Why is Arlington so hot?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda, Cleveland Park, Kensington, Falls Church, and Takoma Park are all just as walkable to parks, coffee shops, and transit and have better schools than most of Arlington.

As for schools, the same cohort (white kids) at Einstein do as well as similar kids at Whitman, which is far better than Arlington’s highest rated school (Yorktown). And Einstein is looked down on by people in MoCo. Yorktown wouldn’t even be a Top 5 school in Fairfax or MoCo.

Regarding crime, Arlington is around a 22 crime score, whereas Bethesda is a 14. Arlington is not that safe compared to other walkable suburbs that cost just as much or less.

I've bolded the parts of your post that make little to no sense. Maybe have a little less Sunday night wine before posting?

I don’t know what’s so hard to understand. There are sites where you can compare crime rates, like this one:

https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/?city1=52407125&city2=55103000

Arlington has around a 75% higher violent crime rate than Bethesda and double the amount of property crime.

It also has much worse schools than Bethesda. No one is arguing that Wakefield, W-L, and Yorktown are better than Walter Johnson, BCC, and Whitman. One could argue that Bethesda’s least regarded school, Walter Johnson, is better than Yorktown. PP was also arguing that Arlington schools are so bad that when you examine metrics by the same racial or socio economic group, kids are faring better in Albert Einstein HS in Wheaton than in Yorktown, which is a bad sign for Arlington considering Albert Einstein is in Wheaton and has a lot of kids who aren’t mostly privileged UMC kids like the students at Yorktown. Also Einstein is looked down upon by a lot of parents on here from MoCo.

Based on what criteria?

Great Schools scores, comparing SATs based on demographics, etc. As PP noted, a mediocre school by MoCo standards (Einstein) with a very high FARMs rate has white kids that outperform white kids at Yorktown when you look at SAT scores. And these white kids are living in $300,000 to $800,000 homes, whereas the white kids in Yorktown are living in homes that mostly start at $1,000,000.

[Anonymous]

EFC checking in. 10 minutes to Wegs in Tysons, 10 minutes to the DC line. Nuff said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda, Cleveland Park, Kensington, Falls Church, and Takoma Park are all just as walkable to parks, coffee shops, and transit and have better schools than most of Arlington.

As for schools, the same cohort (white kids) at Einstein do as well as similar kids at Whitman, which is far better than Arlington’s highest rated school (Yorktown). And Einstein is looked down on by people in MoCo. Yorktown wouldn’t even be a Top 5 school in Fairfax or MoCo.

Regarding crime, Arlington is around a 22 crime score, whereas Bethesda is a 14. Arlington is not that safe compared to other walkable suburbs that cost just as much or less.

I've bolded the parts of your post that make little to no sense. Maybe have a little less Sunday night wine before posting?

I don’t know what’s so hard to understand. There are sites where you can compare crime rates, like this one:

https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/?city1=52407125&city2=55103000

Arlington has around a 75% higher violent crime rate than Bethesda and double the amount of property crime.

It also has much worse schools than Bethesda. No one is arguing that Wakefield, W-L, and Yorktown are better than Walter Johnson, BCC, and Whitman. One could argue that Bethesda’s least regarded school, Walter Johnson, is better than Yorktown. PP was also arguing that Arlington schools are so bad that when you examine metrics by the same racial or socio economic group, kids are faring better in Albert Einstein HS in Wheaton than in Yorktown, which is a bad sign for Arlington considering Albert Einstein is in Wheaton and has a lot of kids who aren’t mostly privileged UMC kids like the students at Yorktown. Also Einstein is looked down upon by a lot of parents on here from MoCo.

Based on what criteria?

Great Schools scores, comparing SATs based on demographics, etc. As PP noted, a mediocre school by MoCo standards (Einstein) with a very high FARMs rate has white kids that outperform white kids at Yorktown when you look at SAT scores. And these white kids are living in $300,000 to $800,000 homes, whereas the white kids in Yorktown are living in homes that mostly start at $1,000,000.

This doesn’t surprise me at all. APS markets itself as nurturing, not rigorous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a good enclave for white people who like diversity in theory and in the abstract but not in real life.

North Arlington is the whitest place in the dmv.
It is the capitol of liberals who live the exact opposite of what they espouse.
There is zero diversity, inclusion or interest in lower income or minorities anywhere near their bubble of white solitude.

Have you been there?

North Arlington is everything north of Rt 50. There are more rich, white people above Rt 50 than below, but overall it’s certainly NOT the whitest place in the DC area. There are multiple affordable housing units and lower-cost apartment buildings. There is even a Title I ES.

North Arlington in practice is everything north of 66. No one near seven corners or the cathedral can really think they are in N Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a shorter commute to downtown than Bethesda. We are 2 miles from the DC border and can be at the White House in 10 min. We also have Metro a block away, 100s of restaurants, stores, dentist, pharmacy, vet’s office, boutique gyms, coffee shops, bakeries, etc within 2 block walk.

SFH, good size yard. Hub to any major highway. 5 min to airport.

Proximity to the airport is important. The location is great even if many jobs stay WFH.

This is just silly. You're not driving anywhere, aside from your neighborhood Giant, in the DMV in 5 minutes or 10 minutes. Let's be real.

And why would you need to by 5 min from an airport?

I live 10 mins from National. I used to fly weekly pre-Covid. It matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is hot because most families are priced out of McLean.

Arlington is more expensive than McLean you nitwit.

DP, but what are you smoking? Average sale of a SFH in McLean over the past 12 months was $1,350,000. In Arlington it was $995,500. Limit the sales to North Arlington and it's $1,146,540, still over $200K less.

Generally North Arlington and McLean have a fair amount in common, although North Arlington is more walkable and McLean has bigger houses and better schools. It also has fewer residents who start "look at me, can you believe it" posts than North Arlington.

DP. Average price per sq. ft. is higher in Arlington than in McLean. McLean has larger lots so they have bigger houses, but it costs more to buy the same house in Arlington than it does in McLean.

I usually see people asking here where they should look based on their housing budget, not the price per square foot. On average people spend more to live in McLean than in Arlington (or North Arlington).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a shorter commute to downtown than Bethesda. We are 2 miles from the DC border and can be at the White House in 10 min. We also have Metro a block away, 100s of restaurants, stores, dentist, pharmacy, vet’s office, boutique gyms, coffee shops, bakeries, etc within 2 block walk.

SFH, good size yard. Hub to any major highway. 5 min to airport.

Proximity to the airport is important. The location is great even if many jobs stay WFH.

This is just silly. You're not driving anywhere, aside from your neighborhood Giant, in the DMV in 5 minutes or 10 minutes. Let's be real.

I live on the Falls Church / Arlington border and pre-Covid an Uber to DuPont circle on a weeknight for dinner usually took 15-17 min.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a good enclave for white people who like diversity in theory and in the abstract but not in real life.

North Arlington is the whitest place in the dmv.
It is the capitol of liberals who live the exact opposite of what they espouse.
There is zero diversity, inclusion or interest in lower income or minorities anywhere near their bubble of white solitude.

Have you been there?

North Arlington is everything north of Rt 50. There are more rich, white people above Rt 50 than below, but overall it’s certainly NOT the whitest place in the DC area. There are multiple affordable housing units and lower-cost apartment buildings. There is even a Title I ES.

North Arlington in practice is everything north of 66. No one near seven corners or the cathedral can really think they are in N Arlington.

I don’t think anyone near the Cathedral even thinks that’s it’s VA.

Many of the desirable areas are south of 66 so.....not sure where you get your facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is hot because most families are priced out of McLean.

Arlington is more expensive than McLean you nitwit.

DP, but what are you smoking? Average sale of a SFH in McLean over the past 12 months was $1,350,000. In Arlington it was $995,500. Limit the sales to North Arlington and it's $1,146,540, still over $200K less.

Generally North Arlington and McLean have a fair amount in common, although North Arlington is more walkable and McLean has bigger houses and better schools. It also has fewer residents who start "look at me, can you believe it" posts than North Arlington.

DP. Average price per sq. ft. is higher in Arlington than in McLean. McLean has larger lots so they have bigger houses, but it costs more to buy the same house in Arlington than it does in McLean.

I usually see people asking here where they should look based on their housing budget, not the price per square foot. On average people spend more to live in McLean than in Arlington (or North Arlington).

But if they want to buy the same thing for less, they move to McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a shorter commute to downtown than Bethesda. We are 2 miles from the DC border and can be at the White House in 10 min. We also have Metro a block away, 100s of restaurants, stores, dentist, pharmacy, vet’s office, boutique gyms, coffee shops, bakeries, etc within 2 block walk.

SFH, good size yard. Hub to any major highway. 5 min to airport.

Proximity to the airport is important. The location is great even if many jobs stay WFH.

This is just silly. You're not driving anywhere, aside from your neighborhood Giant, in the DMV in 5 minutes or 10 minutes. Let's be real.

And why would you need to by 5 min from an airport?

I live 10 mins from National. I used to fly weekly pre-Covid. It matters.

+1

I was traveling weekly when I first moved here. I like seeing the planes - we sometimes bike over to Gravelly Point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a shorter commute to downtown than Bethesda. We are 2 miles from the DC border and can be at the White House in 10 min. We also have Metro a block away, 100s of restaurants, stores, dentist, pharmacy, vet’s office, boutique gyms, coffee shops, bakeries, etc within 2 block walk.

SFH, good size yard. Hub to any major highway. 5 min to airport.

Proximity to the airport is important. The location is great even if many jobs stay WFH.

This is just silly. You're not driving anywhere, aside from your neighborhood Giant, in the DMV in 5 minutes or 10 minutes. Let's be real.

And why would you need to by 5 min from an airport?

If you travel frequently it matters. Arlington is just a central location near jobs and amenities. Those are expensive in every metro area. The lots are small compared to farther out burbs and the housing is bland compared to less convenient areas of DC. I prioritize convenience and lifestyle over extra square footage or a charming facade. Other people feel differently and I am glad they do! I couldn’t afford arlington if it were even more popular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda, Cleveland Park, Kensington, Falls Church, and Takoma Park are all just as walkable to parks, coffee shops, and transit and have better schools than most of Arlington.

As for schools, the same cohort (white kids) at Einstein do as well as similar kids at Whitman, which is far better than Arlington’s highest rated school (Yorktown). And Einstein is looked down on by people in MoCo. Yorktown wouldn’t even be a Top 5 school in Fairfax or MoCo.

Regarding crime, Arlington is around a 22 crime score, whereas Bethesda is a 14. Arlington is not that safe compared to other walkable suburbs that cost just as much or less.

I've bolded the parts of your post that make little to no sense. Maybe have a little less Sunday night wine before posting?

I don’t know what’s so hard to understand. There are sites where you can compare crime rates, like this one:

https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/?city1=52407125&city2=55103000

Arlington has around a 75% higher violent crime rate than Bethesda and double the amount of property crime.

It also has much worse schools than Bethesda. No one is arguing that Wakefield, W-L, and Yorktown are better than Walter Johnson, BCC, and Whitman. One could argue that Bethesda’s least regarded school, Walter Johnson, is better than Yorktown. PP was also arguing that Arlington schools are so bad that when you examine metrics by the same racial or socio economic group, kids are faring better in Albert Einstein HS in Wheaton than in Yorktown, which is a bad sign for Arlington considering Albert Einstein is in Wheaton and has a lot of kids who aren’t mostly privileged UMC kids like the students at Yorktown. Also Einstein is looked down upon by a lot of parents on here from MoCo.

Based on what criteria?

Great Schools scores, comparing SATs based on demographics, etc. As PP noted, a mediocre school by MoCo standards (Einstein) with a very high FARMs rate has white kids that outperform white kids at Yorktown when you look at SAT scores. And these white kids are living in $300,000 to $800,000 homes, whereas the white kids in Yorktown are living in homes that mostly start at $1,000,000.

Oh ok. Your metric is the % rich, white people. Not surprising.

And you can’t compare GS scores across states. They use different test scores and methodologies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a shorter commute to downtown than Bethesda. We are 2 miles from the DC border and can be at the White House in 10 min. We also have Metro a block away, 100s of restaurants, stores, dentist, pharmacy, vet’s office, boutique gyms, coffee shops, bakeries, etc within 2 block walk.

SFH, good size yard. Hub to any major highway. 5 min to airport.

Proximity to the airport is important. The location is great even if many jobs stay WFH.

This is just silly. You're not driving anywhere, aside from your neighborhood Giant, in the DMV in 5 minutes or 10 minutes. Let's be real.

And why would you need to by 5 min from an airport?

If you travel frequently it matters. Arlington is just a central location near jobs and amenities. Those are expensive in every metro area. The lots are small compared to farther out burbs and the housing is bland compared to less convenient areas of DC. I prioritize convenience and lifestyle over extra square footage or a charming facade. Other people feel differently and I am glad they do! I couldn’t afford arlington if it were even more popular.

Personally, I like the narrow lots do we can get to know our neighbors. We have an energetic neighborhood with tons of kids and mostly down-to-earth adults.

It’s always eerily quiet when we visit our friends’ houses with larger lots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is hot because most families are priced out of McLean.

Arlington is more expensive than McLean you nitwit.

DP, but what are you smoking? Average sale of a SFH in McLean over the past 12 months was $1,350,000. In Arlington it was $995,500. Limit the sales to North Arlington and it's $1,146,540, still over $200K less.

Generally North Arlington and McLean have a fair amount in common, although North Arlington is more walkable and McLean has bigger houses and better schools. It also has fewer residents who start "look at me, can you believe it" posts than North Arlington.

DP. Average price per sq. ft. is higher in Arlington than in McLean. McLean has larger lots so they have bigger houses, but it costs more to buy the same house in Arlington than it does in McLean.

I usually see people asking here where they should look based on their housing budget, not the price per square foot. On average people spend more to live in McLean than in Arlington (or North Arlington).

When they are asking where to look based on their housing budget, they are asking where they can find X house for Y dollars. If X house costs Y+$$ in Arlington but only Y in McLean, then people will look in McLean because they cannot afford to buy what they want in Arlington.

As for people spending more on average, that is a factor of lot size. McLean has a small number (but a substantially larger number than Arlington) of very large houses on very large lots that significantly skew the average price upward for McLean. That has nothing to do with how much someone has to spend to get a 4+ bedroom house on at least a quarter of an acre in Arlington vs. McLean.

[Anonymous]

Some SAT score data sets for the schools debate since comparing Great Schools scores across state lines is pointless. The most recent data for all of these districts that’s broken down by school and demographics is from 2016. Compare Yorktown to a school with similarly priced houses and demographics like Whitman, which has a district that touches the DC line.

Fairfax Public Schools - Look up school and SAT scores are a sub-group under the test results tab.
http://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108%3A8

Arlington Public Schools
https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/1970/01/SAT-2016-Table-3.pdf

Montgomery County Public Schools - Page 14
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/pdf/16092...%20Participation%20Perform.pdf