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Not to change the topic of the thread, but how would you compare the current political demographics in Baltimore and in NoVA? I'm going to live in NoVA, but going up to Baltimore on the weekends for school. Just curious!
Baltimore has 60% or so black population, most of whom vote democrat/lean liberal. The rest of the town is fairly mixed with a decent diversity of opinion -- much more so than NOVA, which is a monolith of corporate liberalism in a red state. The most vocal groups in Baltimore, however, lean left but the silent majority -- I think even most Blacks -- are not into the whole identity politics nonsense.
NoVa has Republicans, centrist Dems, Sanderist Dems. Its fairly diverse politically (and I do not believe liberals here are any more likely to be "hypocrites" than people of any other political persuasion). PP seems to have some fairly specific political views that would lead me to not rely on their descriptions of NoVa, or of Baltimore (where African Americans are concerned with tangible issues of police behavior, BTW)
NoVa has Republicans, centrist Dems, Sanderist Dems. Its fairly diverse politically (and I do not believe liberals here are any more likely to be "hypocrites" than people of any other political persuasion). PP seems to have some fairly specific political views that would lead me to not rely on their descriptions of NoVa, or of Baltimore (where African Americans are concerned with tangible issues of police behavior, BTW)
See, you talk about the "tangible issues of police brutality on AA" from the vantage point of a posh, ethnically-diverse (but mostly nonblack), liberal area that is NoVa. I think that is hypocritical, just like the limousine liberals in Montgomery Co who can only tolerate caramel latte-colored Ethiopians. Here in Baltimore, we are faced with the reality of potential crime everywhere we walk at night. This crime was left unchecked for over half a century by an elite liberal class that was too soft on crime. More immediate for us is to focus on getting the crime down, not with bolstering the claims of race merchants selling dependencies on the State. The less we focus on identity politics nonsense -- like the myth of how police only kill blacks -- the better the city/area becomes. Although I am not left on the political spectrum, I do believe in having skin in the game if you are going to virtue-signal -- and limousine liberals do not. And no, I am not white -- more olive.
See, you talk about the "tangible issues of police brutality on AA" from the vantage point of a posh, ethnically-diverse (but mostly nonblack), liberal area that is NoVa. I think that is hypocritical, just like the limousine liberals in Montgomery Co who can only tolerate caramel latte-colored Ethiopians. Here in Baltimore, we are faced with the reality of potential crime everywhere we walk at night. This crime was left unchecked for over half a century by an elite liberal class that was too soft on crime. More immediate for us is to focus on getting the crime down, not with bolstering the claims of race merchants selling dependencies on the State. The less we focus on identity politics nonsense -- like the myth of how police only kill blacks -- the better the city/area becomes. Although I am not left on the political spectrum, I do believe in having skin in the game if you are going to virtue-signal -- and limousine liberals do not. And no, I am not white -- more olive.
I used to live in Baltimore City, in a central city neighborhood. I moved because I got a job down here. (btw the city where I live now is about 20% african american). I visit Baltimore City fairly regularly (though not as often as I would like) (btw MoCo also has a substantial population of african americans - not just Ethiopians)
People can legitimately debate statistics on police violence (not the same for petty harassment as for shootings, AFAICT) but the concern about police violence is not the same thing as identity politics. I would again suggest that you have a particular political POV, and you are making unfair statements about people (in Baltimore, in MoCo and in NoVa ) who do not share your POV. I do not want to respond in detail, as that would detract from the purpose of this forum.
Note as well - I made no surmises about your race. (though you apparently assumed I had no connection to Baltimore City) I was addressing only the content of your post. Please don't make assumptions about peoples beliefs, or experience based on their race, or on their living Northern Virginia. Its also far from uniformly "posh".
NoVa has Republicans, centrist Dems, Sanderist Dems. Its fairly diverse politically (and I do not believe liberals here are any more likely to be "hypocrites" than people of any other political persuasion). PP seems to have some fairly specific political views that would lead me to not rely on their descriptions of NoVa, or of Baltimore (where African Americans are concerned with tangible issues of police behavior, BTW)
Neoliberals too but true. It's pretty diverse in every category.
Frederick is basically the equivalent of Gainesville and yet we’ve had 8 lanes on I-66 heading there since 2010 with construction on more lanes (toll lanes) to come in a year or so.
Personally, I think Frederick compares more similarly to Fredericksburg or Leesburg on the Virginia side myself. Frederick is an older established mid-sized town with its own history and a distinct identity. Gainesville is a former rural outpost that has simply mushroomed into an overinflated outer suburb by the interstate in the last 20 years.
I've lived inDC and VA and recently moved to Montgomery County to be closer to work in Upper NW DC. So far I've loved the change, no more crazy traffic (so long route 28! ) and how walkable, diverse and integrated my neighborhood is, how green everything is and how well the MD suburbs are integrated with DC, yet I was surprised at the amount of negativity I've encountered when I tell people I'm from NOVA. It's as if I've suddenly morphed into an uncouth yahoo from deepest Alabama. While I agree my quality of life has improved since moving here, I've always viewed the greater DC area as simply one in the same and shocked at the smugness and disdain towards VA from reasonable, well educated people who say things like 'the only thing good about Virginia is the airport out of there' 'VA is hideous, trashy and traffic strewn' or 'NoVA has the character and charm of Stepford, CT'. They certainly give San Francisco and Manhattan a run for their money in the smugness sweepstakes. While I agree there are differences between the two (politics comes up a lot), I don't know anyone from VA how has a bad thing to say about MD except older right wing types who's word I take with a grain of salt anyway. So what gives, what's with all the MD snobbery? Is it all the ex-DCers moving into MD? I don't get it.
When my parents first moved to the DC area back in the late 1970s they moved to Silver Spring by the Forest Glen Metro station. It was well before "Silver Sprung". LOL They were told Virginia was the "redneck" side of the river and at the time it kind of was, though I suspect it was in the midst of changing even back then. The immediate post WWII homes near downtown Silver Spring reminded my boomer parents of the houses they grew up in and as they were young and new to the area they were sold on the idea. Within a couple years, we apparently had a motorcycle gang move in down the street, there were wild house parties all the time, no HOA so one of the neighbors with extended family parked all up and down the street and the final straw was when a young woman jogging inside Sligo Creek Park was murdered less than 500 yards from our house. They hightailed it out of Maryland and moved to Burke Centre, a new planned community with a strict HOA (Burke Conservancy) which is where I grew up. I went to Maryland on occasion for different things growing up in the 1980s and 90s and always got the sense that Maryland was older and slightly more worn and run down.
After later moving around the metro area and being in different other cities for years I now live in Northern Virginia again. Older suburbs in Maryland like Rockville, Silver Spring and Bethesda are thriving now though they seem to have less development then the Virginia side. Part of the horrific traffic conditions in NoVa stem from the regional imbalance of jobs that are much greater on the Virginia side. Montgomery County in some ways seems like the aging aunt who was a beautiful hippie model in her younger years and now has to play up her glamorous past to make up for her more humble present and hold on to her faded glory in her dusty old home in a now sketchy neighborhood. I find NoVa's greedy, haphazard, tumorous and unapologetic sprawl hideous and soul crushing at times. However, sprawl is a product of demand and for all the issues it presents it's still a good problem to have. Montgomery County and Maryland generally are always scratching to attract new development and investment with more limited success. I don't know if either is "better" but they've definitely had very different evolutions in the past 40-50 years.
When my parents first moved to the DC area back in the late 1970s they moved to Silver Spring by the Forest Glen Metro station. It was well before "Silver Sprung". LOL They were told Virginia was the "redneck" side of the river and at the time it kind of was, though I suspect it was in the midst of changing even back then. The immediate post WWII homes near downtown Silver Spring reminded my boomer parents of the houses they grew up in and as they were young and new to the area they were sold on the idea. Within a couple years, we apparently had a motorcycle gang move in down the street, there were wild house parties all the time, no HOA so one of the neighbors with extended family parked all up and down the street and the final straw was when a young woman jogging inside Sligo Creek Park was murdered less than 500 yards from our house. They hightailed it out of Maryland and moved to Burke Centre, a new planned community with a strict HOA (Burke Conservancy) which is where I grew up. I went to Maryland on occasion for different things growing up in the 1980s and 90s and always got the sense that Maryland was older and slightly more worn and run down.
After later moving around the metro area and being in different other cities for years I now live in Northern Virginia again. Older suburbs in Maryland like Rockville, Silver Spring and Bethesda are thriving now though they seem to have less development then the Virginia side. Part of the horrific traffic conditions in NoVa stem from the regional imbalance of jobs that are much greater on the Virginia side. Montgomery County in some ways seems like the aging aunt who was a beautiful hippie model in her younger years and now has to play up her glamorous past to make up for her more humble present and hold on to her faded glory in her dusty old home in a now sketchy neighborhood. I find NoVa's greedy, haphazard, tumorous and unapologetic sprawl hideous and soul crushing at times. However, sprawl is a product of demand and for all the issues it presents it's still a good problem to have. Montgomery County and Maryland generally are always scratching to attract new development and investment with more limited success. I don't know if either is "better" but they've definitely had very different evolutions in the past 40-50 years.
Beautiful hippie model . . . Faded glory . . . Dusty old home . . . Sketchy neighborhood. You’re a very creative write and you’ve hit the nail squarely on the head. Love your description. As someone who grew up in Chevy Chase later lived in Potomac, it breaks my heart to see what has happened to MOST of Montgomery County. Chevy Chase, Bethesda and Potomac are still fine but the limousine liberals always close their eyes to what the rest of the county is going through. They have their private schools (or the handful of good public ones), country clubs and exclusive neighborhoods so they just don’t care.
Beautiful hippie model . . . Faded glory . . . Dusty old home . . . Sketchy neighborhood. You’re a very creative write and you’ve hit the nail squarely on the head. Love your description. As someone who grew up in Chevy Chase later lived in Potomac, it breaks my heart to see what has happened to MOST of Montgomery County. Chevy Chase, Bethesda and Potomac are still fine but the limousine liberals always close their eyes to what the rest of the county is going through. They have their private schools (or the handful of good public ones), country clubs and exclusive neighborhoods so they just don’t care.
You do realize that someone can be a high income earner and still be a liberal - still care about equality for all, helping the poor, climate change, affordable housing, etc. Just saying.
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) and how walkable, diverse and integrated my neighborhood is, how green everything is and how well the MD suburbs are integrated with DC, yet I was surprised at the amount of negativity I've encountered when I tell people I'm from NOVA. It's as if I've suddenly morphed into an uncouth yahoo from deepest Alabama. While I agree my quality of life has improved since moving here, I've always viewed the greater DC area as simply one in the same and shocked at the smugness and disdain towards VA from reasonable, well educated people who say things like 'the only thing good about Virginia is the airport out of there' 'VA is hideous, trashy and traffic strewn' or 'NoVA has the character and charm of Stepford, CT'. They certainly give San Francisco and Manhattan a run for their money in the smugness sweepstakes. While I agree there are differences between the two (politics comes up a lot), I don't know anyone from VA how has a bad thing to say about MD except older right wing types who's word I take with a grain of salt anyway. So what gives, what's with all the MD snobbery? Is it all the ex-DCers moving into MD? I don't get it.
They were told Virginia was the "redneck" side of the river and at the time it kind of was, though I suspect it was in the midst of changing even back then. The immediate post WWII homes near downtown Silver Spring reminded my boomer parents of the houses they grew up in and as they were young and new to the area they were sold on the idea. Within a couple years, we apparently had a motorcycle gang move in down the street, there were wild house parties all the time, no HOA so one of the neighbors with extended family parked all up and down the street and the final straw was when a young woman jogging inside Sligo Creek Park was murdered less than 500 yards from our house. They hightailed it out of Maryland and moved to Burke Centre, a new planned community with a strict HOA (Burke Conservancy) which is where I grew up. I went to Maryland on occasion for different things growing up in the 1980s and 90s and always got the sense that Maryland was older and slightly more worn and run down.
