WSJ Singles Out Appeal of McLean/22101

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Young kids love McLean too. A McLean friend’s DS works at a FAANG company on the West Coast but is trying to transfer to the DMV area because he loves McLean. It’s close to the culture of DC, the modern conveniences of Tysons, and offers spacious homes with yards.

As someone with a rental in the Langley High school area, we've gotten a lot of interest from NY, international transplants, and people wanting to move out of dc

I'm curious, how many bedrooms and bathrooms do you have and how much do you get in monthly rent?

5 beds, 6.5 baths around 9-10k monthly rent

That sounds reasonable when my 6 Bedroom house in Fairfax (22032), KPW gets about $5500/mo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get the appeal of McLean other than proximity to DC. Ugly sprawling town, the worst of 70s and 80s architecture. The most beautiful homes can't be seen from the road.

Agree that the town is ugly. Older resident wants to keep it that way, they don’t want Mclean to become destination and create the traffic issue. Make sense to me. If you drive deep down.. it is alot of beautiful houses, and is quiet… I think the more you have money the more you want to live secluded.

McLean Properties owns the Giant shopping center. They are planning to redevelop it - and also the increasingly vacant older strip along Old Dominion which is adjacent.

Any idea what they're planning? That Giant is not my favorite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get the appeal of McLean other than proximity to DC. Ugly sprawling town, the worst of 70s and 80s architecture. The most beautiful homes can't be seen from the road.

Agree that the town is ugly. Older resident wants to keep it that way, they don’t want Mclean to become destination and create the traffic issue. Make sense to me. If you drive deep down.. it is alot of beautiful houses, and is quiet… I think the more you have money the more you want to live secluded.

McLean Properties owns the Giant shopping center. They are planning to redevelop it - and also the increasingly vacant older strip along Old Dominion which is adjacent.

Any idea what they're planning? That Giant is not my favorite.

I’m curious, too. I actually like the Giant, but I’ve noticed so many tenants leaving. A barber who used to work in the shopping center (they didn’t renew his lease) mentioned that they’re only offering short-term leases now. It seems like something is happening, but there’s nothing in the news about it.

Also, it's true that the older folks want to keep McLean as is to prevent too much traffic...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait, hold the phone.

The Wall Street Journal is talking up McLean? Well blow me down.

Trump administration incoming = Republicans = increased interest in big Virginia houses vs. Maryland

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Goes along with this article on the most expensive houses sold in the last 30 days - all 22101

1. 6727 Lucy Ln, McLean: Sold on Sept. 27 for $8.55 million
2. 7008 Benjamin St, McLean: Sold on Sept. 30 for approx. $8.5 million
3. 1278 Ballantrae Farm Dr, McLean: Sold on Sept. 30 for $5 million
4. 2049 Rockingham St, McLean: Sold on Sept. 30 for $4.35 million
5. 1446 Woodacre Dr, McLean: Sold on Oct. 21 for $4.2 million

Ew, that's gross

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait, hold the phone.

The Wall Street Journal is talking up McLean? Well blow me down.

Trump administration incoming = Republicans = increased interest in big Virginia houses vs. Maryland

The WSJ article was published before the election but VA will surely attract more people in the next administration than MD. McLean is mostly Democratic but it’s the best location in NoVa if you want a big house and top schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait, hold the phone.

The Wall Street Journal is talking up McLean? Well blow me down.

Trump administration incoming = Republicans = increased interest in big Virginia houses vs. Maryland

The WSJ article was published before the election but VA will surely attract more people in the next administration than MD. McLean is mostly Democratic but it’s the best location in NoVa if you want a big house and top schools.

Montgomery County was already on a downward spiral, but it's going to be accelerated with the coming of the new administration

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bigger lots, actual 2 car garages which means off the street parking, swimming pools, quiet, the best location to launch to all the other activities in Old Town, D.C., Manassass, Herndon, Loudoun, Georgetown, etc. You can get to these other cities in 20 minutes. Phenomenal shopping minutes away. Very close to restaurants and movies and theaters. Just a unique central location on the map. The schools are fantastic, too.

The fact that it is in the middle between all these other destinations for jobs or entertainment/dining is the key to its popularity IMO. Also it's less dense and has a highway taking you straight to DC plus other roads if it's blocked. This means not as much traffic as you don't need to use Beltway at all. At least for now. It's getting more dense with more multifamily built around Tysons and even DT Mclean. Soon driving to Tysons will be a huge PITA and I am guessing DT Mclean will develop further as a faster option for people's essential needs. These smaller roads will get more clogged too. There will be a need for more robust public transit at some point beyond its current anemic state consisting of a few slow and infrequent buses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get the appeal of McLean other than proximity to DC. Ugly sprawling town, the worst of 70s and 80s architecture. The most beautiful homes can't be seen from the road.

Agree that the town is ugly. Older resident wants to keep it that way, they don’t want Mclean to become destination and create the traffic issue. Make sense to me. If you drive deep down.. it is alot of beautiful houses, and is quiet… I think the more you have money the more you want to live secluded.

McLean Properties owns the Giant shopping center. They are planning to redevelop it - and also the increasingly vacant older strip along Old Dominion which is adjacent.

Any idea what they're planning? That Giant is not my favorite.

I’m curious, too. I actually like the Giant, but I’ve noticed so many tenants leaving. A barber who used to work in the shopping center (they didn’t renew his lease) mentioned that they’re only offering short-term leases now. It seems like something is happening, but there’s nothing in the news about it.

Also, it's true that the older folks want to keep McLean as is to prevent too much traffic...

It seems to be busy in terms of road congestion at certain times, and busier than Bethesda which is far more urban, I cannot understand why, probably has to do with people commuting and school traffic. Public transit is sad, so people have to drive, walking around parking lot oriented DT isn't pleasant. Some crosswalks they plopped in the middle of the streets are an afterthought and scary to use. The bones are there with major intersections and all necessary day-to-day businesses already existing, but there is something off. Probably the conflict between extra cost of redeveloping and higher rents and not enough people actually shopping/dining there as most people just drive through or patronize large chain stores located there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you live close to 66, you can live in Manassas, Gainesville, or Centreville and have just one light to DC!

Some highways suck more than others in DC metro despite lack of lights

[Anonymous]

McLean High School is down to a rating of 6 on Great Schools. Better get a house in the Langley zone or go private.

Bethesda does have better public school options.

[Anonymous]

This is like saying homes on River Road in Potomac are expensive. We all already know McLean is expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McLean High School is down to a rating of 6 on Great Schools. Better get a house in the Langley zone or go private.

Bethesda does have better public school options.

Look at how they come up with the rating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean High School is down to a rating of 6 on Great Schools. Better get a house in the Langley zone or go private.

Bethesda does have better public school options.

Look at how they come up with the rating.

Yeah, I was wondering this too, didn't it used to be higher rated, what happened? Did great schools change their methodology? I can't see a reason why rating should be lower than Bethesda or Langley that's very nearby. RE prices aren't cheaper in that zone per sq.ft. people aren't fleeing or anything and doesn't seem to be loaded to be private school mostly crowd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get the appeal of McLean other than proximity to DC. Ugly sprawling town, the worst of 70s and 80s architecture. The most beautiful homes can't be seen from the road.

Agree that the town is ugly. Older resident wants to keep it that way, they don’t want Mclean to become destination and create the traffic issue. Make sense to me. If you drive deep down.. it is alot of beautiful houses, and is quiet… I think the more you have money the more you want to live secluded.

McLean Properties owns the Giant shopping center. They are planning to redevelop it - and also the increasingly vacant older strip along Old Dominion which is adjacent.

Any idea what they're planning? That Giant is not my favorite.

I’m curious, too. I actually like the Giant, but I’ve noticed so many tenants leaving. A barber who used to work in the shopping center (they didn’t renew his lease) mentioned that they’re only offering short-term leases now. It seems like something is happening, but there’s nothing in the news about it.

Also, it's true that the older folks want to keep McLean as is to prevent too much traffic...

It seems to be busy in terms of road congestion at certain times, and busier than Bethesda which is far more urban, I cannot understand why, probably has to do with people commuting and school traffic. Public transit is sad, so people have to drive, walking around parking lot oriented DT isn't pleasant. Some crosswalks they plopped in the middle of the streets are an afterthought and scary to use. The bones are there with major intersections and all necessary day-to-day businesses already existing, but there is something off. Probably the conflict between extra cost of redeveloping and higher rents and not enough people actually shopping/dining there as most people just drive through or patronize large chain stores located there.

During afternoon rush hour, some people try to “cheat” the AL bridge backup by taking 123 and then Georgetown Pike to get to 495 to return home to Maryland. That can cause corresponding congestion along that path, especially if the bridge backup is severe. Locals know to take other routes when that happens.

Separately, the GW Parkway rebuild has been causing severe congestion near it - and on alternative routes - for the past while. Locals are hoping this will diminish if they ever finish the GWP construction.