Anonymous
Post 04/29/2012 13:05     Subject: Re:Move to McLean for our kids?
Anonymous wrote:



The commute thing is hilarious! You can't lump all of DC into having a good commute. I have a colleague who moved to upper northwest reentry. Her commute is about the same or sometimes longer than my commute from Falls Church (which is comparable to McLean distance wise). SO living in the District does not always mean a shorter commute. Oh and by the way, I have better metro access than my colleague. I can walk and she must drive.


sorry but I think this is bs. if you are working downtown, pretty anywhere in NWDC is going to be a much better commute than Falls Church. In normal morning/evening traffic, it's a 45 minute commute to Falls Church at a minimum. Yes, it may take only 25 minutes other times but not during rush hour.



So many in NWDC have an unrealistic view of commuting to the suburbs. Depending on where you work, getting across DC back home to NW can take 45 minutes in traffic jam conditions the entire time. Many of the traffic choke points are inside the city. Depending of your route, where you work and where you live, commuting to parts of Bethesda or Arlington can take less time than crossing DC.
I think a lot of NW residents hang on to this idea of the "horrible" commute to MD or VA to justify staying in the tiny house with the tiny yard etc. But it just isn't always the case.
Anonymous
Post 04/29/2012 11:55     Subject: Move to McLean for our kids?
Anonymous wrote:Op here. I'm sorry if my initial payed seemed jumbled. But using a 5imch phone keyboard does that to you. I know 3 families with kids at one time or another in highly regarded privates that have moved to McLean and still kept their kids in private school. All of them lived in ward 3. One lived in a glover park rowhouse so they wanted more space along with better services and better government. One lived in the neighborhood next to Arizona and the other lived in AU park. Dad became a partner and a year later they bought a fabulous new construction near Kirby road.


Grow a backbone and decide what works best for you! You should no more move to McLean because some families you know did than someone else should buy in DC just because DCUMer who lives in Brookland can't stop talking about Yu Ying. Different strokes.
Anonymous
Post 04/29/2012 11:08     Subject: Move to McLean for our kids?
Op here. I'm sorry if my initial payed seemed jumbled. But using a 5imch phone keyboard does that to you. I know 3 families with kids at one time or another in highly regarded privates that have moved to McLean and still kept their kids in private school. All of them lived in ward 3. One lived in a glover park rowhouse so they wanted more space along with better services and better government. One lived in the neighborhood next to Arizona and the other lived in AU park. Dad became a partner and a year later they bought a fabulous new construction near Kirby road.
Anonymous
Post 04/29/2012 11:02     Subject: Re:Move to McLean for our kids?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The only reason I would move to McLean would be if (1) we couldn't afford private school or (2) we worked in VA.


Other then the shorter commute, what keeps you in NWDC? The fabulous schools, the excellent city services (snow, police, trash, ambulance, DMV), the taxes, or the hatred of the DC government towards upper NW? Oh, wait I know, it's the sense of community or some other intangible asset of an otherwise f'ed up neighborhood.



Because I don't want to live in VA. I like the city. But if you have to ask, you'll never know.
Anonymous
Post 04/29/2012 10:50     Subject: Re:Move to McLean for our kids?




The commute thing is hilarious! You can't lump all of DC into having a good commute. I have a colleague who moved to upper northwest reentry. Her commute is about the same or sometimes longer than my commute from Falls Church (which is comparable to McLean distance wise). SO living in the District does not always mean a shorter commute. Oh and by the way, I have better metro access than my colleague. I can walk and she must drive.


sorry but I think this is bs. if you are working downtown, pretty anywhere in NWDC is going to be a much better commute than Falls Church. In normal morning/evening traffic, it's a 45 minute commute to Falls Church at a minimum. Yes, it may take only 25 minutes other times but not during rush hour.
Anonymous
Post 04/29/2012 09:44     Subject: Re:Move to McLean for our kids?
Anonymous wrote:McLean? Shoot me.


No need. We'll just let you walk around DC long enough and things will take care of themselves, though it might involve a claw-hammer instead.
Anonymous
Post 04/29/2012 09:44     Subject: Move to McLean for our kids?
Anonymous wrote:

McLean resident here. It is funny to me that people "aspire" to live in McLean. Though I am from a nice area, so McLean does not impress me.

There is a HUGE difference regarding what neighborhood you are considering, OP. We have known several and well, let's just leave it at that.

If you are not attending McLean schools, there is absolutely no reason to move to McLean. None. Not one. Really.


I don't agree with you 100%, it's not just schools. We moved to Mclean because we were looking for more privacy, one acre lot and woodsy setting, we wanted a retreat not too far from the city amenities and close to the jobs in VA and DC. Schools were important to us, but not the deciding factor as we definitely can afford private for our one kid and if we have another we may be able to scramble enough for that too, but surely, would rather not. No plans for a large family and we didn't want a big house either, just wanted specific setting to mimic what we are used to on the West Coast where we are from. We would not be able to afford this in DC and wooded lots of that size just aren't there in sufficient supply. We also didn't want to move far out. We pretty much found some parts of Arlington and Mclean to meet our criteria, but after asking around decided on Mclean as apparently among the long term residents of this area it has certain reputation, which was important to us from resale perspective. I am agnostic to the entire debate on what area is more superior and I don't think for any metro area these types of debates make sense, as there are usually several desirable areas. For us, we were looking for the specific setting, size of a lot and proximity to cultural amenities for the weekends, schools played important role, but not deciding role, it was more from resale value perspective as we are not sure how long we will stay in DC metro.
Anonymous
Post 04/29/2012 09:20     Subject: Re:Move to McLean for our kids?
McLean? Shoot me.
Anonymous
Post 04/29/2012 07:35     Subject: Re:Move to McLean for our kids?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The only reason I would move to McLean would be if (1) we couldn't afford private school or (2) we worked in VA.


Other then the shorter commute, what keeps you in NWDC? The fabulous schools, the excellent city services (snow, police, trash, ambulance, DMV), the taxes, or the hatred of the DC government towards upper NW? Oh, wait I know, it's the sense of community or some other intangible asset of an otherwise f'ed up neighborhood.


Other than the short commute to our work (which we highly value), we like the proximity to so many great private schools, restaurants, parks, activities, the sense of community and the aesthetics. Personally, I do not find much of anything in NoVa charming or attractive. There is nothing "f'ed up" about my neighborhood. Other than the school situation, I don't find anything about the city services to be lacking. The Marion Barry days of poor service have long passed.



The commute thing is hilarious! You can't lump all of DC into having a good commute. I have a colleague who moved to upper northwest reentry. Her commute is about the same or sometimes longer than my commute from Falls Church (which is comparable to McLean distance wise). SO living in the District does not always mean a shorter commute. Oh and by the way, I have better metro access than my colleague. I can walk and she must drive.
Anonymous
Post 04/28/2012 23:27     Subject: Move to McLean for our kids?


McLean resident here. It is funny to me that people "aspire" to live in McLean. Though I am from a nice area, so McLean does not impress me.

There is a HUGE difference regarding what neighborhood you are considering, OP. We have known several and well, let's just leave it at that.

If you are not attending McLean schools, there is absolutely no reason to move to McLean. None. Not one. Really.
Anonymous
Post 04/28/2012 13:39     Subject: Re:Move to McLean for our kids?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The only reason I would move to McLean would be if (1) we couldn't afford private school or (2) we worked in VA.


Other then the shorter commute, what keeps you in NWDC? The fabulous schools, the excellent city services (snow, police, trash, ambulance, DMV), the taxes, or the hatred of the DC government towards upper NW? Oh, wait I know, it's the sense of community or some other intangible asset of an otherwise f'ed up neighborhood.


Other than the short commute to our work (which we highly value), we like the proximity to so many great private schools, restaurants, parks, activities, the sense of community and the aesthetics. Personally, I do not find much of anything in NoVa charming or attractive. There is nothing "f'ed up" about my neighborhood. Other than the school situation, I don't find anything about the city services to be lacking. The Marion Barry days of poor service have long passed.

Anonymous
Post 04/28/2012 10:34     Subject: Re:Move to McLean for our kids?
Anonymous wrote:The only reason I would move to McLean would be if (1) we couldn't afford private school or (2) we worked in VA.


Other then the shorter commute, what keeps you in NWDC? The fabulous schools, the excellent city services (snow, police, trash, ambulance, DMV), the taxes, or the hatred of the DC government towards upper NW? Oh, wait I know, it's the sense of community or some other intangible asset of an otherwise f'ed up neighborhood.
Anonymous
Post 04/28/2012 09:52     Subject: Move to McLean for our kids?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We have 2 kids in DC privates, and DH works downtown. We aren't really house hunting but if we see something we like we'd be willing to make that move. We live in a part of Ward 3 that is relatively close to Virginia. Should we go ahead and make that move since McLean is a much better and safer place to raise our kids? No matter house nice and affluent it may be we're still in DC and it could change on a dime. Mclean will be a great town for the rest of our lifetimes and most of the affluent in this area live there. Do y'all agree?


You sound just like everyone else in Georgetown and Palisades. Yes, you absolutely must move to McLean. But act fast, y'all, because everyone in Wesley Heights, Spring Valley and Forest Hills is planning to move there, too.






What's that supposed to mean? If you can afford to live in such areas and send your kids to private schools, I don't see a reason to move across the river unless you are squatting around in a condo or a tiny rowhouse and would like to exchange this for the detached home with a yard, or if you are wealthy and you want to get that estate in the country setting or in the woods on several acres.


Newsflash: places like McLean, Bethesda, Potomac, Chevy Chase, etc. are full of very wealthy people. I think its hilarious that there are people who can't understand why a wealthy person would want to move out of Dc to those places. There are a lot of people who want to live outside of the city. Granted if this is a real OP, she hasn't articulated any real reason (except a vague reference to safety which seems amorphous and odd), but living in the city is not the end-all-be-all desire for everyone. Leaving the city does not mean trading-down or giving up on something.




I am the PP you are responding and not the OP. I don't understand why a wealthy person would move out of DC just for the reasons to move out of DC, unless they are looking for a country estate or some exclusive enclave in the woods. We were looking in NWDC in 800K range and we cannot afford to send two kids to private schools. While we were finding places in our price range zoned for decent elementary schools, the quality we were getting just was atrocious for the price, plus the stress of having to send your kids elsewhere after elementary. That is why we are looking into VA right now, N.Arlington, Mclean, Falls Church. I can say already that Mclean is cheaper than NWDC as there is definitely more you get for 800K here in terms of sq. footage and a yard than in let's say AU park or CC DC. And given that you don't need to worry about private schools, it's definitely more affordable option than the place where OP is already living and apparently can afford to.
Anonymous
Post 04/28/2012 09:17     Subject: Move to McLean for our kids?
Anonymous wrote:We have 2 kids in DC privates, and DH works downtown. We aren't really house hunting but if we see something we like we'd be willing to make that move. We live in a part of Ward 3 that is relatively close to Virginia. Should we go ahead and make that move since McLean is a much better and safer place to raise our kids? No matter house nice and affluent it may be we're still in DC and it could change on a dime. Mclean will be a great town for the rest of our lifetimes and most of the affluent in this area live there. Do y'all agree?


You are an elitist snob. If I lived in McLean I wouldn't want you to move to where I live and I definitely wouldn't want you as my neighbor.
Anonymous
Post 04/28/2012 08:58     Subject: Re:Move to McLean for our kids?
The only reason I would move to McLean would be if (1) we couldn't afford private school or (2) we worked in VA.