Comments on: Long Rant About Northern Virginia…Plus, a Little Something About Clarendon http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/2008/10/23/long-rant-about-northern-virginiaplus-a-little-something-about-clarendon/ D.C. Real Estate, Development, and Urbanism Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:45:24 -0500 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: Kevin http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/2008/10/23/long-rant-about-northern-virginiaplus-a-little-something-about-clarendon/comment-page-1/#comment-2836 Kevin Sun, 10 May 2009 22:34:56 +0000 http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/?p=643#comment-2836 The author is wrong. The first commentator is right. The distinction between MD and NoVa is fun for office debates and friendly kerfuffles, but it is otherwise not so great a difference as to merit real attention, and it is silly to produce a whole article (or blog entry) devoted to demeaning Virginia with no facts upon which to base the attack. This is just classic liberalism at its best--to wit, "I have no facts and no theories, but I do have opinions, and because I have them, they must be correct." I would rathered to have read an article about the history of the tire iron than to have to deal with a peckish little rant like this one--not whimsical, not entertaining, not wry--just boring, dull and baseless. No thanks and, yes, you well deserved the attack, Ms. Samuelson. The author is wrong. The first commentator is right. The distinction between MD and NoVa is fun for office debates and friendly kerfuffles, but it is otherwise not so great a difference as to merit real attention, and it is silly to produce a whole article (or blog entry) devoted to demeaning Virginia with no facts upon which to base the attack. This is just classic liberalism at its best--to wit, "I have no facts and no theories, but I do have opinions, and because I have them, they must be correct." I would rathered to have read an article about the history of the tire iron than to have to deal with a peckish little rant like this one--not whimsical, not entertaining, not wry--just boring, dull and baseless. No thanks and, yes, you well deserved the attack, Ms. Samuelson.

]]> By: bob previdi http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/2008/10/23/long-rant-about-northern-virginiaplus-a-little-something-about-clarendon/comment-page-1/#comment-1529 bob previdi Sat, 14 Feb 2009 04:38:24 +0000 http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/?p=643#comment-1529 Following the tone of your rant. Clarendon is not Virgina. The whole Ballston Rosslyn corridor is not VA. Its NY Its what NY was before WWII but NY has lost its way. NY is stuck with Pre-war NY and Post war NY which is Robert Moses drive everywhere and think that is America. America's love of the auto has ruined America. Clarendon reinvents NY. NY is not all about Manhattan, its the outter neighborhoods linked by rail to the heart. Forest Hills comes to mind. Forest Hills, Queens. Tall buildings, apts, offices row homes, single family. Forest Hills has it all. shopping and a train link to Manhattan. that is what Clarendon is brining back. They did it like Queens. Queens has the E, F, R, G, and V - Clarendon has the Orange line Its balence. Balenced housing, offices, shops, schools designed within walking distance with links by rail and car and bus to other places. simple. old school - and now considered wacko liberal by the republicans who own all the oil companies. Imagine that - walking radical liberal. Sad. What have we become. Following the tone of your rant.
Clarendon is not Virgina.
The whole Ballston Rosslyn corridor is not VA.
Its NY
Its what NY was before WWII but NY has lost its way.
NY is stuck with Pre-war NY and Post war NY which is Robert Moses drive everywhere and think that is America.
America's love of the auto has ruined America.
Clarendon reinvents NY. NY is not all about Manhattan, its the outter neighborhoods linked by rail to the heart.
Forest Hills comes to mind. Forest Hills, Queens.
Tall buildings, apts, offices
row homes, single family. Forest Hills has it all.
shopping and a train link to Manhattan.
that is what Clarendon is brining back.
They did it like Queens. Queens has the E, F, R, G, and V - Clarendon has the Orange line
Its balence. Balenced housing, offices, shops, schools designed within walking distance with links by rail and car and bus to other places. simple. old school - and now considered wacko liberal by the republicans who own all the oil companies. Imagine that - walking radical liberal. Sad. What have we become.

]]> By: Ruth Samuelson http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/2008/10/23/long-rant-about-northern-virginiaplus-a-little-something-about-clarendon/comment-page-1/#comment-169 Ruth Samuelson Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:09:20 +0000 http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/?p=643#comment-169 SG! Thank you. I expected a bunch of Clarendon defenders to jump on here immediately. Perhaps, they sense my MD/DC biases and avoid this blog entirely. I'm from Bethesda and even though I live in the city now, I'm always shocked when I'm home and come across someone in their twenties who I didn't go to middle school with. But, there are a few bars and one, dare I say, bar/club.I can't remember the name of it, and when I googled "Bethesda AND Club," I got a list of country clubs and swim clubs. So, yeah, I think Bethesda still has a long way to go. SG! Thank you. I expected a bunch of Clarendon defenders to jump on here immediately. Perhaps, they sense my MD/DC biases and avoid this blog entirely. I'm from Bethesda and even though I live in the city now, I'm always shocked when I'm home and come across someone in their twenties who I didn't go to middle school with. But, there are a few bars and one, dare I say, bar/club.I can't remember the name of it, and when I googled "Bethesda AND Club," I got a list of country clubs and swim clubs. So, yeah, I think Bethesda still has a long way to go.

]]> By: SG http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/2008/10/23/long-rant-about-northern-virginiaplus-a-little-something-about-clarendon/comment-page-1/#comment-157 SG Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:00:31 +0000 http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/?p=643#comment-157 A few things (from a fellow MD native)... I think people make wayyyy too big a deal out of the "jurisdictions". I don't think many people (like your friend) without preconceptions would tell the difference between MD and VA. There isn't much. They're both good states with cool and not-so-cool places to live. The borders are extremely arbitrary, just born of a Congressional act way back when. In most cities, like NYC, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, etc... all of the counties surrounding DC would emcompass "DC". They just happened to make DC a lot smaller, area-wise, than others. (And Arlington and Alexandria were originally part of DC's little square shape.) As to your question, Clarendon isn't THAT great, but it's still pretty neat. I personally don't think it measures up to many neighborhoods of DC that are prettier and have more to do (Gtown, Adams Morgan, Dupont, Capitol Hill, Cleveland Park) but it is quaint, transit-oriented locale with lots of good restaurants and shopping. I could see it being a good place to live for someone who wants to live like an urbanite, without actually having to deal with the pitfalls of a city. But I for one happen to like the craziness that life that comes with city living... but I can totally see the appeal of Clarendon. What is a better question is... why did Clarendon become perceived as so cool, and not Bethesda (even though it has more going for it)? I would say that it's the concentration of young 20-somethings (mostly from VA colleges) that helped make it cool. A few things (from a fellow MD native)...

I think people make wayyyy too big a deal out of the "jurisdictions". I don't think many people (like your friend) without preconceptions would tell the difference between MD and VA. There isn't much. They're both good states with cool and not-so-cool places to live. The borders are extremely arbitrary, just born of a Congressional act way back when. In most cities, like NYC, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, etc... all of the counties surrounding DC would emcompass "DC". They just happened to make DC a lot smaller, area-wise, than others. (And Arlington and Alexandria were originally part of DC's little square shape.)

As to your question, Clarendon isn't THAT great, but it's still pretty neat. I personally don't think it measures up to many neighborhoods of DC that are prettier and have more to do (Gtown, Adams Morgan, Dupont, Capitol Hill, Cleveland Park) but it is quaint, transit-oriented locale with lots of good restaurants and shopping. I could see it being a good place to live for someone who wants to live like an urbanite, without actually having to deal with the pitfalls of a city. But I for one happen to like the craziness that life that comes with city living... but I can totally see the appeal of Clarendon.

What is a better question is... why did Clarendon become perceived as so cool, and not Bethesda (even though it has more going for it)? I would say that it's the concentration of young 20-somethings (mostly from VA colleges) that helped make it cool.

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