Is Arlington the Best Place to Live in the DC Area?

[Anonymous]

Falls church city is pretty walkable and cute. But you can’t really walk to the middle or high schools from most parts of the city. It’s also about equivalently priced to Arlington. There is a lot of retail in Arlington, but most of it is not charming, for whatever that’s worth. The exception is Westover. They are nice areas to live with kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone we know in Arlington hates the schools right now. I'm not really sure why, but there appears to be a lot of drama in the school system?

I don’t know of any school district in this area right now that most people like. I think the way people are dealing with the pandemic really isn’t pleasing anybody.

Yeah I don't think people in moco are happier

[Anonymous]

McLean is the best place to live, or City of Falls Church or if you can't afford either, just live in Pimmit Hills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The homes PP posted seem pretty similar to the homes in the Clarendon area. Beyond that it seems like personal preference for which area is better, along with work/commutes.

If you don’t consider crime, housing stock, schools, and quality of walkable retail then yes, Clarendon and Bethesda are similar.

Washington Liberty is a 5/10, BCC is a 7/10, and Whitman is a 9/10. You can get a $2M house on the eastern edge of the Whitman boundary near Glenbrook Roar and Wilson Lane and walk to Bethesda Row and the Metro in around 15 minutes. There is nothing similar in Arlington because there isn’t a HS in Arlington nearly as good as Whitman.

The houses in Chevy Chase and Bethesda are also nicer and Bethesda has about half the crime rate of Arlington.

You make good points but at the income you are purchasing a SFH in either place, you are paying a lot more income tax in Moco. When we did the math a few years ago, it worked out that a $1M house in Bethesda was like buying a $1M house in Arlington once you adjust for added tax burden.

Also, a selection of excellent public universities over one decent commute uni has significant value especially if more than one kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The homes PP posted seem pretty similar to the homes in the Clarendon area. Beyond that it seems like personal preference for which area is better, along with work/commutes.

If you don’t consider crime, housing stock, schools, and quality of walkable retail then yes, Clarendon and Bethesda are similar.

Washington Liberty is a 5/10, BCC is a 7/10, and Whitman is a 9/10. You can get a $2M house on the eastern edge of the Whitman boundary near Glenbrook Roar and Wilson Lane and walk to Bethesda Row and the Metro in around 15 minutes. There is nothing similar in Arlington because there isn’t a HS in Arlington nearly as good as Whitman.

The houses in Chevy Chase and Bethesda are also nicer and Bethesda has about half the crime rate of Arlington.

You make good points but at the income you are purchasing a SFH in either place, you are paying a lot more income tax in Moco. When we did the math a few years ago, it worked out that a $1M house in Bethesda was like buying a $1.2M house in Arlington once you adjust for added tax burden.

Also, a selection of excellent public universities over one decent commute uni has significant value especially if more than one kid.

Sorry $1.2M house in Arlington

[Anonymous]

The one important area that Virginia beats MD hands down is their public university system. UVA, William &
Mary, Va Tech, JMU, VCU, VMI… the list goes on. If you have kids and can’t swing 80k a year each for private uni, you will thank your lucky stars you live in Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McLean is the best place to live, or City of Falls Church or if you can't afford either, just live in Pimmit Hills.

Not if OP wants sidewalks and walkability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The one important area that Virginia beats MD hands down is their public university system. UVA, William &
Mary, Va Tech, JMU, VCU, VMI… the list goes on. If you have kids and can’t swing 80k a year each for private uni, you will thank your lucky stars you live in Virginia.

Assuming your top of the class kid can get a spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The one important area that Virginia beats MD hands down is their public university system. UVA, William &
Mary, Va Tech, JMU, VCU, VMI… the list goes on. If you have kids and can’t swing 80k a year each for private uni, you will thank your lucky stars you live in Virginia.

Assuming your top of the class kid can get a spot.

Spots a plenty at George Mason, Radford, VCU….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean is the best place to live, or City of Falls Church or if you can't afford either, just live in Pimmit Hills.

Not if OP wants sidewalks and walkability.

There are sidewalks in all of these places and Metros.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda near Bethesda Row >>>> Arlington on almost every metric (other than affordability and some DC commutes).

This x 1,000,000.

If you can afford it go with downtown Bethesda. Better schools than any comparable neighborhood in Arlington and better retail and restaurants too. The only comparable neighborhood to downtown Bethesda in Arlington is Lyon Village and Clarendon and they do not have houses like this over there that are walkable to retail like this:

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Bethesda/5308-Burling-Ter-20814/home/10639397

That house is $5 million and out of reach for 99 percent of people.

DP. But the above person isn’t wrong. The lot sizes aren’t big enough on the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor to build a house bigger than about 6000SF. Many of the new builds are 5000-6000 SF and live like a townhouse due to all the stairs. The rooms are spread over 4 levels and smaller. Far North Arlington has houses like the one linked above but those neighborhoods are car-dependent.

THat house in Bethesda has a walk score of 13 so is pretty car dependent. there are some big homes near Yorktown where at least you can walk to a Safeway and Harris Teeter (and some random takeout places). That is not my favorite part of Arlington but there are some big homes over there.

This is a smaller home in a walkable neighborhood in Arlington if OP could live with a 3 bedroom, one-level home. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/707-N-Ivy-St-Arlington-VA-22201/12086789_zpid/

That home in Bethesda is .7 miles from an Apple Store in Bethesda Row. You can walk to dozens of restaurants, a grocery store, and retailers that are much nicer than anything in that depressing strip mall at Harrison and Lee Highway from the Bethesda home. Just click on the map and look 4-5 blocks east of the Bethesda home.

There is nothing like that home anywhere near a retail area like Bethesda Row in Arlington. Not only that it is in a 7/9/9 school pyramid and zoned for Whitman HS, which is far better than a high school like Yorktown.

But for $1.3 to $1.8 million can you do better in Bethesda? Wouldn't you end up with a home not that much nicer than the Arlington homes near Clarendon?

Right - you can’t. Money goes father in N. Arlington for schools that are 7/10 as good as Bethesda. Seems like a fair enough trade to me. And the Apple Store in Clarendon isn’t that far. Do you need to go to Apple that often that you need to be walking distance?

Here are a couple homes between $1.2M and $1.8M in Bethesda that are within walking distance to Bethesda Row and the Metro. Apple Store was given as a landmark not because anyone needs to go to the Apple Store but because it is in the middle of Bethesda Row, which has much better retail than anyplace in Arlington that’s walkable to SFH in a great school district like Bethesda Chevy-Chase (BCC) HS. Another positive about these homes is that you can walk to BCC from most of them.

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Chevy-Chase/4619-Norwood-Dr-20815/home/10644253

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Chevy-Chase/4611-De-Russey-Pkwy-20815/home/10643679

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Chevy-Chase/4505-Elm-St-20815/home/10643304

It seems a lot of Virginians offering opinions about Bethesda on here have never even been to Bethesda.

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Bethesda/5108-Hampden-Ln-20814/home/10645773

x10000000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The homes PP posted seem pretty similar to the homes in the Clarendon area. Beyond that it seems like personal preference for which area is better, along with work/commutes.

If you don’t consider crime, housing stock, schools, and quality of walkable retail then yes, Clarendon and Bethesda are similar.

Washington Liberty is a 5/10, BCC is a 7/10, and Whitman is a 9/10. You can get a $2M house on the eastern edge of the Whitman boundary near Glenbrook Roar and Wilson Lane and walk to Bethesda Row and the Metro in around 15 minutes. There is nothing similar in Arlington because there isn’t a HS in Arlington nearly as good as Whitman.

The houses in Chevy Chase and Bethesda are also nicer and Bethesda has about half the crime rate of Arlington.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The homes PP posted seem pretty similar to the homes in the Clarendon area. Beyond that it seems like personal preference for which area is better, along with work/commutes.

If you don’t consider crime, housing stock, schools, and quality of walkable retail then yes, Clarendon and Bethesda are similar.

Washington Liberty is a 5/10, BCC is a 7/10, and Whitman is a 9/10. You can get a $2M house on the eastern edge of the Whitman boundary near Glenbrook Roar and Wilson Lane and walk to Bethesda Row and the Metro in around 15 minutes. There is nothing similar in Arlington because there isn’t a HS in Arlington nearly as good as Whitman.

The houses in Chevy Chase and Bethesda are also nicer and Bethesda has about half the crime rate of Arlington.

+1

Nicer but then you know who you’d have to live with

We don’t have that problem in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

The debate between Bethesda and Arlington is really one about preferences and commute (which varies depending on where you work).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The debate between Bethesda and Arlington is really one about preferences and commute (which varies depending on where you work).

+1