I'm not sure why everyone is assuming OP needs to live near a metro? I have never taken the metro to work. From Falls Church (FFX just outside FCC), my commute is usually 30-45 minutes by car. My employer pays for parking. I'd rather drive than metro, maybe OP does too.

I live in N Arlington and would not do most of MCLean because of the commute and suburban vibe. I’m near Clarendon and we can walk there which is great. Lots of gym options within 5 miles. 15 minutes drive to my downtown office without traffic. At rush hour around 30 minutes since we are so close. Could walk to metro as another option. Kid’s schools are in the neighborhood. All pretty easy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean blows and isn't near the metro. I'd go with N. Arlington.

There is a metro stop named “McLean.” It’s named that because it’s located in McLean.

It is also 2 or more miles from most SF homes in McLean and doesn’t have metro parking. It has $25 parking in the capital one garage.

I would suggest living in McLean near the Falls Church border, then you can drive to West Falls Church metro which has regular parking.

This is the answer. Reminds me of this house that there was a thread about, that sold a couple of weeks ago. Walking distances to WFC metro and under 1.5M, but sold in 2days. https://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/2315-Highland-Ave-22046/home/9482052

You and your agent have to be very on top of the "coming soon" MLS, these properties can pretty much sell overnight.

I'm a big fan of walkability, but isn't highway noise a problem with these properties that are close to metro? Once you get west of the Ballston station, all the metro stops are on highways, so you can't get walkability to metro without also having terrible highway noise.

No, not necessarily. Depends on where you are. For example, the link above was to a house on Highland Ave, which is a big cut through street to the WFC metro. You will hear 66 at the houses at the bottom of the hill right at Haycock, but once you go up 3 houses or so, you no longer hear it. So yes, right there at the metro on Highland or slightly up Haycock? You will hear 66. But only the houses that are right there. And you don't hear it at all at the houses that are more in the direction of route 7. A friend lives on Offutt, and walks to the WFC metro and you certainly can't hear 66 there. I'd say 66 noise is a problem for a minority of the homes that are walking distance to WFC; but it will be a problem for those that are closest, I grant that.

FCC, schools are good and they don’t close so often for 1”of snow like the surrounding counties. Depending on where you live it’s very walkable and has a nice community feel.

We’re walkable to west falls church metro and don’t have highway noise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean blows and isn't near the metro. I'd go with N. Arlington.

There is a metro stop named “McLean.” It’s named that because it’s located in McLean.

It is also 2 or more miles from most SF homes in McLean and doesn’t have metro parking. It has $25 parking in the capital one garage.

I would suggest living in McLean near the Falls Church border, then you can drive to West Falls Church metro which has regular parking.

I agree—that area is becoming increasingly popular, especially with the town center development near the West Falls Church Metro.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean blows and isn't near the metro. I'd go with N. Arlington.

There is a metro stop named “McLean.” It’s named that because it’s located in McLean.

It is also 2 or more miles from most SF homes in McLean and doesn’t have metro parking. It has $25 parking in the capital one garage.

I would suggest living in McLean near the Falls Church border, then you can drive to West Falls Church metro which has regular parking.

This is the answer. Reminds me of this house that there was a thread about, that sold a couple of weeks ago. Walking distances to WFC metro and under 1.5M, but sold in 2days. https://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/2315-Highland-Ave-22046/home/9482052

You and your agent have to be very on top of the "coming soon" MLS, these properties can pretty much sell overnight.

I'm a big fan of walkability, but isn't highway noise a problem with these properties that are close to metro? Once you get west of the Ballston station, all the metro stops are on highways, so you can't get walkability to metro without also having terrible highway noise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean blows and isn't near the metro. I'd go with N. Arlington.

There is a metro stop named “McLean.” It’s named that because it’s located in McLean.

It is also 2 or more miles from most SF homes in McLean and doesn’t have metro parking. It has $25 parking in the capital one garage.

I would suggest living in McLean near the Falls Church border, then you can drive to West Falls Church metro which has regular parking.

This is the answer. Reminds me of this house that there was a thread about, that sold a couple of weeks ago. Walking distances to WFC metro and under 1.5M, but sold in 2days. https://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/2315-Highland-Ave-22046/home/9482052

You and your agent have to be very on top of the "coming soon" MLS, these properties can pretty much sell overnight.

Anonymous wrote:The “McLean” metro stop isn’t walkable from most residential areas of McLean.

+1

It's walkable from the Dolley Madison apartments, and that is about it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many prefer FCC for the schools, especially those with small children who attend elementary. I own a home I rent out there and many tell me they were only going to rent a place where they could get FCC schools. I do know some of my FCC neighbors did wish they were a few blocks over so that their kids could attend Mclean high school instead of Meridian though, but that was only because their kids had activities that they wanted to do that smaller Meridian didn't have (I think one of them was marching band but I'm not sure).

Meridian has a marching band

PP here. Must have been something else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many prefer FCC for the schools, especially those with small children who attend elementary. I own a home I rent out there and many tell me they were only going to rent a place where they could get FCC schools. I do know some of my FCC neighbors did wish they were a few blocks over so that their kids could attend Mclean high school instead of Meridian though, but that was only because their kids had activities that they wanted to do that smaller Meridian didn't have (I think one of them was marching band but I'm not sure).

Meridian has a marching band

It does not. It has very good concert and jazz bands, and a pep band that plays in the stands during home football games. But no marching band. This was apparently a conscious decision by the long-term band director (who departed last year).

Anonymous wrote:McLean has the best schools and is the richest, so I would pick that. But if you are more liberal (McLean is pretty liberal) and want to experience limousine liberalism, look down at blue collar workers, and promote diversity when your neighborhood is all white libs, then I would pick Falls Church or North Arlington.

This is hilarious, and mostly true. I live in N. Arlington, and I commute to work by bus and Metro. It takes 45 minutes-1 hour each way, which is long, but I can walk 2 blocks to get to bus stops going to EFC, Ballston or Rosslyn. I would say N. Arlington all the way if you plan to use public transportation to get to work. Of course, if you can afford a $2M house, you're probably not commuting by public transportation.

I would pick based on house, neighborhood and commute between those three. Country club hills has a vastly different than vibe than Bluemont (and your $2m gets you very different things). The commutes can really vary substantially. The ES can be apples to apples, but that isn’t always true as there are parts of McLean that suck just like parts of N Arlington but generally speaking I wouldn’t worry about Langley vs Yorktown vs W&L vs Meridian. People have opinions but colleges don’t care and you could be a long way away from that issue. Do you want a garage? A flat lot? Walkable to metro? A full de sac? How long of a commute? What kind of neighborhood? These would be the improtant factors for me when slicing and dicing these three spots.

Anonymous wrote:McLean has the best schools and is the richest, so I would pick that. But if you are more liberal (McLean is pretty liberal) and want to experience limousine liberalism, look down at blue collar workers, and promote diversity when your neighborhood is all white libs, then I would pick Falls Church or North Arlington.

If you want to post yard signs about erasing racism and equity with a straight face when you just paid $2 million to $4 million to live in a “good school district” that’s as far away from PG County and SE as possible, but “still convenient for your commute,” these are the places to be.

Anonymous wrote:McLean has the best schools and is the richest, so I would pick that. But if you are more liberal (McLean is pretty liberal) and want to experience limousine liberalism, look down at blue collar workers, and promote diversity when your neighborhood is all white libs, then I would pick Falls Church or North Arlington.

1000% accurate
- N. Arlington