Anonymous wrote:let's cut the bull shit. If you have more money you would live in McLean over Vienna. Vienna is a nice place to live but not as good as McLean.

Not true! My husband works in Tysons and we looked at both Mclean and Vienna and our budget was 1.2-1.5 million, so decent options in both places. We chose Vienna for the community, the closer proximity to the now finished Target and MOM's, the trail, the walkability, the more "down to earth"ness about it.. pretty much we preferred the Vienna lifestyle.

For some, it s not just price. Not every commutes in. If I lived in McLean, my commute would be worse and more expensive.

Anonymous wrote:
Mclean mostly borders tysons so there is no advantage to vienna. We looked at vienna but it is farther out and has less commuting options but is cheaper. It comes down to price, cut the bull shit.

I'll respond, but only if you tell me first whether you're really a jerk or just pretending for fun.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:let's cut the bull shit. If you have more money you would live in McLean over Vienna. Vienna is a nice place to live but not as good as McLean.

You're not cutting the BS, just spreading it.

I've lived in both places. Personally, I think McLean is better if you work in DC, but if I worked in Tysons I'd prefer Vienna. Others may share that view or prefer Vienna outright.

Mclean mostly borders tysons so there is no advantage to vienna. We looked at vienna but it is farther out and has less commuting options but is cheaper. It comes down to price, cut the bull shit.

I think the difference in the two towns can also be summed up by the fact that there is valet parking at the Giant in McLean.

I don't think anyone is BS-ing. I think they are commenting on the negatives and positives of living in both places.

Anonymous wrote:let's cut the bull shit. If you have more money you would live in McLean over Vienna. Vienna is a nice place to live but not as good as McLean.

You're not cutting the BS, just spreading it.

I've lived in both places. Personally, I think McLean is better if you work in DC, but if I worked in Tysons I'd prefer Vienna. Others may share that view or prefer Vienna outright.

let's cut the bull shit. If you have more money you would live in McLean over Vienna. Vienna is a nice place to live but not as good as McLean.

Anonymous wrote:
That being said, I still think it is astonishing for all the alleged wealth in McLean that we have so few restaurants. Someone said to put them side-by-side and that would add up. But they really don't. And those that have tried to open got clobbered by the recession and have closed. I would love to see more healthy take-out opportunities here.

I still think that, if you either lined up the restaurants in McLean along one or two streets, as in Vienna, or concentrated them in a dense, walkable area, as in Takoma Park, the number and variety (Thai, Italian, French, Chinese, American, Persian, Indian, Turkish, Greek and Japanese, for example) would surprise most people. As it stands, they are currently dispersed on a number of streets in an area that is "walkable" in the Walk Score sense (i.e., things are physically close to one another), but that is neither visually attractive nor pedestrian-friendly. To me, it's a design issue; because McLean restaurants are spread out in an area that is not very easy to navigate (try explaining to someone that there are two Chain Bridge Roads in McLean, and that neither is Dolley Madison/Route 123), they end up being places that don't draw a lot of outsiders and that local residents often patronize for convenience, rather than for the quality. Even so, we have some favorites like Kazan's and Absolute Thai that we return to often.

But, I'm definitely with you on the wish for more healthy take-outs. Balducci's, Chesapeake Bagel and Sweetleaf are definitely not enough! I do wonder if the rents are so high that they discourage people from opening businesses that otherwise would seem like natural candidates for the area.

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Vienna and for the most part avoid driving up and down Maple Avenue through town. I live on the south side. If I need to Giant or Whole Foods, I drive through the residential streets and enter the shopping centers that way. The library, I enter off Center. If I'm going to Church Street, I go on Center and cross over Maple. If I'm going to Oakton, I go on Courthouse Road until it hits 123. If I'm going to Tysons, I travel Locust to Branch Ave. and make a right on 123 there.

And actually for many activities, we walk. So for the most part, I do not deal with the traffic on Maple that people outside of Town of Vienna complain about.

Depending on which side of Park you live in on, the various routes you are describing require additional detours to get where you are trying to go while minimizing time on Maple. For example, if streets like Locust were through streets that didn't dead-end at Center, the traffic on Maple would not be as bad as it is. And Branch still dumps you out on a congested section on Maple/123 well shy of Tysons.

I have no doubt that the experience of Vienna residents, particularly SAHMs, is different from that of, say, a worker in Tysons who lives in Fairfax Station and whose entire perception of Vienna is based on his or her rush-hour commutes on 123. But I also don't know anyone in real life who has lived in Vienna and not wished the traffic on Maple was not so heavy.

I lived in Vienna and for the most part avoid driving up and down Maple Avenue through town. I live on the south side. If I need to Giant or Whole Foods, I drive through the residential streets and enter the shopping centers that way. The library, I enter off Center. If I'm going to Church Street, I go on Center and cross over Maple. If I'm going to Oakton, I go on Courthouse Road until it hits 123. If I'm going to Tysons, I travel Locust to Branch Ave. and make a right on 123 there.

And actually for many activities, we walk. So for the most part, I do not deal with the traffic on Maple that people outside of Town of Vienna complain about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This entire area is horribe for traffic. Route 7, Route 123, Route 50, Route 66, and Route 495 etc. etc. Try to get a house near your work and travel as little as possible during rush hour.

The fact that this thread is about McLean and Vienna speaks to the fact that both are close to one of the region's major employmen centers, as well as the fact that many cannot afford and/or have no interest in closer-in suburbs like Arlington. I would take all the traffic that Vienna can dish up and more before I'd live in Arlington again.

And it is only going to get worse as Tysons becomes the next super-town, as predicted, i.e., a destination city as opposed to D.C. I was the poster from McLean who readily admits our downtown needs a spruce-up. I like our location because it is easy to get on George Washington Parkway, the Beltway, 123, etc. but the rush hour traffic is just getting impossible, especially at two major intersections in McLean from 3:45-5:30. I really, really try not to drive into "town" (wherever that may be) during those hours because the intersections are gridlocked with angry commuters trying to get home. And I don't see any relief as Tysons continues to grow. My husband says the upside is more job opportunities and our property value will regain some of its recession loss. Maybe.

That being said, I still think it is astonishing for all the alleged wealth in McLean that we have so few restaurants. Someone said to put them side-by-side and that would add up. But they really don't. And those that have tried to open got clobbered by the recession and have closed. I would love to see more healthy take-out opportunities here.

Anonymous wrote:This entire area is horribe for traffic. Route 7, Route 123, Route 50, Route 66, and Route 495 etc. etc. Try to get a house near your work and travel as little as possible during rush hour.

The fact that this thread is about McLean and Vienna speaks to the fact that both are close to one of the region's major employmen centers, as well as the fact that many cannot afford and/or have no interest in closer-in suburbs like Arlington. I would take all the traffic that Vienna can dish up and more before I'd live in Arlington again.

...left hand turns during rush hour on Electric Ave. (and only on Electric Ave.)

Actually, the road is named Follin Lane from Maple to the top of the hill in front of NFCU where the old trolley right-of way cuts toward the W&OD Trail (that's why the part to Gallows is called Electric Avenue).


Also to the poster that thinks that FFX Country property tax pays for snow removal on roads in the county. NO not true. Virtually all roads in the county outside of incorporated towns are maintained by Virginia DOT down to the local cul-de-sac. That includes snow removal unless your in an HOA that pays for its own.

This entire area is horribe for traffic. Route 7, Route 123, Route 50, Route 66, and Route 495 etc. etc. Try to get a house near your work and travel as little as possible during rush hour.