Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
have 2 kids ages 10-7. areas I'm interested in the Great falls Mcclean area, mainly for the schools and its proximity to Tysons corner. but was wondering how kid activity -friendly is the area. if we choose to stay around that area- where are all the activities outside of school.I have very active kids in sports/dance /music and right now they have the luxury of a great school system and easy access to the best travel soccer and good dance academies and easy access to shops and everything else but we need to move for my husbands business needs.
i would prefer to build our own and not looking to buy a constructed home lot-so if there other suggestion of new construction sites or nice neighborhood that you may recommend i would be interested. (not a fan of the Reston area ).its our final move- so we want it all
apart from great fallsand mclean what are my other options ?
To help you we really need to know your approximate housing budget and what you expect to get for that budget. I think McLean is a lot more kid friendly then Great Falls.
I don't understand what you mean by "not looking to buy a constructed home lot"? Does this mean you are not looking to by a lot with a house to tear down before you build. Lots of tear downs in Vienna. Vienna is VERY kid friendly.
Budget is max about 1.5 million looking to custom build . But open to well built homes in that range .
You could also look in Falls Church/22043, Vienna/22180 and Vienna/22182, where the land is less expensive than in McLean, but you're still closer to Tysons than most of Great Falls.
I would also recommend Vienna. Very close to Tysons, very family friendly, lots of activities. The housing stock is old so there are often properties listed that are marketed as tear downs and perfect for someone looking to build a custom home. There are a lot of people looking to do that though so good lots can go fast, you have to move quickly. The lot sizes are generally healthy too which is also conducive to building a larger home although sometimes people go overboard IMO.
You could also look in Falls Church/22043, Vienna/22180 and Vienna/22182, where the land is less expensive than in McLean, but you're still closer to Tysons than most of Great Falls.
I would not recommend Great Falls for families. It's very spread out, many of the homes are not in neighborhoods, so it's very isolated here. If you're a person or a family that likes to keep to themselves with plenty of space as buffer, GF is a good option since traveling to any of the other towns takes some time. People generally don't go to GF unless they have a reason, and people who live in GF keep to themselves. For extracurriculars, the sports teams sometimes have a hard time filling up, because there aren't enough kids and have to reach out to Mclean. However, the schools are highly rated because the kids come from good families and there are no townhouses or apartments - all single family homes. No diversity whatsoever. However, it is NOT a vibrant, social community.
Surprisingly, a dirty little secret about GF is that homes here take longer to sell than other homes in Fx Co. Something to consider if you buy a home here.
Vienna is the perfect place to raise kids. It has lots of sports, dance, art, every kid activity you could want. Also good schools in the Thoreau Middle school/Madison high school pyramid. I raised two kids in the town of Vienna and loved it.
I would not recommend Great Falls for families. It's very spread out, many of the homes are not in neighborhoods, so it's very isolated here. If you're a person or a family that likes to keep to themselves with plenty of space as buffer, GF is a good option since traveling to any of the other towns takes some time. People generally don't go to GF unless they have a reason, and people who live in GF keep to themselves. For extracurriculars, the sports teams sometimes have a hard time filling up, because there aren't enough kids and have to reach out to Mclean. However, the schools are highly rated because the kids come from good families and there are no townhouses or apartments - all single family homes. No diversity whatsoever. However, it is NOT a vibrant, social community.
Surprisingly, a dirty little secret about GF is that homes here take longer to sell than other homes in Fx Co. Something to consider if you buy a home here.
You revived a thread that was six months old. The OP probably decided what to do and moved on.
In terms of where new homes are getting built these days in closer-in parts of NoVa, there are really four zip codes that are seeing most of the new construction: Arlington/22207, McLean/22101, Vienna/22180 and Falls Church/22043 (followed by Falls Church/22046 and Arlington/22205). There has not been much new construction in Great Falls for years.
The good news there, however, is that the sales of older homes picked up over the past year, so some of the Langley pyramid schools that were gradually emptying out should start to see their enrollments rebound.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hi
