Falls Church / McLean vs Bethesda

[Anonymous]

Was in a similar position and went with Bethesda. Total tax analysis came out about even - or too little to warrant it being the deciding factor. There are tons of walkable neighborhoods in Bethesda in your price range, great parks everywhere you turn, and we ultimately didn’t trust Youngkin and propensity of VA to go red.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$2m is a tough budget. If you are Jewish and not vapid, I think the falls church area around temple Rodef Shalom is great. It’s a wonderful Jewish community there.

But Rodef Shalom is in McLean.

Technically it is in Falls Church although the nearby areas feed to schools in the McLean HS pyramid.

Note: Rodef Shalom is in the Fairfax County portion also called “Falls Church” but is not part of incorporated city of Falls Church (FCC) proper. A big difference. I66 is roughly the dividing line between Fairfax Co and FCC. The bridges over I66 connect the two areas. Also FCC is older and somewhat dingy looking, especially around Great Falls St and Park St. And FCC Taxes are higher.

[Anonymous]

I just don't like the architectural style of most McLean houses. Very 70s, 80s McMansiony. And yes, Tysons is just messy and overbuilt.

Chevy Chase and the older neighborhoods of Bethesda and Potomac are most appealing visually, as you said. There are a few areas just off Georgetown Pike heading into Great Falls that area nice, but they're not in the $2M budget.

We tried Virginia for a couple of years and just didn't get the appeal. I felt isolated from friends, good private schools, amenities, and even neighbors.

[Anonymous]

We faced a similar decision and chose Bethesda. We just couldn't find an area in VA that matched the walkability and human scale of Bethesda. Everywhere in VA just seemed to be a mess of highways or gigantic roads, and had no logical zoning. Bethesda is just more attractive and livable in our view.

As for the economy, I think MD will be fine -- VA and MD are both extremely dependent on the federal government, and if this administration is serious about cutting defense spending, VA could end up worse off than MD. We don't love paying taxes, but we use the public schools and have been pleased with them, and the county seems well run. Plus, we came from an area with even higher taxes, so the taxes here don't seem that bad by comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Too many bigots, elitists and racists in Bethesda. I choose Mclean

That's rich coming from someone who lives in McLean.
The delusion!

I can't speak to Mclean, but having grown up in Bethesda, the racism is clear and real. The Bethesda schools, particularly middle and high school, are mostly white. Black students have had not so great experiences there, both from other students but also from teachers, staff, and administration officials. There was quite a bit of pushback from folks in Bethesda when discussions of school boundaries have been brought up. Most of the pushback has been from white residents and, while most aren’t outright racist, they’ve used some pretty racist dog whistles. You can Google past coverage of Board of Education elections as well as coverage on school boundary discussions in Montgomery County to get a feel for how the media covered it all, but there are plenty of students on IG who have made accounts for each school in the district to talk about the racism, homophobia, transphobia etc that they’ve personally experienced. The ones in Bethesda are hard to read sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$2m is a tough budget. If you are Jewish and not vapid, I think the falls church area around temple Rodef Shalom is great. It’s a wonderful Jewish community there.

But Rodef Shalom is in McLean.

Technically it is in Falls Church although the nearby areas feed to schools in the McLean HS pyramid.

Note: Rodef Shalom is in the Fairfax County portion also called “Falls Church” but is not part of incorporated city of Falls Church (FCC) proper. A big difference. I66 is roughly the dividing line between Fairfax Co and FCC. The bridges over I66 connect the two areas. Also FCC is older and somewhat dingy looking, especially around Great Falls St and Park St. And FCC Taxes are higher.

A big difference that makes zero difference if you are a member.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just don't like the architectural style of most McLean houses. Very 70s, 80s McMansiony. And yes, Tysons is just messy and overbuilt.

Chevy Chase and the older neighborhoods of Bethesda and Potomac are most appealing visually, as you said. There are a few areas just off Georgetown Pike heading into Great Falls that area nice, but they're not in the $2M budget.

We tried Virginia for a couple of years and just didn't get the appeal. I felt isolated from friends, good private schools, amenities, and even neighbors.

Nobody lives in Tysons, especially families.

Our Arlington neighborhood is tight knit, close to amenities, schools and is very safe. And the trees are the right height. Plus, I can get to downtown quicker than from Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We faced a similar decision and chose Bethesda. We just couldn't find an area in VA that matched the walkability and human scale of Bethesda. Everywhere in VA just seemed to be a mess of highways or gigantic roads, and had no logical zoning. Bethesda is just more attractive and livable in our view.

As for the economy, I think MD will be fine -- VA and MD are both extremely dependent on the federal government, and if this administration is serious about cutting defense spending, VA could end up worse off than MD. We don't love paying taxes, but we use the public schools and have been pleased with them, and the county seems well run. Plus, we came from an area with even higher taxes, so the taxes here don't seem that bad by comparison.

You have to isolate yourself more in a wealthy bubble of private schools and clubs in Maryland. Even the “wealthy” public schools in MoCo like Whitman and B-CC regularly have reports of horrible incidents. Do your research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just don't like the architectural style of most McLean houses. Very 70s, 80s McMansiony. And yes, Tysons is just messy and overbuilt.

Chevy Chase and the older neighborhoods of Bethesda and Potomac are most appealing visually, as you said. There are a few areas just off Georgetown Pike heading into Great Falls that area nice, but they're not in the $2M budget.

We tried Virginia for a couple of years and just didn't get the appeal. I felt isolated from friends, good private schools, amenities, and even neighbors.

Nobody lives in Tysons, especially families.

Our Arlington neighborhood is tight knit, close to amenities, schools and is very safe. And the trees are the right height. Plus, I can get to downtown quicker than from Bethesda.

Arlington is full of idiots like this. Hard to say what’s uglier - the architecture or the people.

[Anonymous]

we decided on bethesda mostly based on access to DC and schools. neighborhoods in VA were just not appealing to us so we ended up in a small, close-in neighborhood with access to parks, trails, the river, etc and love it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just don't like the architectural style of most McLean houses. Very 70s, 80s McMansiony. And yes, Tysons is just messy and overbuilt.

Chevy Chase and the older neighborhoods of Bethesda and Potomac are most appealing visually, as you said. There are a few areas just off Georgetown Pike heading into Great Falls that area nice, but they're not in the $2M budget.

We tried Virginia for a couple of years and just didn't get the appeal. I felt isolated from friends, good private schools, amenities, and even neighbors.

Nobody lives in Tysons, especially families.

Our Arlington neighborhood is tight knit, close to amenities, schools and is very safe. And the trees are the right height. Plus, I can get to downtown quicker than from Bethesda.

Arlington is full of idiots like this. Hard to say what’s uglier - the architecture or the people.

People like you make me glad I don’t live in Montgomery county. I’m guessing you actually live in Rockville but call it Bethesda to your friends.

Tell me which part of my personal experience is wrong. I’ll wait.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Too many bigots, elitists and racists in Bethesda. I choose Mclean

That's rich coming from someone who lives in McLean.
The delusion!

I can't speak to Mclean, but having grown up in Bethesda, the racism is clear and real. The Bethesda schools, particularly middle and high school, are mostly white. Black students have had not so great experiences there, both from other students but also from teachers, staff, and administration officials. There was quite a bit of pushback from folks in Bethesda when discussions of school boundaries have been brought up. Most of the pushback has been from white residents and, while most aren’t outright racist, they’ve used some pretty racist dog whistles. You can Google past coverage of Board of Education elections as well as coverage on school boundary discussions in Montgomery County to get a feel for how the media covered it all, but there are plenty of students on IG who have made accounts for each school in the district to talk about the racism, homophobia, transphobia etc that they’ve personally experienced. The ones in Bethesda are hard to read sometimes.

North Arlington especially 22207 has almost no black or hispanic people -- it's a pure sea of white people. And those white people would not dare associate with people from South Arlington. The pools don't let them in, and "Mothers of North Arlington" won't let them in. I wonder why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we decided on bethesda mostly based on access to DC and schools. neighborhoods in VA were just not appealing to us so we ended up in a small, close-in neighborhood with access to parks, trails, the river, etc and love it.

Nope Arlington doesn't have any of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Too many bigots, elitists and racists in Bethesda. I choose Mclean

That's rich coming from someone who lives in McLean.
The delusion!

I can't speak to Mclean, but having grown up in Bethesda, the racism is clear and real. The Bethesda schools, particularly middle and high school, are mostly white. Black students have had not so great experiences there, both from other students but also from teachers, staff, and administration officials. There was quite a bit of pushback from folks in Bethesda when discussions of school boundaries have been brought up. Most of the pushback has been from white residents and, while most aren’t outright racist, they’ve used some pretty racist dog whistles. You can Google past coverage of Board of Education elections as well as coverage on school boundary discussions in Montgomery County to get a feel for how the media covered it all, but there are plenty of students on IG who have made accounts for each school in the district to talk about the racism, homophobia, transphobia etc that they’ve personally experienced. The ones in Bethesda are hard to read sometimes.

North Arlington especially 22207 has almost no black or hispanic people -- it's a pure sea of white people. And those white people would not dare associate with people from South Arlington. The pools don't let them in, and "Mothers of North Arlington" won't let them in. I wonder why.

Is MONA even a thing anymore?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Too many bigots, elitists and racists in Bethesda. I choose Mclean

That's rich coming from someone who lives in McLean.
The delusion!

I can't speak to Mclean, but having grown up in Bethesda, the racism is clear and real. The Bethesda schools, particularly middle and high school, are mostly white. Black students have had not so great experiences there, both from other students but also from teachers, staff, and administration officials. There was quite a bit of pushback from folks in Bethesda when discussions of school boundaries have been brought up. Most of the pushback has been from white residents and, while most aren’t outright racist, they’ve used some pretty racist dog whistles. You can Google past coverage of Board of Education elections as well as coverage on school boundary discussions in Montgomery County to get a feel for how the media covered it all, but there are plenty of students on IG who have made accounts for each school in the district to talk about the racism, homophobia, transphobia etc that they’ve personally experienced. The ones in Bethesda are hard to read sometimes.

Let's unpack this. There are a few high schools in Bethesda -- BCC, Whitman, and Walter Johnson -- and only one (Whitman) is "mostly white." People pay a six-figure premium for a house zoned for Whitman -- we can debate whether it's worth it and what their motives are, but it's one of the best high schools in the country, and probably the best non-magnet school in this area. If the county school board decided to redraw school boundaries that would result in an immediate six-figure decline in your property value, would you just smile and accept it, or would you fight it?