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.
In fairness, this is about suburbs and not the cities they surround. But I do agree with you about NYC.
There is a symbiosis between the city and its suburbs. The suburbs are reflection of the city as people constantly move in-between...
NYC is the greatest city in the world and so are its' suburbs...
Cleveland suburbs >> DC. Lived in both, not a contest.
Cleveland suburbs to check out: Rocky River, Lakewood, Westlake, Olmsted Falls, Pepper Pike, Shaker Hts, University Hts, Chagrin Falls, Concord, Brecksville, Broadview Hts, Independence, Seven Hills, etc.. What makes Cleveland are the suburbs. To say places like NYC have better suburbs because they are close in proximity to NYC is outrageous. I have cousins on Long Island, Rye, Stamford, and West Chester... they are no different then Cleveland suburbs.. They don't really look different either.
Cleveland suburbs >> DC. Lived in both, not a contest.
Cleveland suburbs to check out: Rocky River, Lakewood, Westlake, Olmsted Falls, Pepper Pike, Shaker Hts, University Hts, Chagrin Falls, Concord, Brecksville, Broadview Hts, Independence, Seven Hills, etc.. What makes Cleveland are the suburbs. To say places like NYC have better suburbs because they are close in proximity to NYC is outrageous. I have cousins on Long Island, Rye, Stamford, and West Chester... they are no different then Cleveland suburbs.. They don't really look different either.
Why is it outrageous? Because NYC suburbs get the spillover from Manhattan? Are there Cleveland suburbs like the Hamptons, Alpine or Fire Island? Look again.
Are there suburb like Jersey City?
I think all major metro areas have at least some very nice suburbs.
The Northeast, in particular, has a large stock of more mature suburbs that -- in some instances -- are as old as the central cities themselves. Many are the very definition of old money and have an absolutely gorgeous housing stock.
To name some, NYC: Much of Westchester, Fairfield (CT), and Bergen (NJ) Counties; Boston: Brookline, Newton, Concord, Lexington and Weston; Philadelphia: Main Line, Central Bucks County, Moorestown and Collingswood (NJ), DC: Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Potomac (MD) and McLean (VA)
reasons: 1. water 2. rail - little shopping villages around commuter rail and T stops 3. individual town gov't - keeps tight controls on planning and zoning, and allows for more locally owned restaurants and retail than in other regions
#2 - Seattle, region hugs the lake, so most of the office park suburbs are closer to downtown than in other cities, Kirkland nice mix of local retail and lake recreation
DC has excellent close-in suburbs in Arlington, Alexandria, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, and Falls Church, but after that it sprawls out very quickly
Philly main line suburbs also rank high
Pittsburgh has some underrated areas north and west of town in the hills - especially Sewickley
Chicago, SF - great cities with awful suburbs - Evanston's ok, Marin's also ok, but the valley is ugly and north shore suburbs are wealthy, but not that interesting, west of O'hare gets exceptionally bland
NYC - probably the worst among big cities in the east, has its pockets of wealth in westchester and fairfield - but those areas are less charming than cheaper NY and CT towns further north and east, just massive houses like you see in other parts of the coutry, Long Island is the capital of crass yentas with irritating voices, North Jersey is in parts a chemical dump, in other parts generic suburbia
Dallas suburbs - makes Naperville, Illinois look interesting
reasons: 1. water 2. rail - little shopping villages around commuter rail and T stops 3. individual town gov't - keeps tight controls on planning and zoning, and allows for more locally owned restaurants and retail than in other regions
#2 - Seattle, region hugs the lake, so most of the office park suburbs are closer to downtown than in other cities, Kirkland nice mix of local retail and lake recreation
DC has excellent close-in suburbs in Arlington, Alexandria, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, and Falls Church, but after that it sprawls out very quickly
Philly main line suburbs also rank high
Pittsburgh has some underrated areas north and west of town in the hills - especially Sewickley
Chicago, SF - great cities with awful suburbs - Evanston's ok, Marin's also ok, but the valley is ugly and north shore suburbs are wealthy, but not that interesting, west of O'hare gets exceptionally bland
NYC - probably the worst among big cities in the east, has its pockets of wealth in westchester and fairfield - but those areas are less charming than cheaper NY and CT towns further north and east, just massive houses like you see in other parts of the coutry, Long Island is the capital of crass yentas with irritating voices, North Jersey is in parts a chemical dump, in other parts generic suburbia
Dallas suburbs - makes Naperville, Illinois look interesting
Wow, you really don't seem to like Chicago and NY And what you said about NY really isn't accurate. I don't know if you have traveled the NY suburbs extensively enough.
Here are some CSA's less then central cities (suburban population)
City : Central Population : CSA Population : Suburban Population
Los Angeles : 3,833,000 : 17,755,000 : 13,922,000
New York City : 8,363,000 : 21,962,000 : 13,599,000
Washington/Baltimore : 1,228,000 : 8,241,000 : 7,013,000
Chicago : 2,853,000 : 9,745,000 : 6,892,000
Boston/Providence : 780,000 : 7,467,000 : 6,687,000
San Fran/San Jose : 1,756,000 : 7,264,000 : 5,508,000
Philadelphia : 1,147,000 : 6,385,000 : 5,238,000
Atlanta : 537,000 : 5,626,000 : 5,089,000
Miami : 413,000 : 5,414,000 : 5,001,000
Dallas/Fort Worth : 1,915,000 : 6,498,000 : 4,583,000
Detroit : 912,000 : 5,405,000 : 4,493,000
Of course it's all relative. Some cities like New York, Chicago, Detroit, Philly and Boston are almost entirely urban in nature, with even more urban suburbs as well. Then other places like Atlanta and Dallas have many areas that are very suburban in nature with even more suburban suburbs.
This is everything over 4 million. The next few were areas like Phoenix, Houston and San Diego.
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.
And what you said about NY really isn't accurate. I don't know if you have traveled the NY suburbs extensively enough.
