"Where do you live?" "Oh we're in North Arlington"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in North Arlington but I say Arlington when people ask where I live. It would never occur to me to narrow it further unless someone asked, in which case I would refer to the closest big neighborhood that someone was likely to know.

This is the correct response.

If one specifies “North” Arlington they are absolutely trying to convey something, other than geography, and it makes them look like an a**.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in North Arlington but I say Arlington when people ask where I live. It would never occur to me to narrow it further unless someone asked, in which case I would refer to the closest big neighborhood that someone was likely to know.

This is the correct response.

If one specifies “North” Arlington they are absolutely trying to convey something, other than geography, and it makes them look like an a**.

Pray tell, what is that “something,” love?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP you feel insecure which is why you're asking this question.

You're not the first person here to suggest I must be insecure but I'm not following the logic - what insecurity might I have that would prompt me to ask the question in the OP?

The fact that it bothers you tells me you're insecure. No different than someone being annoyed if a friend brings up that their kid got into an Ivy. It hits a sore spot - it's normal. But it's still an insecurity.

I'm less bothered than curious. My wife and I live in North Arlington but pretty close to Rt 50 (Ashton Heights/Lyon Park). She tends to respond to the "where are you from" question with North Arlington and I lean towards just saying Arlington. Or, more specifically, my response depends on where I'm having the conversation. If I'm at the park down the street I say which street, if we're in Clarendon I say which neighborhood, and if we're in DC or Fairfax I'd just say Arlington.

I said this elsewhere in the thread but to me "North Arlington" is so broad as to be almost useless in clarifying where you live. I can walk to Columbia Pike a mile away in South Arlington but there are parts of far North Arlington that would be a 12-15 minute drive. The "North Arlington" response strikes me as juuuuuust specific enough to make it clear that you don't live in South Arlington and if that's all you're trying to do it has a whiff of "well I live in the "good" part of Arlington, not that other part".

Anyway, I asked here because I'm curious how other people interpret that response. It looks like most people don't see anything wrong with it but there's certainly a smaller group of people who read it the same way I do.

Ahhh, so she’s a MONA. Tell her to stop specifying “North.” Your take is exactly correct.

[Anonymous]

Why are people in North Arlington so insecure?

[Anonymous]

Is North Arlington like, Ballston? Or McLean? What is it north of? I’m from Maryland.

[Anonymous]

This kind of reminds me when we were house hunting recently. We were Arlington (South) residents looking for a larger house. We preferred South Arlington for a number of reasons, but larger homes are in smaller supply and so we had to expand our search. We visited an open house in North Arlington and the agent asked where we currently lived. I have the neighborhood name and the response was, “Oh, so you’re looking to move up to North Arlington.” The look I shot back made her immediately regret her statement. I got my husband and we walked out. We narrowed our search back to just South Arlington after that, and it took longer, but we finally found our house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are people in North Arlington so insecure?

OP sounds like the insecure one. I mean, her mindset is bizarre and anxiety-riddled. Who has “debates” about this kind of thing, let alone think about it at all, let alone start a thread about it on a message board. It’s clear OP has some issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people in North Arlington so insecure?

OP sounds like the insecure one. I mean, her mindset is bizarre and anxiety-riddled. Who has “debates” about this kind of thing, let alone think about it at all, let alone start a thread about it on a message board. It’s clear OP has some issues.

OP is the husband who, correctly, has realized his wife’s a snob.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. I'm in the DC area and I am not aware that North Arlington is more or less nice than other locations in Arlington.

+1 I live in Bethesda and gave plenty of friends in Arlington. I didn't know this was a "thing" ( N vs S) until I read DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is North Arlington like, Ballston? Or McLean? What is it north of? I’m from Maryland.

It’s north of rt 50. It designates the poors and not poors. 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I'm in the DC area and I am not aware that North Arlington is more or less nice than other locations in Arlington.

+1 I live in Bethesda and gave plenty of friends in Arlington. I didn't know this was a "thing" ( N vs S) until I read DCUM.

I live in North Arlington. I had no idea it was thing either. But DCUM is gonna DCUM. Anything to do with perceived class (hence the threads about “how to look wealthy” and “ are women who marry well smart or lucky?”). This whole area is filled with strivers and and insecure people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This kind of reminds me when we were house hunting recently. We were Arlington (South) residents looking for a larger house. We preferred South Arlington for a number of reasons, but larger homes are in smaller supply and so we had to expand our search. We visited an open house in North Arlington and the agent asked where we currently lived. I have the neighborhood name and the response was, “Oh, so you’re looking to move up to North Arlington.” The look I shot back made her immediately regret her statement. I got my husband and we walked out. We narrowed our search back to just South Arlington after that, and it took longer, but we finally found our house.

classic DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I'm in the DC area and I am not aware that North Arlington is more or less nice than other locations in Arlington.

+1 I live in Bethesda and gave plenty of friends in Arlington. I didn't know this was a "thing" ( N vs S) until I read DCUM.

I live in North Arlington. I had no idea it was thing either. But DCUM is gonna DCUM. Anything to do with perceived class (hence the threads about “how to look wealthy” and “ are women who marry well smart or lucky?”). This whole area is filled with strivers and and insecure people.

This is not a DCUM thing. This is been a thing in Arlington for quite a while! Are you aware of all of the MONA controversy? How they don’t allow any mothers from below route 50 to join?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This kind of reminds me when we were house hunting recently. We were Arlington (South) residents looking for a larger house. We preferred South Arlington for a number of reasons, but larger homes are in smaller supply and so we had to expand our search. We visited an open house in North Arlington and the agent asked where we currently lived. I have the neighborhood name and the response was, “Oh, so you’re looking to move up to North Arlington.” The look I shot back made her immediately regret her statement. I got my husband and we walked out. We narrowed our search back to just South Arlington after that, and it took longer, but we finally found our house.

A lot of people us "up" synonymously with "north" and "down" with "south". For example, I say "drive up to NY" or "drive down to Florida."

I think you need to remove the chip on your shoulder and give that poor realtor some grace. It's not intended to be a slight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I'm in the DC area and I am not aware that North Arlington is more or less nice than other locations in Arlington.

+1 I live in Bethesda and gave plenty of friends in Arlington. I didn't know this was a "thing" ( N vs S) until I read DCUM.

I live in North Arlington. I had no idea it was thing either. But DCUM is gonna DCUM. Anything to do with perceived class (hence the threads about “how to look wealthy” and “ are women who marry well smart or lucky?”). This whole area is filled with strivers and and insecure people.

This is not a DCUM thing. This is been a thing in Arlington for quite a while! Are you aware of all of the MONA controversy? How they don’t allow any mothers from below route 50 to join?

How is that "controversial?" It's called mothers of north arlington. It's for mothers in north Arlington. Do you go also think ifs controversial when people have block parties? You include the people on your block. It's not an open invitation to all people who live in houses.