Tell me the difference between Arlington and Bethesda...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington on the whole is more walkable than Bethesda, which is bisected by large pedestrian unfriendly streets like East West Highway or River Road.

I don't find E-W Highway hard to cross at all. River Road runs through more suburban parts of Bethesda, just like Lorcom Lane in Arlington.

While Arlington is a slap-dash mess, Bethesda has style. I can understand why OP may feel she's outgrown Arlington.

Lorcom Lane, a "local street," is not nearly as busy as River Road, a heavily traveled commuter road that extends from DC to the Beltway and beyond. Downtown Bethesda and the adjacent single family home neighborhoods however are walkable.

Arlington, unlike Bethesda, is a county and has attractive and unattractive parts. Comparing Bethesda to all of Arlington in those terms is silly. You could argue that Downtown Bethesda looks better than Clarendon or vice versa. Or that Kenwood has style and Country Club Hills wishes it were Kenwood or vice versa.

Bethesda is part of a county, not a standalone town or municipality. Even its Olympic athletes couldn't get the keys to the city when they were honored today, because, well, there is no city (or town for that matter). So they got a plaque.

There is no "there" there in Bethesda - but there is no "there" there in Arlington, either.

Both are soulless wastelands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda has a more international population.

Technically probably not - but it's a different kind of international. We've got World Bank and NIH types in Bethesda. Arlington has more concentrated immigrant communities.

I have lived in North Arlington (Clarendon and Court House) and South Arlington (near 395 and Glebe) and now live in Bethesda. I like Arlington but would choose Bethesda hands down for the schools, convenience, houses (other than CCH, Bethesda is overall nicer), etc. Downtown Bethesda is nicer than whatever counts as downtown Arlington (Ballston Clarendon, Rosslyn?).

There is no downtown Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Not in my book. E-W Highway is this twisty, hilly road with hoards of traffic and not very comfortable for the pedestrian. And River Road becomes almost freeway like with no sidewalks near Whitman HS. Glebe Road is walkable except for the final quarter mile to chain bridge.

I'd deal with E-W Highway just to get to the Parkway Deli, and E-W Highway in Bethesda is very navigable by foot.

Who would really want to walk along most of Glebe Road? It's not an attractive road. In fact, it's as lame as most of Arlington.

If the Parkway Deli is the best thing going, well ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Arlington, unlike Bethesda, is a county and has attractive and unattractive parts. Comparing Bethesda to all of Arlington in those terms is silly. You could argue that Downtown Bethesda looks better than Clarendon or vice versa. Or that Kenwood has style and Country Club Hills wishes it were Kenwood or vice versa.

Downtown Bethesda looks better than Clarendon, and Kenwood has far more élan than CCH.

People in Bethesda use words like "élan.". With a straight face. Enough said.

Yikes. Never heard of that word.

--concerned Bethesda resident

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Arlington, unlike Bethesda, is a county and has attractive and unattractive parts. Comparing Bethesda to all of Arlington in those terms is silly. You could argue that Downtown Bethesda looks better than Clarendon or vice versa. Or that Kenwood has style and Country Club Hills wishes it were Kenwood or vice versa.

Downtown Bethesda looks better than Clarendon, and Kenwood has far more élan than CCH.

People in Bethesda use words like "élan.". With a straight face. Enough said.

Yikes. Never heard of that word.

--concerned Bethesda resident

Well, I'll try and use my pull to get you exiled to Rockville. Otherwise, it'd be Gaithersburg or even Frederick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Arlington, unlike Bethesda, is a county and has attractive and unattractive parts. Comparing Bethesda to all of Arlington in those terms is silly. You could argue that Downtown Bethesda looks better than Clarendon or vice versa. Or that Kenwood has style and Country Club Hills wishes it were Kenwood or vice versa.

Downtown Bethesda looks better than Clarendon, and Kenwood has far more élan than CCH.

People in Bethesda use words like "élan.". With a straight face. Enough said.

Yikes. Never heard of that word.

--concerned Bethesda resident

What about "panache"?

I think they are all synonyms for style or good taste. It's hard to argue with the notion than Bethesda is generally more upscale than Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In Bethesda, your state tax dollars go to support Baltimore; in Arlington, theo go to build roads in Westbumfuck for christian conservatives. Other than that, very little discernible difference.

So true (I'm a Baltimore native who lived in VA, including Arlington, for a number of years). But the real issue is that the conservatives in Westbumfuck not only benefit disproportionately from the Arlington tax base--they also make a point of starving NoVa of transpo dollars AND they elect crazies like Ken Cucinelli.

Which, for me, would be the biggest reason not to live in Arlington. Along with cuckoo Ken you also get trans-vag Bob.

OMG I can't stop laughing - thanks for making my day!! Trans-vag Bob - ha ha ha ha ha....

In a way, you're vote counts "more" in Virginia. Maryland is predictably democrat, whereas Virginia is a swing state. You can help turn Virginia blue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Arlington, unlike Bethesda, is a county and has attractive and unattractive parts. Comparing Bethesda to all of Arlington in those terms is silly. You could argue that Downtown Bethesda looks better than Clarendon or vice versa. Or that Kenwood has style and Country Club Hills wishes it were Kenwood or vice versa.

Downtown Bethesda looks better than Clarendon, and Kenwood has far more élan than CCH.

People in Bethesda use words like "élan.". With a straight face. Enough said.

Particularly people who live in 500K 1950s splits in Bethesda.

Also, the international thing is nonsense. The vast majority of my colleagues at the World Bank line in DC, Arlington or McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Arlington, unlike Bethesda, is a county and has attractive and unattractive parts. Comparing Bethesda to all of Arlington in those terms is silly. You could argue that Downtown Bethesda looks better than Clarendon or vice versa. Or that Kenwood has style and Country Club Hills wishes it were Kenwood or vice versa.

Downtown Bethesda looks better than Clarendon, and Kenwood has far more élan than CCH.

People in Bethesda use words like "élan.". With a straight face. Enough said.

Yikes. Never heard of that word.

--concerned Bethesda resident

What about "panache"?

I think they are all synonyms for style or good taste. It's hard to argue with the notion than Bethesda is generally more upscale than Arlington.

Yes, Westwood and Pooks Hill are more upscale than CCH or Lyon Park (rolls eyes).

[Anonymous]

they are both full of people who think the two cities are REALLY different. they are wrong.

[Anonymous]

The irony is that if you compare North Arlington to all of Bethesda, Arlington actually appears to be wealthier, more affluent, better educated. Certainly closer to Downtown DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Arlington, unlike Bethesda, is a county and has attractive and unattractive parts. Comparing Bethesda to all of Arlington in those terms is silly. You could argue that Downtown Bethesda looks better than Clarendon or vice versa. Or that Kenwood has style and Country Club Hills wishes it were Kenwood or vice versa.

Downtown Bethesda looks better than Clarendon, and Kenwood has far more élan than CCH.

People in Bethesda use words like "élan.". With a straight face. Enough said.

Particularly people who live in 500K 1950s splits in Bethesda.

Also, the international thing is nonsense. The vast majority of my colleagues at the World Bank line in DC, Arlington or McLean.

The secretaries, maybe. But take a walk through the WB or IMF carpark - for every VA plate there are 5 Md ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Arlington, unlike Bethesda, is a county and has attractive and unattractive parts. Comparing Bethesda to all of Arlington in those terms is silly. You could argue that Downtown Bethesda looks better than Clarendon or vice versa. Or that Kenwood has style and Country Club Hills wishes it were Kenwood or vice versa.

Downtown Bethesda looks better than Clarendon, and Kenwood has far more élan than CCH.

People in Bethesda use words like "élan.". With a straight face. Enough said.

Particularly people who live in 500K 1950s splits in Bethesda.

Also, the international thing is nonsense. The vast majority of my colleagues at the World Bank line in DC, Arlington or McLean.

The secretaries, maybe. But take a walk through the WB or IMF carpark - for every VA plate there are 5 Md ones.

Nice try. Want to email me offline? Trust me -- the secretaries may live in low rent apartments on Bradley Blvd in Chevy Chase, but the vast majority of my fellow WBers (most of whom are not even in the US -- only the Secretaries are) have homes in DC, Arlington and McLean. Seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Arlington, unlike Bethesda, is a county and has attractive and unattractive parts. Comparing Bethesda to all of Arlington in those terms is silly. You could argue that Downtown Bethesda looks better than Clarendon or vice versa. Or that Kenwood has style and Country Club Hills wishes it were Kenwood or vice versa.

Downtown Bethesda looks better than Clarendon, and Kenwood has far more élan than CCH.

People in Bethesda use words like "élan.". With a straight face. Enough said.

Particularly people who live in 500K 1950s splits in Bethesda.

Also, the international thing is nonsense. The vast majority of my colleagues at the World Bank line in DC, Arlington or McLean.

The secretaries, maybe. But take a walk through the WB or IMF carpark - for every VA plate there are 5 Md ones.

That's because the steno pool works in DC and most Economists are sent overseas.

[Anonymous]

Bethesda is snobbier. Arlington is more down to earth.