North Bethesda was recently judged one of the “10 Best U.S. Suburbs to Live in for Affordable Housing, Top-rated Schools, and Excellent Job Opportunities” by Travel & Leisure.

We can’t help but agree and take some pride in the small part we’ve played in its transformation over the years.  North Bethesda (defined by the blue boundary) is a critical junction between major highways just north of Washington, D.C.  But the transformation around the Metro subway stations, in particular, from a largely auto-centric suburb of strip malls is built on planning and zoning models that encourage a mix of uses and higher densities.

Other key elements of success?  The area not only has a great transit system, but features great schools, cultural and recreational amenities, such as the Music Center at Strathmore, farmers’ markets, historic sites, various types of parks, and recreation facilities.  And because the County requires a percent of affordable housing in all of its larger residential projects, inclusivity is built into the otherwise higher-than-average price of living.

Niche.com has its own rankings of suburbs, where North Bethesda is an A+ Suburb ranking 7^th in the nation, with high marks for schools, family-friendliness, diversity, and nightlife.

VIKA’s larger projects within and around North Bethesda (defined by the cranberry-colored polygons) have largely focused on transit-oriented, mixed-use, high-density projects but also provide other necessary elements of complete communities, such as offices and bio-tech labs and medium-density residential townhouses and detached homes.

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For each of these projects, VIKA has provided everything from surveying, master planning, or rezoning to civil engineering, environmental planning, and landscape architecture – or all the above.  I do wonder, however, where Travel & Leisure got their representative photo, so we’re sharing a few others of projects in the area.