Washington DC Maryland Suburbs vs Philadelphia Pa Suburbs (cons, moving, school)

[kidphilly]

And some others on the PA side outside of Bucks


Chester County's Brandywine Valley - YouTube


West Chester, PA - Video Tour! - YouTube


Welcome to Historic Phoenixville, PA - YouTube


Media PA - YouTube

[killakoolaide]

Originally Posted by Aimewitue

Washington DC Suburbs counties Calvert County, Charles County, Montgomery County, and Prince George's County.

VS.

Philadelphia,PA suburbs Bucks, Montgomery, Chester,Delaware Counties.

Rate in these Areas:

Quality of Life: MD
Cost of Living: PA
Public Transit: tie
Nightlife: MD, probably
Parks: PA
Weather: MD
Education (K-12): PA
Education (Post Secondary): PA
Suburbs: Inner(PA), Outer(DC)
Housing Stock: PA
Shopping: PA
Museums: dont know
Hospitals: dont know

I've been to MoCo, and grew up in MontCo(Abington). The DC burbs have much newer developement and infrastrcture, but lack the classy feel of Philly's burbs, IMO. MoCo feels more progressive and has a transient/tourist element that is practically non-existent in the Philly burbs. Philly's burbs feel more modest, humble, and even provincial, and is overall more victorian in appearance. DC's suburbs have done a great job urbanizing(Silver Spring, Bethesda) in the past several decades, while the Philly burbs have had an ever increasing problem with urban decay(Norristown, Chester, Darby/Delco etc.). If I had a choice I would the DC burbs, because of a much better job market.

[Mahatma X]

Takoma Park, MD is a good example of a old suburb, it feels like it could be in PA.

[RightonWalnut]

Originally Posted by kidphilly

Agreed both have some of the best collections of schools in the country in this regard (Philly proper is another story)

NOt entirely true. Even Philly proper has some of the best schools in the country. Masterman, Meredith, Central, Penn Alexander, etc. etc.

[Mahatma X]

Originally Posted by Summersm343

NOt entirely true. Even Philly proper has some of the best schools in the country. Masterman, Meredith, Central, Penn Alexander, etc. etc.

Same with DC i.e. Sidwell Friends (Obama's kids go here), St John's College High School, St. Alban's, Parkmont,
British School of Washington, School Without Walls, etc, etc, etc

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by Mahatma X

Same with DC i.e. Sidwell Friends (Obama's kids go here), St John's College High School, St. Alban's, Parkmont,
British School of Washington, School Without Walls, etc, etc, etc

We're talking about public schools. Philly proper has great privates too.

[Mahatma X]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

We're talking about public schools. Philly proper has great privates too.

Well School Without Walls is public.
Duke Ellington and Woodrow Wilson High schools are public as well.


When it comes to DC the private schools are king followed by public chartered. DC has good chartered schools.

[David_J]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

We're talking about public schools. Philly proper has great privates too.

Many, if not most, of the schools in the DC metro area are in the top 10% of the nation. Not sure about Philadelphia metro, but aside from the city proper, I've heard that the schools are very good there as well.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by David_J

Many, if not most, of the schools in the DC metro area are in the top 10% of the nation. Not sure about Philadelphia metro, but aside from the city proper, I've heard that the schools are very good there as well.

Oh, I know DC metro's schools are tops overall. Philly has some great ones as well, but DC definitely wins in that regard. It may even be #1 in the nation.

[soug]

When I'm in MD, I miss the charming downtowns that the Philly burbs have. When I'm in the Philly area, I miss the large scale TOD's like Bethesda that the DMV has.

I also like the fact that in the Philly burbs, people actually identify with their town. None of this Moco Hoco PG stuff. Although I've come more around to it after spending so much time in MD.