Same here!
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| I lived in a crummy apartment in McLean when I was out of college and very poor. I didn't even know the other Mczkean existed. Now I live in Arlington in a nice house with lots of goodies. We could have lived in McLean in a nicer house because you get more for your money in McLean. Silly me I gave up prestige and space! |
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This post has been instructive. Now I know the target audience for the "McL" bumper stickers.
We live in McLean south of 123, which we call "South McLean" so no one confuses it with "North McLean." It's like South Central LA, except for more minivans and fewer drive-bys. |
Have you actually driven through Chesterbrook Woods and the 'hood that borders it on the other side, CC Hills? McLean may generally have mansions, but Chesterbrook Woods has a lot of older homes. It's not the super fancy part of McLean. On Chesterbrrok Road crossing Glebe, you have no idea whether you are in McLean or Arlington. And the homes in CC Hills are nicer and more expensive than the ones in Chesterbrook Woods. But no, I'm sorry, that part of Arlington has no "cool" vibe. These are just stereotypes thrown out again and again by people unfamiliar with the specific area. |
Actually, Chesterbrook Woods is more obviously affluent than the neighborhood in Arlington that it borders, which is north of CC Hills. It's not a big difference, but the McLean homes are larger and there are fewer sidewalks. CC Hills is further south, and doesn't border McLean, but instead other Arlington neighborhoods. It's very nice, and has many beautiful older homes. Hard to see how you could go wrong in any of these areas unless, of course, living in an area with a "cool vibe" is important to you. People who live in these parts of Arlington or McLean are generally in the post-Del Ray stages of their lives. |
OHHHHH SLAMMM!!!! |
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OP:
I lived in CHesterbrook Woods from 2005-2011, and then we bough another (larger) house off Georgetown Pike in the Langley area. You can't really go wrong with either one. It's an easy drive into DC from either side of McLean. The people generally seem the same, although our experience has been that our neighbors were friendlier in the Langley area. But I suspect that just had more to do with us being more along the same age/stage of life here than we were in Chesterbrook Woods. I'd suggest you just buy whatever house you like on either side. FWIW, we sold our house in Chesterbrook Woods in under 10 days in 2011--it wasn't exactly a 'hot' market, and the one we bought had been on the market for 4 months. Recommend you call JD Callender (Callandar?), she specializes in Chesterbrook Woods and might be able to help you find homes there not listed yet. Plenty of people here send there kids to private, even though the schools are great. We do. Ignore the haters on the board, and the crazy Arlington posters. We came from Arlington, and really like Arlington. McLean just works better for us now. |
No, not intended as slam at all. Love Del Ray, just mean that people who are moving to places like CW and CC Hills aren't going to care much whether these areas are omitted from lists of neighborhoods with "cool vibes" or the like. |
| As a McLean resident, I am now not sure if I "made it", or live in a replica of South Central LA. Going waaaay back to the OP's inquiry, there is almost no difference between McLean High School and Langley. And, if you eventually send your kids to private, well, it doesn't even matter then. I am not sure if I would base the buying of a house on sidewalk availability. I assume if you can spend 1.5 to 2mm, then, you most likely also own a car. |
| Another point. As one poster said, if you do send them to private, there seem to be more private choices on the DC/MD side of the river.... |
OK, first of all, Langley is not a close or easy drive into DC. That's why people choose close-in suburbs like Chesterbook Woods. Second of all, Langley is far wealthier than Chesterbrook Woods, so they're not really similar neighborhoods. Finally, what "haters" have been part of this thread? It's been extremely civil. What a strange retort. To 10:29: CC Hills is actually directly across Glebe Road from Chesterbook Woods (although I suppose that technically, Arlington starts on Chesterbrook Road, where you can tell no difference between the old '50s style homes in either county), and it's certainly more affluent. I don't understand at all how you are defining neighborhood boundaries. Look at Arlington County property records to see the official boundaries. In any case, I completely agree that there are no hipsters in either neighborhood. The only thing walkable from that part of Arlington is McLean. And there's nothing walkable in Chesterbrook Woods either. Not exactly a cool scene. Both McLean and Arlington have many different neighborhoods that can't really be generalized, despite posters' attempts to do so. Not all of Arlington is walkable, cool, close to the metro, and full of restaurants. And not all of McLean is Langley/ super wealthy. |
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You all are way out of touch if you think chesterbrook woods is affordable and moddest. yes the homes are moddest but when a tear down goes for 750-800k this is in fact an expensive area. It's the land value.
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Mc-Lean/1624-Woodman-Dr-22101/home/9415216 |
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Here is the best chesterbrook house ever! Check out the living room size shower
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Mclean/6010-Chesterbrook-Rd-22101/home/9415457
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No one has suggested it is "modest" or "affordable." It's all relative. |