Anyone else grew up in McLean but can’t afford to buy there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sweet, another excuse to bash McLean thread... aren't you people tired of this?

OP. You'd probably get more thoughtful replies had you said Falls Church City or Vienna or Arlington...

If the NoVa area was the world. McLean would be America. Loved by many, but despised by far more.

OP here. I was not trying to start a controversy. I just had a wonderful childhood with beautiful memories in McLean and the area near Great Falls park. Every weekend my family would go hiking there together. Tysons Corner mall was a small neighborhood only mall safe enough to drop your teens off when you're off running errands. Going to the McDonalds near the McLean Central Park after HS to eat sundaes with your friends. Taking my little sister and her best friend to the Clemijontri park.

We lived in a small modest SFH and were surrounded by lawyers and other feds. It wasn't fancy but it was home.

I can't seem to let go that I will never "go home" again. McLean is my home in this area. Everywhere else feels too far and in the middle of "nowhere."

My Langley classmates who graduated in 2006 are now either in Arlington, Bethesda or Spring Valley. Others are dispersed around the country. DH and I are not in very well paid fields although together we bring in like 280k+. DH runs his own at home consulancy so in a good year we can have a HHI of 400k+. He grew up in Fairfax Station and has a negative impression of McLean along with thinking its too big a mortgage to take on when we can buy a bigger house somewhere in Burke or Herndon for 500k-600k.

I'm just so torn about it.

Great Falls is still here, as are the McDonalds near the park and Clemyjontri.

Tysons was always a regional mall, not a small neighborhood mall, but people can and do still safely drop off their kids there.

A household income of $280-400K is above average for most McLean neighborhoods.

When we moved out of DC, I wouldn't consider McLean at first because I thought it was too old and stodgy, so we bought in Fairfax further out. Over time, I realized the commute was draining and that it would be nice to be closer to DC, and had heard more about the advantages of the McLean schools, which are on the smaller side for FCPS but still have amazing extra-curricular activities. So we moved to McLean, and wish we'd done so sooner.

But it may not be as idyllic as you're recalling for the reasons other posters have mentioned. The people who live in McLean now often are very busy two-income families and it may not be as "neighborly" as you remember it. And Burke has its own appeal - it's more low-key than McLean, less congested than a place like Vienna, and has its own parks and amenities like Burke Lake.

This is OP. Yes, people seem to have an inaccurate perception of McLean, at least from when I used to live there through my childhood until going off to college. No one I knew was "snooty" or a gazillionare although yes they were well-to-do professionals. Everyone we knew was down to earth and focused on their children and families. I will say, we did not live in one of those multimillion dollar properties so may be that is why.

According to the math I do, it seems we could reasonably afford a mortgage of 1 million dollar home. DH, however is very adamant that we live some place cheap and especially not with snobby people, which personally, I think is ridiculous. There are rich people all over NOVA and are not tied to one zip code. He says he does not want to live in Great Falls, McLean or Vienna.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve watched all my friends who can’t buy in their childhood neighborhoods have major beginning life crisis.

It’s a bit pathetic.

Better to grow up in a nice place than have grown up in the Deliverance style community I did; hey I could totally afford to buy dozens of houses there for cash, so yay?

[Anonymous]

Neighborhoods change. My 62 year old landscaper in Potomac lives in a huge plot of land house in Outer Potomac worth a fortune.

Yes once asked him about it. He said he was like 28 renting in DC and also renting a large lot to store trucks and equipment. DC crime was bad.

His best customers were mainly Potomac as he could charge more and easy parking for his trucks

Him and wife scrapped together money and In outer Potomac on the very edge found a small house for sale in a four acre lot in 1989 and put everything to buy home. He put all trucks there and gave up apt.

Look in 2021 a HS educated 28 year mortgage of Gardner can’t do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sweet, another excuse to bash McLean thread... aren't you people tired of this?

OP. You'd probably get more thoughtful replies had you said Falls Church City or Vienna or Arlington...

If the NoVa area was the world. McLean would be America. Loved by many, but despised by far more.

OP here. I was not trying to start a controversy. I just had a wonderful childhood with beautiful memories in McLean and the area near Great Falls park. Every weekend my family would go hiking there together. Tysons Corner mall was a small neighborhood only mall safe enough to drop your teens off when you're off running errands. Going to the McDonalds near the McLean Central Park after HS to eat sundaes with your friends. Taking my little sister and her best friend to the Clemijontri park.

We lived in a small modest SFH and were surrounded by lawyers and other feds. It wasn't fancy but it was home.

I can't seem to let go that I will never "go home" again. McLean is my home in this area. Everywhere else feels too far and in the middle of "nowhere."

My Langley classmates who graduated in 2006 are now either in Arlington, Bethesda or Spring Valley. Others are dispersed around the country. DH and I are not in very well paid fields although together we bring in like 280k+. DH runs his own at home consulancy so in a good year we can have a HHI of 400k+. He grew up in Fairfax Station and has a negative impression of McLean along with thinking its too big a mortgage to take on when we can buy a bigger house somewhere in Burke or Herndon for 500k-600k.

I'm just so torn about it.

Great Falls is still here, as are the McDonalds near the park and Clemyjontri.

Tysons was always a regional mall, not a small neighborhood mall, but people can and do still safely drop off their kids there.

A household income of $280-400K is above average for most McLean neighborhoods.

When we moved out of DC, I wouldn't consider McLean at first because I thought it was too old and stodgy, so we bought in Fairfax further out. Over time, I realized the commute was draining and that it would be nice to be closer to DC, and had heard more about the advantages of the McLean schools, which are on the smaller side for FCPS but still have amazing extra-curricular activities. So we moved to McLean, and wish we'd done so sooner.

But it may not be as idyllic as you're recalling for the reasons other posters have mentioned. The people who live in McLean now often are very busy two-income families and it may not be as "neighborly" as you remember it. And Burke has its own appeal - it's more low-key than McLean, less congested than a place like Vienna, and has its own parks and amenities like Burke Lake.

This is OP. Yes, people seem to have an inaccurate perception of McLean, at least from when I used to live there through my childhood until going off to college. No one I knew was "snooty" or a gazillionare although yes they were well-to-do professionals. Everyone we knew was down to earth and focused on their children and families. I will say, we did not live in one of those multimillion dollar properties so may be that is why.

According to the math I do, it seems we could reasonably afford a mortgage of 1 million dollar home. DH, however is very adamant that we live some place cheap and especially not with snobby people, which personally, I think is ridiculous. There are rich people all over NOVA and are not tied to one zip code. He says he does not want to live in Great Falls, McLean or Vienna.

My general impression of McLean and similar communities is that the "snob" factor is a reflection of how the area is perceived by others. If you can afford to live there, people just assume you belong. Same for Great Falls, Vienna, Bethesda, and a host of other suburbs. No one in the neighborhood is going to audit your husband's consulting business or review your mortgage statements.

And people find other ways to assert status besides wealth. In areas with more military personnel, people may be more likely to remind you of their rank. In some areas, parents focus a lot of their kids' athletic prowess. And so on.

But again, best to find a place where you both expect to be happy.

[Anonymous]

You can afford to live there but in a townhouse. Question is whether you are willing to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sweet, another excuse to bash McLean thread... aren't you people tired of this?

OP. You'd probably get more thoughtful replies had you said Falls Church City or Vienna or Arlington...

If the NoVa area was the world. McLean would be America. Loved by many, but despised by far more.

OP here. I was not trying to start a controversy. I just had a wonderful childhood with beautiful memories in McLean and the area near Great Falls park. Every weekend my family would go hiking there together. Tysons Corner mall was a small neighborhood only mall safe enough to drop your teens off when you're off running errands. Going to the McDonalds near the McLean Central Park after HS to eat sundaes with your friends. Taking my little sister and her best friend to the Clemijontri park.

We lived in a small modest SFH and were surrounded by lawyers and other feds. It wasn't fancy but it was home.

I can't seem to let go that I will never "go home" again. McLean is my home in this area. Everywhere else feels too far and in the middle of "nowhere."

My Langley classmates who graduated in 2006 are now either in Arlington, Bethesda or Spring Valley. Others are dispersed around the country. DH and I are not in very well paid fields although together we bring in like 280k+. DH runs his own at home consulancy so in a good year we can have a HHI of 400k+. He grew up in Fairfax Station and has a negative impression of McLean along with thinking its too big a mortgage to take on when we can buy a bigger house somewhere in Burke or Herndon for 500k-600k.

I'm just so torn about it.

It sounds like your happy memories are about friends and family, not McLean. I mean, eating sundaes at the McDonald's? That is something you can do literally anywhere, almost, in the world. So concentrate on building a good relationship with your husband and kids, finding a friendly neighborhood, and then getting involved and making friends. If you hold onto some past notion of happiness, you are going to stand in the way of future happiness.

Every place is a place AND a time, so you can go back to a place, but you can never really go back because time moves on.

[Anonymous]

Folks who grew up there were pretty rich to begin with. My cousin actually lived in a Manhattan brownstone. He is not mega wealthy.

But wealthy enough in 1992 paid one million for it.

Today I can only imagine how much his Gramercy park brownstone is worth? 30 million? Who knows. But I doubt his kids are buying 30 million dollar homes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sweet, another excuse to bash McLean thread... aren't you people tired of this?

OP. You'd probably get more thoughtful replies had you said Falls Church City or Vienna or Arlington...

If the NoVa area was the world. McLean would be America. Loved by many, but despised by far more.

OP here. I was not trying to start a controversy. I just had a wonderful childhood with beautiful memories in McLean and the area near Great Falls park. Every weekend my family would go hiking there together. Tysons Corner mall was a small neighborhood only mall safe enough to drop your teens off when you're off running errands. Going to the McDonalds near the McLean Central Park after HS to eat sundaes with your friends. Taking my little sister and her best friend to the Clemijontri park.

We lived in a small modest SFH and were surrounded by lawyers and other feds. It wasn't fancy but it was home.

I can't seem to let go that I will never "go home" again. McLean is my home in this area. Everywhere else feels too far and in the middle of "nowhere."

My Langley classmates who graduated in 2006 are now either in Arlington, Bethesda or Spring Valley. Others are dispersed around the country. DH and I are not in very well paid fields although together we bring in like 280k+. DH runs his own at home consulancy so in a good year we can have a HHI of 400k+. He grew up in Fairfax Station and has a negative impression of McLean along with thinking its too big a mortgage to take on when we can buy a bigger house somewhere in Burke or Herndon for 500k-600k.

I'm just so torn about it.

Good grief. If you were taking your sister to Clemyjontri, you're incredibly young--and basically grew up a minute or two ago. Your statement about Tysons being the only safe mall is wrong. You're idealizing all kinds of things that are false. McLean was more middle class years before you were born. I'd have more sympathy if you said you graduated in '98 or something. This area has changed dramatically in the past 20-30 yrs, but not that much in the last 10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sweet, another excuse to bash McLean thread... aren't you people tired of this?

OP. You'd probably get more thoughtful replies had you said Falls Church City or Vienna or Arlington...

If the NoVa area was the world. McLean would be America. Loved by many, but despised by far more.

OP here. I was not trying to start a controversy. I just had a wonderful childhood with beautiful memories in McLean and the area near Great Falls park. Every weekend my family would go hiking there together. Tysons Corner mall was a small neighborhood only mall safe enough to drop your teens off when you're off running errands. Going to the McDonalds near the McLean Central Park after HS to eat sundaes with your friends. Taking my little sister and her best friend to the Clemijontri park.

We lived in a small modest SFH and were surrounded by lawyers and other feds. It wasn't fancy but it was home.

I can't seem to let go that I will never "go home" again. McLean is my home in this area. Everywhere else feels too far and in the middle of "nowhere."

My Langley classmates who graduated in 2006 are now either in Arlington, Bethesda or Spring Valley. Others are dispersed around the country. DH and I are not in very well paid fields although together we bring in like 280k+. DH runs his own at home consulancy so in a good year we can have a HHI of 400k+. He grew up in Fairfax Station and has a negative impression of McLean along with thinking its too big a mortgage to take on when we can buy a bigger house somewhere in Burke or Herndon for 500k-600k.

I'm just so torn about it.

Great Falls is still here, as are the McDonalds near the park and Clemyjontri.

Tysons was always a regional mall, not a small neighborhood mall, but people can and do still safely drop off their kids there.

A household income of $280-400K is above average for most McLean neighborhoods.

When we moved out of DC, I wouldn't consider McLean at first because I thought it was too old and stodgy, so we bought in Fairfax further out. Over time, I realized the commute was draining and that it would be nice to be closer to DC, and had heard more about the advantages of the McLean schools, which are on the smaller side for FCPS but still have amazing extra-curricular activities. So we moved to McLean, and wish we'd done so sooner.

But it may not be as idyllic as you're recalling for the reasons other posters have mentioned. The people who live in McLean now often are very busy two-income families and it may not be as "neighborly" as you remember it. And Burke has its own appeal - it's more low-key than McLean, less congested than a place like Vienna, and has its own parks and amenities like Burke Lake.

The OP lived here 10-15 yrs ago. Everyone on my street (in McLean) has been here during that time, and longer. Nobody has changed and suddenly become busier. She didn't grow up here 20 yrs ago like she's making it sound for some reason. It hasn't changed very much. Most of the restaurants are still the same, for Pete's sake.

[Anonymous]

Clemyjontri opened in 2006. I have lived here since 2005 and the prices in my neighborhood are actually the same as they were in 2005 +/- 100k. So no changes in the timeframe OP is talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sweet, another excuse to bash McLean thread... aren't you people tired of this?

OP. You'd probably get more thoughtful replies had you said Falls Church City or Vienna or Arlington...

If the NoVa area was the world. McLean would be America. Loved by many, but despised by far more.

OP here. I was not trying to start a controversy. I just had a wonderful childhood with beautiful memories in McLean and the area near Great Falls park. Every weekend my family would go hiking there together. Tysons Corner mall was a small neighborhood only mall safe enough to drop your teens off when you're off running errands. Going to the McDonalds near the McLean Central Park after HS to eat sundaes with your friends. Taking my little sister and her best friend to the Clemijontri park.

We lived in a small modest SFH and were surrounded by lawyers and other feds. It wasn't fancy but it was home.

I can't seem to let go that I will never "go home" again. McLean is my home in this area. Everywhere else feels too far and in the middle of "nowhere."

My Langley classmates who graduated in 2006 are now either in Arlington, Bethesda or Spring Valley. Others are dispersed around the country. DH and I are not in very well paid fields although together we bring in like 280k+. DH runs his own at home consulancy so in a good year we can have a HHI of 400k+. He grew up in Fairfax Station and has a negative impression of McLean along with thinking its too big a mortgage to take on when we can buy a bigger house somewhere in Burke or Herndon for 500k-600k.

I'm just so torn about it.

Great Falls is still here, as are the McDonalds near the park and Clemyjontri.

Tysons was always a regional mall, not a small neighborhood mall, but people can and do still safely drop off their kids there.

A household income of $280-400K is above average for most McLean neighborhoods.

When we moved out of DC, I wouldn't consider McLean at first because I thought it was too old and stodgy, so we bought in Fairfax further out. Over time, I realized the commute was draining and that it would be nice to be closer to DC, and had heard more about the advantages of the McLean schools, which are on the smaller side for FCPS but still have amazing extra-curricular activities. So we moved to McLean, and wish we'd done so sooner.

But it may not be as idyllic as you're recalling for the reasons other posters have mentioned. The people who live in McLean now often are very busy two-income families and it may not be as "neighborly" as you remember it. And Burke has its own appeal - it's more low-key than McLean, less congested than a place like Vienna, and has its own parks and amenities like Burke Lake.

The OP lived here 10-15 yrs ago. Everyone on my street (in McLean) has been here during that time, and longer. Nobody has changed and suddenly become busier. She didn't grow up here more than 20 yrs ago like she's making it sound for some reason. It hasn't changed very much. Most of the restaurants are still the same, for Pete's sake.

Edit above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Clemyjontri opened in 2006. I have lived here since 2005 and the prices in my neighborhood are actually the same as they were in 2005 +/- 100k. So no changes in the timeframe OP is talking about.

It would be unusual for assessments of older houses in McLean to have increased by only $100K since 2005. More common would be increases in the $200-500K range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sweet, another excuse to bash McLean thread... aren't you people tired of this?

OP. You'd probably get more thoughtful replies had you said Falls Church City or Vienna or Arlington...

If the NoVa area was the world. McLean would be America. Loved by many, but despised by far more.

OP here. I was not trying to start a controversy. I just had a wonderful childhood with beautiful memories in McLean and the area near Great Falls park. Every weekend my family would go hiking there together. Tysons Corner mall was a small neighborhood only mall safe enough to drop your teens off when you're off running errands. Going to the McDonalds near the McLean Central Park after HS to eat sundaes with your friends. Taking my little sister and her best friend to the Clemijontri park.

We lived in a small modest SFH and were surrounded by lawyers and other feds. It wasn't fancy but it was home.

I can't seem to let go that I will never "go home" again. McLean is my home in this area. Everywhere else feels too far and in the middle of "nowhere."

My Langley classmates who graduated in 2006 are now either in Arlington, Bethesda or Spring Valley. Others are dispersed around the country. DH and I are not in very well paid fields although together we bring in like 280k+. DH runs his own at home consulancy so in a good year we can have a HHI of 400k+. He grew up in Fairfax Station and has a negative impression of McLean along with thinking its too big a mortgage to take on when we can buy a bigger house somewhere in Burke or Herndon for 500k-600k.

I'm just so torn about it.

Wait a minute - you graduated college in 2010, which means you are what, 32 years old, you have a HHI of $400k+, and you are whining that you can't live in an affluent area? JFC, OP, you are tone deaf, whiny, and a whole lot of other adjectives that aren't very nice.

[Anonymous]

also with that HHI you can afford to live where ever you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sweet, another excuse to bash McLean thread... aren't you people tired of this?

OP. You'd probably get more thoughtful replies had you said Falls Church City or Vienna or Arlington...

If the NoVa area was the world. McLean would be America. Loved by many, but despised by far more.

OP here. I was not trying to start a controversy. I just had a wonderful childhood with beautiful memories in McLean and the area near Great Falls park. Every weekend my family would go hiking there together. Tysons Corner mall was a small neighborhood only mall safe enough to drop your teens off when you're off running errands. Going to the McDonalds near the McLean Central Park after HS to eat sundaes with your friends. Taking my little sister and her best friend to the Clemijontri park.

We lived in a small modest SFH and were surrounded by lawyers and other feds. It wasn't fancy but it was home.

I can't seem to let go that I will never "go home" again. McLean is my home in this area. Everywhere else feels too far and in the middle of "nowhere."

My Langley classmates who graduated in 2006 are now either in Arlington, Bethesda or Spring Valley. Others are dispersed around the country. DH and I are not in very well paid fields although together we bring in like 280k+. DH runs his own at home consulancy so in a good year we can have a HHI of 400k+. He grew up in Fairfax Station and has a negative impression of McLean along with thinking its too big a mortgage to take on when we can buy a bigger house somewhere in Burke or Herndon for 500k-600k.

I'm just so torn about it.

Wait a minute - you graduated college in 2010, which means you are what, 32 years old, you have a HHI of $400k+, and you are whining that you can't live in an affluent area? JFC, OP, you are tone deaf, whiny, and a whole lot of other adjectives that aren't very nice.

A bit harsh, no. Are you sure you aren't just jumping on OP because she says she'd like to live in McLean again if her spouse would go along with her?