I love living in Arlington, but I’m mid-thirties, married, and have a good group of local friends. Not sure I would have loved it at 22. But: there’s a lot to love.

It sounds like you’re hoping for a more spacious, nature-friendly life here, and that’s really only possible if you’re rich or willing to move an hour out of the city. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck in the urban sprawl junk of Fairfax/Falls Church, with stupid traffic, crowded parking lots, and crowded everything. (No offense to anyone who loves their neighborhood in those areas, there are cute ones!)

If your office is in DC or Arlington proper, I’d embrace the city life here instead. It’s actually a lot less stressful! You can rent a nice apartment on a 6-figure salary. Live along Wilson/Clarendon somewhere between Rosslyn and Ballston, and you won’t need a car. You can walk to lots of great cafes, restaurants, bakeries, and a cool farmer’s market in Courthouse. You can walk to some amazing parks, including the Iwo Jima memorial. You can walk (or bike/scooter) to Georgetown. The protected bike lanes are great. You can jump on the metro and be at all of the amazing DC parks, landmarks, museums, etc. in minutes. You can Uber in 15-20 minutes to some of the best theaters and music venues in the country. When you do want to get out into real nature, it’s easy to rent a zip car or rental for the day, and much cheaper than maintaining a car here. (I have a car here, and that’s also fine!)

You can find friends. In a post-Covid world it’s harder, as I understand it, but very possible. There are some cool Arlington meetup groups (I’m in a fun ladies’ book club through Meetup). There are lots of hiking groups, and a robust rock climbing community with some great gyms. Expand your search into DC, as a lot of young professionals start in the city proper. (Despite what DC citizens will tell you, it’s all basically the same city.) Dating is a fun way to explore the city — I always discovered the coolest local spots on mediocre Tinder dates, haha.

As someone else covered, it’s primarily a left-leaning, intellectual area. You’ll meet a ton of people who work in defense contracting, defense, the Pentagon, etc. Because of this, Arlington is a bit more politically mixed than the city or Maryland suburbs, which I think is a good thing. In DC, you’ll meet more Congressional staffers, NGO and non-profit workers, and government employees. My least favorite thing about the DC area is how often people talk about their BORING jobs that they think are interesting. My favorite thing about DC is how many people read books on the Metro. Lots of nerds here.

Hope that gives you a sense of life here. Feel free to DM me any questions!