About Springfield's West Springfield

When someone asks me for my professional real estate opinion about where is the best place to live in the DC area, I never hesitate to tell them the unrefuted truth: It Depends.

Truthfully, "best" is subjective. I'll leave the rankings up to the professional statisticians who do that sort of thing. For my part, I can only report on what I know based on experience, or the experiences of those that I have worked with or who have been my clients.

I would be remiss if I did not mention my own neighborhood of West Springfield, Virginia as one of the best places to live in Northern Virginia.

West Springfield started to be developed in the late 1950s. Springfield, Virginia grew out of growing demand from Soldiers assigned to nearby Fort Belvoir, and "beltway bandits" wanting to get away from the city.

In 1854, the recently completed Orange and Alexandria rail station at Backlick Road was named Springfield. It was named as such because there were numerous natural springs around the station. The population started to grow slightly, but students in Springfield still went to school in Alexandria until about 1911, when the first school opened there.

Springfield was not developed until the 1950s and 1960s, when demand for housing from GIs and government workers began to grow after WWII.

In the early 1950s, Burke, just west of Springfield was earmarked to be the site of a new airport. However, citizens united and in the end, the airport was built in Chantilly (now Dulles airport.)

In 1947, Vernon Lynch created the subdivision of Springvale. That same year, Edward Carr built Lynbrook and Yates Village. Several builders came into the area in the 50s and 60s and built homes in these "bedroom communities" about 12 miles southwest of the District.

West Springfield was built up during the 1960s. The houses were somewhat larger than the original homes built in Springfield. These communities included pools and other family-related amenities.

Today, West Springfield is a bustling suburb. The schools are top-rated. There are a variety of shops and restaurants to enjoy like The Burger Joint, Austin Grill, and The Afghan. There is of course a Starbucks, Einstein Bagels, and Panera Bread.

We have Whole Foods, Giant, and a variety of fast food as well.

West Springfield has its own Government Center, located at 6140 Rolling Road. It houses the offices of the Springfield District Superviser as well as police, fire and rescue.

There are numerous parks to enjoy, including Hidden Pond Park, which has a small museum and activities for kids, Pohick Stream Valley Park, and Lake Accotink Park, which has miniature golf, paddle boats, and a carousel. Several miles of the Fairfax County Trail runs through a great portion of West Springfield.

The newest addition to West Springfield is the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency offices, built on the old Ft. Belvoir Engineering Proving Ground, now known as Ft. Belvoir North. This development has secured West Springfield as a premiere neighborhood in Northern Virginia and in the DC Metro region.

Homes in West Springfield range from one bedroom condos starting at $125,000 to townhomes in the $200-300,000 range, to a six bedroom new construction for $1.1 million. There is a home for any one with any budget.

If a move to Fort Belvoir, the Pentagon, or NGA is in your future, please do not hesitate to give me a call!

It's almost time for a new class of "Wild Mustangs" to start school at West Springfield Elementary School in Springfield VA. West Springfield Elementary School is located in the Fairfax County Public School System FCPS)and is one of only 25 schools in the FCPS to win the Governors Award of Excellence.

Kindergarten is both an exciting and scary time for first time students. To help make the adjustment there will be a Open House for Kindergarten students on September 1, 2011 at 10 AM. If you wonder what your new student might need here is the Kindergarten supply list.

West Springfield Elementary School
6802 Deland Drive
Springfield, VA 22152

If you are looking for a new home in the West Springfield Elementary School district give Cindy Jones and CJ Realty Group a call at 703-346-2213 to talk about your new home needs. Whether you need to rent or buy a home in West Springfield, Burke or Fort Belvoir areas our team is ready to help you make a move.

West Springfield, Virginia is a quiet little "bedroom community" west of I-95 and the infamous "Mixing Bowl". In the 13 years I've lived here, one thing I've always lamented is the lack of really good restaurants in the area. Austin Grill has been a staple here for years, and while the happy hour is good, the food sometimes can be hit or miss.

But in recent months, our little burg is experiencing a bit of a resurgence, updates if you will. First came Walgreens, which is located directly across Rolling Road from our other drugstore, Staples. Walgreens occupies the space previously occupied by Party Depot, which moved further east to the Springfield Plaza shopping area.

Then, this past fall, Panera quietly opened a restaurant in what used to be Blockbuster Video. (Thank you Netflix). There was a bit of a learning curve, but, although small, the Panera is here to stay.

Then, a few weeks ago, The Burger Joint graced little ol' West Springfield with its presence. Coincidentally, I had enjoyed my very first BGR burger in Arlington about a week before noticing the restaurant located at 8420 Old Keene Mill Road. True to my roots, I tried the Southwestern on for size. With its mango salsa giving it a little bit of a twang, it was truly remarkable. And the french fries/onion rings combo was so generous in size, it literally fed 3 people.

At the Springfield BGR, I sampled just The Burger with provolone cheese. I shudder to think what the calorie count was on that. But that was before my new fitness plan went into effect. I did also notice that they are not nearly as generous with the fries and rings as they are in Arlington. They only gave us 4 onion rings. But who needs that many fries and onion rings anyway?

So, Chicken Out is out, The Burger Joint is in. One more reason to move to West Springfield.

Saturday's Washington Post published an interesting article about Fannie and Freddie's Home Valuation Code of Conduct.

Apparently the House Financial Services committee approved an amendment on October 22 that would eliminate the code with the creation of a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

The code, as it exists today, was a compromise between NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Fannie and Freddie and their regulatory agency the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Cuomo was investigaing the two pseudo-governmental agencies appraisal practices. Lenders putting pressure on appraisers to quote the right numbers and inflating home values to make deals happen was being reported as the norm. Fannie and Freddie agreed to adopt the code if Cuomo backed off.

The code however, while creating appraiser independence, created a whole set of other problems. First, it created "clearing houses" or "appraisal management companies" who paid the appraisers much less for the same work while pocketing the difference. The appraisers who work for these companies often accept work far from their area of expertise. Personal experience: I once had an appraiser who drove from her home in Pennsylvania to do an appraisal on a home on one of my listings in Springfield, VA. She used inappropriate comps and as a result, the value came in lower than the agreed upon price, and we had to go back to the bank to renegotiate the price. As a result, the bank removed all of the closing costs it was going to give to the buyer originally. It could have killed the deal. Luckily it did not.

The code also has caused buyers to pay for the appraisal up front, and sometimes pay for multiple appraisals, if the first one is simply too low

The new bill that creates the Consumer Financial Protection Agency has an uncertain future, especially in the Senate, where big banks and mortgage companies are lobbying against it. There is an independent bill, however, cosponsered by 118 congressmen that will slap an 18-month moratorium on the current code.

Lets hope for the sake of consumers and agents that reason prevails.

Karen has been named 2009 President-elect of the Rotary Club of West Springfield, Virginia. Needless to say I am extremely proud of her - she has worked her way up through the "chairs" and is now ready to lead the club's participation in local and international service projects.

"Rotary is a worldwide organization of more than 1.2 million business, professional and community leaders. Rotarians provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world".

There are 33,000 Rotary clubs in 200 countries - the organization is nonpolitical, nonreligious and is open to all cultures, races and creeds.

After 20 years of hard work, Rotary and its' partners are on the verge of eradicating polio throughout the world and most recently received a grant of $100 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to assist in that project

At RE/MAX, for example, 1 of every 100 licensees is a Rotarian - it speaks volumes about realtor attitudes toward community service.

Karen and I are indebted to Springfield - it has been very good to us professionally. That is precisely why my wife has chosen to give of her time and talents to Rotary. West Springfield will receive "full measure" from my wife.

The Kruschka Team has 33 years full time experience in the Springfield area. If a home purchase is in your future plans we invite you to try our

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and then contact Karen and Art by Email or call us at 703-690-6569. Put our record of customer service, real estate experience and state-of-the-art technology to work for you in Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Prince William County, Stafford County or the entire Northern Virginia Area.