounds are given adequate opportunities to excel and be educated to the best of their ability. Many people in this area (and, in particular on internet forums) seem to obsess about average test scores and rankings of schools. But, from people I have met and who actually have experience with many of these "lesser" schools in Fairfax County, I typically hear very good things about them - yes, there is more SES diversity, but there is ample opportunity for students that come from solid families and want their children to get a good education. I guess my point is, I don't think you need to focus too much on finding a "good" school pyramid in Fairfax County because, in actuality, the vast majority of schools are probably going to be able to provide your children with a perfectly good education that will be what you and your children decide to make of it.

+1

Test scores in Fairfax high schools pretty much tell you where the least diverse parts of the county are. And if you're child is in a gifted AP/IB program, then your child is pretty much guaranteed to have very little interaction with the more challenged, diverse school population.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by gomason

+1

Test scores in Fairfax high schools pretty much tell you where the least diverse parts of the county are. And if you're child is in a gifted AP/IB program, then your child is pretty much guaranteed to have very little interaction with the more challenged, diverse school population.

Here's the thing, though: OP is considering a move from Loudoun to Fairfax with a 7-year-old. And she probably knows already, but there's a lot more socio-economic diversity in Fairfax than in Loudoun, at both ends of the spectrum. Few considering a move from Loudoun to Fairfax, in part for the schools, would close their eyes, let their fingers fall somewhere on the county map, and just assume the schools anywhere in the county would be a good fit for their kids.

AP and IB programs are primarily high school programs. It's great for people to know that every high school in the county offers advanced academics, but it doesn't tell you whether the elementary schools in the neighborhood are full of kids whose parents are aggressively trying to position them to get them into TJHSST, more reflective of the county's demographics as a whole, or composed primarily of kids who are English-language learners. I assume OP is doing research - like most parents in such circumstances would do - and that her inquiries here are part of that process.