Moving from NYC to DC suburbs...tell me why you like the DC suburbs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you haven't already bought in the suburbs, don't do it. You'll be miserable unless you live in a place like parts of Arlington and Alexandria.

If you move to a place like Reston or McLean, you will be miserable OP.

But what about the public schools being way better in a place like McLean? Unfortunately it just seems like the more city-like areas (or DC proper) gave bad public schools.

The public schools in McLean and Great Falls are the best in the state. Great Falls is rural and spread out but parts of McLean are walkable and there is easy Metro access.

I don’t understand people who think walkable to to anything in McLean is a benefit? They truly must never have lived in a city or like cities? It sounds awful to have the only things walking distance be soulless strip malls or a mush mash of little places surrounded by parking lots. It’s not the actual dry cleaner or coffee place that i yearn for, it’s the running into friends while walking all over, the variety of places, charm of the area, multiple options to sit outside, walking distance to parks, etc. and a real sense of community. We moved from the UWS to upper nw. While it was walkable to playgrounds and the library, it still felt isolated. We ended up moving again to old town, Alexandria and it feels a lot like the UWS. While we have cars and it’s easy to drive to the airport or beach or whatever, we pretty much walk everywhere. We go to the playgrounds and run into friends, there are lots of community events, the kids walk to sports, etc. The elementary school is excellent but we chose private for after that, although friends who stayed in public swear that it’s good as long as you’re in the gifted and talented classes

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I moved from NY suburb to McLean. I would choose Westover in Arlington if I had it to do over. For me, walkability is important. We can’t walk to library (only a small part of McLean can) and I don’t like that library anyway. Also, McLean has no ice cream shops. Go figure! Westover has Toby’s, which is a gem. Also, the Italian Store right there is the closest you’ll get to NY pizza You are also close-ish to the metro, which you will appreciate.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC suburbs absolutely suck. This place is basically like Ohio or Indiana but if the residents were 10,000% more pretentious and arrogant and full of themselves. And that 10,000% figure isn't an even an exaggeration. People will live in bland-as-f*ck Virginia and pretend they're the center of the universe.[/quote

As a native NOVA person, this in a nutshell. This area is so laughably pretentious for no real reason when this area, yes even bethesda and Arlington, are bland as hell. It’s a bunch of strip malls and faux town centers. There’s nothing remotely special about the DMV burbs at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC suburbs absolutely suck. This place is basically like Ohio or Indiana but if the residents were 10,000% more pretentious and arrogant and full of themselves. And that 10,000% figure isn't an even an exaggeration. People will live in bland-as-f*ck Virginia and pretend they're the center of the universe.

As a native NOVA person, this in a nutshell. This area is so laughably pretentious for no real reason when this area, yes even bethesda and Arlington, are bland as hell. It’s a bunch of strip malls and faux town centers. There’s nothing remotely special about the DMV burbs at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC suburbs absolutely suck. This place is basically like Ohio or Indiana but if the residents were 10,000% more pretentious and arrogant and full of themselves. And that 10,000% figure isn't an even an exaggeration. People will live in bland-as-f*ck Virginia and pretend they're the center of the universe.[/quote

As a native NOVA person, this in a nutshell. This area is so laughably pretentious for no real reason when this area, yes even bethesda and Arlington, are bland as hell. It’s a bunch of strip malls and faux town centers. There’s nothing remotely special about the DMV burbs at all.

As someone who has lived in the DMV including NOVA suburbs, and then moved to a midwestern suburb... at least the NOVA suburbs are full of intelligent, educated, and similarly neurotic people. I will say people are friendlier in the midwestern suburbs. Unless you are a URM like me, then it is hit or miss.

[Anonymous]

I live in Reston and actually love it. I have lots of green and trails around me, can walk to stores and restaurants and bike to even more. There are many different pools for the kids to go to in the summer. It’s very diverse, especially when you include a range of a 15 minute drive. Lots of Central American, Middle Eastern, Korean, and Indian food close by. Many immigrants and expats. It’s great.

[Anonymous]

Clean, safe, quiet so you can hear nature, so many parks and trails, neighborhood pools, the night sky is visible, you can see launches from VA beach sometimes and we see satellites and satellite trains all the time, cleaner air, and as far as coffee, buy a good machine and beans...you'll have plenty of kitchen space.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know where in NYC you lived, but there are quite a few Brooklyn transplants in my two block span in Capitol Hill. 3 families in my DD’s class moved here from Brooklyn during the pandemic, weirdly. Where was your kid in school in NYC that you think DC schools are so bad? The DC landscape is weird for schools, but there are plenty of schools comparable to NYC until HS (no real magnets) unless you’re talking like NEST+M or Hunter… but you’re not going to find those in the DC burbs either. I find it’s super weird you’ve convinced yourself that the bland burbs are the only option if you’re sad to be leaving NYC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you haven't already bought in the suburbs, don't do it. You'll be miserable unless you live in a place like parts of Arlington and Alexandria.

If you move to a place like Reston or McLean, you will be miserable OP.

But what about the public schools being way better in a place like McLean? Unfortunately it just seems like the more city-like areas (or DC proper) gave bad public schools.

The public schools in McLean and Great Falls are the best in the state. Great Falls is rural and spread out but parts of McLean are walkable and there is easy Metro access.

I don’t understand people who think walkable to to anything in McLean is a benefit? They truly must never have lived in a city or like cities? It sounds awful to have the only things walking distance be soulless strip malls or a mush mash of little places surrounded by parking lots. It’s not the actual dry cleaner or coffee place that i yearn for, it’s the running into friends while walking all over, the variety of places, charm of the area, multiple options to sit outside, walking distance to parks, etc. and a real sense of community. We moved from the UWS to upper nw. While it was walkable to playgrounds and the library, it still felt isolated. We ended up moving again to old town, Alexandria and it feels a lot like the UWS. While we have cars and it’s easy to drive to the airport or beach or whatever, we pretty much walk everywhere. We go to the playgrounds and run into friends, there are lots of community events, the kids walk to sports, etc. The elementary school is excellent but we chose private for after that, although friends who stayed in public swear that it’s good as long as you’re in the gifted and talented classes

This x 10000.

McLean is not walkable, and I grew up there. Can you walk to a CVS if there's a snowstorm and it's tough to drive? Sure. But it's not walkable.

And look, if you like suburban life then that's great, good for you. But for someone coming from a place where they could walk to everything the need/want--and LIKED it--then the burbs will be miserable and feel soulless. Their quality of life would take a major nosedive, and they're going to feel trapped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you haven't already bought in the suburbs, don't do it. You'll be miserable unless you live in a place like parts of Arlington and Alexandria.

If you move to a place like Reston or McLean, you will be miserable OP.

But what about the public schools being way better in a place like McLean? Unfortunately it just seems like the more city-like areas (or DC proper) gave bad public schools.

The public schools in McLean and Great Falls are the best in the state. Great Falls is rural and spread out but parts of McLean are walkable and there is easy Metro access.

I don’t understand people who think walkable to to anything in McLean is a benefit? They truly must never have lived in a city or like cities? It sounds awful to have the only things walking distance be soulless strip malls or a mush mash of little places surrounded by parking lots. It’s not the actual dry cleaner or coffee place that i yearn for, it’s the running into friends while walking all over, the variety of places, charm of the area, multiple options to sit outside, walking distance to parks, etc. and a real sense of community. We moved from the UWS to upper nw. While it was walkable to playgrounds and the library, it still felt isolated. We ended up moving again to old town, Alexandria and it feels a lot like the UWS. While we have cars and it’s easy to drive to the airport or beach or whatever, we pretty much walk everywhere. We go to the playgrounds and run into friends, there are lots of community events, the kids walk to sports, etc. The elementary school is excellent but we chose private for after that, although friends who stayed in public swear that it’s good as long as you’re in the gifted and talented classes

+1

Well, to be fair, once the Chesterbrook shopping center is fixed up, matters will improve.

It is kinda hideous and surprisingly so, considering the $$$ of the area. Friends from Winnetka, IL and Birmingham, MI have been shocked by McLean’s lack of high end shopping centers compared to what they have at home. Some things in “flyover country” can be very nice compared to what we’ve got.

[Anonymous]

Burbs are burbs OP. Live in DC.

[Anonymous]

Choose Northern Virginia if you are more (business) work-oriented, moderate politically or not political.

Choose MoCo if you are loud-and-proud liberal or hard left politically. If you’re into woke causes and socialism, MoCo is for you. Especially Silver Spring and Takoma Park.

[Anonymous]

Alexandria City is pretty great. Walkable, but still a small town feel.

[Anonymous]

OP, if you aren’t 100 percent sold on suburban life, check out Capitol Hill. You’ll get more space for your money than in NYC but you still have density and walkability. Several of the public schools on the Hill are excellent. Our kids are in HS now and they did DCPS elementary school and public charters for middle and high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you haven't already bought in the suburbs, don't do it. You'll be miserable unless you live in a place like parts of Arlington and Alexandria.

If you move to a place like Reston or McLean, you will be miserable OP.

But what about the public schools being way better in a place like McLean? Unfortunately it just seems like the more city-like areas (or DC proper) gave bad public schools.

No. Close-in Arlington or Bethesda have excellent schools and walkable (to coffee) neighborhoods.

- resident of (the horror!!) Reston

+1 I moved from another large city (not nyc) to Arlington (westover). What I like - best of both worlds, I can be downtown at a museum with my kid in about 10 minutes by car on a Saturday morning, I can still walk to coffee, a few of our favorite restaurants and the farmers market, lots of playgrounds, but I also can easily get to a grocery store (with my cargo bike on the trail or by car and enjoy the large parking lot and ease), I can easily drive places when it’s easier to with my kids but I also hate the in and out of car seats so we also have a cargo bike and tote the kids on the trails as much as possible. Next year my son will start kindergarten and we have a great public school that the neighbors all seem happy with a short walk away. No stress there which is very nice and obviously a huge privilege. Life is pretty easy. Parks and trails a block away. Neighbors who have become good friends, I can text on a Saturday morning and have impromptu get togethers with friends and their kids who are similar ages. I probably outed myself to anyone who knows me traipsing around westover on our bike but they are becoming more common by the day.

If you end up further out, we have family farther out in a suburb that isn’t walkable to shops etc and the benefits there I do see too - it’s quiet, there is a lake nearby, lots of culdesacs and neighbors are chill and friends. Kids run around (they do in Arlington too).

Whoa! This sounds great! Do you mind sharing the name of the elementary school? Is it Arlington Traditional? Is that hard to get into with the lottery? Sorry so many questions.

I’m a NYC girl who has lived in Arlington for many years now. I can’t think of any place in Arlington (the smallest county in the US) where you cannot walk to some kind of green space or park, and where you cannot walk to an elementary school. Now, because they have to balance ratios and they have a prohibition on elementary school children crossing certain major roads, your child might be bussed to school. My child was scheduled for a bus before we moved to a townhouse in a different part of Arlington, but if I wanted to walk to a school playground there were three closer to my condo than the one we were zoned for. ALL elementary schools in Arlington are good. The ones with the high proportion of lower income kids have smaller student to teacher ratios. If you stay along the Orange Line (center) of Arlington, you can definitely walk to many things. If you move to the far north, yes, you will want to drive to most things with kids.

But nothing is Manhattan or Brooklyn, so don’t expect to find it anywhere else, or NY style pizza and good bagels. But you must be coming here for a reason, so just shift your mind space.

I’m the westover pp and will just say I totally agree with this and the food.. basically my taste buds have adjusted but I swear even in the city most places aren’t as good as my previous city. There are good places but not the same so, you accept that and take the other good things. The food is probably the one thing I still miss sometimes.

The food in Arlington is just plain bad. Nearly all of it is bland and overpriced.