2024 Neighborhood Guide: Bethesda

Someone once referred to Bethesda as “big city, small town.” It’s an apt description. Bethesda, which is actually unincorporated, has many attributes of a big city — a bustling downtown, an educated and sophisticated populace and a striking number and variety of restaurants. (The flip side is that it also has bad traffic, limited parking and expensive housing.)

In the past few years, Marriott International and Fox 5 DC both debuted stunning new headquarters in high-rise buildings in the heart of downtown. Many new shops and eateries have opened, adding to the area’s vitality. And high-end housing, upscale condos and apartment buildings try to fill the demand for convenient living and easy access to shops, dining and mass transportation. Construction of the Purple Line, a 16-mile light rail service, is underway. Once complete, it will extend from downtown Bethesda to Silver Spring, College Park and New Carrollton, connecting to Metro, rail and local bus lines. But in many ways, Bethesda still feels like a small town: People recognize each other on the street, and there are dozens of leafy neighborhoods and a strong sense of community.

What locals say:

“In the year 2000, I moved to Bethesda—I find this place absolutely fabulous, because to me, I view it as a campus. I go around the corner, one block from me is a theater. Within two blocks, I have Bethesda Metro. I’ve got banks, I’ve got movie theaters, and my very favorite is the Capital Crescent Trail, which used to be a line of the railroad, now converted to a walking path—it’s wonderful. I think Bethesda is a fabulous place—it’s very well balanced and is a safe and welcoming place.”

–Darryl Fagin, retired, former legislative director at Americans for Democratic Action

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This story appears in Bethesda Magazine’s 2024-2025 Insider’s Guide.