From the Falls Church, Virginia Community Profile 2023
About the City
Falls Church — “The Little City”—is a special place: a small independent city in the national capital region with a strong sense of history and community. It prides itself on its schools, neighborhoods, and parks. The City seeks to preserve its unique character and history while being committed to progress as a welcoming and growing community.
Falls Church is named for The Falls Church, founded in 1733 at the intersection of two important Colonial-era roads. The City’s first permanent structure is believed to be Big Chimneys, a house that became a tavern in 1803. The City played important roles in both the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement, as the first rural branch of the NAACP was established here. The Alexandria, Loudoun, and Hampshire Railroad (later the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad) served the area until the 1960s.
Falls Church became an incorporated town in 1875 and an independent city in 1948. Located only seven miles from the District of Columbia, at the junction of several important transportation routes, the City has grown considerably over the last several decades. Beginning in the 1970s, Falls Church, along with Arlington County, became a destination for Vietnamese refugees and today has the Eden Center, a Vietnamese regional shopping mall. With approximately 14,500 residents, Falls Church is growing as its commercial districts transition from the suburban patterns of the post WWII years to a more urban and walkable lay-out.
The City prides itself on its independent school district, whose students consistently test among the highest in the U.S. The population of Falls Church ranks first in the United States for educational attainment and has a longstanding commitment to investing in its schools, library, parks, arts, and culture.
Small-town Character in an Urban Setting Falls Church takes pride in its small-town atmosphere, walkable neighborhoods, historic buildings and sites, cultural attractions, attractive streetscapes and community focused businesses.
Cultural attractions in the City include: • Big Chimneys Park • Boundary Stones • Mr. Brown’s Park • Cherry Hill Farmhouse and Park • Eden Center • Farmers Market • Mary Riley Styles Public Library • Tinner Hill Historic Site and Tinner Hill Monument. The Farmers Market is open 52 weeks a year and offers a wide variety of vendors.
The City continues investing in public space with projects such as the Washington St Plaza and history panels, holiday lighting along West Broad Street, maintaining flower beds and hanging baskets, and completing a new Wayfinding Sign program to help visitors find key attractions. Planning for the next round of community investments in underway with the adoption of a Park Master Plan for the “Fellows Property” and engineering underway for the Park Avenue Great Streets project. The City’s Historic Preservation Ordinance promotes the protection of structures built in or before 1910. Altogether the City has 106 such buildings.
Falls Church is a walkable city. Nearly one-half of residents live within ¼ mile (5 minutes) of a grocery store. And 83 percent live within ½ mile (10 minutes) of a grocery store. This is consistent with the City’s high Walk Score of 91 out of 100, making it a “walker’s paradise.”7 Walk Score measures people’s ability to meet every day needs on foot. Numerous community groups—including the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation, Village Preservation and Improvement Society, the Education Foundation, Homestretch, and the Homeless Shelter—work to make the City a better, more inclusive place to live.
Buying a home in the City of Falls Church
The cost of living in the City of Falls Church is about 57% higher than the national average. Property taxes are higher than in neighboring Fairfax County. But people intentionally move to Falls Church for the community, walkability, and school and parks.
