How are the Maryland Suburbs of DC different than the VA Suburbs? (Towson: homes, schools)

[eastli84]

MD suburbs are much better planned than VA suburbs, but dont fool yourself, MD is still the South. Be prepared for oddness. Good luck!

[vanyali]

Originally Posted by jhrrussell2

The University of Maryland, College Park is one of the top- rated public universities in the country, ranked much higher than George Mason in Fairfax County. As for the "English being a second language" comment, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Northern Virginia has a larger Hispanic- American and Asian- American population than Montgomery and Prince George's County. And yes, I agree that Prince George's County is ughhh as one user commented, but Montgomery County has a wonderful school system and the people are much more down to earth and friendlier than compared to NoVa. And diversity is the great thing about America. Whatever happened to our Country being the "Melting Pot" of the world? Montgomery County has a wonderful school system, and a great ESL program for those who are immigrants to this country. Everyone touts how fairfax county spends $10,159 per child in their school system, but the Eastern Half of the County does not have the great schools that everyone thinks it does. Montgomery County spends more per child, $10,607 according to the Department of Education, and neighboring Howard County has the most library card holders in the country with 95% of it's population. Montgomery County is moving into the
21st century, while Fairfax is stuck in the 20th. And Virginia has cons too, such as having to crossing a bridge to commute into Maryland and D.C. which adds to the commute time, a higher income tax rate, a day labor problem, and a lack of public transportation options when compared to Maryland.

No, don't compare UMD to George Mason, compare it to UVA. And William and Mary. In that comparison, VA wins hands down.

Also, driving through VA to get to a decent Home Depot yesterday (I'm in Chevy Chase, MD, and have to drive to Seven Corners to get decent building materials on a weekend), I noticed so many fancy amenities -- like curbs and sidewalks -- that we plebes in MD have to pull strings to get.

I like MD. I moved here on purpose. But there's no question that VA is run WAY better than MD.

On another note, I really don't get what everyone seems to have against "immigration". For the most part, they're fine, hard-working people. Are people really so bothered by the language difference? Spanish is an easy language to pick up. And there are plenty of immigrants in the VA suburbs too. Maybe more than in the Montgomery County.

[vanyali]

Originally Posted by MDDCtoATL

So this is where all Virgina fanboys are.

I also don't understand why people use Virginia universities over 100 miles away and compare them to school in the D.C. area. Sorry, we are talking about schools in the D.C. area, which means Maryland, NoVa and D.C. not Richmond or Blacksburg. No school in NoVa compares to the University of Maryland, College Park, it is the kingpin university of the region.

If you want to count school not in the region than Johns Hopkins trumps anything Virginia has. It would even be more valid than comparing VTech since Johns Hopkins is part of the Baltimore/Washington plex and has substantial facilities in Montgomery County and D.C. even.

The point is to compare the collection of schools you can get in-state tuition at between the two states. So UVA counts. So does Hopkins. UVA also has top-ranked law and business schools, a top architecture school, and on and on. It's very, very hard to beat UVA overall. And W&M isn't shabby either. Once you get down to the lower tier of public VA universities, the comparison between VA and MD starts to matter a bit more, but at the top, there are more opportunities in VA.

[anpanman]

Originally Posted by vanyali

The point is to compare the collection of schools you can get in-state tuition at between the two states. So UVA counts. So does Hopkins. UVA also has top-ranked law and business schools, a top architecture school, and on and on. It's very, very hard to beat UVA overall. And W&M isn't shabby either. Once you get down to the lower tier of public VA universities, the comparison between VA and MD starts to matter a bit more, but at the top, there are more opportunities in VA.

I agree with most of this, however, you really can't lump Hopkins in this mix. It is very much a private school with private school rates for all students. I should know, I went there for graduate school and it was expensive!

[MDDCtoATL]

Originally Posted by vanyali

The point is to compare the collection of schools you can get in-state tuition at between the two states. So UVA counts. So does Hopkins. UVA also has top-ranked law and business schools, a top architecture school, and on and on. It's very, very hard to beat UVA overall. And W&M isn't shabby either. Once you get down to the lower tier of public VA universities, the comparison between VA and MD starts to matter a bit more, but at the top, there are more opportunities in VA.

You're wrong.

If I may reiterate the title of the topic

"How are the Maryland Suburbs of DC different than the VA Suburbs?"

Suburbs of D.C. being the common denominator .

Please place you're bias for va aside and at least adhere to the rules

What does "get in-state tuition" have to do with anything, I will have travel out of the D.c. area in order to attend the school regardless. I would no longer be in the D.C. area.

And if you're looking for an international experience UVA is not the place, also UMD trumps UVA in athletics which is very important part of the college experience.

[TrippingJay]

Originally Posted by vanyali

No, don't compare UMD to George Mason, compare it to UVA. And William and Mary. In that comparison, VA wins hands down.

Also, driving through VA to get to a decent Home Depot yesterday (I'm in Chevy Chase, MD, and have to drive to Seven Corners to get decent building materials on a weekend), I noticed so many fancy amenities -- like curbs and sidewalks -- that we plebes in MD have to pull strings to get.

I like MD. I moved here on purpose. But there's no question that VA is run WAY better than MD.

On another note, I really don't get what everyone seems to have against "immigration". For the most part, they're fine, hard-working people. Are people really so bothered by the language difference? Spanish is an easy language to pick up. And there are plenty of immigrants in the VA suburbs too. Maybe more than in the Montgomery County.

Not sure if you realize, but there's a good Home Depot in Rockville off Shady Grove Road, that is much better than the one in 7 Corners. Personally, I find Lowes much better, IMO.

As far as sidewalks, Arlington and Old Towne Alexandria are extremely pedestrian friendly, but outside of that? VA is not at all pedestrian-friendly. If you look in Tysons off Route 7, there's no sidewalks, curbs or even crossing signals. Especially when you compare the city of Fairfax to Rockville; Rockville is planned so much better it's not even funny.

[Tom Lennox 70]

I'd rather live in Virginia. I will NEVER live in Montgomery County for the reasons you listed....illegal immigration, rude arrogant transplants from New yORK and New Jersey...etc.....also education is better in Virginia. Unfortunately there are also ppl from NY and Jersey moving down there but in regards to illegal aliens Virginia is much more strict. Illegals get in-state tuition at Maryland colleges!!! MD now has 6% sales tax. The Yankee newcomers are trying to make this place more and more like NY and Jersey.

Virginia also has less invasive laws and I believe lower taxes. Also, I'd rather live in a Red State than a Blue one. The only way I think VA loses to MD in is that IF you commute to DC, the drive is more difficult because of a limited number of bridge crossings over the Potomac while in Maryland any street can get you across the District line.

[Tom Lennox 70]

Originally Posted by vanyali

The point is to compare the collection of schools you can get in-state tuition at between the two states. So UVA counts. So does Hopkins. UVA also has top-ranked law and business schools, a top architecture school, and on and on. It's very, very hard to beat UVA overall. And W&M isn't shabby either. Once you get down to the lower tier of public VA universities, the comparison between VA and MD starts to matter a bit more, but at the top, there are more opportunities in VA.

Hopkins is a private university, I don't think they give in-state tuition. I know for a fact they don't have a prefernce for in-state students.

[slim04]

Originally Posted by MDDCtoATL

You're wrong.

If I may reiterate the title of the topic

"How are the Maryland Suburbs of DC different than the VA Suburbs?"

Suburbs of D.C. being the common denominator .

Please place you're bias for va aside and at least adhere to the rules

What does "get in-state tuition" have to do with anything, I will have travel out of the D.c. area in order to attend the school regardless. I would no longer be in the D.C. area.

And if you're looking for an international experience UVA is not the place, also UMD trumps UVA in athletics which is very important part of the college experience.

People are talking about in-state tuition for their CHILDREN, not themselves. If you live in NoVa, your children get access to three nationally well-known and respected institutions for cheap tuition vs. just one in Maryland. It's a big advantage for parents with soon to be college age children.

[Tim Rankin]

Originally Posted by beth ann

I think the main difference between Md and Va is that the politics in Md is more liberal and in Va, more conservative. I think some in Md (mostly BCC) have an attitude of superiority....but Fairfax county gets listed in the top ten (maybe even five) most affluent counties in the nation, as well.

Another differnce is taxes. There is a big difference when purchasing a home in Va vs. Md. You will pay alot more taxes in the state of Md.

But, handsdown, Va has more top-ranked state universities...UVA, W&M, VT, etc. Although Md had the Univ of Md, there really is no comparison state-wide.

My biggest complaint is that all the same-sex catholic elementary and high schools are in Md...there are none left in Northern Virginia....so we have to cross the Potomac to have that educational environment for our children.

Beth Ann, MD has always had a stronger Catholic presence than VA. I believe that MD was actually founded as a haven for Catholics, and had some of the first parishes, if not the first.

But, I'd like to make a couple comments about the perception that MD has higher taxes than VA.

MD has limits on how much your property tax can increase, while as far as I know, VA has none. Some MD counties limit the increases to as little as 2%/yr. That was sure a nice bennie during the years of massive home price appreciation! I read that a lot of VA's got crunched by their increasing property tax bills.

And gas taxes, at least where I live in MD, are much less. I filled up in Frederick today for $3.43/gal, while right across the river in Loudoun, it is $3.69...

As far as MD being more liberal, this might be the largest misconception out there about the Free State. Our Congressman in Frederick is Roscoe Bartlett, about as conservative as they get. Many western Marylanders would really bristle at being called a liberal state. Both states, both MD and VA, are a lot more complex than can be determined by simply looking at Presidential and Congressional elections! I think we tend to get in the habit of looking at election year maps and then labeling the state on those results alone.