Bellevue, WA vs Arlington, VA (state, better, crime, places)

[the resident09]

Secondary city smack down which is greater?

Discuss:

Job market/ opportunities
Housing affordability/COL
QOL
Urbanity/amenities
Schools K-12
Universities
Parks/Recreations
Crime/Safety
Diversity
Shopping
Food
Nightlife
Public Transit
Central core city access (Seattle/DC)
Desirability
Future outlook

I believe this is one heck of a matchup, thoughts...

[SEAandATL]

I personally prefer Bellvue but I can give Arlington points on urbanity and easy access to the District with the Metro line.

[FL_Expert]

Great matchup, there aren’t many upscale urban places like these. I think Buckhead might also qualify, but nowhere else really comes to mind in the US. Between Arlington and Bellevue I would choose Bellevue, mainly due to the mountains and no state income tax in Washington.

Job market/ opportunities - Arlington
Housing affordability/COL - Both equally bad
QOL - Both are great
Urbanity/amenities - Arlington
Schools K-12 - Both are great, lean Arlington
Universities - Arlington
Parks/Recreations - Bellevue
Crime/Safety - Lean Bellevue
Diversity - Tie
Shopping - Arlington
Food - Arlington
Nightlife - Arlington
Public Transit - Arlington by a wide margin
Central core city access (Seattle/DC) - Arlington
Desirability - Tie, Bellevue in my opinion.
Future outlook - Lean Arlington

[march2]

For me, Arlington. Easily. Don't want to be anywhere in the PNW.

[ccm123]

I pick Bellevue, but Arlington is a great place. Tough call.

[Gaylord_Focker]

Lived in goth and would move back to either. I picked Bellevue.

[mhays25]

Arlington is much closer in and has three places that compete with Downtown Bellevue. Urbanity and transit give it a huge advantage in my mind. On the other hand much of it is sprawl.

Bellevue has a faster-rising trajectory. Rail arrives in two years. TODs are abounding. Its downtown has office buildings underway at 43, 43, 25, 25, 17, 16, 16, 15 and 15 stories, mostly for Amazon, along with a temporary lull on the housing and hotel side with a 25 and 25. It also has big chunks of the area's Microsoft and Facebook jobs.

I haven't voted.

[FL_Expert]

Giving this some more thought, I think Arlington vs Bellevue mostly comes down to two things:

1. Urban vs Outdoors: Arlington offers the better urban experience with DC next door, and Baltimore, Philly, and NYC an easy train ride away. If you prefer the outdoors, Bellevue is tough to beat with multiple national parks and the San Juan Islands nearby.

2. Tech vs Law: Bellevue is a tech hub. Arlington has it too, but it’s more a legal hub with DC next door.

[TheTimidBlueBars]

Seattleite here, Arlington is way way better. We really have no suburb that competes with Arlington unless you're counting Tacoma.

[Need4Camaro]

Per my personal preference? Bellevue.

Which one really wins on paper?

Arlington.

I also didn’t vote because I’m biased.