Reply to Vienna vs McLean: culture differences?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Both neighborhoods do not allow tear downs as far as I know, so the housing stock is aging. I would rather live in a new build in the McLean HS district than in one of those neighborhoods. I guess some of the homes are renovated though.[/quote]

Langley Oaks and McLean Hamlet both have (overly ?) active HOAs with lots of rules and mandatory HOA fees.  We avoided both in order to stay away from the HOA circus.  Both neighborhoods have aging houses, with some better kept up than others.

I hear anecdotes suggesting McLean Hamlet recently has allowed at least one tear-down, but I am not certain if that anecdote is true.  At least one family we know picked McLean Hamlet only because of the swim team, even though they did not particularly like the (older, smaller, & dated) house they bought.  They say they will move as soon as their last kid starts college.[/quote]
So much misinformation. McLean Hamlet is full on tear down territory now for any of its original homes. Several cul de sacs were added ten years after OG hamlet and these homes are bigger (about 3500 square ft) and more in the traditional colonial style. Those OG teardowns are priced above $1M. The homes on our cul de sac have significant renovations and additions, because we all decided to stay in the neighborhood rather than move up.
The HOA is $100 per year and pays for landscaping at the entrances to the neighborhood, the luminaries to every house for a winter Festival of Lights (not "Christmas Eve") and an annual picnic with some freebies. That's it. The HOA has zero legal authority. The teardowns and new home builds are limited only by Fairfax County building codes. Our McLean Hamlet cul de sac has mostly older families now where young adult kids visit parents who seem to be working from home at reduced schedule, all either lawyers or financial guys. We enjoy our paid off mortgages, Fords or Mercedes, close proximity if we need to get to our offices, the flexibility to SAH if desired, etc. 
I agree that the Hamlet is unattractive but there are reason so many people choose to buy and stay. I don't intend to convince anyone of anything but to clarify some false info here. [/quote]

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