The city of Alexandria (not to be confused with the Alexandria section of Fairfax county) has several nice neighborhoods: Beverley Hills, Braddock Heights, Jefferson Park, Del Ray, Rosemont, and Seminary Heights. It's a great location near Old Town with lots of tree lined streets. The public schools are adequate, but there are several excellent private schools in the neighborhood. Check zips 22302, 22301, 22314

You mentioned the neighborhood of my dreams - Lyon Village! For 2 years I lived in an apartment on the edge of Lyon Village and would walk my dog along the streets, as well as walking to the metro, bars & restaurants. The neighborhood has beautiful homes, a sense of history & neighborhood and is conveniently located. You have the option to drive (30 min. in rush hour traffic) or take the metro into DC. The restaurants are not chain restaurants, but original and all delicious. Also, once you get inside the neighborhood, it is peaceful and lovely.

Someday I hope to move back into Arlington and buy a house in Lyon Village once I can afford to do so; for the time being we are living in suburbia where sfh's are a little more affordable.

Good luck and I hope you find the house of your dreams!

Hi all, i'm bringing this back up again. We have been looking in all the great areas you suggested via internet and a local realtor whom I contacted. We are flying out to D.C. Friday night to look at soem houses in person one in Lyon Village which I am really excited about. Have been asked by realtor if any other specific areas I want to check out. If I can't look at a specific house ther this weekend at least one to drive around there and et a feel for the neighborhood. this brings me to just a couple more questions. 1) Lyon Village is zip 22201 in arlington, how is that school system? 2) Houses seem MUCH cheaper in Silver Spring and Tacoma Park (same amount of money alot more house) yet these are close in suburbs, is there something wrong with them i.e. bad schools, unsafe, ghettoish what? 3) how are property taxes in arlington vs. Montgomery Co. MD and finally 4) any other suburb to look in, I want something with a about 30 min. commute to downtown ? Really appreciate all the good answers and that is why I contiue to post, no one knows like you guys!

Welcome, Relocator. I hope the rain stops before your visit.

As for the housing prices in Silver Spring and Takoma Park, well, I think there is more crime there, and the schools aren't great. Probably not a good plan, IMHO.

I think you've pretty much exhausted the good 30-minute commute suburbs, so you can probably only expand your search inward (the District), or outward.

As far as property taxes, I'm no expert, but my Montgomery County Property Tax Bill says the there is a county property tax rate of 1.857, a state property tax rate of .21, and a special area property tax rate of .695. There is also a solid waste charge of $295 per year. In my very limited experience, the county tends to be very conservative in assessing the value of the property. Our home is assessed at far below its retail value, and I've never understood why that is. They raise it every year, but there is some law that prevents them from jacking up the rate too much in a year.

Anyway, I hope this helps.

Arlington is more expensive because of its location. It's close to downtown DC, the pentagon (in Arlington), RR National Airport (in Arlington), Tyson's Corner (the New Downtown for N.Virginia), and it has excellent public transit. Silver Spring an Takoma Park are not as ideally situated, and parts of that area are not well-kept.

Arlington public schools are adequate (better in the north end of Arlington). Fairfax County and Montgomery County both have excellent school systems.

The city of Falls Church (not the Falls Church area in Fairfax County), is close in, and has excellent schools. It's not cheap, though.

Good luck!

Falls Church City schools are some of the best in the nation...and you can find a 3BR 2BA house in the City for $350K. Arlington schools can be good, depending on neighborhood...there are outstanding magnet schools in Arlington County, and you should be able to hit your house price target.

Falls Church/McLean also has houses in the $350K market, though you wouldn't know it on the surface; and the schools in that specific area of Fairfax County are EXCEPTIONAL. Falls Church City and Falls Church/McLean has very close access to metro (sometimes a walk, sometimes a mile), I-66, and I-495, and even driving it's only 30 minutes downtown.

Can I re-ask the earlier question someone posted about Cleveland Park? We may be relocating to DC as well and would be interested in renting (for now) an apartment (1br) in the Dupont Circle or Cleveland Park areas -- what's the market like now? Thanks.

JHM, Dupont Circle and Cleveland Park are both great places to live, and therefore are very expensive. A decent 1 bedroom will run at least $1100+. Also consider Woodley Park, Friendship Heights, Upper Georgetown, Logan Circle, the West End, and anyplace in Arlington along the Orange Line (Metro Rail).

I feel like Saly Field: You envy me! You really, really envy me! I live in Lyon Village, whihc has a Web site:
www.lyonvillage.com
We're very happy here--all the good stuff they said above is true.

Silver Spring is NOT a close-in suburb. And the area near the SS metro is not somewhere I'd want to live.

I had actually forgotten about Takoma Park (there is a Takoma Park, D.C., and Takoma Park, Md.). The neighborhood's pretty interesting. Often described as "funky" or "nutty and crunchy". Some of the houses are just beautiful. Lots of character. Interesting restaurants and shops, too. However, you would need a realtor who really knows Takoma Park well, because there are areas that aren't the best. Not sure about the schools.

The earlier poster about Falls Church: Falls Church can be deceptive. The way it's laid out, a small part of FC is an easy commute into D.C. (anything within about 3 miles of the East Falls Church metro). But if you get beyond that, you're starting to get into deep into Fairfax County (this is a county stretches all the way from Falls Church, which borders Arlington to Centerville, which is about 20 miles BEYOND the Beltway).

If you can find something you like and can afford in Lyon Village, it's absolutely no contest.

Oh, and the typos in my message are in no way indicative of the quality of education in Arlington public schools.

Actually, Silver Spring is a close in suburb. A coworker of mine lives in Silver Spring and it takes her approximately 1.5 minutes by car to reach DC. In fact, if I were to drive up 16th Street in DC, I will cross over into Maryland into Silver Spring. However, Silver Spring is sprawling and I suspect Lisa is thinking of areas up New Hampshire Avenue, White Oak, Old Columbia Pike. Some parts of SS are nice, some are questionable. The people I know that live there love their neighborhoods.

There is no part of Falls Church that goes farther than 3 miles from the East Falls Church metro. I know, I live here. Falls Church CITY is the closest to DC, but even Falls Church that falls within Fairfax County is close.

To Chris and others, I have an additional question, I am still unclear about the differnce between Falls Church City and Falls Churh in Fairfax county. sorry! Also from what I have learned so far about commutes etc we are not interested in moving all the way out to fairfax County. I want to make sure my commute by car is no more than 30-40 min to downtown in rush hour and am looking for 15+ min when not rush hour. I hate to have so many dumb and sometimes repetitive questions but . . . Another reason for avoiding Farifax county is that I have been told it is much more suburban i.e. strip malls, walmarts, chain restaurants like applebees on every corner (someone earlier called it "Shirley highway sprawl") We are coming from downtown Chicago and are not quite ready for thta kind of change yet. We definitely want something closer to the city which is unique and fun but still can have single family home.

Falls Church City is a teeny tiny (2-3 square mile) independent entity tucked between Arlington County and Fairfax County. It has two elementary schools (one K-2, one 3-5) and one combined/middle high school. Has its own teeny policy department, city government, etc. etc.

There is a "Falls Church" zip code in Fairfax County also -- the Fairfax County Falls Church is immediately adjacent to the City. Most folks hereabouts know that 22046 is Falls Church City and 22043 is the County. The County version of Falls Church is only another couple of miles outside Falls Church City.

Not to confuse you further, but you can live in Falls Church/Fairfax County and be closer to DC than even Falls Church City, if you're on the Arlington/McLean side of the City! Look on a DC area map, with DC in the Center, and find Falls Church City; anything from there on in, whether it's Arlington County or Fairfax County, is going to give you the commute you want. I live in Falls Church City, and on a weekend I'm at my sister's house, deep in DC, way up 13th Street NW, in 15 minutes flat.

I meant to say POLICE department, not POLICY department.

One more thing, re the "Shirley Highway Sprawl: none of that in FC city or any part of Falls Church/McLean inside the Capital Beltway.

When you come visit, have your realtor take you around -- you'll see what's what.

Don't give up on Fairfax County as being too far from DC - it's a very large county, and although a lot of it is the kind of strip mall sprawl that you want to avoid, the sections closer to the city are fine. McLean should be a 20-minute drive from DC, although I don't know what it's like in rush hour. As previous posters have mentioned, the schools in Fairfax Co. are some of the best in the country, and the schools in McLean are considered to be some of the best in the county (granted, I hated all the years I spent in them, but that's another story.) Still, my vote would be for Arlington. We live in an apartment building across the street from Lyon Village now, and love the location. The houses are beautiful - mainly from the 1920's and 30's. However, you might also want to check out Cherrydale, which is kind of the next neighborhood over. We lived there for 10 years, and although it's not as charming as Lyon Village, it's pleasant, not far from Metro, and probably a little less expensive. There's another very nice neighborhood on the other side of Lee Hwy., bounded by Spout Run Pkwy. and Lorcom Lane, but the name escapes me - you might ask your realtor about it, though.

Ann--Is that Maywood?

Greatly appreciate all the wonderfula dvice from fodorites! can't wait for weekend! Will be looking in Arlington, clarendon, Ballston, cherrydale, LyonVillage areas and hoping to find something around $400k. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Am I completely insane or is there not at least one strip mall smack in the middle of Falls Church City (there's a Jerry's and a Pancake House or something like that in there), and then a giant strip mall maybe a mile down the road from there?

Anyway, relocator, I live in Alexandria now, but lived in various areas of Arlington (Courthouse, Ballston, near the Falls Church border, about a mile down Lee Highway from Lyon Village), and loved them all. From the last spot, near Lyon Village, I used to walk to work at Georgetown University in the District. This took about 40 minutes each way.

I love D.C. and the surrounding area. I came to college here (GW) in 1987 and have never left. Don't let the traffic and the hordes of pompous people driving SUVs (because you have so many dirt roads and huge piles of snow in Washington) that live here (and they all seem to cluster at area Fresh Fields grocery stores) put you off. It's a fun place to live with a gazillion things to do. And D.C. also happens to be a beautiful city (yes, before anyone posts, it does have more than it's fair share of blemishes). The job market here, too, is incredible. When I graduated in 1991, it was decreed as the worst year ever for grads looking for work (before 1992, that is). Yet everyone I knew easily found jobs. And it's been that way ever since.

Of course, D.C. has its drawbacks, but so does every city, so I won't bore you with the details.