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North Fulton County = Montgomery County (except politically they are complete opposites)
Gwinnett County = Fairfax County
DeKalb County = Prince George's County
Cobb County = Loudoun County
Henry County = Prince William County
Clayton County = Charles County
Cherokee County = Frederick County
NE Exurbs = Virginia Exurbs
Southern Exurbs of Atlanta = Southern Maryland
Urban Form = Atlanta (NJ/NY is much older. Bay Area is denser)
Demographics = Atlanta (NJ/NY is too diverse. Bay Area is also more diverse)
Having lived in suburban Atlanta and now living in suburban DC, I definitely see the similarities. They aren't clones of each other by any stretch of the imagination (suburban DC is more liberal, has better transit, more New Urbanist developments), but they are probably more similar than the other two options (I'm not really familiar with the Bay Area).
Northern VA is arguably more like the Raleigh/Durham area of NC. Atlanta might be too southern, and there's a higher black population down there. At the same time, of course DC has a high black population along with areas of MD east of the district. I don't see many similarities with NY/NJ and SF.
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
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Originally Posted by JayJayCB
Northern VA is arguably more like the Raleigh/Durham area of NC. Atlanta might be too southern, and there's a higher black population down there. At the same time, of course DC has a high black population along with areas of MD east of the district. I don't see many similarities with NY/NJ and SF.
This is pretty much why locals/people from here see the depth in the National Capitol region, and how going just a few miles varies in what type of culture you may run into. DC city proper having its own feel of part shiny new, yet still very historic urban district. Many immediate suburbs having similarities to Sun Belt urban nodes. Some outer suburbs/exurbs give a flat out rural feel. Then just up the road you have an entirely different city with industrial background and its own distinct feel. Very rare that you would find this many unique differences in this close range in other parts of the country. In Florida, it's just FL, in Texas it's just TX, Georgia/California same thing.
DC's suburbs actually line up with the Tri-State Area quite well:
Northern Virginia -> New Jersey: across the river, operates more on its own, multiple large business nodes, "newer" money (Reston) contrasting with "older" pockets (McLean, Great Falls), more ethnically diverse
Montgomery County -> Westchester and Fairfield Counties: "older money", slower economic growth, fewer major employers, less ethnically diverse, greater economic ties to the core city
Prince George's County -> Long Island: developed initially during the mid-20th century for the middle class, not seeing the economic uplift occurring elsewhere in the region, less desirable outside of specific areas
The main difference between DC and New York-area suburbs is that DC ones are newer and you'll notice it with things such as wider roads, Metro vs traditional commuter rail and so on.
DC's suburbs actually line up with the Tri-State Area quite well:
Northern Virginia -> New Jersey: across the river, operates more on its own, multiple large business nodes, "newer" money (Reston) contrasting with "older" pockets (McLean, Great Falls), more ethnically diverse
Montgomery County -> Westchester and Fairfield Counties: "older money", slower economic growth, fewer major employers, less ethnically diverse, greater economic ties to the core city
Prince George's County -> Long Island: developed initially during the mid-20th century for the middle class, not seeing the economic uplift occurring elsewhere in the region, less desirable outside of specific areas
The main difference between DC and New York-area suburbs is that DC ones are newer and you'll notice it with things such as wider roads, Metro vs traditional commuter rail and so on.
I see the NoVa/northern NJ comparison but a huge difference is NoVa has nothing like the old, gritty urban centers of northern NJ; there are no real NoVa hoods to speak of.
The constant comparisons drawn between Atlanta and DC are a bit unusual, though. People seem to forget that the Atlanta area still has southern traits (isn't Cobb Co pretty conservative?) while the DC metro is solidly mid-Atlantic. I guess in some ways, Raleigh/Durham is a good midpoint between the two although I think Northern VA has far more in common with Raleigh/Durham. Honestly, Atlanta belongs in the same neighborhood as Charlotte, Nashville, and even Birmingham. DC and Atlanta are not in the same neighborhood.
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