Vienna vs McLean: culture differences?

[Anonymous]

Average price for a single-family house sale in McLean over the past year was around $1.7M vs. $1.2M in Vienna. But the wealthiest parts of Vienna are fancier than the least expensive parts of McLean. Both areas straddle Tysons, but McLean is in between Tysons and DC, whereas Vienna is in between Tysons and the Dulles/Route 28 tech areas. So McLean attracts more people with DC ties (government, law, journalism), whereas Vienna gets more of the IT consultants and defense contractors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think of McLean as skewing a bit wealthier (just a bit), but I also think of McLean as something no one else has mentioned here yet -- lots of older people. Like rich elderly women, in particular. Businesses that have been there forever. I think of Vienna as a bit more family oriented. Vienna is kids on the block playing together, McLean is carefully engineered playdates. The playdate thing is probably an exaggeration, but it is what comes to mind.

There’s no carefully engineered play dates which start up because someone has a house on different side of route 7. There’s variation in demographics between neighborhoods. I haven’t met the rich old ladies of McLean. Sounds like it should be a reality show.

[Anonymous]

It all depends on which particular street of McLean vs which particular street of Vienna.

[Anonymous]

Money is not an issue? Then McLean please. No need for Vienna

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think of McLean as skewing a bit wealthier (just a bit), but I also think of McLean as something no one else has mentioned here yet -- lots of older people. Like rich elderly women, in particular. Businesses that have been there forever. I think of Vienna as a bit more family oriented. Vienna is kids on the block playing together, McLean is carefully engineered playdates. The playdate thing is probably an exaggeration, but it is what comes to mind.

Our street in McLean only has kids playing together informally…. Stereotypes about either place wil be wrong.

[Anonymous]

My kids in McLean have not had ‘structured engineered playdates’ since they were about 9 and we trusted them to ride their bikes to friends houses.

We also hang out in front yards, backyards and the street and socialize with our neighbors on our cul da sac.

Don’t stereotype…

[Anonymous]

We lived in Vienna TH before we moved to McLean SFH community. We moved to McLean for better school and closer commute to MD/DC. We love our neighborhood in a cul de sac. We have ice cream party at the end of school year for kids, summer cook out, and cultural celebrations for different countries. It’s also very diverse. We met lots of people from all over the world who work for embassies in DC. Lots of young families with kids, lots of new development in downtown McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are splitting hairs. There’s more similarities than any differences at all. We have best friends in both.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Money is not an issue? Then McLean please. No need for Vienna

Agree. Mclean is definitely wealthier. I have lived there for 3 years as an Au-pair. I have droven kids everywhere and also had other friends- Au pairs living in Vienna. I would pick Mclean if money is not an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money is not an issue? Then McLean please. No need for Vienna

Agree. Mclean is definitely wealthier. I have lived there for 3 years as an Au-pair. I have droven kids everywhere and also had other friends- Au pairs living in Vienna. I would pick Mclean if money is not an issue.

Is there anything other than being wealthier that you think makes McLean better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money is not an issue? Then McLean please. No need for Vienna

Agree. Mclean is definitely wealthier. I have lived there for 3 years as an Au-pair. I have droven kids everywhere and also had other friends- Au pairs living in Vienna. I would pick Mclean if money is not an issue.

Is there anything other than being wealthier that you think makes McLean better?

DP. Some of the advantages include more privacy, less congestion on the main roads (the traffic on Maple Avenue/123 in Vienna is a lot worse than Chain Bridge or 123 in McLean), higher ranked schools (Langley and McLean are ## 2 and 3 in Virginia and also send more kids to TJHSST than Madison and Marshall), greater proximity to DC and Arlington, and generally nicer homes (the quality of new builds in McLean is better than in Vienna).

But that's not to say Vienna doesn't have its advantages as well. At the end of the day, they blend into one another, with Tysons in the middle.

[Anonymous]

Parent friends in McLean always complained about the neighborhood being older (not as many young families), not walkable, and unfriendly/standoffish. Parent friends in Vienna say it has a small-town feel and is more walkable, with more young families to socialize with.

They are both pretty affluent areas and very unapologetically suburban.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent friends in McLean always complained about the neighborhood being older (not as many young families), not walkable, and unfriendly/standoffish. Parent friends in Vienna say it has a small-town feel and is more walkable, with more young families to socialize with.

They are both pretty affluent areas and very unapologetically suburban.

Any place that is more expensive is going to trend older. Chevy Chase trends older than Rockville, too.

We know multiple families that left Vienna for McLean when they could afford a nicer property.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think of McLean as skewing a bit wealthier (just a bit), but I also think of McLean as something no one else has mentioned here yet -- lots of older people. Like rich elderly women, in particular. Businesses that have been there forever. I think of Vienna as a bit more family oriented. Vienna is kids on the block playing together, McLean is carefully engineered playdates. The playdate thing is probably an exaggeration, but it is what comes to mind.

Do you even live in McLean? There are no patches of rich elderly women! Most homes are dual income families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think of McLean as skewing a bit wealthier (just a bit), but I also think of McLean as something no one else has mentioned here yet -- lots of older people. Like rich elderly women, in particular. Businesses that have been there forever. I think of Vienna as a bit more family oriented. Vienna is kids on the block playing together, McLean is carefully engineered playdates. The playdate thing is probably an exaggeration, but it is what comes to mind.

I’ve lived in McLean for 14 years and the bolded above is so true!