Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. I am originally from the DC area and the Montgomery County suburbs especially are the definition of bad aging. They are full of strip malls, office parks, and shopping centers from the 90's-early 2000's. It is the weirdest hodgepodge I've ever seen. In places like Wheaton, Rockville, and Silver Spring, you'll have completely rundown suburban strip malls and office parks, then right down the road, you'll have some nice homes/new developments, then right down the road from that, you'll have old homes. Yuck.
. But the MD side DC suburbs (Montgomery and PG County) are pretty nasty (with a few exceptions).
This is accurate. Crazy how fats MoCo's rep has deteriorated. But the bad portions of MoCo are really undesignated places either in PG County or on the border. But I actually really like Wheaton and Rockville even though they are a hodgepodge.
PGC is pretty much intolerable to me. Aside from the furthest south/outer portions of PG that are unabashedly exurban and wooded and closer to Charles or Calvert County.
Philly is a more interesting city, but DC functions better, and looks nicer. Of the suburbs that I've seen from both, DC's NOVA suburbs are nicer than anything I've seen in the Philly area, however, the MD suburbs of DC are atrocious. Philly's NJ suburbs are just as bad.
Philly is a more interesting city, but DC functions better, and looks nicer. Of the suburbs that I've seen from both, DC's NOVA suburbs are nicer than anything I've seen in the Philly area, however, the MD suburbs of DC are atrocious. Philly's NJ suburbs are just as bad.
DC overall is very nice and it is for sure one of my favorite cities in the USA, but it can be a bit "stiff".
On the suburbs front I think the Bethesda, Potomac, Rockville, Frederick line of Maryland suburbs are actually quite nice and nicer than the NOVA suburbs.
McClean has a lot of ranch homes and old strip malls from the 60s/70s. I personally find Bethesda/Potomac to be more attractive than Arlington/McClean.
With that, there is a separate thread ranking the Northeast's Prestigious suburbs and the Philadelphia Main Line suburbs rank 2nd as of now to NYC CT suburbs.
MD is actually polling ahead of NOVA.
DC does not have railroad suburbs that are historic. It has no suburban legacy. Philadelphia does. (The Philadelphia Story is all about the Old Money class of the Main Line).
DC is a very nice city and it has come a long way. I love DC always will. I think Philadelphia is a bit more dynamic and attracts more of an artistic multifaceted vibe, which overall is why I think it is pulling ahead in the poll.
I also think the Philadelphia suburbs overall are much nicer than the DC suburbs. They are much older and more historic and offer so much character that can really only be rivaled by NYC, BOS and CHI which all are the cities with legacy railroad suburbs.
DC did not have rail service until the 70s and it really did not extend into the further reaches of its suburbs until the 2000s. The other cities had suburban transit back in the 1800s and for most it was used as a 2nd home from wealthy families who owned a large townhome in the city and wanted a second estate/home located in what then was the country.
The town centers grew to provide the services to these wealthy families with what was then their country homes dating back to the 1800s.
This is why the PHL, BOS, NYC and CHI suburbs are very historic and far more interesting. IMO.
DC overall is very nice and it is for sure one of my favorite cities in the USA, but it can be a bit "stiff".
On the suburbs front I think the Bethesda, Potomac, Rockville, Frederick line of Maryland suburbs are actually quite nice and nicer than the NOVA suburbs.
McClean has a lot of ranch homes and old strip malls from the 60s/70s. I personally find Bethesda/Potomac to be more attractive than Arlington/McClean.
With that, there is a separate thread ranking the Northeast's Prestigious suburbs and the Philadelphia Main Line suburbs rank 2nd as of now to NYC CT suburbs.
MD is actually polling ahead of NOVA.
DC does not have railroad suburbs that are historic. It has no suburban legacy. Philadelphia does. (The Philadelphia Story is all about the Old Money class of the Main Line).
DC is a very nice city and it has come a long way. I love DC always will. I think Philadelphia is a bit more dynamic and attracts more of an artistic multifaceted vibe, which overall is why I think it is pulling ahead in the poll.
I also think the Philadelphia suburbs overall are much nicer than the DC suburbs. They are much older and more historic and offer so much character that can really only be rivaled by NYC, BOS and CHI which all are the cities with legacy railroad suburbs.
DC did not have rail service until the 70s and it really did not extend into the further reaches of its suburbs until the 2000s. The other cities had suburban transit back in the 1800s and for most it was used as a 2nd home from wealthy families who owned a large townhome in the city and wanted a second estate/home located in what then was the country.
The town centers grew to provide the services to these wealthy families with what was then their country homes dating back to the 1800s.
This is why the PHL, BOS, NYC and CHI suburbs are very historic and far more interesting. IMO.
You are confusing streetcar suburbs with legacy commuter rail suburbs.
There is a difference. DC had no local commuter rail that went 30+ miles from its core to form what the legacy commuter rail suburbs did back in the 1800s which NYC, BOS, PHL and CHI all have.
A streetcar which would be considered a slower variation of light rail today is very different from commuter rail and cover different frequencies and range. A streetcar developed around a much more dense grid, fairly close to the city. A streetcar makes many stops and makes going long distances actually inefficient overall, whereas commuter rail does not. Streetcars also shared the "street" as the name implies. Whereas commuter rail had its own dedicated right of way which allowed for very fast travel out to the "suburbs" (but then it was the bucolic countryside for the rich).
Most cities (large and small) had streetcar "burbs" up until after WWII after which most were torn down for better or worse for cars, and most of those "burbs" were then annexed into the city in most cases but not all.
The commuter rail legacy suburbs are more spacious and bucolic because they were not streetcar suburbs but considered second homes to wealthy individuals in what was then considered the country, because the legacy commuter rail would allow for faster travel further out. If that makes sense??
Compared to the streetcar suburbs which tend to be more dense and close to the city and most urban because a streetcar is not an efficient way to travel long distances.
Legacy Commuter Rail suburbs in the country are not like that. They have walkable towns but then quickly become sprawling and bucolic rather than a dense grid.
Philadelphia actually also does have separate streetcar suburbs that developed separate from the Main Line that are still in existence today though.
Media, Pennsylvania has a trolley that goes right down its historic Main Street. It is very cool to be honest. DC does not have this either.
Again, I reference the iconic film, The Philadelphia Story which is all about the Philadelphia suburbs (The Main Line) and its old money fancy which is the direct result of this legacy commuter rail which only: Philadelphia, NYC, BOS and CHI had in a significant scale.
Philly is a more interesting city, but DC functions better, and looks nicer. Of the suburbs that I've seen from both, DC's NOVA suburbs are nicer than anything I've seen in the Philly area, however, the MD suburbs of DC are atrocious. Philly's NJ suburbs are just as bad.
NoVa isn't nicer than Mainline and yes about the Philly NJ burbs and DC MD burbs.
You are confusing streetcar suburbs with legacy commuter rail suburbs.
There is a difference. DC had no local commuter rail that went 30+ miles from its core to form what the legacy commuter rail suburbs did back in the 1800s which NYC, BOS, PHL and CHI all have.
A streetcar which would be considered light rail today is very different from commuter rail and cover different frequencies and range. A streetcar developed around a much more dense grid, fairly close to the city.
Most cities (large and small) had streetcar "burbs" up until after WWII after which most were torn down for better or worse for cars, and most of those "burbs" were then annexed into the city in most cases but not all.
The commuter rail legacy suburbs are more spacious and bucolic because they were not streetcar suburbs but considered second homes to wealthy individuals in what was then considered the country, because the legacy commuter rail would allow for faster travel further out. If that makes sense??
Compared to the streetcar suburbs which tend to be more dense and close to the city and most urban because a streetcar is not an efficient way to travel long distances.
Legacy Commuter Rail suburbs in the country are not like that. They have walkable towns but then quickly become sprawling and bucolic rather than a dense grid.
Philadelphia actually also does have separate streetcar suburbs that developed separate from the Main Line that are still in existence today though.
Media, Pennsylvania has a trolley that goes right down its historic Main Street. It is very cool to be honest. DC does not have this either.
Ahhh... I see what you're talking about. I was wrong.
Its just endless like this...contiguous sprawling WASPY country suburbs as far as the eye can see. very similar to MetroWest in Boston but with denser cores slightly less diverse.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
