Anonymous wrote:Lol at calling McLean a sh!thole. 20 min to IAD/DCA and 10 min to DC? Excellent public schools, great trails/parks, and very safe?

Lots of weird bitterness on this thread.

Yeah it's very weird. If they think mclean is bad wonder what they think of PG county and other areas of maryland.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody dreams of living in McLean, OP.

Many people aspire to live in McLean, but it takes money. The envy on this forum is rampant and not very attractive.

Of course, most of those priced out find another place to live without drama, which makes me think OP is a troll.

No, I grew up in McLean, and my parents owned a place there since the early 80s. It's a miserable place to live and grow up. Really, nobody desires to live in McLean for the quality of life. Maybe they aspire because they *think* it's an affluent place, but it's really just a depressing sh!thole.

I grew up in nova and yeah I don’t recall anyone ever dreaming of wanting to do anything but leave here. Most of my local friends who grew up here have moved out of this area.

I would dream of moving to Peru or Iceland or something. Not some lame DC suburb like Arlington or McLean LOL.

What are you smoking? I grew up in DC and Arlington. All my Arlington native friends are still living here or around the DMV. Who the heck wants to live in Peru unless they have family there?

Falls Church City

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody dreams of living in McLean, OP.

Many people aspire to live in McLean, but it takes money. The envy on this forum is rampant and not very attractive.

Of course, most of those priced out find another place to live without drama, which makes me think OP is a troll.

No, I grew up in McLean, and my parents owned a place there since the early 80s. It's a miserable place to live and grow up. Really, nobody desires to live in McLean for the quality of life. Maybe they aspire because they *think* it's an affluent place, but it's really just a depressing sh!thole.

I grew up in nova and yeah I don’t recall anyone ever dreaming of wanting to do anything but leave here. Most of my local friends who grew up here have moved out of this area.

I would dream of moving to Peru or Iceland or something. Not some lame DC suburb like Arlington or McLean LOL.

Does anyone ever "dream" of living in a suburb. When I was a young 20 something I thought we would be pushing strollers in the Village (NYC), Marina (SF) or some cool DC neighborhood. Instead I'm in Arlington with a DH that works on K. Same for my friends who are in Westchester, NOVA suburbs. Just find a nice place where you feel comfortable to raise a family and as my DH says "enjoy the ride".

McLean gotst some lovely spots. But also some doo-foo. Very polarizing place though lol. If you bring it up here it’s back and forth arguing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lol at calling McLean a sh!thole. 20 min to IAD/DCA and 10 min to DC? Excellent public schools, great trails/parks, and very safe?

Lots of weird bitterness on this thread.

10 minutes to where in DC? Get real.

Glad you said it for me. I was like “what? Yeah maybe at 2am”

Anonymous wrote:Lol at calling McLean a sh!thole. 20 min to IAD/DCA and 10 min to DC? Excellent public schools, great trails/parks, and very safe?

Lots of weird bitterness on this thread.

10 minutes to where in DC? Get real.

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Anonymous wrote:Well, no one exactly dreams of moving anywhere in the DC area. We're all here because of jobs (or maybe grew up here). If we have to be here, McLean is a good enough choice, although the retail options could be better.

Agreed. I grew up here and most of my friends have left for more exciting parts of the country.

Excitement isn't on the list of amenities in Mclean. If you are young, dumb and full of fun, go to DC, Clarendon, California or NYC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, no one exactly dreams of moving anywhere in the DC area. We're all here because of jobs (or maybe grew up here). If we have to be here, McLean is a good enough choice, although the retail options could be better.

Agreed. I grew up here and most of my friends have left for more exciting parts of the country.

And yet others move here to take their places, and the area continues to grow. Arlington's population is higher than it's ever been and the enrollment of some of the McLean-area schools is also at an all-time high.

Totally - the economy around here is booming and will continue to do so. I think the area will continue to thrive but I think a big chunk of people live here because they have to, not because they want to.

Probably so - and those who suggest they live here only due to economic necessity tend to let others know and generally aren't a ton of fun to be around compared to those who want to be here or make the best of any situation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, no one exactly dreams of moving anywhere in the DC area. We're all here because of jobs (or maybe grew up here). If we have to be here, McLean is a good enough choice, although the retail options could be better.

Agreed. I grew up here and most of my friends have left for more exciting parts of the country.

And yet others move here to take their places, and the area continues to grow. Arlington's population is higher than it's ever been and the enrollment of some of the McLean-area schools is also at an all-time high.

Totally - the economy around here is booming and will continue to do so. I think the area will continue to thrive but I think a big chunk of people live here because they have to, not because they want to.

This, exactly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, no one exactly dreams of moving anywhere in the DC area. We're all here because of jobs (or maybe grew up here). If we have to be here, McLean is a good enough choice, although the retail options could be better.

Agreed. I grew up here and most of my friends have left for more exciting parts of the country.

And yet others move here to take their places, and the area continues to grow. Arlington's population is higher than it's ever been and the enrollment of some of the McLean-area schools is also at an all-time high.

Totally - the economy around here is booming and will continue to do so. I think the area will continue to thrive but I think a big chunk of people live here because they have to, not because they want to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, no one exactly dreams of moving anywhere in the DC area. We're all here because of jobs (or maybe grew up here). If we have to be here, McLean is a good enough choice, although the retail options could be better.

Agreed. I grew up here and most of my friends have left for more exciting parts of the country.

And yet others move here to take their places, and the area continues to grow. Arlington's population is higher than it's ever been and the enrollment of some of the McLean-area schools is also at an all-time high.

Anonymous wrote:Well, no one exactly dreams of moving anywhere in the DC area. We're all here because of jobs (or maybe grew up here). If we have to be here, McLean is a good enough choice, although the retail options could be better.

Agreed. I grew up here and most of my friends have left for more exciting parts of the country.

Lol at calling McLean a sh!thole. 20 min to IAD/DCA and 10 min to DC? Excellent public schools, great trails/parks, and very safe?

Lots of weird bitterness on this thread.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody dreams of living in McLean, OP.

Many people aspire to live in McLean, but it takes money. The envy on this forum is rampant and not very attractive.

Of course, most of those priced out find another place to live without drama, which makes me think OP is a troll.

No, I grew up in McLean, and my parents owned a place there since the early 80s. It's a miserable place to live and grow up. Really, nobody desires to live in McLean for the quality of life. Maybe they aspire because they *think* it's an affluent place, but it's really just a depressing sh!thole.

I grew up in nova and yeah I don’t recall anyone ever dreaming of wanting to do anything but leave here. Most of my local friends who grew up here have moved out of this area.

I would dream of moving to Peru or Iceland or something. Not some lame DC suburb like Arlington or McLean LOL.

I grew up elsewhere in Fairfax and there are a lot of people who return to the area. There aren’t a lot of places with the same combination of good jobs, good public schools, nice houses, educated residents, and easy access to major cities and international airports.

Perhaps, but they don't return because they truly love the quality of life. There are pockets of neighborhoods that provide an agreeable living situation if you have to move back because other combinations of life factors. But not McLean. No one who's lived there, then lived elsewhere, is like "yeah I want to move back to McLean."

But people who grew up elsewhere do move to McLean. There must be something attractive about it. For us it is a decent commute to where we need to go, good public schools, and a home that we like.

It's all about jobs. Nothing attractive really in our case.

Well, no one exactly dreams of moving anywhere in the DC area. We're all here because of jobs (or maybe grew up here). If we have to be here, McLean is a good enough choice, although the retail options could be better.

DC metro isn't terrible, I don't see how it's worse than any other medium size city in the USA. It doesn't have dramatic skyline or density of NYC or Chicago, but I don't see how it's worse than let's say Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Nashville, Omaha or even Seattle, Boston, or Portland. It has less interesting weather than Miami or San Diego, obviously, but it's fairly mild and doesn't have super long cold winters or super long oppressive summers. It has a robust supply of various jobs including high paying jobs, healthy tourism, and plenty of cultural and urban amenities. Lots of nature nearby too and skiing driving distance away. Beaches could be closer, but it's doable to make a beach trip for a weekend. Food could be better, but it's only a worry if you have tons of disposable income to eat out all the time. Plenty of international culture too due to diverse immigrant communities and foreign workers and diplomats. Could be worse.
Mclean is a convenient affluent suburb, not the only one for DC metro, and every large metro area has this too.