Maryland vs Virginia (Baltimore, Bethesda, Towson: real estate, unemployment, top schools)
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Here's an article from the Balt. Sun I stumbled across today about Maryland's public schools being ranked as the best in the nation (NY was 2nd and Mass. was 3rd, don't know about VA) again by Edu. Week: Education magazine ranks Md. No. 1 - baltimoresun.com
As far as roadways are concerned, I don't know much about Virginia's road (except that the one's in NoVa are always ridiculously clogged with traffic), but I do know that the Maryland State Highway Administration does a superb job of maintaining roads, and the only road I've been on that didn't have a shoulder in MD are the Clara Barton and Balt-Wash Parkways (which I don't think are supposed to).
One thing I like about Maryland is the heavy investment in state agencies such as the SHA. People often complain about the high taxes in the state, but they do get put to good use...usually.
Last edited by knoxgarden; 04-07-2010 at 09:43 PM..
Reason: removed personal attack
There are some state highways (MD-115 is only one example) that do not have shoulders. I'm sure Virginia also has the same, but I see them more in MD. It is not true that all state highways have shoulders, that's all I'm saying. I moved here from another state where they do have shoulders on their highways, and the difference is noticeable to me.
There are some state highways (MD-115 is only one example) that do not have shoulders. I'm sure Virginia also has the same, but I see them more in MD. It is not true that all state highways have shoulders, that's all I'm saying. I moved here from another state where they do have shoulders on their highways, and the difference is noticeable to me.
I'm sorry, I disagree. Every 1- and 2-digit numbered Maryland state highway I've ever seen, has paved shoulders its entire length - and some 3-digit ones too. Furthermore, U.S. Federal highways in Maryland also do.
No Virginia 1 and 2-digit state highways I've ever seen, have paved shoulders - nor do any U.S. Federal highways I've seen in Virginia. (On second thought, I wonder whether Leesburg Pike Route 7 might have paved shoulders, as it's in an urban area).
On the other hand, you could argue that extra paving harms the environment, as it hampers natural drainage of water, and worsens global warming. So in some ways, this is actually a good thing.
Virginia has a much better public university system than Maryland.
University of Virginia and William & Mary are elite institutions, and Virginia Tech is well respected. There are numerous other good schools, including James Madison and George Mason.
Maryland has UMD, which is a very good university, and it has Saint Mary's College, a very good small liberal arts college. Its other public universities- Towson, Salisbury State, Frostburg- don't rise to the level of the second tier Virginia universities.
I haven't read through the enitre thread, so forgive me if this has already been mentioned.
Virginia's college are definitely not "much better" than those in Maryland. UVA is better (in purely objective terms) than UMD, but VT probably only bests UMD in football. Towson and UMBC are also great schools on the same level as GMU. In terms of private schools, Maryland blows Virginia out of the water. The jugernaut that is Johns Hopkins (one of the top 5 schools in the country) is better than any school in VA, and other schools such as Loyola are also at the top in their categories.
You're forgetting about W&M, a "public Ivy", which tops UMD as well.
VA's second tier- James Madison, GMU, ODU- is better than MD's second tier-Towson, UMBC, Salisbury State. GMU has a top tier law school, for instance
Hopkins is a great private school, but it's just that- private. (I wouldn't say that Hopkins blows every VA school out of the water. It certainly does in the medical field, but its other areas are no stronger than UVA or W&M) It's a better private school than anything that Virginia has. However, Washington & Lee, Virginia's best private, beats out all other MD private schools. It's certainly better than Loyola. The University of Richmond is also good, as are Marymount, Hollins, Sweet Briar, Mary Baldwin, and Hampden-Sydney (to a lesser extent). The group of Washington & Lee, Richmond, Marymount and Hampden-Sydney is equal to or better than the group of Mount Saint Mary's, Hood, Goucher and Loyola.
I grew up in MD and crossed the border and have been in VA for the past 2 years. They are quite similar in many ways, the traffic in the whole DC metro area is horrible, so it's best to be near a metro regardless of which state you choose. VA has extremely ridiculous laws on speeding, and the cops are ALL over the road here.
There are suburban and urban areas in both MD and VA...In my opinion, MD has more of a suburban feel to it. I live in Arlington, and it's nice because it has an urban feel without feeling like you are in the middle of a crazy busy city.
I think both states have bad drivers...it depends who you talk to, Marylanders will tell you it's the Virginians, and Virginians say it's the Marylanders...when I had MD plates and would drive in VA, I felt like people in VA were more agressive towards me on the road...but it could just have been my imagination...or it could have been since I grew up in MD, it was ingrained in my head that Virginians were bad drivers and they hate Marylanders
In VA, the law-abiding are allowed to defend themselves from criminals. Not so here in MD, where only criminals and LE carry guns. The gun crime rate is much lower in VA as a result. MD coddles criminals.
You're forgetting about W&M, a "public Ivy", which tops UMD as well.
VA's second tier- James Madison, GMU, ODU- is better than MD's second tier-Towson, UMBC, Salisbury State. GMU has a top tier law school, for instance
Hopkins is a great private school, but it's just that- private. (I wouldn't say that Hopkins blows every VA school out of the water. It certainly does in the medical field, but its other areas are no stronger than UVA or W&M) It's a better private school than anything that Virginia has. However, Washington & Lee, Virginia's best private, beats out all other MD private schools. It's certainly better than Loyola. The University of Richmond is also good, as are Marymount, Hollins, Sweet Briar, Mary Baldwin, and Hampden-Sydney (to a lesser extent). The group of Washington & Lee, Richmond, Marymount and Hampden-Sydney is equal to or better than the group of Mount Saint Mary's, Hood, Goucher and Loyola.
UMD is also a "Public Ivy" (Public Ivy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Virginia's Second Tier, at best, is on the same level as Maryland's Second Tier. UMBC is ranked first in the nation for "Up-and-Coming" schools, while GMU is ranked second. Towson is ranked No. 43 for Masters Universities (North), while ODU is 3rd Tier-unranked for a National Univeristy. JMU is ranked 4th for Master's Universities in the South region, while Loyola is ranked 3rd in the North region.
Another important school we forgot to mention is the Naval Academy, which ranks 19th in the country for liberal arts schools. I agree about the smaller private schools though.
Another important school we forgot to mention is the Naval Academy, which ranks 19th in the country for liberal arts schools. I agree about the smaller private schools though.
I don't really think of the Naval Academy as a Maryland school any more than I think of West Point as a New York school. They're both federal institutions.
As for UMBC, its undergrad program is in the third tier nationally along with ODU and GMU. I'd agree that ODU and UMBC are roughly equal, but GMU pulls ahead because of the quality of its graduate programs.
Strictly comparing publics, UMD, Towson, Salisbury State, St. Mary's, UMBC, and Frostburg is a less impressive group than UVA, W&M, Va Tech, JMU, GMU, and Mary Washington/Longwood/Radford/ODU.
MD stacks up better in the private school category, but VA is no slouch there either.
EDIT: Also, GMU Law, Virginia's 4th best law school (behind UVA, W&M, and W&L) is ranked higher than MD's best law school (UMD). Not that Law Schools are the be-all and end-all of graduate programs, but VA has a unusually strong group of them.
In VA, the law-abiding are allowed to defend themselves from criminals. Not so here in MD, where only criminals and LE carry guns. The gun crime rate is much lower in VA as a result. MD coddles criminals.
The reason the overall gun crime-rate is lower in VA is because it's less urban, or maybe you can explain why Richmond is the 15th Most Dangerous City in the US (only a few spots below Baltimore, but above DC).
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