Nielsen’s - Where Everybody Knows Your Name

I love Vienna. I’m new to the area; relocated from a rural part of North Carolina just 8 months ago. (It should be noted that while I live in Oakton, I hear even that is considered an annex of Vienna.) Being a military wife and moving a lot, it’s challenging for my family to find new places that we consider to have a home-like quality about them.

Neilsen’s is an authentic brick building with original wood floors and an air of vintage parlor shop to it. A central rock fireplace surrounded by family style dining room tables and chairs welcomes guests for hours on end. This is the place to do homework, read the paper, people watch and enjoy the best custard outside of the birthplace, Coney Island. A perfect Vanilla and dreamy Chocolate are always available along with two unique flavors offered daily. Options include toppings like Andes mint, coconut and fresh berries. Don’t forget to ask about the Concrete style custard, it puts Coldstone to the test.

Anyone will tell you that the best part about Vienna are the people and Nielsen’s staff are simply passionate about what they do. I love the young employees diligently counting out $20 bills for change, the ladies that meet for lunch, the grandparents with their grandkids and the neighbor dogs that patiently wait outside with their dog friends. This is just the beginning of Church Street and where I’d highly recommend you start and end any stroll that may include boutique shopping, fine dining and other hole in the wall places that are the ambience that makes this the heart of Vienna.

Posted by Krissy Cruse, Buyer Agent, The Belt Team, Keller Williams Realty

EVERYONE LOVES VIENNA - BUT WHY???

This month, the Belt Family (that's my family) celebrates the 40th anniversary of our family moving to Vienna. Our parents, Gail & Jerry Belt moved us here from California as children. Now my brother Terry & I have raised our own children in Vienna. (Shhh - don't ask how old we really are!)

I'm not sure exactly what year the rest of The Belt Team arrived here in Vienna. But I know that like us, Kevin Kleifges arrived as a child, only to raise his sons here as well. Others on our team, like Pauline Knipe, Catharine Via, Susan Hussey and Mary Jane Perry arrived in Vienna as adults, but have also remained and raised families here. And our Client Care Manager, Tara Miller, thinks its the perfect place to raise her dog Casey!

All of us have lived here for years. And we continue to create so many memories here in the town that we call home. If you follow our blog regularly, then you already know that WE LOVE LIVING IN VIENNA, VA.

But here's the thing, we're not the only ones. This week we asked other folks to share why THEY love living here too. And we got some great answers - even some from people who WISHED they lived in Vienna!

Here's what they had to say:

Joseph Preston: "I can walk or bike to EVERYTHING in minutes. 2 major airports within half an hour. And yet there is a 30 acre park at the end of my street and deer are in the front yard every night, and the mayor answers her phone. What could be better?"

Laura Goyer: "I can walk to everything I need! I have friends who have become family. There are people here who have my back and will tell me if they see my kids stepping out."

Marion Serfass: "I can go to Giant in the middle of cooking something for that ingredient I forgot, the bike path, the Halloween parade in our front yard, the schools, the people, and whatever everyone else said! For a parent who works outside the house, the ability to get all my errands done quickly because everything you need is right here."

Valerie Taylor: ""The Halloween Parade, Octoberfest, the bike path, Water's field, Marshall/Madison games, Viva Vienna (ok for the kids), breakfast at the Virginian, of course the INN and save the best for last - Dunn Loring Swim Club and Friday cornhole league!!

Kathy Thiringer: "I love it when I ask my kids if THEY mind growing up in the same town all their lives (I moved around a lot) and they say that they love Vienna, always seeing people they know, feeling safe. Along with the "eyes" of friends, I, too, know that if they ever needed help, someone would step in to help them (like the guy who called 911 when Stephen took a header off his bike near the caboose)."

Elizabeth DiFrancisco: "I love (most of the time) being able to go ANYWHERE in Vienna and seeing people I know. I love that I have 5000 eyes around town keeping the Village Eye on my kids and helping to keep them safe. (or letting me know when I need to step in)."

Ellen Schaad: "I used to be within easy walking distance of Pie Gourmet!"

Teresa Schultz: "Very little crime due to our fine police force."

John Schultz: "As long as you don't count me forgetting to take the trash out a crime."

Tara MacCall: "The community spirit-the people, the schools-everything I need is within two miles, the Community Center-the parks-the Vienna Inn-the fact the checkout person at my grocery store knows me and my kids. And believe it or not, I love the trees, just not as much in the fall."

Colleen Geiger: "From someone who lives on the outskirts but with a Vienna address . . . it just feels like our hometown. Once there it's easy to hit every stop on the to do list and you have a good chance to stop for coffee with a friend along the way."

Lynn Kelliher: "Loved growing up here. Loved raising my kids here."

Colleen Geiger: "Oh and the boys loved it when they were old enough to take the bike trail in to town and walk around and go out to lunch. A safe place to let them feel their independence."

Tara MacCall: "Living in Vienna means going to a high school JV basketball game where the referee congratulated my daughter on a great game and making the JV team-he hugged me-since he has been reffing her games since she was in 4th grade. "

Marie Gadell: "I agree with every comment made! I love being able to walk to shops, restaurants, activities (Viva Vienna), and friends. I love that so many friends are watching out for my kids and I theirs. Running into friends all over Vienna. Even if you don't know them personally, there is always a kind smile."

Joseph Preston: "To add to what Marie said, there is a "town" feel here that I have not experienced anywhere else - Fairfax, Leesburg, Springfield just to name a few. We have lived at our current address a bit over two years and we have a t least met everyone for a radius of a block or so around us. We know our neighbors, they know us, we watch their houses, they watch ours, and it's a real neighborhood. Vienna seems to be more like that than anywhere in the area that I know of."

If this sounds like the place you'd like to live, contact The Belt Team. It would be a pleasure to help make your dreams come true!