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Status:
"Pickleball-Free American"
(set 3 days ago)
Location: St Simons Island, GA
23,462 posts, read 44,090,617 times
Reputation: 16856
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio248
^
Westchester is on one extreme. It has very little modern suburban sprawl. Fairfax is on the other extreme. Bergen is probably next after Westchester (in terms of overall walkable feel), and then Montgomery.
Spot on. I think that posters that are ranking this as such are responding to the quaint, 'villagey' feel that you often encounter in Westchester and Bergen that you see less often in Montgomery and hardly at all in Fairfax. It's hard to beat.
I'm trying to remember, but when you are driving east on Rt. 10 in the Parsippany area, you come to a point where the skyline is in front of you. I guess the geography doesn't fit, but I could swear I see lower Manhattan, that's why I didn't question Rockaway, but I think you're right.
Maybe you are thinking about Rt 10 East near the Powder Mill interchange, as you begin to descend towards Morris Plains, right before Rt 53 Mt Tabor. I think there's actually a great view of the skyline, albiet, briefly.
Maybe you are thinking about Rt 10 East near the Powder Mill interchange, as you begin to descend towards Morris Plains, right before Rt 53 Mt Tabor. I think there's actually a great view of the skyline, albiet, briefly.
Alright fellas, its time I voice my opinion. These flame wars are coming from people with experience in just one county each, creating bias.
I have lived in 3 of the 4: Bergen, Westchester, and Fairfax. I originally grew up in Rockland, which is wedged between Bergen & Westchester, so I also have the unique "third party opinion". Bottom line: what I am about to say probably holds the most weight in this forum! (im kidding)
So I'm going to leave MoCo out, since I don't know much about it.
Westchester: beautiful county with extreme wealth and extreme poverty. It also is the least uniformely populated of the bunch. From the southern edge, it basically flows up from the Bronx seamlessly. You can't tell where the border is (except from the perspectives of Van Cortlandt Park, etc. where the park line ends @ the city edge). So at the south you have Yonkers, Mt. Vernon, New Rochelle. These cities are very urban and dense. Mostly older, but with some recent redevelopment going on (new roc city, Yonkers waterfront). As you go north, it gets more and more wealthy: Rye, White Plains, Tarrytown. The 287 corridor (cross-westchester expressway) is basically the north/south divide. North of here it begins to get more leafy, light suburbia, and very wealthy.
Pros: easy access to NYC, beautiful towns, diversity of living options
Cons: crime in the southern portions (& Peekskill), taxes
Bergen: What an awesome county! it's very uniformely populated. As you move south, it generally gets heavier, but in different ways. The northern half is very wealthy and lighter suburbia: Saddle River, Franklin Lakes, Mahwah, over to Montvale and Closter. As you move south, it seems to split around the meadowlands a bit. The western section of the southern half is really suburbs of Paterson & Passaic - towns like Garfield, the Rutherfords, and of courst Hackensack is a little city of its own. The eastern portion seems to be more aligned with the Jersey City area and NYC in general: Fort Lee, Edgewater, stretching up to Englewood & Bergenfield.
-Tons of shopping (Paramus), industry, and quaint downtowns (Ridgewood!!)
Pros: relatively easy access to NYC (although on the train you have to transfer at SECaucus, and by car its $8+ on the GWB. Best bet is taking the PATH if you are close enough to Newark or JC. Ramsey Rt. 17 station if you're further northwest (as it has an express train during rush hour) - beautiful views, MONEYTOWNS, diversity - the korean areas of Pal Park & Ft. Lee are a lot of fun
Cons: hmm...not many complaints....roads don't always make sense, potholes are bad. expensive to get to NYC no matter how you do it
Fairfax: The crown jewel of DC Suburbia. It's got tons of cities and towns within it, and its super easy to get into DC, even though Arlington is in it's way. Fairfax is booming too, with areas like Tyson's corner becoming its own out-right city! its an exciting time. Job security is probably better here than ANYWHERE ELSE in the entire country. Especially if you're a US citizen with a bachelor's degree and a security clearance.
Pros: very aesthetically pretty, modern looking, always under construction. Diverse county, although not as diverse as Bergen.
Cons: Always under construction, WORST TRAFFIC on the east coast. Suburban hell
My Final rankings by category:
Diversity
1) Bergen
2) Fairfax
3) Westchester
Weather
1) Fairfax
2) Bergen
3) Westchester
City Access - kind of depends where in the city u wanna be - nyc is huge compared to DC
1) Westchester
2) Fairfax
3) Bergen
culture
1) Bergen
2) Westchester
3) Fairfax
architecture
1) Westchester
2) Bergen
3) Fairfax
traffic (best to worst)
1) Westchester
2) Bergen
...
3) Fairfax
crime (good to bad)
1) Fairfax
2) Bergen
3) Westchester
education - not sure
Natural Beauty/Views
1) Westchester (best foliage, forests, parks)
2) Bergen (best views)
3) Fairfax ....too flat for my taste, not great foliage
Fun/Things to do - outdoors/nature
1) Westchester
2) Fairfax
3) Bergen
Fun/Things to do - nightlife/urban
1) Bergen
2) Westchester
3) Fairfax
Excitement for the future
1) Fairfax - Tyson's of Tomorrow!
2) Westchester - White Plains (like a mini-tysons)
3) Bergen - no real urban core for development
OVERALL RANKING (not an average of my scores, just what I like the most and where I would live if I could choose):
1) Rockland (haha)
2) Bergen
3) Westchester
4) Fairfax
-close calls. I like them all.
-did i miss anything?
Last edited by toredyvik; 11-17-2010 at 12:28 PM..
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