Potential Move (Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax: for sale, houses, established neighborhood)

[kaday]

So I have been researching areas to live while my spouse is interviewing for a job in Rockville.....when the company sprang on him they will be relocating to Rosslyn. I had been searching in Montgomery County prior to today. I lived in DC and Northern VA about 13 years ago (for 10 years). Since then I managed to have two kids and live in four other states. My needs are different this time around. We are looking for a reasonable, commute, great schools with a budget of about 500-600K. We also have a child with dyslexia who would need a strong LD friendly public school or a good private school for language based learning disabilites. We could possibly go higher but actually would prefer lower if private school is a must.


Thanks in advance. Zipcodes are helpful!

[normie]

Welcome to Virginia. Wish I could help you but I don't know much about those programs. We've had a lot of threads about schools, and about programs for a variety of disabilities, so maybe you can find something using the search engine for this forum.

[CAVA1990]

You should contact some of the school districts and see what kind of programs they have for your situation. They may be able to recommend certain schools that are stronger in that area. I'll sound like a broken record here but would recommend you take a look at homes along the GW Parkway South of Old Town Alexandria. Zips would be 22308 and 22309. There will be plenty of well maintained homes in established neighborhoods on nice big lots in your price range. The natural surroundings are amongst the best in the metro area and the drive to Rosslyn is pleasant, up the parkway.

[kaday]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will check them out.

[movingtodcfromseattle]

See if the following page for Fairfax County PS is helpful. I don't know if trying to "buy" in a particular school neighborhood is the best way to go. That might be frustrating in the home buying process. Call the Dunn Loring Center and share your situation. Report back and let us know how that works.

Fairfax County Public Schools

[MacUser85]

I would look at staying on Metro's Orange Line corridor between East Falls Church and Vienna. You may get lucky with a home in the 500-600K range in a good public school there. Try zips 22205, 22046, 22043, 22181, 22180, 22027.

You may also want to start looking through back issues of the Washingtonian magazine (I think you can online) for good schools that deal with learning disabilities. There are lots of resources in Northern Virginia.

Good luck to you.

[kaday]

Thanks for all your help. It turns out the salary offered will allow us to bump our housing costs significantly. With a much higher housing budget are there any other areas we should look at? My spouse and I love a walking neighborhood but our kids are stubbornly country/suburban! The vote is for a more natural setting and a big yard.

[robbobobbo]

Military Road, N. Glebe Rd area of Arlington? (22207) It's not country-like, but it's more suburban than most other parts of Arlington (larger yards, houses set back farther from street). Expensive, and in a great school district. Also look down Old Dominion Dr, Williamsburg Blvd.

Plus, there are nice parks and nature centers on Military Rd.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by kaday

Thanks for all your help. It turns out the salary offered will allow us to bump our housing costs significantly. With a much higher housing budget are there any other areas we should look at? My spouse and I love a walking neighborhood but our kids are stubbornly country/suburban! The vote is for a more natural setting and a big yard.

I still really love the City of Falls Church. The downtown area is aesthetically-unappealing (why can't they invest in some "prettying" of the main drags, and what's with all the strip malls?), but there are tons of independent businesses there, every street has sidewalks, and I really do love the residential neighborhoods there. If you get lucky you may even be able to walk to a Metrorail station within a mile of your home. There seems like there'd be a good sense of "community" there. I've heard the city has good schools as well. The only downside seems to be the horrifically ugly downtown. I think member "athousandlogins" lives in the City of Falls Church, so hopefully she'll be along soon to help. It's an urban suburb---if that makes sense.

[kaday]

Thanks. Falls Church does seem like a good fit but there are few houses for sale. My guess maybe it isn't such a great time of year to be selling.