Why is Arlington so hot?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I lived in Court House 15 years ago I absolutely hated riding the Orange Line because the train was already completely full/standing room only by the time it got there. Plus the Metro always had to stop and wait for several minutes in the tunnel between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom, which was not fun on a train when you are literally shoulder to shoulder with all the other riders. Is it still like this (or at least pre-COVID)?

During pre-COVID rush hour, it was standing room only after East Falls Church.

Thanks. I remember some mornings were so bad I would have to ride the Metro a few stops up the line from Court House (away from DC) just to find a place to stand—sitting was still out of the question.

[Anonymous]

Arlington (and Alexandria, which is also hot right now) are urban-light. You can be on a suburban street but are never far away from urban amenities. The same is definitely not true of Falls Church, McLean, or Vienna

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Arlington (and Alexandria, which is also hot right now) are urban-light. You can be on a suburban street but are never far away from urban amenities. The same is definitely not true of Falls Church, McLean, or Vienna

Falls Church City does offer some of these amenities depending where you are. We have friends near Broadmont. It’s very pricey, but gorgeous streets and you can walk to EFC metro from much of it + state theater and other restaurants around there (we love North Side Social) plus lots of parks. If I could afford it I’d live there. (We are in Arlington and love our neighborhood too though).

[Anonymous]

It’s a shorter commute to downtown than Bethesda. We are 2 miles from the DC border and can be at the White House in 10 min. We also have Metro a block away, 100s of restaurants, stores, dentist, pharmacy, vet’s office, boutique gyms, coffee shops, bakeries, etc within 2 block walk.

SFH, good size yard. Hub to any major highway. 5 min to airport.

[Anonymous]

How many times do we have to have this close-in versus suburb debate?

Some people prefer to be close-in for reasons other than WFH. DH used to drive 1.5 hours to work out in the boonies Maryland but we lived on the Hill because we enjoyed being walkable to restaurants and the like.

Once the pandemic hit, I wanted to be somewhere less dense, so we moved *out* to NW DC. I was open to moving further out and have more land, but walkability was still important to DH, so we paid $$$$ to stay close-in, despite both of us WFH. I'll probably have to go back into the office in some form or the other (fed), his current company is moving to permanent WFH.

[Anonymous]

For the life of me, I don’t understand why Arlington homes are worth so much more than Silver Spring homes. The schools are pretty comparable and the commute by Metro from SS is only 6 stops to Union Station, and it is all above ground so you can actually see sunshine in the morning and sunsets in the evening. And if that’s not your thing, you can surf the web on your phone the entire ride, not just in Metro stations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the life of me, I don’t understand why Arlington homes are worth so much more than Silver Spring homes. The schools are pretty comparable and the commute by Metro from SS is only 6 stops to Union Station, and it is all above ground so you can actually see sunshine in the morning and sunsets in the evening. And if that’s not your thing, you can surf the web on your phone the entire ride, not just in Metro stations.

Because a lot of Feds don't work on the Red Line and the transfer is annoying.

[Anonymous]

Not only is it close to job centers in DC and Tyson’s - Arlington IS a job center (hello, Pentagon) - tons of corporate, trade association jobs in Roslyn, Clarendon and Ballston, not to mention hq2 to come.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda, Cleveland Park, Kensington, Falls Church, and Takoma Park are all just as walkable to parks, coffee shops, and transit and have better schools than most of Arlington.

As for schools, the same cohort (white kids) at Einstein do as well as similar kids at Whitman, which is far better than Arlington’s highest rated school (Yorktown). And Einstein is looked down on by people in MoCo. Yorktown wouldn’t even be a Top 5 school in Fairfax or MoCo.

Regarding crime, Arlington is around a 22 crime score, whereas Bethesda is a 14. Arlington is not that safe compared to other walkable suburbs that cost just as much or less.

I've bolded the parts of your post that make little to no sense. Maybe have a little less Sunday night wine before posting?

I don’t know what’s so hard to understand. There are sites where you can compare crime rates, like this one:

https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/?city1=52407125&city2=55103000

Arlington has around a 75% higher violent crime rate than Bethesda and double the amount of property crime.

It also has much worse schools than Bethesda. No one is arguing that Wakefield, W-L, and Yorktown are better than Walter Johnson, BCC, and Whitman. One could argue that Bethesda’s least regarded school, Walter Johnson, is better than Yorktown. PP was also arguing that Arlington schools are so bad that when you examine metrics by the same racial or socio economic group, kids are faring better in Albert Einstein HS in Wheaton than in Yorktown, which is a bad sign for Arlington considering Albert Einstein is in Wheaton and has a lot of kids who aren’t mostly privileged UMC kids like the students at Yorktown. Also Einstein is looked down upon by a lot of parents on here from MoCo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the life of me, I don’t understand why Arlington homes are worth so much more than Silver Spring homes. The schools are pretty comparable and the commute by Metro from SS is only 6 stops to Union Station, and it is all above ground so you can actually see sunshine in the morning and sunsets in the evening. And if that’s not your thing, you can surf the web on your phone the entire ride, not just in Metro stations.

Fine if you work at union station or on the red line forever. You’re screwed if you live in SS and want to take a job in Tysons or Ballston though. If you live in Arlington your career mobility isn’t affected by stress over different commutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda, Cleveland Park, Kensington, Falls Church, and Takoma Park are all just as walkable to parks, coffee shops, and transit and have better schools than most of Arlington.

As for schools, the same cohort (white kids) at Einstein do as well as similar kids at Whitman, which is far better than Arlington’s highest rated school (Yorktown). And Einstein is looked down on by people in MoCo. Yorktown wouldn’t even be a Top 5 school in Fairfax or MoCo.

Regarding crime, Arlington is around a 22 crime score, whereas Bethesda is a 14. Arlington is not that safe compared to other walkable suburbs that cost just as much or less.

I've bolded the parts of your post that make little to no sense. Maybe have a little less Sunday night wine before posting?

I don’t know what’s so hard to understand. There are sites where you can compare crime rates, like this one:

https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/?city1=52407125&city2=55103000

Arlington has around a 75% higher violent crime rate than Bethesda and double the amount of property crime.

It also has much worse schools than Bethesda. No one is arguing that Wakefield, W-L, and Yorktown are better than Walter Johnson, BCC, and Whitman. One could argue that Bethesda’s least regarded school, Walter Johnson, is better than Yorktown. PP was also arguing that Arlington schools are so bad that when you examine metrics by the same racial or socio economic group, kids are faring better in Albert Einstein HS in Wheaton than in Yorktown, which is a bad sign for Arlington considering Albert Einstein is in Wheaton and has a lot of kids who aren’t mostly privileged UMC kids like the students at Yorktown. Also Einstein is looked down upon by a lot of parents on here from MoCo.

Based on what criteria?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda, Cleveland Park, Kensington, Falls Church, and Takoma Park are all just as walkable to parks, coffee shops, and transit and have better schools than most of Arlington.

As for schools, the same cohort (white kids) at Einstein do as well as similar kids at Whitman, which is far better than Arlington’s highest rated school (Yorktown). And Einstein is looked down on by people in MoCo. Yorktown wouldn’t even be a Top 5 school in Fairfax or MoCo.

Regarding crime, Arlington is around a 22 crime score, whereas Bethesda is a 14. Arlington is not that safe compared to other walkable suburbs that cost just as much or less.

I've bolded the parts of your post that make little to no sense. Maybe have a little less Sunday night wine before posting?

I don’t know what’s so hard to understand. There are sites where you can compare crime rates, like this one:

https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/?city1=52407125&city2=55103000

Arlington has around a 75% higher violent crime rate than Bethesda and double the amount of property crime.

It also has much worse schools than Bethesda. No one is arguing that Wakefield, W-L, and Yorktown are better than Walter Johnson, BCC, and Whitman. One could argue that Bethesda’s least regarded school, Walter Johnson, is better than Yorktown. PP was also arguing that Arlington schools are so bad that when you examine metrics by the same racial or socio economic group, kids are faring better in Albert Einstein HS in Wheaton than in Yorktown, which is a bad sign for Arlington considering Albert Einstein is in Wheaton and has a lot of kids who aren’t mostly privileged UMC kids like the students at Yorktown. Also Einstein is looked down upon by a lot of parents on here from MoCo.


Arlington has actual diversity- including many English language learners and students on free lunch, and that affects test scores, which you are equating with “better schools.” You think the quality of instruction is better in Bethesda and than you’re dreaming.

Speaking of schools, Virginia’s public college system trounces Maryland’s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She’s flirty, optimistic, and will show you a good time. She’s literally the girl next door.

Made me laugh. I appreciate you, PP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I lived in Court House 15 years ago I absolutely hated riding the Orange Line because the train was already completely full/standing room only by the time it got there. Plus the Metro always had to stop and wait for several minutes in the tunnel between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom, which was not fun on a train when you are literally shoulder to shoulder with all the other riders. Is it still like this (or at least pre-COVID)?

During pre-COVID rush hour, it was standing room only after East Falls Church.

Thanks. I remember some mornings were so bad I would have to ride the Metro a few stops up the line from Court House (away from DC) just to find a place to stand—sitting was still out of the question.

Although in my experience, I found it was by far the worst on the red line, especially at Chinatown. Multiple trains going by with people absolutely packed, and you’d be standing on an absolutely packed platform, waiting for a tiny space to squeeze into. Orange line got to standing room only, but I never saw it as bad as the red line in the heart of the city during rush hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the life of me, I don’t understand why Arlington homes are worth so much more than Silver Spring homes. The schools are pretty comparable and the commute by Metro from SS is only 6 stops to Union Station, and it is all above ground so you can actually see sunshine in the morning and sunsets in the evening. And if that’s not your thing, you can surf the web on your phone the entire ride, not just in Metro stations.

Fine if you work at union station or on the red line forever. You’re screwed if you live in SS and want to take a job in Tysons or Ballston though. If you live in Arlington your career mobility isn’t affected by stress over different commutes.

Yes. One of the only two reasons Arlington is “so hot.”