Impressions of NoVA/Metro DC...(so far) (Burke, Reston: renting, to live)

[khuntrevor]

The Spaghetti Bowl is the nickname of the interchange in Las Vegas.

[Tiger Beer]

DAY 2:

ALEXANDRIA, VA: Made it to Del Ray. Yep, a bit bohemian with some yoga and organic shops and such. Not tons of it, but the element is there. Small area though. I did generally notice that Alexandria is very neighborhoody, and interesting that it's so close to DC, yet, so quiet/neighorhoody or something. I did notice that most of the residents appeared very well-established in careers. I also saw the waterfront, and a nice bike path and such.

CAPITOL HILL, DC: I went into the District and drove around Capitol Hill. It's been one of the most interesting places I've been wanting to see. It didn't disappoint. Tons of the colorful rowhomes with the large bay windows, etc. I'd love to live somewhere like that.

ARLINGTON, VA: I went down the Columbia Pike in South Arlington. Yep, looked very manageable. Saw the Hispanic migrant workers about waiting for work and such. I didn't get up to the 'regular' part of Arlington that most people go to. (I have been there before, so I have a decent picture of it, even though I'm sure it's changed again). The Colombia Pike had lots of businesses, and close to residentials as well. Nice mix.

ANNANDALE, VA: I went back into this area. Saw it during the daytime. I saw the Korean businesses here and there. Since everyone is in the cars, it's hard to get a sense if many Koreans are around or not, although I'm sure they certainly are in some of the business establishments.

FALLS CHURCH, VA: Different than I thought. THere is somewhat of a walkable area, but not to the degree I thought it might have. Much wealthier than I imagined, even though considering the high salaries, it makes sense. A lot of money there. Could definitely feel the wealth there, among the types of stores, and the people walking around.

VIENNA, VA: I drove over into Vienna....very pleasant. Also, very expensive like Falls Church. For Fairfax County standards, I can see why Vienna and FC are often mentioned for walkable. They are by Fairfax County standards. Not that they are that walkable, but my Fairfax standards, they certainly are. Many people often say that, but seeing it, puts it properly in context.

TYSON'S CORNER: What a mess. It's hard to make sense of the place. I was going to drive out to Reston and Leesburg, but the traffic was a mess, and this was 11am going westward, it looked real bad going eastward. Seeing that I'd have to come back that way, I decided to give the rest a miss after Tyson's. I kind of imagine that Herndon, Sterling, Burke and the rest, would be more or less like the other suburbs. So, I decided to switch things up and go to MoCo. I do wish I could have seen Leesburg, but I'll just imagine it's somewhat like a mix between Fredericksburg and Winchester but smaller? Nontheless, moving onward.

BETHESDA, MD: Wow. Really nice. Lots of money, but they built something nice there. ROCKVILLE MD: Nice town center! I was thinking that that is what VA Fairfax County suburbs are missing. No focus point. I quickly noticed that Bethesda and Rockville and GAITHERSBURG and even GERMANTOWN all had like town center places where people could stroll around in public spaces, etc. Plus you have the train going right along them. Nice corridor. I'll have to explore it all in more detail later.

SILVER SPRING, MD: Yep, very very urban feeling. Actually I drove right into DC itself, and didn't know I had. Interesting that in SS, people just jaywalk everywhere, you really have to watch for pedestrians around there. I also drove around Wheaton and northern parts of the area. Very old suburbs all about outside of the city center part.

TAKOMA PARK, MD: Wow, real nice there. So weird too as it's right next to Takoma, DC, but a completely different world. Very great vibe, but I'm certainly sure quite expensive to live there as well.

LAUREL, MD: Attracted to here because it has a station there. Small town, but a lot of chains and such. Historic downtown there too. Interesting place.

COLOMBIA, MD: I couldn't make sense of that city. The town center seems to be a large mall, and that seems to the focal point that everything revolves around. Lots of apt-like residentials, I think they called 'centers' or something. Many had parks, and just seemed community centered. Those apt things were everywhere, and always in woods. Different, for sure. I didn't want to waste too much time here, so I've read it being planned, so I think that's the way it was planned.

ELICOTT CITY/CATONSVILLE, MD: I went over there yesterday, so ended up repeating this one again today. It just seemed like such a cool area, so thought I should go back again and see it if seemed different from before. Nope, still cool. Historical city, and kind of twisting roads and hills and houses in the hills, and they're usually 2 story housing of a different time. Pretty interesting. Catonsville is 'music city' or something music-related...and nice theme that seemed to be everywhere. Cantonsville just leads right into Ellicott City, so they both have the older historical housing stock with these hills about.

DAMASCAS, MD: Small town...looks like a dot on the map. But another rural area with nice hills, and a bit of chains here and there. It was bigger than I thought.

I ended up in Frederick, MD tonight. Tomorrow, I'll probably double up and see the places that I found most interesting. Anyways, everything kind of 'makes sense' as I'm here. I think I completely underestimated that MD corridor, so will probably see that more thoroughly tomorrow - i.e. Germantown, Gaithersburg, Rockville. I also want to get back to Falls Church and see the Eden Center. I might also check out 'malls' tomorrow - Landmark in Alexandria, etc., It seems like an odd thing to do, but you can really get a sense of the community of people around. For example, when I went into stores and such in West Virginia, they were just drastically different - the kinds of people, etc. So, might be interesting to do that, and get out of the car a bit!

Hope no one minds hearing about Maryland towns...I consider them all the same metro, but might be interesting for someone out there as well.

[bballniket]

Hey Tiger Beer, if you want a sense of the community of people, I'd go to either Tysons Corner Center (if you' approach from the beltway- Chain Bridge Road exit), the traffic isn't that bad or Montgomery Mall (off Democracy boulevard exit on I-270 North coming from 495 east from Northern Virginia).

[bballniket]

How much longer are you here? If you're there on a Friday night, you could take a walk around the Rio Center (off exit 9 on I-270)...PM if you need directions/more specifics. I can guide you to pretty much any sort of ethnic area you'd want to see.

[bballniket]

Btw, Le Matin de Paris and Shilla Bakery are pretty popular hangouts for Asians/Asian-Americans in Annandale. You should also check out Lotte Plaza on Lee-Jackson Memorial Highway in Chantilly if you get a chance.

[ChristineVA]

Good gracious, do NOT waste your time on Landmark Mall. It's on it's way OUT. Most of the mall is deserted with a few stores here and there. I don't think it will give you any true sense of what the community is like.

I would suggest that you try to revisit Burke and the areas up 123 as you head into Fairfax (George Mason area) and Fairfax City.

[Caladium]

Leesburg is mostly newly built developments surrounding a small historic area. I think it's a great place but if your main interest is the historic area it's too small to be worth driving that far.

I hope you get a chance to come back to the area after the construction and landscaping in Tyson's is done. It'd be fun to read your impressions, since you saw it first at the height of the Silver Line construction.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

Good gracious, do NOT waste your time on Landmark Mall. It's on it's way OUT. Most of the mall is deserted with a few stores here and there. I don't think it will give you any true sense of what the community is like.

I would suggest that you try to revisit Burke and the areas up 123 as you head into Fairfax (George Mason area) and Fairfax City.

Okay, I'll skip Landmark.

I briefly stopped by Laurel's Mall. Most of it was boarded up, and lots of signs saying 'available to rent'. A few very strange places were renting out space, non-companies. I'd never seen a mall suffer through hard economic times quite like that before.

By the way, I usually don't spend much time, maybe 15 minutes maximum. They are interesting, as you see what kind of people are around. The Woodbridge's Potomac Mills, for example, all immigrants and African-Americans, not ghetto at all though. Tyson's - lots of well-dressed people in general.

Sometimes I also stop by Wal-Marts... Briefly stopped at one in Charles Town, WV. Wow, looked like 'Wal Mart People' on youtube. The kind of people and conversations as well. I stopped at a Target in Arlington...and so many affluent-looking shoppers.

In short, it can be interesting, for the mini-'socioligist' we might have in us...

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Leesburg is mostly newly built developments surrounding a small historic area. I think it's a great place but if your main interest is the historic area it's too small to be worth driving that far.

I hope you get a chance to come back to the area after the construction and landscaping in Tyson's is done. It'd be fun to read your impressions, since you saw it first at the height of the Silver Line construction.

Okay, I'll skip Leesburg. I am a bit curious, but yeah, not time effective.

I'm just about to leave the hotel again, for the third day.

[ChristineVA]

Okay, I'll skip Landmark.

I briefly stopped by Laurel's Mall. Most of it was boarded up, and lots of signs saying 'available to rent'. A few very strange places were renting out space, non-companies. I'd never seen a mall suffer through hard economic times quite like that before.

Glad to hear it. You will find Landmark to be much like the mall in Laurel, which has been on a horrible downslide for years. The PG County portion of Laurel used to be pretty nice circa 1970s and 80s. Not sure what happened there but it fell and it fell hard. The Howard County portion is different.

By the way, I usually don't spend much time, maybe 15 minutes maximum. They are interesting, as you see what kind of people are around. The Woodbridge's Potomac Mills, for example, all immigrants and African-Americans, not ghetto at all though. Tyson's - lots of well-dressed people in general.

Just curious about what day you were at Potomac Mills? Since I live so close by, I go there often but do avoid certain times/day (yet I was there Sunday afternoon). Maybe because I am around it so much I actually don't even notice the immigrants or overall ethnicity of the mall. I swear I notice it much more at Tyson's, however, middle eastern and Asian stand out to me BIG TIME. Probably because I don't see that group in Woodbridge. But Tyson's seems overrun in that regard. For Potomac Mills, Saturday is Bus Tour day where people are bussed in usually from closer counties in Maryland and from down in the more southern parts of Virginia. I have noticed on Sunday afternoons, the Latino population is quite a presence there and, to compound crowd issues, they seem to shop in families/groups of five or more and walk abreast through the mall. (Yes, can you see I have a pet peeve). They also seem to bring lots of their kids to the mall and the women go in to shop and the men and the kids hang out in the center and don't watch their kids well at all. I certainly don't see much of that at Tyson's. My disdain at what goes on at Tyson's could have its own thread!!

But as you pointed out, despite the "diversity" at Potomac Mills, it never comes across is some sort of negative way and everyone seems very respectful.