Family moving to NoVa...where to live? (Arlington, Alexandria: townhomes, neighborhoods)

[Getbusylivin73]

Hello all, family of 4 here moving from Seattle to work in Arlington. Have 2 kids (7 and 5 year olds), and looking for great public schools and no longer than a 30 mins commute. Have about $850k-ish to spend on a 4 bedroom single family home. We're Jewish (reformed), so looking for neighborhoods where there are at least some fellow Jews and good diversity. Any suggestions on neighborhoods we should be looking at? Need to narrow down as there seem to be many options.

Many thanks!
GBL

[ZeroiaSD]

The good news is with your budget, you'll have options.

On the location of Jewish neighborhoods, I'm less useful, but a google shows a synagogue (Reform) in Fall's Church which is not far from Arlington, so that may be the area to look.

[rmm0484]

Originally Posted by Getbusylivin73

Hello all, family of 4 here moving from Seattle to work in Arlington. Have 2 kids (7 and 5 year olds), and looking for great public schools and no longer than a 30 mins commute. Have about $850k-ish to spend on a 4 bedroom single family home. We're Jewish (reformed), so looking for neighborhoods where there are at least some fellow Jews and good diversity. Any suggestions on neighborhoods we should be looking at? Need to narrow down as there seem to be many options.

Many thanks!
GBL

For that price range, I would say Alexandria, VA -there are several synagogues in nice neighborhoods, such as Agudas Achim. Here are some resources that may be able to help you:

Arlington/Alexandria | Jconnect of The Jewish Federation

Chabad Lubavitch of Alexandria-Arlington - Your Source For Everything Jewish

https://www.bethelhebrew.org/

Satellite Program - Alexandria | Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia

(I'm not Jewish, just helpful)

Also see this old thread:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/north...ington-va.html

[mossly]

Fellow MOT here. We lived in Falls Church City a couple of years ago. The public schools were outstanding (I still miss them - I'm in California now and the public schools here are frankly an embarrassment in comparison), and the quality of life high. Easy access to stores, farmer's market, and a walking/biking trail. We'd live there again in a heartbeat if we could get anywhere close to our Bay Area salaries there.

You can find something nice in Falls Church City in your price range, though it won't be new. It's harder than it used to be, but still possible. (The city has a lot - A LOT - of new houses built over the graves of houses that were in the $600K range when I lived there, and these run about $1.4M.) It's convenient to a Reform synagogue - Rodef Shalom - which is in Fairfax County. That part of Fairfax County, near the synagogue, is very nice and also has good schools.

Commute-wise, if you're working near Metro's Orange Line, then Falls Church City (and its environs) is a great commute. If you're working in the Pentagon part of Arlington, then Alexandria might be a better ride. But I've heard very mixed things about the schools. I've also heard mixed things about the schools in Arlington itself, but the general rule of thumb when I moved there was to stick close to the path of the Orange Line to find the good schools. If that's not still true, hopefully someone will correct me.

My son was never the only Jewish kid in his class in Falls Church City. He was never made to feel weird for not celebrating Christmas, etc. Lots of people from all over the world in Northern Virginia in general, and thus lots of cultures. Definitely one of the upsides!

[Hesky]

Originally Posted by Getbusylivin73

Hello all, family of 4 here moving from Seattle to work in Arlington. Have 2 kids (7 and 5 year olds), and looking for great public schools and no longer than a 30 mins commute. Have about $850k-ish to spend on a 4 bedroom single family home. We're Jewish (reformed), so looking for neighborhoods where there are at least some fellow Jews and good diversity. Any suggestions on neighborhoods we should be looking at? Need to narrow down as there seem to be many options.

Many thanks!
GBL

That's budget will get you into some of the best school pyramids in the region. Is the job in Arlington close to a metro station?

[Mnseca]

Originally Posted by Getbusylivin73

Hello all, family of 4 here moving from Seattle to work in Arlington. Have 2 kids (7 and 5 year olds), and looking for great public schools and no longer than a 30 mins commute. Have about $850k-ish to spend on a 4 bedroom single family home. We're Jewish (reformed), so looking for neighborhoods where there are at least some fellow Jews and good diversity. Any suggestions on neighborhoods we should be looking at? Need to narrow down as there seem to be many options.

Many thanks!
GBL

Jewish here - however, there really are no neighborhoods in Nova where Jews congregate. We're spread out and living wherever. The largest number of Jewish organizations are in Annandale, but Jews don't live there; they just drive there. Just start with a good commute and then find a good school and go from there. You can afford almost any school district, although in the better school zones in Arlington your budget won't buy you nearly what it would further out. Zillow allows you to do a search by school rating, so you could start there.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by mossly

Fellow MOT here. We lived in Falls Church City a couple of years ago. The public schools were outstanding (I still miss them - I'm in California now and the public schools here are frankly an embarrassment in comparison), and the quality of life high. Easy access to stores, farmer's market, and a walking/biking trail. We'd live there again in a heartbeat if we could get anywhere close to our Bay Area salaries there.

You can find something nice in Falls Church City in your price range, though it won't be new. It's harder than it used to be, but still possible. (The city has a lot - A LOT - of new houses built over the graves of houses that were in the $600K range when I lived there, and these run about $1.4M.) It's convenient to a Reform synagogue - Rodef Shalom - which is in Fairfax County. That part of Fairfax County, near the synagogue, is very nice and also has good schools.

Commute-wise, if you're working near Metro's Orange Line, then Falls Church City (and its environs) is a great commute. If you're working in the Pentagon part of Arlington, then Alexandria might be a better ride. But I've heard very mixed things about the schools. I've also heard mixed things about the schools in Arlington itself, but the general rule of thumb when I moved there was to stick close to the path of the Orange Line to find the good schools. If that's not still true, hopefully someone will correct me.

My son was never the only Jewish kid in his class in Falls Church City. He was never made to feel weird for not celebrating Christmas, etc. Lots of people from all over the world in Northern Virginia in general, and thus lots of cultures. Definitely one of the upsides!

To add to this poster, Falls Church City is the 22046 zip code, although some parts of the 22046 are in Fairfax County, rather than Falls Church City. The part of Fairfax County (with a Falls Church mailing address) near Rodef Shalom is in the 22043 zip code, and zoned for schools comparable to the Falls Church City schools (the main difference being that the Fairfax County schools are larger and have a wider variety of programs).

The Mantua neighborhood in Fairfax (22031 zip code) also has a reputation of having a lot of Jewish families (for NoVa), perhaps because it is near the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia.

[dpiccolo]

Originally Posted by Mnseca

Jewish here - however, there really are no neighborhoods in Nova where Jews congregate.

I may need to disagree with you on that. I live very close to the JCC (right off Little River tpke) and I'd say that 50% of my community's residents are Jewish. In my own block, there are 5 Jewish families (out of 10 houses).

[Getbusylivin73]

Wow, thanks everyone! Super helpful. I'm actually out here this weekend and getting a much better sense of the communities. I definitely wish we had time to visit Temple Rodef Shalom to get a sense but def looks like Falls Church and McLean are high on our list.

As for working, I'll be in Rosslyn, right next to metro in Arlington. Any sense on commute times at peak hours from those neighborhoods?

Also finding prices to be higher than expected.

[claremarie]

Though we sadly relocated in 2008, we spent 25 years in the Arlington/East Falls Church/McLean communities. Great location for schools, shopping, and commutes via the Beltway and Metro. All of the public schools are highly-rated. It's a short trip on Metro between Falls Church and Rosslyn on the Orange Line. The challenge is that, unless you find a home within walking distance of the Metro, you'll have to get yourself there somehow. You will pay a premium for a home within walking distance, and there is limited parking at the East and West Falls Church stations. (The McLean station is actually in Tyson's.) If you live in the SFH part of McLean, you will need to drive or take a bus to the Metro, so factor that into your commute time.

If you're open to townhomes, there are several nice communities near the intersection of Kirby and Haycock Roads. This is in Fairfax County (Haycock Elementary), around the corner from Rodef, but also walking distance to West Falls Church Metro. It's a mostly SFH neighborhood, with many previously modest one-story homes that have been torn down or renovated far beyond your housing budget.

The other challenge is that Metro is not nearly as reliable as it was back in the day when we lived in this area. So there's that too.