First place I owned was in Ballston. Its a step down from Clarendon but its not bad at all. There is a Harris Teeter right on Glebe so shopping is close.

When I lived there Ballston Mall was starting to get shaky - they had not built Kettler yet. Plenty to do, but not the vibe of Clarendon.

Clarendon is definitely a place for the younger set and for the newly married who are child free!

And that's why I feel old every time I exit the Clarendon Metro on a Friday or Saturday night!

Awesome, Clarendon it is. Am I right in saying that closer to Clarendon Blvd and Wilson Blvd (and the metro stations) are better for proximity to shops and restaurants?

Yes.

The stroller count along Clarendon Blvd and Wilson Blvd between Clarendon and Rossyln has risen greatly in the past several years. I've even been seeing some those giant pram type strollers that I so frequently encounter in Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm. Ten years ago, that would not have been in the picture there.

Great question, somewhat difficult to answer not knowing you...depends an awful lot on your traffic tolerance. I just moved back to (central) NJ from DC metro. I endured the commute from Alexandria/Kingstowne, VA to Rockville, MD and, typically, 31 miles was indeed an angry 45+ minute drive minimum. Not so much due to the minutes or miles, but mostly due to idiotic drivers (ie, when did turn signals become optional? Why oh why block an intersection? 50 mph in the far left/fast lane? and so on and so forth).

As others have mentioned, Arlington, Balston, Clarendon, Reston are all good options. Have you considered the Old Town Alexandria area? It's a rather lively place, on the water, served by King St metro (yellow and blue lines), Amtrak station right there, super close to DCA (way better than PHL and EWR and so easy peasy as far as airports go), and is abundant in apartments, condos, town/row homes, and high rises. Lots of places for nibbles and libations. It is further out, compared to the other options offered, so depends on your commutable tolerance level (a friend of mine, another from the Garden State, lived in OT and commuted to Chantilly every day no problem, but it's where she wanted to be).

Despite the traffic, it is a great place to be. Good luck wherever you land.

Arlington planned for each of the Orange Line stations to have a different vibe, and they have indeed evolved that way. (Here's another discussion thread with some comparisons.)

As mentioned above, each station is about 1/2 mile (10 minute walk) apart.
- Rosslyn: high-rise, high-rent office district, can walk to Georgetown or Kennedy Center
- Court House: leafier residential area, convenience retail (and cinema) in government office complex above station
- Clarendon: lively nightlife and dining hub, lots of daytime retail as well
- Virginia Square: high-density residential and some institutions (Arlington library, George Mason Univ., FDIC)
- Ballston: high-density residential and office, "last stop in the city" before suburbia starts to its west

Locally, Clarendon has a similar social stereotype as Hoboken or Lincoln Park or the Marina -- i.e., full of bro bars. There's more to it, but as others have mentioned, it's pretty overwhelmingly 20-somethings at night.

If you want to save money (maybe $1000) then you can live walking distance from your office. I can give you the rundown of the places around your office if you are interested. I would advise renting a condo rather than from an apartment complex.

You could even find a lower end SFH in McLean proper for $2500/month, noting that McLean is the premier suburb in DC area.

Clarendon and adjacent neighborhoods are very sterile with lots of crappy restaurants. The vibe is awful. Shopping is great, however with a WF, TJ and Pain Quotidien right next to each other. I think the main benefit of Clarendon is being closer to DC, but outside rush hour you can drive from McLean to downtown DC in 15 min. And today there is a metro.

The buildings in the Clarendon are junk (it is a problem that afflicts construction in the US in general) so you will suffer noise from neighbors even if you pay $$$$ for a "luxury" apartment.

I tend to agree, though there are several decent locations in Tysons that would also get my vote.

To each his own, but I think the OP is selling himself and/or the D.C. area short on a lot of topics. I understand wanting to save the environment and not to drive to/from work, but there are lots of areas that I would recommend within a very reasonable (especially by D.C. standards) drive [redacted]. And thinking that he won't go into D.C. much seems somewhat short sighted. Though I did not see the OP indicate his/her age. I'm closer to 50 and have a wife and 3 kids. We don't go into the city a ton at this point in my life, either, but getting there from NoVa (when we go) is pretty easy.

Just my two cents.

If I was in your shoes, I'd move to the new apartments opening up at the Wiehle-Reston East metro station.

This is a great thread about nova, but what about DC proper?

Depends on where you work, where you want to live, what lifestyle you have, whether you have a car or not, what your family situation is like, how much money you have to spend, etc., etc., etc.

Living in DC proper while working in McLean is possible, but it is generally not as convenient.

I used to drive from Dupont Circle area to McLean proper frequently during peak rush hour in the morning. It took 20 min each and every day via the GW Pkwy. Add another 5 min to get to Cap One.

The Metro operation in DC is a disaster so I would not plan to rely on it.

Just the variance in drive times for getting across the bridges to go between McLean and Georgetown or Foggy Bottom was enough to make me advice people working in McLean to do what it takes to avoid the bridge crossings. In the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, it was less of an issue.

I tend to agree. The bridge infrastructure in D.C., like many places, is failing, and the level of required repairs (and corresponding traffic delays/hassles) are apt to increase in the coming years.

Based on what the OP seems to want, NoVa offers many areas that should yield very satisfactory living/commuting experiences.