I also had a condo in Va and felt I was dying out there. In your place, I would sell your condo (it's the HOA dues that kill the deal) and move into a fee-simple townhouse on a metro line.
As far as kids go, just be sure that you'll be willing to let your kids be urban kids and that you'll be willing to send them to school here. If you're handy and want to spend all or most of your time fixing up a house, then buy a fixer-upper. I'm not, so I concentrated on new homes. The Near Southeast and Southwest waterfronts are both experiencing phenomenal changes with a lot of new construction. There is enough new construction that you're not competing for limited supply as you would in Northwest. I'm not a housing expert, but my experience has shown me that buying in the first phase of new development can be risky and can take a while before the benefits come through, but the second phase is usually a money-maker. I bought in the second phase of a new townhouse development and my model house is selling at $150k higher than what I paid 3 years ago.
I also wouldn't buy a flipped house here right now -- many reports coming out about mass-sales with very shoddy work.
Start checking the local blogs for info on neighborhoods and developers' plans and permits -- very telling about what to expect. DCist, urban turf, jdland.com; the southwester.