Moving to VA (Reston: best neighborhoods, apartments, condo)

[pcity]

Yeah, I think one little area on Backlick gives the rest of Springfield a bad name. Even the "bad area" of Springfield isn't like SE DC or anything.

[MacUser85]

Yeah, Springfield is a strange place. It's westside has homes that are just as nice as those in Burke, Vienna and Oakton and then it's eastern edge is not so nice. The issue is that there are so many people who stuff like 20 people into a single dwelling. It's sad these people are down on their luck financially, but I support Fairfax County in its crackdowns on the zoning laws.

If you do look at Springfield, just focus your search on zips 22152 and 22153 and you'll be just fine. Good luck with your move!

[mississippimagnolia]

To me horrible is an area with drug dealers on the corners blasting guns at each other, drive bys etc.

That may be the problem. My definition of a "bad area" may be very different from yours, or from the original posters. To me, a good area means more than just no drug dealers on the corner. I guess it all depends on what you're willing to live with.

To me, a good area is defined by very low crime of any type. Very few low income housing areas. Excellent schools. A clean well maintained community. Neighborhoods with active homeowners associations, neighborhood pools and parks, recreational opportunities. Good churches. Lots of restaurants and shopping relatively nearby. Stuff like that. Not having drug dealers on the corner isn't nearly enough to define a good area.

There are some really nice areas in Springfield. But I still think given the questions asked, Burke is a better option. That's just my opinion. I'm sure there are others who have lived in the area way longer than I have that could provide other options. I do know that the area around Springfield Mall is not great. And I remember when Springfield Mall was one of the best malls in the area.

[Denton56]

Do NOT consider Reston if schools are a priority. The schools are not good. Plus, there is no small town in Reston, it's not even a town. Try Vienna, it's a real town, with good schools, safe, great town services, metro is there, and its just outside the beltway so the commute is good.

[Denton56]

Scran berry, do you ever look at the ''facts'' that you state? Lake Anne Plaza is a dump, and Lake Anne Elementary is among the lowest performing schools in the county. One third of the students there are on free and reduced lunch, which means they are quite poor. Only one third of the students are white, which might be a large change for family from central Texas who I am guessing are white. In addition, 22% of the population of the school turns over every year. FCPS - School Profiles - Lake Anne ES - Demographics The test scores are pretty dismal too, with nearly 25% of students failing reading and 50% failing math standards. FCPS - School Profiles - Lake Anne ES - Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL)

No, Lake Anne is not a well respected school, although Reston does have several schools that are even worse.

[militarymom]

I am in fredericksburg, its much more family friendly than I think the burbs of dc proper are, but that is just my opinion. Everyone here has a family (mostly) so you typically don't see thugs out at strange hours. Its quiet and safe without really any bad areas. The schools here are either stafford or spotsylvania and they are pretty comparable. You have a few lower performing schools in each but mainly they are pretty good. When we moved everyone said move to fairfax but that district is humungous, you may be bused to weird locations and to me your kid is just a number in their system, but yes that is a good district as far as test performance and standards of learning for VA are concerned.
Half of our street commutes to DC, there are many options for commuting here and I don't hear anyone complaining about it one bit. Its their choice. Fburg has a little more "southern-ness" to it however. The homes are large and its much much more reasonable than burbs of DC would get you. I stay at home, my husband is in the military and we have a 3500 sf home, 5 bed 4 bath with a LARGE fenced in yard for much much less than what you'd get for in alexandria etc. Your choice, its all what you're used to and what is important to you.
Good luck.
Oh and as far as things to do--plethora of stuff.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Denton56

Scran berry, do you ever look at the ''facts'' that you state? Lake Anne Plaza is a dump, and Lake Anne Elementary is among the lowest performing schools in the county. One third of the students there are on free and reduced lunch, which means they are quite poor. Only one third of the students are white, which might be a large change for family from central Texas who I am guessing are white. In addition, 22% of the population of the school turns over every year. FCPS - School Profiles - Lake Anne ES - Demographics The test scores are pretty dismal too, with nearly 25% of students failing reading and 50% failing math standards. FCPS - School Profiles - Lake Anne ES - Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL)

No, Lake Anne is not a well respected school, although Reston does have several schools that are even worse.

Well then you can also blame your pals Normie, JReston, and several others then for spouting fallacies and intentionally false information, as she assured me that Reston, Lake Anne, etc. were wonderful places to live, and I didn't see any evidence to the contrary when I was exploring the area and decided to make my homestead along North Shore Drive. I did my research judging by the U.S. Census Bureau:

RESTON (2007):

Percentage of Population Below Poverty Level: 5.3%
Median Household Income: $93,417
Median Family Income: $130,221
Percentage of Adults With a Bachelor's Degree or Higher: 68.3% (More if you count all of my college-educated friends and I that are moving into Reston)

This town is OUTRAGEOUSLY wealthy, as evidenced by the GOVERNMENT STATISTICS, not by me pulling numbers out of thin air. How can a town where well over half the families earn six-figures be a "dump?" As I said prior the Reston Town Center's typical car of choice was a BMW or a Lexus. I don't envision children coming from these sorts of backgrounds leading to "terrible" schools. In my area these posh areas are where the BEST schools are.

By the way, supposedly Lake Anne is "historic" (even though I, too, thought it was in need of MAJOR renovations). I was at Lake Anne for their Founder's Day celebration, and it was quite an enjoyable atmosphere with happy families, people bumping into neighbors, a band playing, etc. The plaza looks ugly, but by and large the surrounding lake area was wonderful.

P.S. I'm sorry that I was LIED to by just about every leasing agent and police officer we spoke to in Herndon/Reston in regards to the quality of schools and personal safety. However, most of the locals we spoke to were very, very happy living in the Herndon/Reston area. Just because they only earn $120,000 annually and not $240,000 annually as they might in other more "posh" parts of NoVA doesn't mean they should be discounted. Any way you slice it NoVA is BY FAR the wealthiest part of the nation (that was even the Final Jeopardy question the other day).

[DC Oldtimer]

One thing you will learn quickly is that we Northern Virginians speak a different language than the rest of the country when it comes to things like schools and crime.

For example, say you are looking at a home in a school district where the average SAT score is at the national average. In Fairfax County, that would be known as a horrible school.

In terms of crime, a bad neighborhood would be any place where there are more burglaries in a year than you can count on one hand.

We do have some really creepy neighborhoods in Fairfax but they are few and far between. One is Culmore in Falls Church, which is infested with some serious gang activity. However, we also have excellent police. Nonetheless, I would avoid that area.

Fairfax is one of the safest places in the country. Unless you go for the cheapest part of town you are unlikely to run into much crime.

I dont mean to sound like a broken record but I just dont care much anymore for most areas inside the Beltway. There are some beautiful million dollar homes there but I do feel safer outside the beltway. It may be a female thing.

[claremarie]

You're not going to find "small town culture" in a community within 25-45 minutes commuting time from DC. The closest thing might be the the City of Falls Church or the town of Vienna, both of which are upper-middle class suburban communities with a stronger sense of place than most of Fairfax and Arlington counties.
You didn't indicate a housing budget, which will probably be the most significant constraining factor in your decision where to live. Communities with good schools and low crime are more expensive than those with concentrations of low-income, "affordable" housing, and if you find a home that seems much more "affordable" than comparable homes, there will be a reason for that.

[mississippimagnolia]

If you go to JustSettling.com - Info and Advice for Families in Fairfax, VA - Home you can look at the Children's Activities and Family Activities section and get an idea of the entertainment you will find in the Fairfax area.

Thanks for the link, Macada! We're moving to Burke in about two months. That information will really help!