It's true: a portion of Alexandria is not in the City of Alexandria at all!

This is because of how the Commonwealth of Virginia organizes its jurisdictions. The state is organized into counties and county-like jurisdictions called "independent cities" or just "cities". In most respects, a city is not much more than a county that wants to be called a city. For example, the county of Arlington is larger, more populous and more urban than most cities in Virginia; while the city of Falls Church is about the same size as the town of Vienna which is in Fairfax County.

Speaking of towns, newcomers sometimes confuse a city with an "incorporated town". An incorporated town, like a city, has its own government. However a town is located inside a county. Like a town, a city has its own government, but a city is not part of any county.

Northern Virginia has several independent cities and the City of Alexandria is one such independent city. The City of Alexandria borders Fairfax County, but Alexandria is not in Fairfax County.

However, to make things especially confusing for newcomers and for folks hunting houses, there are large parts of Fairfax County that have an Alexandria postal address. These areas of "Greater Alexandria" are most definitely part of Fairfax County and are not in the City of Alexandria. In general, postal Alexandria is more suburban than addresses in the City of Alexandria, but this is not always the case. A few of neighborhood in Alexandria of Fairfax County include:

• Fort Hunt
• Franconia
• Huntington
• Kingstowne
• New Alexandria
• Parts of Springfield

To make things a little more confusing, Fairfax County surrounds the City of Fairfax. Locals generally refer to the county as "Fairfax County" and the city as "Fairfax", but Alexandria uses the opposite nomenclature. "Alexandria" generally refers to greater/postal Alexandria, while "City of Alexandria" refers to the jurisidiction of the City of Alexandria.

If you're still confused, no worries!  We'll do all the work of searching for homes for you.  Contact us today and give me an idea what you're looking for. At any given time there are thousands of homes for sale in Northern Virgina.  One of them is the right home for you.

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About the Author --- Will Nesbitt is the principal broker of Condo 1 Alexandria / Will Nesbitt Realty LLC. Will specializes in condos, townhouses and single family residences in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County, Crystal City, and Kingstowne. Will resides in Belle Haven Estates just outside Alexandria VA in Fairfax County.