Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Arlington is on downslope
I agree with you. There are too many people pushing too many things so that nothing is getting done. Plan Langston Blvd has been pushed aside for Missing Middle Housing which will have limited benefit. Meanwhile, every corridor is being stuffed with dense housing and CAFs. We are waiting for our twins to finish fifth grade at one of the elementary schools and then are moving to McLean. You get more land and house for the money and it is just a nicer group of people. We also have the option of getting kids into TJ and better middle and high school classes.
Arlington fell for the Amazon deal hook, line, and sinker and now Amazon is laying off people, not sending its top earners to the area, and probably will have a different business model by the time Virginia Tech and George Mason produce all the new grads who are slotted to work for Amazon. The loss of the commercial and hotel tax base is also showing up in higher property taxes.
As someone who grew up in McLean and now lives in Arlington, DISAGREE. McLean is not somewhere I’d want to live now.
Why not? Genuinely curious. Actually, selfishly asking so I feel better not living there.
It's become home to the Uber Rich, mainly. The upper middle class friends I have living there all moved into their parent's houses. The other poster who talked about how car dependent it is has a good point too. It's the lack of economic diversity that seals it for me. I will also say, I don't live in North Arlington either, where I think some of the same complaints can be made. I really love and value living in a diverse place, racially and economically. On my street we have a family who all works at a fast food restaurant, several houses with teachers, some first responders, and someone high up in government who has their own security. It's an incredible mix that's hard to find elsewhere.
South Arlington isn’t that different than Annandale, Springfield, Wheaton, Woodbridge, or parts of Silver Spring and NE DC.
Just say “it’s not an enclave of white people” already.
Anonymous wrote:I have a lot of issues with the DC area generally, but a downward spiral? People have named just about every neighborhood and town. Yet property values and income are continually going up. I mean, if you are looking at Great Schools rating to argue that MoCo is tanking, then I don't know what to say to you. And McLean? Arlington? That's crazy.
People saying this must not have lived in any areas that have truly tanked. I think there is a far greater chance of Baltimore collapsing than anywhere in the DC area.
I think so much of the feelings here are from the constant drum beat of negative news in the press and, especially, on social media.
Anonymous wrote:In NoVa, if you look at areas that spiraled over a 10-20 year period, it's been areas like Herndon with housing that wasn't great to begin with. So I'd say the areas at most risk would be areas with a lot of multi-family housing like Centreville that could decline if the Asian population moved further west or an area like West Springfield that already has less expensive single-family homes. Or maybe the cheapest parts of Ashburn that are starting to show their age.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Arlington is on downslope
I agree with you. There are too many people pushing too many things so that nothing is getting done. Plan Langston Blvd has been pushed aside for Missing Middle Housing which will have limited benefit. Meanwhile, every corridor is being stuffed with dense housing and CAFs. We are waiting for our twins to finish fifth grade at one of the elementary schools and then are moving to McLean. You get more land and house for the money and it is just a nicer group of people. We also have the option of getting kids into TJ and better middle and high school classes.
Arlington fell for the Amazon deal hook, line, and sinker and now Amazon is laying off people, not sending its top earners to the area, and probably will have a different business model by the time Virginia Tech and George Mason produce all the new grads who are slotted to work for Amazon. The loss of the commercial and hotel tax base is also showing up in higher property taxes.
As someone who grew up in McLean and now lives in Arlington, DISAGREE. McLean is not somewhere I’d want to live now.
Why not? Genuinely curious. Actually, selfishly asking so I feel better not living there.
It's become home to the Uber Rich, mainly. The upper middle class friends I have living there all moved into their parent's houses. The other poster who talked about how car dependent it is has a good point too. It's the lack of economic diversity that seals it for me. I will also say, I don't live in North Arlington either, where I think some of the same complaints can be made. I really love and value living in a diverse place, racially and economically. On my street we have a family who all works at a fast food restaurant, several houses with teachers, some first responders, and someone high up in government who has their own security. It's an incredible mix that's hard to find elsewhere.
South Arlington isn’t that different than Annandale, Springfield, Wheaton, Woodbridge, or parts of Silver Spring and NE DC.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What will happen to Loudoun County now that Silver Line is open? Will it decline? Asking as someone who lived there for 5 years, moved to DC, and would return but was diagnosed with MS and like the ease of access but appreciated the quiet.
LOL - why would the Metro cause a spiral in Loudon County - that doesn't even make sense. The stations are basically brownfield locations right now anyhow.
Are you one of these insecure suburbanites who think public transit brings crime?
NP I think Loudoun will have some issues when people are called back to the office. A lot of people bought there assuming perpetual WFH
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Hoping not Silver Spring because we recently moved here. But the crime in downtown has given me some pause.
There's always been crime there. I don't think it's gotten worse than anywhere else
Please reach out to Jawando and other reps. The Council is budgeting now and they have not identified public safety as a priority.
Yet they shame the police force. Signaling won’t work to stop a mugging…
Anonymous wrote:I'd say Alexandria but it's already a barrel scrape. Schools in perpetual decline, horrible transportation, shrinking job base. There are basically no jobs in the west end and no respectable company is willing to put their headquarters in the City. Even old associations and nonprofits are leaving old town and their offices converted to apartments condos. Don't forget all the crime.
It's going to become a bedroom community of Tysons and Reston pretty soon.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Hoping not Silver Spring because we recently moved here. But the crime in downtown has given me some pause.
There's always been crime there. I don't think it's gotten worse than anywhere else
Please reach out to Jawando and other reps. The Council is budgeting now and they have not identified public safety as a priority.
Yet they shame the police force. Signaling won’t work to stop a mugging…
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Hoping not Silver Spring because we recently moved here. But the crime in downtown has given me some pause.
There's always been crime there. I don't think it's gotten worse than anywhere else
Please reach out to Jawando and other reps. The Council is budgeting now and they have not identified public safety as a priority.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:NP - my random thoughtsAnonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Arlington is on downslope
I agree with you. There are too many people pushing too many things so that nothing is getting done. Plan Langston Blvd has been pushed aside for Missing Middle Housing which will have limited benefit. Meanwhile, every corridor is being stuffed with dense housing and CAFs. We are waiting for our twins to finish fifth grade at one of the elementary schools and then are moving to McLean. You get more land and house for the money and it is just a nicer group of people. We also have the option of getting kids into TJ and better middle and high school classes.
Arlington fell for the Amazon deal hook, line, and sinker and now Amazon is laying off people, not sending its top earners to the area, and probably will have a different business model by the time Virginia Tech and George Mason produce all the new grads who are slotted to work for Amazon. The loss of the commercial and hotel tax base is also showing up in higher property taxes.
As someone who grew up in McLean and now lives in Arlington, DISAGREE. McLean is not somewhere I’d want to live now.
Why not? Genuinely curious. Actually, selfishly asking so I feel better not living there.
I have lived here for 25+ years. I live in the El Nido neighborhood that matriculates to Chesterbrook. Schools were fine (if you have a hard to teach child it is hard work to get them what they need)- we had the best experience at the HS and my children were extremely well prepared for college- especially in math and science. Commute options are great. The traffic is starting to build again. The tear downs are getting silly- they are now around the $3m and up and are larger and larger. The teardown houses are now $1.4. Personally, I like a medium sized well designed house (2000-3000sqft). When my children went through the school system, it was dual income couples that worked for the government or similar, lawyers, and a few doctors and dentists. There were plenty of families that had one spouse who worked part time. Now the government and similar couples are priced out - I expect it has changed the nature of the schools. People always complain about class sizes and they have always been too large. In ES, my children’s ranged from 25 in the good years to 34 ( worst year ).
We have a few restaurants we like, but could use a few more as long as they are not pizza places. I like that we have a few walks that get us to trails in the “forest” along Pimmit Run. Old Chesterbrook needs to have sidewalks added between Birch and the bridge over Pimmit Run.
There is an area that matriculates to Kent Garden, Longfellow and McLean that is walking to all three and is walking to downtown McLean. I think that would also be a great place to be. Kent Gardens is more crowded than Chesterbrook, though.
Some neighborhoods have the occasional block party, others have nothing. It mainly depends on if there is an organizer in the neighborhood and that changes from time to time.
Which neighborhoods are “an area that matriculates to Kent Garden, Longfellow and McLean that is walking to all three and is walking to downtown McLean”?