Commuting to Falls Church (Arlington, Burke: appointed, renting, houses)

[Jiffysquid]

My wife and I are relocating to NOVA from Chicago. We are both working in Falls Church and would like our commutes to be less than 30 minutes. Our budget is capped at 650K and we are limiting our search to single family homes. We have an elementary school son so of course schools are very important to us.

We have been looking in the Madison, Woodson, Marshall, West Springfield, and Oakton Pyramids. We are also looking at the Mcclean, Langley, and George Mason pyramids but understand that not much will be available in our price range.

We are finding decent listings in Vienna and Oakton. We are finding better quality and larger housing in Fairfax and West Springfield. From reading this board, I have very favorable impressions of Vienna. I guess my general question is that if we are commuting to Falls Church and not DC, are Fairfax, West Springfield, Annandale more or less equivalent communities from Vienna. Just that they are farther from DC commute-wise? Our interest in a town is not complicated: kids in the neighborhood for my son to play with, a robust little league, decent schools.

A couple of other miscellaneous questions if anyone cares to share your insights:

We have found several listing in our range in Great Falls. Is there something about Great Falls that explains the relative affordability within the Langley Pyramid?

Should we add the West Potomac pyramid to our list? Its hard to tell what the commute times are for this area using google maps traffic estimates. We get 20-50 minute estimates during rush hour.

My son plays hockey and is serious about it. I see that there are youth programs in Reston, Arlington, and Farifax. Any insights on the best organized and best coached programs?

Thanks very much in advance for any help anyone can provide.

[acgood]

bumping this up, unusual for a detailed post to get no replies. I can't personally offer much help though

[Flamingo13]

I personally wouldn't want to commute to Falls Church from Great Falls - traffic here is (a word that is banned, LOL). I REALLY recommend renting in an area before committing to buying - believe it or not, it isn't terribly uncommon for a commute of 6 miles or so to easily take 30 mins.

[JfromReston]

Sorry that I can't help much either except to say that I have friends with kids in the hockey program at Skate Quest in Reston. I don't know how well the program is run, but it is really nice that it is only a few minutes (5-10) to drop off and pick up.

Great Falls is a very large area and the houses are very spread out. It has only a couple of access roads and they are jammed during commuting times.

[leighland]

Falls Church City or Falls Church area of Fairfax County?

What part of Falls Church? What zip code?

Fairfax County is over 400 sq miles and FC is a third of it

Falls Church City is an independent city of 2 sq miles

Depending on that answer, live in Falls Church

[Flamingo13]

Originally Posted by leighland

Falls Church City or Falls Church area of Fairfax County?

What part of Falls Church? What zip code?

Fairfax County is over 400 sq miles and FC is a third of it

Falls Church City is an independent city of 2 sq miles

Depending on that answer, live in Falls Church

I agree - a "million" yrs. ago, LOL - I lived in Reston and commuted to Falls Church but traffic was nothing like it is now.

There are some nice areas of Falls Church - and if they aren't FC City, and actually what I consider Merrifield although it has a FC address - Annandale would be doable and there are also some really nice areas of Annandale.

[Fallout Zone]

A lot of times when people say they are going to be working in Falls Church (and they are coming from out of town), they really mean the area near 50/495. Fairview Park/Defense Health/INOVA hospital, so I'll just guess that's where you are looking at.



Despite some people's opinion of the DC area, you are not going to be surprised that the laws of capitalism do in fact work here. Higher housing prices are going to be in places that are more desirable, whether that means schools, commutes, or both.



One of the questions you are going to have to ask yourself is what are you expecting in a house. We see people come from out of the area with, to their mind, a big housing budget and they are disappointed that they can't find a new build for under $1M. However, if you are more pragmatic, you can pretty easily find a renovated 60s/70s house in a not-soul-crushing commute distance. I just did a quick search for a 3BR+, with a quarter acre lot under $675k and there are a whole bunch of options. I think Marshall, Madison, and Woodson are your first targets, and then down in the West Springfield/Burke area. Do not bother with the Great Falls locations. You'll be fighting traffic headed to Tysons and you'll tear your hair out at the tolls on 267.


Edit - the main ice rinks are going to be the Fairfax Ice Arena and the Kettler Capitals Iceplex (where the Caps practice), however it looks like some of the youth hockey is at the Mt. Vernon rec center. Hockey is not big around here at the kid levels. I'm not even sure it is a sanctioned High School sport.

[Ffxdata]

I lived in Oakton and have worked with many people from Vienna. I’ve also lived and worked in Falls Church.

The people in Vienna and Great Falls are very polite but definitely different than the other areas you mentioned. They skew wealthier. They skew more conservative as a whole though it’s an old school conservatism like Reagan Republican style. Falls Church City skews old school democrat with lots of old money and one of the highest Clinton voting percentages in the country.

I would say of those you listed that Vienna and Fairfax City both have the most small town community feel. They hold events and seasonal festivals. Oakton, Annandale, and Springfield all are more bedroom communities. They aren’t hopping places but great communities nonetheless.

Schools aren’t really a concern. I’d say to stick closer to Mantua than Annandale proper. Woodson pyramid would be a great choice but Fairfax isn’t bad either. Both would have pretty painless commutes.

[Flamingo13]

OP was yet another one-time poster......