Falls Church Ranked Nation's Second Best Suburb For City-Like Living

FALLS CHURCH, VA — Falls Church could be seen as a balance between a busier urban setting and quieter suburb about 10 miles away from Washington, DC. That idea is supported in a new study from storage space marketplace StorageCafe, which ranked Falls Church second in the U.S. for best suburbs for city-like lifestyles.

The study looked at 912 cities with populations between 10,000 and 100,000 in the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas. There were 20 deciding factors for the best suburbs for city-like living such as the residential landscape (affordability, new construction and diversity in housing types), demographics, business environment, shopping and dining, health, education, safety, transportation and self storage availability.

Falls Church's ranking at number two was helped by factors like residential construction, business and education. The city has numerous developments underway, and its schools are often ranked among the best in Virginia.

"Falls Church is in fact packed with great amenities that allow a comfortable lifestyle," the study stated about the Little City. "The housing inventory is equally divided between single family and multifamily options, adding a strong note of diversity to the local scene. Thanks to its growing appeal, new residential construction is booming in the area."

While new housing is a strong point for the city, the study noted housing can be expensive in Falls Church. However, the city's high median income over the national average provides balance.

Falls Church was ranked just behind Edina, Minnesota. The states with the most places in the top 10 were California with four, Illinois with three and Florida with two. There were no other DC metropolitan area cities other than Falls Church on the list.

The top 10 cities included:

1. Edina, MN

2. Falls Church, VA

3. Palo Alto, CA

4. Franklin, TN

5. Venice, FL

6. Suwanee, GA

7. Los Gatos, CA

8. Burlingame, CA

9. Lone Tree, CO

10. Burlington, MA

See the full study from StorageCafe here.