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

[Anonymous]

Also no comparison with the in-state options. There’s just more choices. And dc tag keeps lowering the income eligibility every year.

[Anonymous]

McLean is the premium area, arlington is only good because it is near mclean.

[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.

doordash and amazon renders walkability useless, i'd pick pimmit if you want to have cheap new builds and can afford private school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're moving long-distance and don't know the DC area well, but have done a lot of online research.

For someone who wants the traditional 4-bedroom house, walk to school and playgrounds, but also an urban feel, not all strip malls and developments, and close enough to DC to go in and enjoy the city most weekends, Arlington seems by far the best place to live...maybe even the only place.

Bethesda is the only other one that seems to be in that range, but feels more suburban and more snobby. In Silver Spring, the nice single-family homes seem to be further out from downtown and the big downtown complex feels kind of manufactured/too commercial (Dave & Busters, burgers, pizza). I've always lived in big cities and really love the full experience of world-class museums, historical sites, parks, restaurants, at my doorstep. Arlington seems to offer easy access to that.

Am I missing something or is Arlington really the best? And is that why all the homes are like $1.3-$1.8 million dollars, because it's so wonderful and everyone wants to live there?

Are there any other suburbs I should be looking at? We looked at DC too, but prices don't seem much better there.

I would suggest Bethesda. I was a transplant as well, and we landed in Bethesda. We really like it -- a lot of interesting people. It has kind of an international feel because there are a lot of World Bank employees who live there. Also, a lot of NIH scientists and researchers. Plus it's genuinely nice, and perhaps has less airport noise than Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is a nice area; very walkable near the metro line.

It is super liberal and ultra competitive. It is most expensive land/price per square foot for a reason.

Really depends on what you are looking for, OP. 95% of people posting do not live in Arlington; it is a very small area of the dmv.

It’s sad when people bring up the price of land/square foot. It speaks to the value of real estate, not the quality of life. People actually spend more money, on average, in other places with nicer houses where they get more space.

- former Arlington resident

DP. Right. The “value” of real estate is based on market supply/demand. The demand for smaller, close-in homes is higher relative to supply than demand for larger homes in BFE relative to supply.

If you do an apples-to-apples comparison, people pay more to live in Arlington than they do farther out.

And yet the median and average sale prices for single-family homes are higher elsewhere (and those places are hardly BFE).

Enjoy your dirt.

I’m enjoying my Tatte latte and croissant that I just walked over to pick up this beautiful morning after stopping by the bank.

Just for giggles, we always look at various real estate listings just to see what we could buy elsewhere - around here and when we travel. We could buy a killer house with pool, etc in McLean. But we prefer to walk to the playground with our kids or walk to grab a coffee, etc. So we prefer to stay in our smaller house with a smaller yard. Our dollars don’t go as far here but we prefer the walkable parts of Arlington over other areas farther out.

[Anonymous]

I live in n Arlington and went outside of the beltway for the first time in almost 2 years this week. Felt like I drove to another state.
My 2019 car just turned 6k miles on it.
We do drive, primarily a few miles for kids events and major grocery shopping/Costco all the way in pentagon city.
Other than that walking and biking is the name of the game in ballston area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McLean is the premium area, arlington is only good because it is near mclean.

If you are poor and out of touch. The DC nice neighborhoods smoke the hinterlands. I have 2 acres, a nice house, parks surrounding me and am minutes from everything!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McLean is the premium area, arlington is only good because it is near mclean.

McLean is more red, Arlington is more blue - people who don't reside in either like to debate this fact.

Arlington has sidewalks and real neighborhoods, that is enough for me to want to live there.

[Anonymous]

I only have one kid, don't live a very kid-centric life and hate to drive, so take this with a grain of salt. But yes, Arlington is one of the best places in the DMV to live. Old Town Alexandria is also great, but has flooding issues and is slightly farther from the District.

Many places within the District would make the cut, imo, but the crime is horribly uncontrolled, like SF levels, and I say that as someone who's lived in non-NW DC and LOVES DC and San Francisco. (That dad whose baby got hit with a brick in Capitol Hill...Jesus Christ.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is a nice area; very walkable near the metro line.

It is super liberal and ultra competitive. It is most expensive land/price per square foot for a reason.

Really depends on what you are looking for, OP. 95% of people posting do not live in Arlington; it is a very small area of the dmv.

It’s sad when people bring up the price of land/square foot. It speaks to the value of real estate, not the quality of life. People actually spend more money, on average, in other places with nicer houses where they get more space.

- former Arlington resident

DP. Right. The “value” of real estate is based on market supply/demand. The demand for smaller, close-in homes is higher relative to supply than demand for larger homes in BFE relative to supply.

If you do an apples-to-apples comparison, people pay more to live in Arlington than they do farther out.

And yet the median and average sale prices for single-family homes are higher elsewhere (and those places are hardly BFE).

Enjoy your dirt.

I’m enjoying my Tatte latte and croissant that I just walked over to pick up this beautiful morning after stopping by the bank.

Just for giggles, we always look at various real estate listings just to see what we could buy elsewhere - around here and when we travel. We could buy a killer house with pool, etc in McLean. But we prefer to walk to the playground with our kids or walk to grab a coffee, etc. So we prefer to stay in our smaller house with a smaller yard. Our dollars don’t go as far here but we prefer the walkable parts of Arlington over other areas farther out.

You could walk to Fresh Baguette in Bethesda for a croissant and coffee or Bethesda Bagels for a bagel and then walk two blocks to a playground or a block more to Farmer’s Market outside the 8/10 Bethesda ES, which feeds into a 7/10 HS that’s half a mile away and walkable as well. And be in a safer neighborhood with nicer housing stock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean is the premium area, arlington is only good because it is near mclean.

If you are poor and out of touch. The DC nice neighborhoods smoke the hinterlands. I have 2 acres, a nice house, parks surrounding me and am minutes from everything!

Yep! McLean is a crap compared to Kalorama, Spring Valley, the Palisades. You can go on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I only have one kid, don't live a very kid-centric life and hate to drive, so take this with a grain of salt. But yes, Arlington is one of the best places in the DMV to live. Old Town Alexandria is also great, but has flooding issues and is slightly farther from the District.

Many places within the District would make the cut, imo, but the crime is horribly uncontrolled, like SF levels, and I say that as someone who's lived in non-NW DC and LOVES DC and San Francisco. (That dad whose baby got hit with a brick in Capitol Hill...Jesus Christ.)

Yeah. Last time I was walking along Foxhall Road I feared for my life. It’s like Mad Max

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is a nice area; very walkable near the metro line.

It is super liberal and ultra competitive. It is most expensive land/price per square foot for a reason.

Really depends on what you are looking for, OP. 95% of people posting do not live in Arlington; it is a very small area of the dmv.

It’s sad when people bring up the price of land/square foot. It speaks to the value of real estate, not the quality of life. People actually spend more money, on average, in other places with nicer houses where they get more space.

- former Arlington resident

DP. Right. The “value” of real estate is based on market supply/demand. The demand for smaller, close-in homes is higher relative to supply than demand for larger homes in BFE relative to supply.

If you do an apples-to-apples comparison, people pay more to live in Arlington than they do farther out.

And yet the median and average sale prices for single-family homes are higher elsewhere (and those places are hardly BFE).

Enjoy your dirt.

I’m enjoying my Tatte latte and croissant that I just walked over to pick up this beautiful morning after stopping by the bank.

Just for giggles, we always look at various real estate listings just to see what we could buy elsewhere - around here and when we travel. We could buy a killer house with pool, etc in McLean. But we prefer to walk to the playground with our kids or walk to grab a coffee, etc. So we prefer to stay in our smaller house with a smaller yard. Our dollars don’t go as far here but we prefer the walkable parts of Arlington over other areas farther out.

You could walk to Fresh Baguette in Bethesda for a croissant and coffee or Bethesda Bagels for a bagel and then walk two blocks to a playground or a block more to Farmer’s Market outside the 8/10 Bethesda ES, which feeds into a 7/10 HS that’s half a mile away and walkable as well. And be in a safer neighborhood with nicer housing stock.

Bethesda is nice too. I have friends who live there.

Arlington is closer for my commute though.

[Anonymous]

Arlington tends to attract people who don't care as much about Great Schools ratings. that alone is a plus in my book. I also like being part of a smaller school system - the MoCo system is just huge. But really there is no right answer for everyone (thank goodness). There is a lot to like (and not like) about Arlington and Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean is the premium area, arlington is only good because it is near mclean.

If you are poor and out of touch. The DC nice neighborhoods smoke the hinterlands. I have 2 acres, a nice house, parks surrounding me and am minutes from everything!

Yep! McLean is a crap compared to Kalorama, Spring Valley, the Palisades. You can go on.

The only thing Spring Valley is good for is wondering if living there is why you have cancer 20 years later.

Kalorama and the Palisades are nice. Although the latter isn’t super walkable.