“World class restaurants” in Clarendon? Like what? The A-Town offshoots? I live in Clarendon and never eat out here. Everything is overpriced and downright bad. Anything that was mildly good or different has closed. The good news is that it has made me into a much better cook.

Anonymous wrote:We lived in a leafy neighborhood in Arlington in a Yorktown pyramid for many years. When our kids graduated high school we looked at Clarendon as a reasonable substitute for walkable urban living, but the housing stock sucked and was overpriced and the neighborhood too lily white. We ended up moving to Logan Circle and are glad we did.

Yorktown pyramid wasn’t lily white?

I moved there in 2002, and yeah it used to be awesome, but now it’s just tired and sad.

Anonymous wrote:

tons of great people from all backgrounds

It's really amazing, isn't it? Where else could you find bros from William & Mary AND bros from UVA, all drinking together in the same place? Plus there's the mix of full-time MBAs and executive MBAs, combined with JDs to add a little exotic flavor. Some kids ski in Utah, while others prefer Colorado, and some prefer to go to Europe for spring break. It's a great way for them to learn about different strokes for different folks.

Hehehe. Post of the day.

We lived in a leafy neighborhood in Arlington in a Yorktown pyramid for many years. When our kids graduated high school we looked at Clarendon as a reasonable substitute for walkable urban living, but the housing stock sucked and was overpriced and the neighborhood too lily white. We ended up moving to Logan Circle and are glad we did.

Once Mario’s leaves, that place is officially dead to me.

I just moved from Clarendon and I couldn’t be happier. It was so noisy and nothing was good except TJ’s. I couldn’t open my window on nice nights because of screaming idiots at 4AM. Couldn’t walk my dogs safely Saturday or Sunday mornings because of puke, broken glass, and chicken bones everywhere.

Clarendon was where young Republicans lived because they thought DC was “sketchy” but I guess those people live at the Navy Yard now and the older ones live in Clarendon now with babies and range rovers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Clarendon almost a decade ago. It was cool back then if you’re a preppy kid who just graduated college. But now everything is closed and there’s nothing there anymore. Is Whitlows and Clarendon Ballroom still there?

Whitlows is the only holdout at this point. Ballroom just closed along with Clarendon Grill, Mr. Days, etc. It’s sad! Man, those were the days hanging out in Clarendon right after college.

Days is gone?!? Wow. Damn I feel old now.

Clarendon started going down when Hard Times got replaced with some stupid looking bar and when Ri-Ra shut down.

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Clarendon almost a decade ago. It was cool back then if you’re a preppy kid who just graduated college. But now everything is closed and there’s nothing there anymore. Is Whitlows and Clarendon Ballroom still there?

Whitlows is the only holdout at this point. Ballroom just closed along with Clarendon Grill, Mr. Days, etc. It’s sad! Man, those were the days hanging out in Clarendon right after college.

I lived in Clarendon almost a decade ago. It was cool back then if you’re a preppy kid who just graduated college. But now everything is closed and there’s nothing there anymore. Is Whitlows and Clarendon Ballroom still there?

tons of great people from all backgrounds

It's really amazing, isn't it? Where else could you find bros from William & Mary AND bros from UVA, all drinking together in the same place? Plus there's the mix of full-time MBAs and executive MBAs, combined with JDs to add a little exotic flavor. Some kids ski in Utah, while others prefer Colorado, and some prefer to go to Europe for spring break. It's a great way for them to learn about different strokes for different folks.

Hmm. Tell me more about the world class restaurants? I love Arlington as much as anyone else (and I lived there for 10 years) but there’s nothing in Clarendon I’d consider especially notable.

All of the old staples that at one point made Clarendon somewhat “cool” are closed or closing down and will probably be replaced with more chains.

This has to be a parody post from an Ashburnian, right? Or maybe you live in Centreville? Maybe a few are ago, Clarendon was just ok. A place that nervous privileged parents could recommend to their snowflakes starting their first really important NGO jobs. Then it just hit a wall. The restaurant/bar scene is deader than a dead horse, and it is played out in general. If you like CVS and a couple grocery stores, well, knock yourself out. It’s ClarenDONE.

The more I think about it, the more lucky I feel to live here. It seems like the ideal American suburb. The best grocery store, world class restaurants, great proximity, lots of exercise options, tons of great people from all backgrounds, parks, schools that get better and better as new residents move in. I know you can’t plop Clarendon anywhere but maybe developers should use it as the gold standard example