Mclean vs. Vienna

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:lets face it, neither area has a nice town-center area like bethesda or reston. I think Vienna has more potential though, because you already have Maple as THE road with all of the crappy strip falls. just tearing down one of those strip malls and replacing it with mixed use and underground parking would be huge.

Vienna does have a town center....it is on church street, one block north of maple ave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:lets face it, neither area has a nice town-center area like bethesda or reston. I think Vienna has more potential though, because you already have Maple as THE road with all of the crappy strip falls. just tearing down one of those strip malls and replacing it with mixed use and underground parking would be huge.

Vienna does have a town center....it is on church street, one block north of maple ave.

Much ado here about 2-3 older-looking blocks north of the actual town center, which is the intersection of Maple Avenue and Center Street. Nothing wrong with Church Street, for sure, but it's not on the scale of what the other poster was describing in Bethesda or Reston. If people in Vienna were keen to have a "real town center," they should have had the Vienna Metro station built somewhere other than the intersection of Nutley and 66.

[Anonymous]

14:28. From the west side of Vienna, I would agree. Metro is more accessible though from Vienna and you can get a seat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:14:28. From the west side of Vienna, I would agree. Metro is more accessible though from Vienna and you can get a seat.

Vienna covers a lot of territory. It takes longer to drive to the Vienna Metro from some parts of Vienna than it does to drive from the WFC Metro from some parts of McLean. To walk to the Vienna Metro from most places in the Town other than part of SW Vienna would be a hike.

You are more likely to find parking after 8:00 AM at the WFC station that at the Vienna station. You may or may not get a seat on the inbound trains from WFC; often, you can. On the outbound trains, of course, living in Vienna does not ensure you'll find a seat, although you are guaranteed a longer trip and a higher fare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14:28. From the west side of Vienna, I would agree. Metro is more accessible though from Vienna and you can get a seat.

Vienna covers a lot of territory. It takes longer to drive to the Vienna Metro from some parts of Vienna than it does to drive from the WFC Metro from some parts of McLean. To walk to the Vienna Metro from most places in the Town other than part of SW Vienna would be a hike.

You are more likely to find parking after 8:00 AM at the WFC station that at the Vienna station. You may or may not get a seat on the inbound trains from WFC; often, you can. On the outbound trains, of course, living in Vienna does not ensure you'll find a seat, although you are guaranteed a longer trip and a higher fare.

metro to tysons should be a game changer for Vienna. i want dedicated bus lanes on maple/nutley, driving passengers between the two stops 14 hours a day 6 am to 8 pm. i want redvelopment on maple. i want to continue the progress on church street. i want greater density and mixed use. i want bike lanes on lawyers and hunter mill. town has a ton of potential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
metro to tysons should be a game changer for Vienna. i want dedicated bus lanes on maple/nutley, driving passengers between the two stops 14 hours a day 6 am to 8 pm. i want redvelopment on maple. i want to continue the progress on church street. i want greater density and mixed use. i want bike lanes on lawyers and hunter mill. town has a ton of potential.

I want, I want, I want. People in McLean want some of the same things insofar as incresed density/development near Chain Bridge/Old Dominion, and bike lanes and access to the new Tysons-McLean metro station, are concerned. But, sadly, it all takes time and costs $$$.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:lets face it, neither area has a nice town-center area like bethesda or reston. I think Vienna has more potential though, because you already have Maple as THE road with all of the crappy strip falls. just tearing down one of those strip malls and replacing it with mixed use and underground parking would be huge.

Vienna does have a town center....it is on church street, one block north of maple ave.

Much ado here about 2-3 older-looking blocks north of the actual town center, which is the intersection of Maple Avenue and Center Street. Nothing wrong with Church Street, for sure, but it's not on the scale of what the other poster was describing in Bethesda or Reston. If people in Vienna were keen to have a "real town center," they should have had the Vienna Metro station built somewhere other than the intersection of Nutley and 66.

So you would rather have a massive town center with chain stores (ala reston) than a smaller town with small local buisness? The latter describes Vienna

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:lets face it, neither area has a nice town-center area like bethesda or reston. I think Vienna has more potential though, because you already have Maple as THE road with all of the crappy strip falls. just tearing down one of those strip malls and replacing it with mixed use and underground parking would be huge.

Vienna does have a town center....it is on church street, one block north of maple ave.

Much ado here about 2-3 older-looking blocks north of the actual town center, which is the intersection of Maple Avenue and Center Street. Nothing wrong with Church Street, for sure, but it's not on the scale of what the other poster was describing in Bethesda or Reston. If people in Vienna were keen to have a "real town center," they should have had the Vienna Metro station built somewhere other than the intersection of Nutley and 66.

So you would rather have a massive town center with chain stores (ala reston) than a smaller town with small local buisness? The latter describes Vienna

doesn't have to be "massive", has to be smart. mixed use. some residential. parking underground. pedestrian friendly. this is not earth shattering. look at clarendon (vienna would be a much smaller scale with no highrises) for an example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:lets face it, neither area has a nice town-center area like bethesda or reston. I think Vienna has more potential though, because you already have Maple as THE road with all of the crappy strip falls. just tearing down one of those strip malls and replacing it with mixed use and underground parking would be huge.

Vienna does have a town center....it is on church street, one block north of maple ave.

Much ado here about 2-3 older-looking blocks north of the actual town center, which is the intersection of Maple Avenue and Center Street. Nothing wrong with Church Street, for sure, but it's not on the scale of what the other poster was describing in Bethesda or Reston. If people in Vienna were keen to have a "real town center," they should have had the Vienna Metro station built somewhere other than the intersection of Nutley and 66.

So you would rather have a massive town center with chain stores (ala reston) than a smaller town with small local buisness? The latter describes Vienna

No, I'd actually rather have what Vienna has. I just wouldn't pretend that Church St. is the "town center," except perhaps in some historical sense that still resonates for some people emotionally, or that there aren't lots of chains in Vienna, too.

[Anonymous]

Vienna sort of has that on Church, minus the underground parking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the median, rather than the mean. Mean is the average house, and will be skewed by the few really nicer houses. Median is the "middle" middle value.

For example, the median of 5 4 6 3 20 is 5. the Mean is 7.4.

Agree. median is a better gauge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the 526k is for the shacks in Vienna Woods, not in my area of Vienna, though. And yes, my comprehesion was off, meant WAHM. Still better that a WOHM!

Nobody had anything bad to say about SAHM or WAHM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Preschool in Vienna is cheaper too.

I don't think people buy in McLean because their dollar won't go as far as it would in Vienna.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:let's cut the bull shit. If you have more money you would live in McLean over Vienna. Vienna is a nice place to live but not as good as McLean.

Not true! My husband works in Tysons and we looked at both Mclean and Vienna and our budget was 1.2-1.5 million, so decent options in both places. We chose Vienna for the community, the closer proximity to the now finished Target and MOM's, the trail, the walkability, the more "down to earth"ness about it.. pretty much we preferred the Vienna lifestyle.

Yes, really down to earth living in a $1.5 mil house.

Only in the DC area would a stay at home mom say 1.2-1.5 million with such humbleness

Fake humbleness.

Okay you win, I'm fake humble. Don't know what you have against SAHM's. I work from home btw after many years of out of the home work. Too bad its temporary, will go back to long hours when the kids are older. I guess since DH and I got post graduate degrees in fields with high paying stable careers albeit with very long hours, saved a lot of money by not keeping up with the Joneses and live in a nice home we are not allowed to be called anything but fake.

Work hard, achieve goals and dreams, feel fortunate = fake. Got it.

Is this what you teach your kids too?

Who said anything about SAHM's? Check your reading comprehension.

Refer to the bolded posts. My reading comprehension skills are fine.



Look OP (if your still even listening to all this bickering), both Mclean and Vienna are fine places to live and they both have great schools. I responded to the underlined post to show another side- that having money does not always mean one would automatically choose Mclean over Vienna. Not sure why the whole humbleness BS got thrown in after that, but this is DCUM and juvenile cattiness over rational discussion is to be expected.

If you do a search for "Mclean vs Vienna" you'll probably find more posts that turn into this same type of bickering.

My suggestion to you would be to take what you want from this post ( the mclean "voices" vs the vienna "voices) and also just go into both of the towns and walk around, have lunch somewhere and strike up a conversation with the residents. It's the best way to get non-catty advice from the locals.

Good luck with your decision!

I was the OP who wrote about the 1.5 mil not being humble. Someone else chimed in about SAHM and 1.2-1.5 mil "with such humbleness."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Preschool in Vienna is cheaper too.

I don't think people buy in McLean because their dollar won't go as far as it would in Vienna.

Well, many people do buy in McLean, but some may decide that lower housing and other costs in Vienna weigh in favor of buying there instead.