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DC is nice and has lots to do, but isn't so great that it justifies the superiority DCers have towards NoVA folks.
NoVA (Arlington and Alexandria specifically) has more "creatives" (http://www.arlingtonvirginiausa.com/...ativeclass.pdf), more foreign born residents, actual bike trails (not a 2 inch strip cut out of an existing car lane) parks and green spaces. Take a few steps away from any metro stop and you find a much less suburban landscape.
DC keeps its "diversity" across the Anacostia river and in patches of NE so they can say say they are more inclusive from their Georgetown or Cathedral Heights homes or pay twice as much as an apartment in Arlington for a leaky basement in a gentrified DC neighborhood to appear chic. People like to live in DC to get that air of superiority over the so-called suburbs. Slap a few floors on some of the places around Tenleytown or Columbia Heights and you have a slightly less shiney Clarendon.
DC is just too full of people who think they are hip or important for me. I like the more laid-back community feel of Arlington and Alexandria and that the people seem more permanant and so more interested in building the area. A roomate and former DC resident told me you live in DC till your parent's money runs out or you find a steady job and know you're going to stay, then you move out of the city.
What you say about Virginia can be very well describe the Maryland Suburbs of Bethesda, Silver Spring, Rockville, Germantown, Hyattsville, Largo, Bowie, Laurel, Columbia, etc.
Are you talking about the same Arlington I know? The same Arlington that is completely overrun my 20- and 30-something yuppies who all just moved here from Charlotte or Cleveland or Omaha?
You've got some mighty rose-colored glasses on if that is your view of Arlington.
I'll give you that Arlington is more laid back than DC...it's a suburb, after all. It's a well-planned and nicely developed suburb, but it's still a suburb. No one really moves there for its urban energy and excitement.
Granted, I might be overcompensating for the years of arrogant scoffs from DC residents who despise anything outside their diamond city. You can find urban parts of Arlington (Rossyln and much of the Orange Line corridor could be lifted out and put somewhere else in the U.S. and get called a well-planned, little green city), suburban, even rural in Arlington. When I walk out of my apartment I feel like I'm in a small town but can walk a couple of streets over and be in a pretty urban set-up. I'll conceed that it doesn't have the same city-life energy as parts of DC, but those are a short walk or metro ride away.
I didn't say Arlington didn't have yuppies. Young Urban Professionals are just a fact in this area, which is why magazines and papers always say DC is the place to be for graduates or to ride out the economy. You note that NoVA is more laid back, and I agree, but that contrasts to your assertion about the yuppies. DC folks are the ones found in the trendy wine bars exchanging business cards and making connections. Arlingtonians take their beers at the local bar or the neighborhood Chile's (and catch flack for that from those in DC) but that's not the traditional yuppie way. I'd accept blue-collar yuppie maybe to describe all the kids who came from Omaha or Cleveland (blue-collar towns) to get jobs and chose to live somewhere they could still make rent and maybe see a tree now and again vs the pure yuppie (who probably grew up in Arlington. I know a few) who call DC home.
Actually, Arlington is pretty close in terms of density.
I was referring to commercial development. Nothing in Arlington--or anywhere else in NoVa--approaches downtown DC. Population density is comparable, although DC does retain an edge there as well.
DC folks are the ones found in the trendy wine bars exchanging business cards and making connections. Arlingtonians take their beers at the local bar or the neighborhood Chile's (and catch flack for that from those in DC) but that's not the traditional yuppie way.
I want to know these yuppies, because they aren't the ones I know who are living in Arlington. And you've got quite the interesting impression of the citizens of DC in your mind: I never exchange business cards, or "make connections", at bars in DC. Nor does anyone I know. I go out, have some drinks, eat some food, and head home.
I want to know these yuppies, because they aren't the ones I know who are living in Arlington. And you've got quite the interesting impression of the citizens of DC in your mind: I never exchange business cards, or "make connections", at bars in DC. Nor does anyone I know. I go out, have some drinks, eat some food, and head home.
We keep a handful of wine bars for if the DC folks get lost and end up on our side of the river. We wouldn't want them to starve.
Well, I think you got all the wine bars in Arlington County there (aka the number found in a 2 block radius around Dupont Circle or M Street...and increasingly U Steet). I've been past Zen and Grand Cru, but never made the connection they were wine bars. Grand Cru looks more like a little bistro/cafe and Zen I thought was something pan-Asian.
So you mean you just go out, eat, drink, and go home? Me too! Perhaps we aren't that different you and I. Ok, I never said ALL DC folks are in the wine bars...just the yuppies (and granted some of those could be plants from VA or MD).
It probably is stupid to generalize too much about the residents of one area vs. another cause the borders are so fluid (especially going into DC. DC folks don't venture out as much as MD/VA folks venture in). All of them have slightly different "feels." Arlington and MD do feel a little more laid back and I like that. I also like to be able to "escape" the city sometimes. Some folks like to feel they are in the middle of where it all happens and prefer DC. Whatever. Personal preference. Both have yuppies. DC has more hipsters. Arlington has more minivans.
In the spirit of good neighborness I'll say some good things about DC and its residents. U Street is a great place to go at night. Far better than the scene along Wilson Ave. Georgetown isn't just over-priced shops and oh-so-trendy places to eat with my-daddy-is-a-Senator crowds. The side-streets there are as beautiful as Alexandria. Eastern Market. Simply great. Side streets in the areas between metro stop areas: few yuppies, more "community" feel. You have the zoo and all the free museums.
I seldom hear anyone from DC say anything nice about MD or VA so I encourage people to go out to the accursed "suburbs" and look around. Bring a bike and use a trail and go to some of the places off the beaten path. We promise to be nice.
"In 2005, Arlington was ranked first among walkable cities in the United States by the American Podiatric Medical Association.[3] CNN Money ranked Arlington as the most educated city in 2006 with 35.7% of residents having held graduate degrees. Along with five other counties in Northern Virginia, Arlington ranked among the twenty American counties with the highest median household income in 2006.[4] In October 2008, BusinessWeek ranked Arlington as the safest city in which to weather a recession, with a 49.4% share of jobs in "strong industries".[5] In July 2009, CNN Money ranked Arlington second in the country in its listing of "Best Places for the Rich and Single." [6] In June 2010, Parenting magazine named Arlington as the "Best City for Families" in the country."
wow thats awesome
"In 2005, Arlington was ranked first among walkable cities in the United States by the American Podiatric Medical Association.[3] CNN Money ranked Arlington as the most educated city in 2006 with 35.7% of residents having held graduate degrees. Along with five other counties in Northern Virginia, Arlington ranked among the twenty American counties with the highest median household income in 2006.[4] In October 2008, BusinessWeek ranked Arlington as the safest city in which to weather a recession, with a 49.4% share of jobs in "strong industries".[5] In July 2009, CNN Money ranked Arlington second in the country in its listing of "Best Places for the Rich and Single." [6] In June 2010, Parenting magazine named Arlington as the "Best City for Families" in the country."
wow thats awesome
Arlingon is excellent. Just not that affordable for most people to raise a family, IMO.
I like Arlington and NOVA, but even in the urban areas, they just don't seem traditionally urban. To me, they lack the bustling sidewalks and unique restaurants, bars, architecture that DC has. To be honest, I don't think I would have ever went to Arlington if there wasn't a metro station that I could use to go into DC. I always find that NOVA is a bit quiet later at night too. It doesn't seem to be as commercially dense as DC because I often times walk a couple blocks without seeing a busy restaurant/bar.
Arlingon is excellent. Just not that affordable for most people to raise a family, IMO.
It depends on where you want to live, as it does anywhere, but in general I've found houses to be cheaper in Northern Va than inside the district, especially when you consider certain non-monetary factors, like access to a good library system, quality schools, yards. I see more kids riding their bikes and playing in the streets around Arlington than in the district.
There are fewer night clubs, but generally K-8 don't frequent the club scene.
I like Arlington and NOVA, but even in the urban areas, they just don't seem traditionally urban. To me, they lack the bustling sidewalks and unique restaurants, bars, architecture that DC has. To be honest, I don't think I would have ever went to Arlington if there wasn't a metro station that I could use to go into DC. I always find that NOVA is a bit quiet later at night too. It doesn't seem to be as commercially dense as DC because I often times walk a couple blocks without seeing a busy restaurant/bar.
There are bustling sidewalks, though they usually aren't bustling that much after dark as you note. And yes, the architecture isn't as Ne-Classical or Federal (except for Alexandria) but NoVa has Modernism down. They know how do an efficient box. And on the new concepts of sustainable design and urban planning, NoVa is way ahead of DC. For unique restaurants and bars it depends on where you are. There are several unique places along Columbia Pike, south of Arlington (Rt 1 Afghanistani Restaurant), or in the Asian or Hispanic restaurant meccas (I've heard the head honchos of Thailand and Vietnam prefer NoVa's restaurants). DC probably does win out on quantity of unique places with Georgetown, U Street, Adams Morgan, and the rest but it is the "big city". Arlington is more of an "urban village".
Out of Curiosity: Does anyone know where Obama goes more Ray's Hell Burger or Ben's Chili Bowl? (Arlington resident, but for the record I like Ben's better)
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