Anonymous wrote:Arlington’s boundaries are always changing. But if you work in DC, it will be the better commute.

Both McLean and Arlington are very much suburbia, so a ton of residential streets and strip malls everywhere.

McLean is more for older folks while Arlington is younger, but imo, the housing stock in McLean is much better than Arlington. Arlington’s SFH’s mainly consist of post-WWII ugly ramblers that haven’t aged well but can easily be worth $1-2 million.

I mean, if you're talking north arlington and most of McLean (non Gold Coast), they're fairly similar. McLean has larger lots and more mature trees/prettier neighborhoods because most of the large houses in Arlington were built fairly recently and have no trees (outside of the ones that were built a while ago like Chain Bridge Forest).

Anonymous wrote:We’ve lived in both Arlington and McLean and think McLean has a better overall quality of life, but that’s because we value the additional space and privacy, along with public schools that we found more academically rigorous.

But there is no need for a pissing contest. Each area has its strengths, and both are expensive. Just look at the median prices for sales of single-family homes in the school districts over the past 12 months (per Redfin), which reflects the high demand to live in these areas.

Langley: $1,165,000
McLean: $1,111,000
Yorktown: $1,062,500
W-L: $992,750

There’s no way to standardize for lot size. My cousins live in Langley and their large house sat forever and in the end my cousins took a 200k plus hit when they sold it.

It seemed like OP was looking for comparisons of Arlington and McLean neighborhoods that aren’t siting right on top of Metro (so excluding, say, the heart of Clarendon or the McLean area within walking distance of the Silver Line).

One thing I like about where we are in McLean is that it’s a quick drive to the WFC or McLean Metro stations, both of which have (for now) good parking near the station. The real congestion getting to DC if you drive isn’t really in McLean - it’s primarily in Arlington as you get closer to the bridges. So good Metro access is definitely a positive, even if you prefer to live in a SFH that has a bit of a yard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Figure out your commutes first. Then figure out the rest.

Are commutes really that significantly different from close-in parts of Mclean vs. Arlington? They are neighbors. We are not talking about Rosslyn vs. Ashburn by of difference here or Bethesda vs. GF, vs. Alexandria.

I think driving from middle of Mclean from say Westover or Donaldson run would add 15 minutes (Old Dominion and Kirby really gum things up), which is 30 minutes a day, and if you are both commuting downtown it becomes something to consider.

If only one parent is commuting, it doesn't matter.

Also, in your 40s, if your kids are in HS, they are independent, can take the city bus, sometimes drive or ride with friends, so losing an hour to commuting as a family is much less of a big deal

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Figure out your commutes first. Then figure out the rest.

Are commutes really that significantly different from close-in parts of Mclean vs. Arlington? They are neighbors. We are not talking about Rosslyn vs. Ashburn by of difference here or Bethesda vs. GF, vs. Alexandria.

I think driving from middle of Mclean from say Westover or Donaldson run would add 15 minutes (Old Dominion and Kirby really gum things up), which is 30 minutes a day, and if you are both commuting downtown it becomes something to consider.

If only one parent is commuting, it doesn't matter.

Anonymous wrote:We’ve lived in both Arlington and McLean and think McLean has a better overall quality of life, but that’s because we value the additional space and privacy, along with public schools that we found more academically rigorous.

But there is no need for a pissing contest. Each area has its strengths, and both are expensive. Just look at the median prices for sales of single-family homes in the school districts over the past 12 months (per Redfin), which reflects the high demand to live in these areas.

Langley: $1,165,000
McLean: $1,111,000
Yorktown: $1,062,500
W-L: $992,750

+1 as one of the Arlington posters I’m glad someone from McLean chimed in. People that live in both these places are generally happy and most are generally happy with the schools. You really have to figure out what’s best for your family OP. One isn’t just objectively better than the other, it’s just preference in my opinion.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean if you’re in your 40s
Arlington If you’re in your 20s-30s.

McLean has the better housing where a 1.5 million dollar home actually looks like a million dollar home. Arlington housing looks like you’re paying a million bucks for a shed.

So, if you have younger kids, then Arlington, when you have older kids and you are older, then Mclean? I get a feeling that school situation in Mclean has an edge with more options, like AAP and better rated HSs.

ProblM with Arlington is that the school boundaries are always changing. McLean is a bit more solidified.

The elementary school boundaries in APS have been more in flux. As for the high schools, APS adjusted the boundaries a few years ago, and has some major decisions to make over the next 5-10 years, but it’s also expected that FCPS will adjust the Langley/McLean boundaries within the next year or two. Really the only place to go in NoVa if you can’t deal with boundary adjustments is Falls Church City (but then you have fewer academic options).

We’ve lived in both Arlington and McLean and think McLean has a better overall quality of life, but that’s because we value the additional space and privacy, along with public schools that we found more academically rigorous.

But there is no need for a pissing contest. Each area has its strengths, and both are expensive. Just look at the median prices for sales of single-family homes in the school districts over the past 12 months (per Redfin), which reflects the high demand to live in these areas.

Langley: $1,165,000
McLean: $1,111,000
Yorktown: $1,062,500
W-L: $992,750

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean if you’re in your 40s
Arlington If you’re in your 20s-30s.

McLean has the better housing where a 1.5 million dollar home actually looks like a million dollar home. Arlington housing looks like you’re paying a million bucks for a shed.

So, if you have younger kids, then Arlington, when you have older kids and you are older, then Mclean? I get a feeling that school situation in Mclean has an edge with more options, like AAP and better rated HSs.

There's no edge either way. It's all about what you want and your family's preference. Truly. There is no point in comparing Mclean vs Yorktown vs. W&L. They have their slight differences, but overall the vast majority of children are going to do well at any of them. They are all schools that vastly serve a highly educated, high income population. Mclean/Langley a little more so with a little more overt money in my opinion, but again - you are not going to see a wild difference in your child's outcomes because you chose mclean over yorktown or vice versa. It's just not going to happen. I know so many people that graduated from schools throughout fairfax, arlington, mclean, what have you - there is a range of success in all of them. None of it having to do with whether they were at Yorktown or Mclean. You need to pick the community that feels like the best fit for you and the lifestyle you want and the vibe you want to surround your family's daily life. If you have a child you truly feel is BEYOND gifted (I mean truly, not just smart like most kids in Arlington and Mclean) and really would be served by a pull out program than sure - go with Mclean. But AAP has it's issues too, that's for certain so again, nothing has an edge. If you're making the choice between arlington and mclean, it's likely your kids have the income/education to have a good shot at doing well in life - it's going to be more about parenting, support, love then choosing between those schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean if you’re in your 40s
Arlington If you’re in your 20s-30s.

McLean has the better housing where a 1.5 million dollar home actually looks like a million dollar home. Arlington housing looks like you’re paying a million bucks for a shed.

So, if you have younger kids, then Arlington, when you have older kids and you are older, then Mclean? I get a feeling that school situation in Mclean has an edge with more options, like AAP and better rated HSs.

ProblM with Arlington is that the school boundaries are always changing. McLean is a bit more solidified.

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends on how much land you want. I think you can generally get more land for the money in McLean and Falls Church than in Arlington.

I did not want a yard bigger than about 1/8th of an acre so I bought in Arlington for the best possible DC commute. I'm happy with my decision. I can walk to stuff, the schools are good and my commute is half of what it was when I lived in Merrifield.

Yes and really think about if you want to keep up that yard. My husband and I thank the lord for our smaller yard now that we've learned we do not want to spend our weekends doing yard work. It would be unmanageable for us with a larger yard so we're happy with our smaller lot. But some people really love having more land, or like doing yard work, or plan to pay someone to handle it. So just a lot of different factors.

Anonymous wrote:McLean if you’re in your 40s
Arlington If you’re in your 20s-30s.

McLean has the better housing where a 1.5 million dollar home actually looks like a million dollar home. Arlington housing looks like you’re paying a million bucks for a shed.

So, if you have younger kids, then Arlington, when you have older kids and you are older, then Mclean? I get a feeling that school situation in Mclean has an edge with more options, like AAP and better rated HSs.

I think it depends on how much land you want. I think you can generally get more land for the money in McLean and Falls Church than in Arlington.

I did not want a yard bigger than about 1/8th of an acre so I bought in Arlington for the best possible DC commute. I'm happy with my decision. I can walk to stuff, the schools are good and my commute is half of what it was when I lived in Merrifield.