Is Arlington losing its charm? (Alexandria, Reston: apartments, rent, condos)

[sg8910]

I hI have lived in Arlington specifically Pentagon City for three years and I've loved it but recentI'm starting to feel very congested and feel that crime as well as quality of life has gone downhill for the sake of Amazon.

this is more recent, since mord and more people moving to my building and since repoening, the traffic increasing as well as stress and commericialized fake feelign everywhere. ( ie dog parks)

Also i used to feel safe and now with daily carjackings and people getting burglarized in their homs,i just dont feel its worth it.I love trees and actually think parts of DC are now more spacious and safe than arlington.

is anyone feeling more pressurized living in arlington this past 6months? I am considering moving back to dc perhaps palisades or upper georgetown, clevaland park where i felt safe and walkable to things. Howerver given the quaity of VA governance i am considering reston and parts of falls church. Alexandria is nice but not for me to live despite love going out there plus i dont liek the cobblstone streets feel on my feet(yup i am this way)

ANyone live in any nice planned commnities with lots of trees in reston or elswhere. I like to walk and bike and play golf if possible.o

Also anyone living in DC happy with their location. For me safety and feeling safe to walk at night plus space is primary.

Thank you

[Ffxdata]

There’s a lot going on in this post (dog parks mean commercialization?), but Arlington has always been a little much for my taste. Since moving here a decade ago, it seems like Arlington has been racing to erase every existing home with an upsized Craftsman.

There are many masterplanned communities out towards Reston or farther into Loudoun.

[robbobobbo]

Alexandria is more than Old Town, and even in Old Town there are only a few blocks remaining of cobblestone, which are streets for cars, with non-cobblestone sidewalks. If Alexandria isn't your cup of tea that's perfectly fine, but that was an odd complaint against it. Are you thinking of the brick sidewalks instead?

[NOVAmtneer82]

Originally Posted by sg8910

I hI have lived in Arlington specifically Pentagon City for three years and I've loved it but recentI'm starting to feel very congested and feel that crime as well as quality of life has gone downhill for the sake of Amazon.

this is more recent, since mord and more people moving to my building and since repoening, the traffic increasing as well as stress and commericialized fake feelign everywhere. ( ie dog parks)

Also i used to feel safe and now with daily carjackings and people getting burglarized in their homs,i just dont feel its worth it.I love trees and actually think parts of DC are now more spacious and safe than arlington.

is anyone feeling more pressurized living in arlington this past 6months? I am considering moving back to dc perhaps palisades or upper georgetown, clevaland park where i felt safe and walkable to things. Howerver given the quaity of VA governance i am considering reston and parts of falls church. Alexandria is nice but not for me to live despite love going out there plus i dont liek the cobblstone streets feel on my feet(yup i am this way)

ANyone live in any nice planned commnities with lots of trees in reston or elswhere. I like to walk and bike and play golf if possible.o

Also anyone living in DC happy with their location. For me safety and feeling safe to walk at night plus space is primary.

Thank you

Agree there is a lot going on here - but I think I'll try to provide insight. Arlington is a major urban suburban community as you are no doubt aware. There are many high density areas and then there are a number of tree lined low density areas on the northwest and southern ends of the county. Pentagon City has always had its fair share of crime - a location at major Metro stations and easy access to I-395 back into DC has made it an easy target. Not sure how easy it is to fix but it is what it is. The development coming in with Amazon is a lot but I guess great for economic development and the county tax base. Alexandria is also much more than Old Town.

[Bigfoot424]

I personally have never thought Arlington anything but a concrete jungle. Albeit with some good restaurants and so on but to me it's got very little charm to it. Alexandria with its waterfront and Old Town has the charm Arlington wished it had.

[NOVAmtneer82]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot424

I personally have never thought Arlington anything but a concrete jungle. Albeit with some good restaurants and so on but to me it's got very little charm to it. Alexandria with its waterfront and Old Town has the charm Arlington wished it had.

And you're largely correct Bigfoot- it basically is what it is ( and I personally love it). We are getting some better restaurants and a ton going on with Amazon, etc but it simply isn't some tree lined Mayberry. It has some more wooded larger lot sites out towards the border with McLean and Falls Church - a few to the south but at end of the day the majority of the County is a lot of people on top of one another. Similar to any place in DC with decent schools- the neighborhoods with a lot of single family homes / greenery are available provided you have a VERY large housing budget - i.e. usually 900k - $1 million at the lowest but otherwise you're going to be in apartments or group houses or condos.

[BOS2IAD]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot424

I personally have never thought Arlington anything but a concrete jungle. Albeit with some good restaurants and so on but to me it's got very little charm to it. Alexandria with its waterfront and Old Town has the charm Arlington wished it had.

When I read the title of this thread, I thought to myself "Did Arlington ever have charm"? When I was a kid in the late 60s, my aunt and uncle had a house off Glebe Road near Chesterbrook Road. Even then, Arlington just struck me as just another suburb.

Off topic, I know but...We were out in Luray last week showing our grandkids the Cavern. They had no idea until then that there were parts of VA that were so beautiful. You, of course, know that

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by BOS2IAD

When I read the title of this thread, I thought to myself "Did Arlington ever have charm"? When I was a kid in the late 60s, my aunt and uncle had a house off Glebe Road near Chesterbrook Road. Even then, Arlington just struck me as just another suburb.

Off topic, I know but...We were out in Luray last week showing our grandkids the Cavern. They had no idea until then that there were parts of VA that were so beautiful. You, of course, know that

Luray is a gorgeous area.

[Veritas Vincit]

If Arlington has any charm it's in the quiet little residential SFH neighborhoods spread out across the county. But even that can be ruined pretty quickly if people there rent rooms out to several boarders and then you got like 4 cars per property and frat parties in yards etc. Also, you pay too much for that bit of charm given most of these lots are tiny and the houses not especially spacious unless they're charmless new builds taking up 90% of the lot..

[Old Dominionite]

Arlington has some leafy residential areas that could be characterized as charming.

However, "charming" is not something I would have ever considered applying to the whole county. "Congested" and "sterile" are two immediate descriptors that come to mind.