McLean Advice (Arlington, Falls Church: sales, apartment, rentals)

[athousandlogins]

You will probably get some varied responses on this. My general opinion is that people in Northern Virginia are the same as anywhere else. There are jerks and there are sweethearts, and the key to social success is just finding your crowd.

Not everyone agrees with this, though. There is a not-trivial group in this forum (and thus I assume, in the general population) who seem to feel very strongly that many many people in Northern Virginia are snobs. It is, in general, a pretty high-earning and well-educated population, and if nothing else that is certainly going to contribute to the impression that folks here think they are better than everyone else. And yeah, a 20 something who is pulling in a big salary already is probably going to be cocky. You're talking about the kind of person who has always had success in life and doesn't have the hard life experience to level it out. The culture here is also fairly reserved - the default position is for people to kind of keep to themselves except with people they know well - and some people confuse that with hostility.

But I do also know that I've been here less than 2 years and have made many more friends here than anywhere else I've lived in adulthood, and I'm hardly wealthy or snob material. So the place can't be filled with jerks entirely

I'm not in my 20s anymore, and don't spend time with that crowd. But I did live in an Arlington high rise for a little while in 2008, which was bursting at the seams with young professionals. There were some really nice folks there. There were also some folks who were not nice. I found it to be a mixed bag.

If you like to read, this is a really nice, friendly group with lots of 20 somethings in Arlington: Book Meet&Eat (Arlington, VA) - Meetup.com. And there are groups like this all over the place, pockets of friendly people. But they won't jump up and introduce themselves like they would in the south or midwest.

[Alicia Bradley]

I still don't get the snob thing. Maybe I don't hang out with the right kinds of people, but I'm constantly surprised by how down-to-earth (and often eccentric, in a good way) people are around here. I work at a place where I actually *expected* to find lots of snobs - you know, the tweed-jacket-with-leather-elbow-patch-wearing, pipe-smoking intellectual types (not that this would be a bad thing! - I love those kinds of people.. heh!) - but find myself surrounded instead by a bunch of garden-variety bureaucrats. Maybe lawyer-/lobbyist-types are snobs - I dunno. My sister is married to a very high-income attorney, though, who's very ambitious (as well as an 'adventure' vacationer and wine connoisseur [tee hee]), but he's not much of a snob, really. They live near the west coast, though, which is, IMHO, the friendliest part of the US. As far as snobs go, I think they're much thicker in, say, downtown Chicago than in NoVA.

Oh, one more thing - service people in this area are surprisingly friendly. My parents even commented on this when they visited here.

[Guamanians]

Yeah I think the snobs are here but they are outnumbered. If you want to find them you can, but you don't have to surround yourself with snobby people. This area seems to have something for everyone. Overall, its a fast-paced ambitious environment, and that can rub visitors the wrong way. My brother came up here to visit and he thought people were rude. I told him that they weren't intentionally rude, but that they are too wrapped up in this fast paced bubble to display any kindness or warmness.

[Guamanians]

Originally Posted by SouthTexKid

Thanks for the insight. Im definitely not a party animal but I do enjoy the occasional wild night . I need to focus on my new career but still want to be in a city were there is plenty to do. I'll admit Im a little hesitant about the idea of a roomate(s) but it does seem like a good idea seeing as how I would at least know one person there. Not that I agree with stereotyping; but generally what are the people like in Arlington from your experience?

I ask because I have an friend who lived in southern Virginia and she tells me people from No. VA (McLean, Arlington specifically) would come down to were she lived and think they were all backwards hicks. I acknowledge however, thats just one persons judgement and she could be totally misleading. Are the young professionals snobby, cocky, all about partying? or are most people there pretty laid back? I know its still months away but I'm already excited/nervous about this move.

The people in Arlington are fine. The crowd that you will most likely encounter the most tend to be young, single, & ambitious. There's quite a bit of partying, but it's somewhat controlled partying if that makes sense. There's not a scene here that will rival Bourbon St or the Las Vegas strip. The thing about Arlington is that the people change, but the overall vibe doesn't. The young people flock to Wilson BLvd, and now Shirlington is also becoming a trendy spot. The older established neighborhoods surround the center of town, but the younger crowd prevails as the face of Arlington. South Arlington is the most diverse area with many foreigners living there. The general perception is that north Arlington is rich, and So. Arlington is working class & foreigners.

[DC Oldtimer]

I think you'd like Ballston.

[claremarie]

"Are the young professionals snobby, cocky, all about partying? or are most people there pretty laid back?"

You will be spending most of your waking hours at work, so a lot will depend on your profession and your workplace. Some professions and workplaces are more "credential"-conscious than others, and in those you'll hear a lot of "and where did you go to school?"-type conversations. Others are filled with techno-geeks who might not care so much. To some extent, living in the DC area as a young professional is like starting college again -- people have come from all over the country and world, they are ambitious and nervous about proving themselves again, and that sometimes can come off as arrogance and snobbery. They work hard, and they play hard, because most of them don't yet have any family responsibilities.
Or maybe they're just arrogant snobs. But you'll find that everywhere, even in the laid-back South (where they might care more about where your great-grandfather went to school than where you matriculated).

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by athousandlogins

You will probably get some varied responses on this. My general opinion is that people in Northern Virginia are the same as anywhere else. There are jerks and there are sweethearts, and the key to social success is just finding your crowd.

I totally agree. Northern Virginia is all about diversity, and that includes diversity of personality type. So if you go to a party and the first people you happen to meet are snobs, just move on. You'll find people you feel comfortable with, no matter what personality type that might be.

One note, though. The population here tends to be highly educated and proud of it. You'll be fine as long as you speak correctly, but be wary of trying to sound cool by using "ghetto talk." Also, avoid using fancy words unless you know what they mean--you're likely to be corrected if you use a word incorrectly. Some people find that snobbish, but really it's just a matter of people placing value on speaking well. You don't have to be perfect (god knows I make grammatical errors all the time) and you don't have to use big words (in fact, please don't--that can sound pompous). My point is, for the most part you won't score points by talking like a rap artist.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by claremarie

"Are the young professionals snobby, cocky, all about partying? or are most people there pretty laid back?"

You will be spending most of your waking hours at work, so a lot will depend on your profession and your workplace. Some professions and workplaces are more "credential"-conscious than others, and in those you'll hear a lot of "and where did you go to school?"-type conversations. Others are filled with techno-geeks who might not care so much. To some extent, living in the DC area as a young professional is like starting college again -- people have come from all over the country and world, they are ambitious and nervous about proving themselves again, and that sometimes can come off as arrogance and snobbery.

I totally agree, especially the part about it feeling like starting college again. What a great way to describe it. Nova has a big mix of newly arrived people who've just moved here from all over the world, and that contributes to the "starting college feel," too.

[Guamanians]

You will be spending most of your waking hours at work, so a lot will depend on your profession and your workplace.

Please try not to spend too much time at work... Before you come here you should watch the mivie office space. Watch it as many times as you need to so that you are in the right frame of mind. And, if you are concerned about road rage (like you should be around here) then I would recommend watching "Falling Down" with Michael Douglas. -Classic

[normie]

Originally Posted by Guamanians

And, if you are concerned about road rage (like you should be around here) then I would recommend watching "Falling Down" with Michael Douglas. -Classic

Wow, traffic's bad here but that's quite an exaggeration. I've never heard of an incident of road rage in Nova that was even remotely similar to what happened in "Falling Down."

Any time anything violent happens, it makes the news. I don't recall many news stories about violent road rage in Virginia, do you? I can remember some incidents in Califonia, but not here. People get annoyed at the traffic here, but usually they express their anger in a blog. Or sometimes by giving the finger. Violent road rage is rare, IMO.

But, I'm open to seeing your evidence. Do you have any links to stories showing that Virginia has lots of violent road rage?