Is there any reason to buy in MoCo instead of Fairfax?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS is going down the drain while FCPS is on the come up

that is funny. FCPS is a disaster.

THIS. I currently teach in FCPS and am appalled by how dysfunctional FCPS is. The current COVID-19 situation demonstrates how useless FCPS is. I certainly don't doubt that MCPS has issues, but to say that FCPS is on the "come up" is a bold-face lie.

FCPS is swirling down the toilet.

There's no other jurisdiction in the DMV that comes close to having the number of exceptionally strong public schools and pyramids as FCPS: TJ, Langley, McLean, Madison, Woodson, Oakton, Chantilly, Marshall, West Springfield, Robinson, and Lake Braddock. And that will remain the case once people come to terms with the current challenges around distance learning that are generating a lot of gripes all over.

The only reasons to buy in MoCo instead of Fairfax are because you have a job in MoCo or want to send your kid to a private in MoCo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Bethesda. I grew up here and moved back (from the city) when my kids were school aged. For me it made sense because my family is all here. But for anyone new to the area, why would I move to Moco rather than Fairfax? It’s not cheaper. The schools aren’t any better. There aren’t any quality in-state college options. TAXES. It’s no longer more liberal. Do you have any reasons?

I lived in several of the nicer parts of MoCo for a number of years after moving up from Austin. I missed Austin and thought I would never enjoy living in the DC area. After spending then next few years in the Tysons area of McLean and Vienna, I still miss Austin in a way but found that I finally enjoy living the area. MoCo really rubbed me the wrong way, in lots of ways. I think if given the opportunity to return to Austin at this point (it has also changed over the last 10 years), I would probably choose to remain in Tysons Corner, as weird as that sounds. I don't even like to pass through MoCo anymore.

I'm from the Bay Area originally, and I find Tysons to be a nightmare. Way too over developed, and yes, Bay Area is now this way, too, and I don't like it. Just my personal opinion IMO, MoCo seems to have more open space.

Tax is cheaper in VA if you are upper income (I assume OP is if OP is looking in Bethesda).

As for politics, it's really weird. MD has a R governor, but a very liberal state legislature. Who knows who will be governor after Hogan leaves. And while VA has a Dem governor, IMO, the state legislature still seems to lean more on the conservative side compared to MD. So while NoVa area is liberal (though not all of NoVa), you still have to contend with the state government. That may not be a bad thing. I think a bit of moderation is needed on both sides.

MD does not have a liberal state legislature. It is very democratic but most of the coalition is black democrats (not as liberal) and sort of blue dog, Steny Hoyer types. The MoCo delegation are really the only super liberals. The county council is so liberal it hurts and the county executive is running the county into the ground to be more progressive. The best place to be, if it weren’t for the commute, would be Howard County. Best schools. Liberal but not WTF liberal.

[Anonymous]

NO and NO. Nova better than MD across the board in pretty much everything.

[Anonymous]

I would buy in MoCo if it was close to my work, and if money was no object I think Bethesda is a much nicer looking area than McLean. The only people I know who have bought in MoCo are locals who grew up there and are just used to the area or want to be close to relatives for child care purposes. From an urban planning perspective, I think MoCo developed much better than the sprawl in Northern VA.

If I was wagering, I'd say that FFX will remain pretty stable over the next 20 years but MoCo will slowly but surely deteriorate into a land of major income inequality, declining older suburbs (places like Gaithersburg and Germantown), and deteriorating schools. Taxes are high and the low income majority-minority areas keep growing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NO and NO. Nova better than MD across the board in pretty much everything.

If you have a passion for strip malls, then yes. Definitely much better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would buy in MoCo if it was close to my work, and if money was no object I think Bethesda is a much nicer looking area than McLean. The only people I know who have bought in MoCo are locals who grew up there and are just used to the area or want to be close to relatives for child care purposes. From an urban planning perspective, I think MoCo developed much better than the sprawl in Northern VA.

If I was wagering, I'd say that FFX will remain pretty stable over the next 20 years but MoCo will slowly but surely deteriorate into a land of major income inequality, declining older suburbs (places like Gaithersburg and Germantown), and deteriorating schools. Taxes are high and the low income majority-minority areas keep growing.

This has already happened. MoCo is a much more polarized county and the pressure on the higher income areas to support the rest of the county has been prompting people to move to Howard, Arlington and Fairfax (and for more of those who historically have moved from DC to MoCo to remain in DC or move to NoVa instead).

Fairfax isn't immune from that - people leave Fairfax for Loudoun like people leave MoCo for Howard - but it is growing whereas MoCo has been slipping for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would buy in MoCo if it was close to my work, and if money was no object I think Bethesda is a much nicer looking area than McLean. The only people I know who have bought in MoCo are locals who grew up there and are just used to the area or want to be close to relatives for child care purposes. From an urban planning perspective, I think MoCo developed much better than the sprawl in Northern VA.

If I was wagering, I'd say that FFX will remain pretty stable over the next 20 years but MoCo will slowly but surely deteriorate into a land of major income inequality, declining older suburbs (places like Gaithersburg and Germantown), and deteriorating schools. Taxes are high and the low income majority-minority areas keep growing.

If money is a consideration, you are more likely to look at Bethesda because you can't afford McLean.

Median SFH sales prices 2019:

McLean/22102: $1,240,000
McLean/22101: $1,150,000
Bethesda/20816: $1,050,000
Bethesda/20817: $945,000
Bethesda/20815: $923,000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would buy in MoCo if it was close to my work, and if money was no object I think Bethesda is a much nicer looking area than McLean. The only people I know who have bought in MoCo are locals who grew up there and are just used to the area or want to be close to relatives for child care purposes. From an urban planning perspective, I think MoCo developed much better than the sprawl in Northern VA.

If I was wagering, I'd say that FFX will remain pretty stable over the next 20 years but MoCo will slowly but surely deteriorate into a land of major income inequality, declining older suburbs (places like Gaithersburg and Germantown), and deteriorating schools. Taxes are high and the low income majority-minority areas keep growing.

But what is to say this won't happen in NoVA either? There's no shortage of undesirable areas in NoVA that I don't see getting better. Areas like Annandale, the Route 1 corridor, Herndon, parts of Reston, Sterling, Springfield and Woodbridge to name a few. I don't see how those areas will remain stable or not decline further. If anything, with the high housing costs in NoVA, I can see even more of a inequality divide occurring between these places in NoVA as well.

[Anonymous]

Schools are better. Don't know why you think schools are not better?

[Anonymous]

But, for property value you are better off in NoVa right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mire parks and urban forest. Living on the red line. State politics. Less racism. More professional police force.

+1

[Anonymous]

PP loves Tysons Corner? People be crazy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would buy in MoCo if it was close to my work, and if money was no object I think Bethesda is a much nicer looking area than McLean. The only people I know who have bought in MoCo are locals who grew up there and are just used to the area or want to be close to relatives for child care purposes. From an urban planning perspective, I think MoCo developed much better than the sprawl in Northern VA.

If I was wagering, I'd say that FFX will remain pretty stable over the next 20 years but MoCo will slowly but surely deteriorate into a land of major income inequality, declining older suburbs (places like Gaithersburg and Germantown), and deteriorating schools. Taxes are high and the low income majority-minority areas keep growing.

But what is to say this won't happen in NoVA either? There's no shortage of undesirable areas in NoVA that I don't see getting better. Areas like Annandale, the Route 1 corridor, Herndon, parts of Reston, Sterling, Springfield and Woodbridge to name a few. I don't see how those areas will remain stable or not decline further. If anything, with the high housing costs in NoVA, I can see even more of a inequality divide occurring between these places in NoVA as well.

''

Sterling is in Loudoun; Woodbridge is in Prince William.

Reston was booming and Herndon will benefit from the Silver Line extension. The Route 1 corridor will receive major attention in the coming years, if macroeconomic conditions don't put a damper on everything, because it was already a priority area and the new Chair of the Board of Supervisors is from the southern part of the county.

Annandale (inside the Beltway; outside the Beltway remains a very solid area) and Springfield (but not West Springfield) have lagged behind other parts of the county for years. That won't change, but neither will it aggravate the existing divide.

MoCo is not as fortunate, and that's been clear for decades as incomes in the county continued to slide in relative terms compared to other jurisdictions in the DMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools are better. Don't know why you think schools are not better?

MCPS hasn't updated its school profiles since 2017-18. And here's betting that when they finally get around to it they'll scrub much of the data that allowed comparisons both within and outside MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Op - of course it's still more liberal