Streets or N'hoods good for New England transplant with dogs ?

[OrangeFish]

Originally Posted by vwlizard

We live in Ma. and are having a hard time with the county concept.

Massachusetts native here, and when we moved to northern Virginia (mid-90s) we had a tough time with the county concept, too. County government in Massachusetts is (almost) pointless. (Some might argue that county government in Virginia is almost pointless, too. ) But we have found that the County amenities (parks, libraries, schools, etc.) are excellent in northern Virginia. It just takes some time to learn how things work.

[the2bobs]

One place we didn't look, but interested me was the Lake Anne area of Reston (at least I think that's what it's called). That might be a place to check out due to commute and places to walk.[/quote]

Lake Anne in Reston is great. There's a dog park in Reston and lots of people in Reston have dogs. There's also a dog park in Herndon which is nearby. Unfortunately, not a lot of outdoor dining accepts your canine companions. Old Town Alex. is perfect but a bit far from McLean. Stick to Fairfax Cnty for dog parks.

I love Downtown Herndon, but I'm probably the only one. I used to live there, walk my dogs to the Herndon dog park, commute to Tysons/McLean (left early to/from work), Friday Night Live (live music every Fri. night during the summer) and a lot of festivals/events. Could walk to restaurants/bars, library. We lived in the rental townhouse community "The Townes at Herndon Center". 2 bd/2ba TH, garage, deck, pet friendly, off the W&OD trail. Ok, so a lot of people dislike that area b/c of the influx of Latinos but they didn't bother us at all, very nice and actually terrified of my 2 big dogs. I never felt unsafe there. We lived there for 4 yrs (this was nearly 4 yrs ago tho).

[buildinginva]

In Falls Church, I recommend finding something close to the W&OD trail, which is great for dog walking. The neighborhoods off Great Falls Street (between Haycock Road and Washington Street) would be walkable to W&OD trail and partially also to shops and restarants on Broad Street. We live in a neighborhood in Falls Church called Westhampton (22043, off Haycock Road), that has a lot of people with dogs and is a nice walk - sort of a quiet hamlet, fun houses to look at, a mix of old and new. Good luck!