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But what Buckhead is missing is really good transit connectivity.
And Bethesda transit is totally top notch.
Bethesda, Maryland is actually one of my favorite suburbs in the nation.
Such a great blend of density, greenery, shopping, restaurants, parks, housing stock ranging from high rise apartments to single family homes, and amazing transit access... You have no need to own a car in Bethesda, Maryland. It feels as an extension of DC by all means...
Bethesda also has a really beautiful greenway that goes from Bethesda, Maryland to Georgetown in DC. It is such a beautiful trail and beats Buckhead in the park department as well.
I find Buckhead to be a cross between Tysons and Bethesda. All three cater to the same types of people, but Bethesda is far more walkable and pedestrian-oriented. It's the difference between high-density, redesigned auto-centric sprawl vs. a neighborhood that actually feels transit-oriented.
Bethesda has no where near the number of highways, vehicular traffic, megablocks, etc. As a pedestrian, I find them to be a very different experience. Bethesda is more comparable to DC/Atlanta than Tysons or Buckhead in this regard.
It's been a long time since I've been to Buckhead, so I'm not familiar with it currently to make an accurate comparison between the 2. I am very familiar with Bethesda.
That said, I loved Buckhead when I went there. It is a really trendy area that blends in nice with midtown, which is not that far from downtown. I remember how nice it was to still be in the city, yet have a more relaxed environment than being in the heart of downtown.
I like Bethesda, but honestly as a still relatively young professional, I think Buckhead may be my choice. Again, it's been years since I've been there, but then being much younger at the time, it still seemed like it offered plenty of nice (but not crazy) nightlife options. And being significantly older now, I feel like Buckhead would provide even more "mature" nightlife, dining, entertainment options.
Downtown Bethesda, while nice, is not really a haven for dining, entertainment, etc. in the DC area. It offers a nice downtown with some nice options, but nothing overboard. It also doesn't really feel like it's part of the city, the way that Alexandria or Arlington do. It feels just a little farther out. Buckhead is an actual area/neighborhood of Atlanta, which makes a difference.
But what Buckhead is missing is really good transit connectivity.
And Bethesda transit is totally top notch.
Bethesda, Maryland is actually one of my favorite suburbs in the nation.
Such a great blend of density, greenery, shopping, restaurants, parks, housing stock ranging from high rise apartments to single family homes, and amazing transit access... You have no need to own a car in Bethesda, Maryland. It feels as an extension of DC by all means...
Bethesda also has a really beautiful greenway that goes from Bethesda, Maryland to Georgetown in DC. It is such a beautiful trail and beats Buckhead in the park department as well.
Just curious what parts of Bethesda's transit you are referring to. I know that it has the Red Line Metro Stop, which is pretty centrally located in Bethesda, but what besides that? There are also bus routes through MoCo that I'm sure have stops within DT Bethesda.
So I agree that DT Bethesda is very walkable. But from my recollection (which may not be completely up-to-date), I don't know that I would necessarily describe it's "transit" as top notch. It's not bad, but besides the 1 metro stop and some likely bus routes, I don't know what else it has in that way. Although maybe there has been more going on in Bethesda that I'm not as up to date on.
Just curious what parts of Bethesda's transit you are referring to. I know that it has the Red Line Metro Stop, which is pretty centrally located in Bethesda, but what besides that? There are also bus routes through MoCo that I'm sure have stops within DT Bethesda.
So I agree that DT Bethesda is very walkable. But from my recollection (which may not be completely up-to-date), I don't know that I would necessarily describe it's "transit" as top notch. It's not bad, but besides the 1 metro stop and some likely bus routes, I don't know what else it has in that way. Although maybe there has been more going on in Bethesda that I'm not as up to date on.
Bethesda has Metro, RideOn, the Circulator, and Metrobus. The Purple Line will also be built in the next few years. So Bethesda has pretty decent public transport.
When you get off MARTA in Buckhead vs. Metro in Bethesda, it’s quite a different experience.
Do you think the MARTA stops in Buckhead are pedestrian friendly areas?
I certainly don't consider them to be pedestrian hostile.
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Do you consider the MARTA stops in Buckhead to be great examples of urbanity?
It isn't the feel of arriving in the center of the City, but it isn't the burbs either. The Lenox station is directly across the street from Lenox Square, and you don't traverse any parking lots. There's an office tower built with air rights at the northern end of the platform directly above the station, and a connecting climate controlled pedestrian bridge that deposits you into the lobby of the Salesforce tower across the street. That's pretty urban in my book.
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The Lenox station is particularly bad, the Buckhead stop at least has nice views of skyscrapers when you get off.
You admit that you didn't use the Lenox Station, yet it's particularly bad? How so? And both stations offer views of skyscrapers.
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But I can’t imagine it’s great getting off to a huge road and walking to a restaurant or store that you most likely will have to walk through a parking lot to get to. Bethesda doesn’t really have large surface parking lots.
I have not used the MARTA stops despite even my hotel being right beside the stop (but most of the hotel has fencing around it.) Plus, it wasn’t convenient for places I wanted to go like Ponce City Market, etc.
The platform on the Red Line is in the median of a freeway, but the escalators bring you up inside the station directly fronting Peachtree Street. It's a heavily landscaped Corridor here, with trees, wide sidewalks and street furniture. It is a pleasant stroll to several great restaurants, hotels, and several office, apartment and condo towers. There isn't a large surface parking lot in sight as you exit the station. One block up at Lenox Square there is a semi-large lot fronting the mall, but the pedestrian walkway through it from Peachtree to the mall entrance is landscaped and pleasant to traverse.
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I like Buckhead. But I like it for the what it is. A place to stroll around with no car is not one of them.
If you want that you need to stay in Buckhead Village, not the J W Marriott at Lenox Square. The St. Regis and the Kimpton Sylvan Hotels are here, as well as the luxury
Shops at Buckhead and the Roxy Theater (lots of live music performances). A new Thompson Hotel is under construction, and a Dream Hotel is about to break ground in a mixed-use complex. There is very frequent bus service from the Buckhead Station.
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In actually interested to hear your reasonings for choosing Buckhead. Because you’re the local so you have more experience.
First off, you didn't need to rent a car. Just like most major cities, Buckhead as well as the rest of the City is saturated with uber and lyft service. The Lenox Station is perhaps a 3 minute walk from the lobby of the J W. You could have also used uber or lyft to Ponce City Market from the North Avenue Station. It's less than a 10 minute ride.
I think this is a bad comparison to begin with, the two places are nothing alike. You also wrongly assumed you would be traipsing through multiple surface parking lots to reach anything of interest in Buckhead - did you have to do that? Bethesda is a streetcar suburb that grew up, Buckhead is a very expansive and multi-faceted district of Atlanta. It's become a regional shopping and dining area, hence all of the luxury Hotels that I doubt Bethesda will ever have. Bethesda will also never have the concentration of high end restaurants found in Buckhead, and it's not even close. I wish MARTA had built the Gold and Red Lines under Peachtree with a station in the heart of Buckhead Village, but it was triple the cost of following the railroad and freeway corridors. It just wasn't meant to be.
It isn't the feel of arriving in the center of the City, but it isn't the burbs either. The Lenox station is directly across the street from Lenox Square, and you don't traverse any parking lots. There's an office tower built with air rights at the northern end of the platform directly above the station, and a connecting climate controlled pedestrian bridge that deposits you into the lobby of the Salesforce tower across the street. That's pretty urban in my book.
That’s exactly how I would describe it. A climate controlled pedestrian bridge that deposits you into the lobby of an office tower. Though I would also expand that if you want to get to the Lenox Mall from The Lenox station, you have to walk on a narrow sidewalk along the fence (the hotel is fenced in. It’s a pretty fence though) and walk through the parking lot to what feels like the back of the mall. Or you can walk across the street around the other side of the gate, enter into the lobby of the JW & other office tower and walk in a climate controlled bridge that deposits you in the mall. Unless I’m just a dumb out of Towner and there is a better way to get in Lenox mall.
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If you want that [a place to stroll around with no car] you need to stay in Buckhead Village, not the J W Marriott at Lenox Square. The St. Regis and the Kimpton Sylvan Hotels are here, as well as the luxury Shops at Buckhead and the Roxy Theater (lots of live music performances). A new Thompson Hotel is under construction, and a Dream Hotel is about to break ground in a mixed-use complex. There is very frequent bus service from the Buckhead Station
JW is literally beside the Lenox Station. That’s not a good place to get off to stroll around with no car?
I would not want to walk from St. Regis to Buckhead village. And not because I’m lazy or the length. It just isn’t an area I would want to walk.
Buckhead Village is a walkable development. I would drive there if I were staying at the St. Regis. And I would want to stroll around there. And then I would drive to other things either in Buckhead or elsewhere.
Anyway, I like Buckhead. But I’m sticking with a vehicle unless I am taking Marta to Downtown or Midtown or the airport. My vacation to Atlanta was really fun. I really enjoyed it.
I voted for Buckhead because it's a leading center of recreation in Atlanta and has a mix of things to do. Bethesda lags Arlington/Alexandria with so much growth in the DC area being on the Virginia side. I also used to live just a few stops from Bethesda over the DC line in Woodley Park and rarely felt compelled to go up there. Walking around chain restaurants isn't that much more exciting than parking near them.
When you get off MARTA in Buckhead vs. Metro in Bethesda, it’s quite a different experience.
Do you think the MARTA stops in Buckhead are pedestrian friendly areas?
Do you consider the MARTA stops in Buckhead to be great examples of urbanity?
The Lenox station is particularly bad, the Buckhead stop at least has nice views of skyscrapers when you get off.
But I can’t imagine it’s great getting off to a huge road and walking to a restaurant or store that you most likely will have to walk through a parking lot to get to. Bethesda doesn’t really have large surface parking lots.
I have not used the MARTA stops despite even my hotel being right beside the stop (but most of the hotel has fencing around it.) Plus, it wasn’t convenient for places I wanted to go like Ponce City Market, etc.
I like Buckhead. But I like it for the what it is. A place to stroll around with no car is not one of them.
In actually interested to hear your reasonings for choosing Buckhead. Because you’re the local so you have more experience.
Well, I have, and I've used Lenox a ton when wanting to access that mall so I can say it isn't as bad as you're trying to make it seem. Yes, Atlanta is far behind the DC metro when it comes to TOD but Lenox has tons of dense residential within walking distance and the walk to Lenox Square is pretty easy and direct. Buckhead station also has decent access to restaurants, residential, and retail and it will only get better as Buckhead continues to densify. Is it better than Bethesda? No, but the bones are there and it will only get better.
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