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It could just be a personal opinion but from my experience it seems that Maryland looks down on it's neighbor to the south Virginia, and i just want to know why??
It's one of those Washington, D.C. area rivalries. But I sense that it may have been stronger in the past.
Actually, it's mainly the other way around - northern Virginians who look down on Marylanders because northern Virginia is the richer of the 2 at this point.
Thats very interesting never looked at it from that prespective, in the D.C. area in the past it almost seemed cool if you were from D.C. or Maryland but it was almost frowned upon to be from Virginia.
Thats very interesting never looked at it from that prespective, in the D.C. area in the past it almost seemed cool if you were from D.C. or Maryland but it was almost frowned upon to be from Virginia.
Not anymore. It's more complicated than that now. This is what I have tended to observe:
- Northern Virginia views (central) Maryland as its lesser regional economic rival.
- Northern Virginia thinks it's the "real" Virginia and does not like to associate itself culturally or politically with the rest of Virginia.
- The rest of Virginia views northern Virginia as an elitist, liberal cesspool but it's very jealous of it at the same time.
- The rest of Virginia views Maryland as being so liberal that it might as well be from another planet.
- Maryland views northern Virginia as a nice place to live but too expensive.
- Maryland views the rest of Virginia as too conservative and socially backwards, but scenically beautiful nonetheless.
Last edited by BigCityDreamer; 11-13-2013 at 07:41 AM..
Having moved to the area from Kansas City where the friction between KS and MO is off the charts, I really don't see much of a rivalry here at all. I work around people from VA and MD and really have seen nothing resembling what I was used to in KC. There is generally respect for the other state from one another. Both states have their flaky areas, affluent areas etc.
Personally, I find NOVA to be a bit too sprawly. Other than some of the suburbs near DC inside the beltway, most of NOVA reminds me of the large suburbs in midwest, west and south. Big freeways, big office parks, big malls and lots of traffic.
Maryland burbs seem a bit more diverse and interesting. There seems to be more green space, more parks and recreation and it's nice to be closer to Annapolis, Bay Bridge, Baltimore etc. NOVA has far more jobs though.
I think both are nice and you can find what you want in both states around DC though. It's just nice to see that for the most part, they get along and there is a level of regional respect that I'm not used to in a bistate area. Things are not perfect, but trust me, they could be much worse.
I really haven't noticed much of a rivalry. Marylanders and Virginians seem to identify with each other for the most part.
PA, WV, and DE are much more likely to be looked down upon.
Funny, I've never seen that. Years ago I grew up in MD in PG county and thought of VA as the other version of MD but across the Potomac. VA shares the Chesapeake and the bay culture. The eastern shore, where I live now, is shared as well. I really don't see a difference in the 2 states at all. I guess the exception would be southwest VA which seems different then western MD.
I don't or have never met anyone from either state that looks down on the other. Perhaps there are people in MOCO in MD or NOVA in VA that think that way but in reality those places to me are different parts of these respected states and have more people who I would call the snooty type who would look down on others.
I have not notice Maryland looking down on Virginia. The only issue I have with Virginia is with their Department of Transportation and their terrible road signage.
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