Bethesda *vs* Arlington: Which is better!! soundoff! (crime, home)
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Ok. Flat out, which is better? which has better restaurants, shows, music, art, shopping etc? which is just more 'fun' to live in for people in their late 20s but that do have a baby. we are not big club people but we do enjoy all the things mentioned above. we are real 'city' people, so we are trying to decide which area would capture that.
I'm assuming Arlington is safer?? or are they the same pretty much?
And I am pretty sure Arlington has better schools. Tell me if I'm wrong ;-)
Ok. You guys have been so unbelievably helpful. I have been doing my research, but hearing real input from real people is invaluable.
Yeah, I tried starting a thread like this a few weeks ago. No one bit then really. You can search for the old threads (one in the VA forum -- completely flopped, one in the MD forum that got a few responses, and I think I did one in the DC forum but I don't remember).
There was a similar discussion about this in the DC forum. I currently live near downtown Bethesda, but have many friends in Arlington so my statements will likely sound biased.
First off Arlington covers a much larger area than Bethesda; so much that it's actually a county of Virginia whereas Bethesda is a city in Montgomery County. Also if you were to do a more accurate comparision of the two, you would compare North Arlington to Bethesda as South Arlington has a higher immigrant and working class population.
“Hipness Factor” I think Arlington might have the edge here as it’s home to a lot more young professionals and singles than Bethesda. There’s also more clubs and bars than Bethesda.
Food- IMO Bethesda has better food and more options than Arlington. I find that Arlington has a lot of chain restaurants, and there are only a handful of places that I actually like in Arlington.
Safety-both are fairly safe, it’s rare to hear about crime in either area.
Schools-Both are pretty equal although this is one of those where you would need to compare North Arlington to Bethesda, since South Arlington has different demographics. Most of Bethesda’s schools are very highly regarded and both high schools, Whitman and Bethesda-Chevy Chase are ranked in the top percent in the entire nation.
Shopping-Bethesda has a slight edge especially with a lot more upscale shopping options with access to two Bloomingdales (North Bethesda/Rockville and Chevy Chase) and the high-end stores in nearby Friendship Heights. Bethesda is also convenient to Rockville Pike which has almost every store you could imagine including a truly awesome two-story Target!
A few other advantages and disadvantages either offer is Arlington has great views of the monuments, more metro stops, and better access to Downtown DC. Bethesda has better access to the freeway, and is closer to residential neighborhoods in DC such as Tenleytown, Cleveland Park, Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan which is a lot more fun and interesting than downtown DC.
Bethesda is a small island of urban neighborhoods surrounded by typical suburbia. Because Downtown Bethesda is smaller geographically, there are fewer off-the-beaten path restaurants and bars, it's harder to hide there.
Arlington, in particular the Wilson Boulevard corridor, is not as well-manicured as Bethesda, except for maybe Lyon Village, but offers a lot more choices in terms of bars and restaurants because it's stretched across 5 metro stops, not hunkered down around 1.
Also, a lot more people live in Arlington, and many 25-40 year olds I know in lower Montgomery have moved to Arlington because most of their friends live there. I moved from Bethesda to Arlington when I was 24 for that same reason.
You were asking yesterday about safety in Silver Spring, and Bethesda is much safer, but also more expensive, than downtown Silver Spring.
Also, which do you think has more ethnic, non-chain type restaurants? thanks!
Both B and A have a lot of chain restaurants, but unlike other suburbs, both also have a lot of unusual, ethnic places. Being so close to DC helps out in both cases.
I've lived in both, and like A much better than B.
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