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Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DC4ever
Someone doesn't like DC...
No idea what he's talking about, it's obvious if you look at all his most recent post how much he thinks about us. Now I get where the screen name comes from, because that's just nonsense.
DC is a majority black city and the MSA has the 4th highest black population in the country. The city is "soft" yet the crime rate per capita is higher than NYC. DC is the more diverse, more dynamic, more vibrant, more cosmopolitan, better transit oriented, more expensive, with better retail, more things to do, more street activity, better educated, better public education, better connected, Alpha world city. Yet Baltimore is real and DC isn't? Yea right keep trying to sell people on that one.
No idea what he's talking about, it's obvious if you look at all his most recent post how much he thinks about us. Now I get where the screen name comes from, because that's just nonsense.
DC is a majority black city and the MSA has the 4th highest black population in the country. The city is "soft" yet the crime rate per capita is higher than NYC. DC is the more diverse, more dynamic, more vibrant, more cosmopolitan, better transit oriented, more expensive, with better retail, more things to do, more street activity, better educated, better public education, better connected, Alpha world city. Yet Baltimore is real and DC isn't? Yea right keep trying to sell people on that one.
No idea what he's talking about, it's obvious if you look at all his most recent post how much he thinks about us. Now I get where the screen name comes from, because that's just nonsense.
DC is a majority black city and the MSA has the 4th highest black population in the country. The city is "soft" yet the crime rate per capita is higher than NYC. DC is the more diverse, more dynamic, more vibrant, more cosmopolitan, better transit oriented, more expensive, with better retail, more things to do, more street activity, better educated, better public education, better connected, Alpha world city. Yet Baltimore is real and DC isn't? Yea right keep trying to sell people on that one.
No longer majority Black but I get what you are saying....demographically this city aint Seattle by a long shot...he has a really weird impression of DC...new visitors to this city have no idea how new the new DC is...DC had a higher murder rate than Baltimore just 2 decades ago...Baltimore as DC's much more crime ridden neighbor is a relatively new thing (10 years max) in the history of these cities
Mega-region is a better term for what the OP is implying. A mega city is a large, urban, densely built city. NYC, Tokyo, Mexico city and London are mega cities. LA and Chicago are mega cities too just on the lower scale of it? But DC? Nope, Baltimore?, hell naw. The two metros are already at mega region status but it's in the early stages. The two regions are still distinctly different, people don't reall transverse between the two on a large scale like say... New York City and Philadelphia. From Wilmington, DE all the way to New Haven, CT it's pretty much non stop metro, but I still wouldn't call it a mega city, ever. Baltimore and DC break off between Laurel and Severn, around Ft. Meade. There will never be enough density between the two towns to be whatever you are trying to call them.
Now that I think about it calling them a mega-region is even a stretch. They are two cities that just so happen to be only 37-40 miles apart.
I agree that mega-region is a better term but you are going to have to provide numbers when you say "people don't reall transverse between the two on a large scale like say... New York City and Philadelphia". The MD suburbs between the two literally merge so I have no idea how you could make a statement like that.
No idea what he's talking about, it's obvious if you look at all his most recent post how much he thinks about us. Now I get where the screen name comes from, because that's just nonsense.
DC is a majority black city and the MSA has the 4th highest black population in the country. The city is "soft" yet the crime rate per capita is higher than NYC. DC is the more diverse, more dynamic, more vibrant, more cosmopolitan, better transit oriented, more expensive, with better retail, more things to do, more street activity, better educated, better public education, better connected, Alpha world city. Yet Baltimore is real and DC isn't? Yea right keep trying to sell people on that one.
DC isn't majority black anymore and will be majority white in about another 10 years guaranteed lol..
DC is a soft white people mecca and that's not up for debate, the vast majority of white people in DC are wayyy softer than white people in NYC, Philly, Boston, and even Baltimore. A bunch of white collar nerds that grew up in suburbia or out in the country. Black people go hard in any hood in any city, being black in America is tough. There are parts of NYC that are definitely worst than DC, especially up here in the Bronx.
Baltimore is more of a real city because it developed organically from the jump. DC was a planned town that was organized to be the seat of the US gov't. Baltimore has poor white people, DC is probably the ONLY city in the whole country that doesn't, it creates a false perception of reality for those who never leave the DC area. You'll grow up thinking that all white people are affluent and if you in to the hoods of DC and talk to residents, both adults and kids, you will see what I'm talking about.
DC is a soft white people mecca like Seattle, Portland, and the Bay Area. It has an economy built on Gov't. The city was a backwater, small, southern city up until a few decades ago. Most people are type-A personality and bougie, even in the hood. DC has a huge upper middle-upper class population thats taking over the city by storm. Poverty still exists but not on the scale of Baltimore. DC is overall a clean, beautiful city, but bland at the same time.
Baltimore is a different animal. It's much more of a true border town than DC is. It favors it's northeastern neighbors more than DC does too. Post industrial, tough attitudes from all races and backgrounds, grit, still a heavy blue collar presence. Baltimore has wealth but not nearly on the scale of DC, its more of a middle and working class city with a huge poverty problem. Baltimore is a real city, DC is not.
Both cities have a level of pride that will not allow them to become one MSA. The politics won't allow it lol..
Baltimore has more in common with Philly than DC, though Philly is a little over twice the distance of DC.
Not all that dissimilar to the relationship between Dallas and Fort Worth.
Dallas is incredibly transient, relatively little in the way of natives; whereas Fort Worth is prevalently native people of the area and Texas. Dallas demographically is better connected with the world as a whole, tends to have large immigrant communities and populations in its city or the suburbs in its side of the Metroplex. Whereas Fort Worth and the suburbs on its side of the Metroplex can be chalked up to American born non-Hispanic whites and American born non-Hispanic blacks. Dallas is a city without an identity; primarily due to its transient nature. It is just a global city, a place for business, commerce, immigrants, and migrants from across the United States. In contrast, Fort Worth is the real Texas. Cowboy hats, boots, the large belt buckles, often with Texas bravados on them are all prevalent in Fort Worth. Fort Worth's historic architecture is reminiscent of the wide-open spaces type of feel of the West; a strong sense of place derived from cattle and livestock, which you'll still see in the city in areas like the Stockyards, designed to preserve the city's authentic Texan culture. Dallas doesn't have these type of cultural exhibits, it has the modern appliances and amenities of a global city, its culture is derived from commerce, business activity, and becoming a magnate for all types of people across the spectrum. Dallas' cultural institutions are often modern, sleek, elegant but also bland and sterile due to their more recent inceptions. Fort Worth in contrast revels in cultural institutions that have been firmly in place for decades, possibly over a century, with a strong sense of place and that identifiable "Texas" brand to it.
Dallas has a public transportation system and actively looks to expand it at every chance it can get; the argument can be made that the city actually builds more rail than what it currently needs. Fort Worth has the exact opposite mindset, there is much local opposition for transit in Fort Worth and its side of the Metroplex; particularly from people that feel their housing values will plummet if the socioeconomically disadvantaged traversed through their neighborhood across the city on a frequent basis. Dallas actively tries to build up its streetcar system, its trolley system, its light rail system, and its commuter rail lines by both TRE and A-Train. Fort Worth's transit plans are still trying to get to the drawing boards.
The Dallas side of the Metroplex has 50% higher density and is more cohesive, consistent, and built up than the Fort Worth side of the Metroplex which generally adheres to density levels that are just slightly higher than the likes of Atlanta or Nashville (the two least dense metropolises on Earth). Fort Worth is generally less planned in an organized manner and is more spread out and inconsistent with its infrastructure. Downtown Fort Worth is more active with pedestrian life than Downtown Dallas, which like a commercial commerce hub shuts down more or less after 5 P.M. to make way for crowds in surrounding neighborhoods with more urbanity and higher density than Downtown Dallas such as Uptown, Deep Ellum, Design District, among others. Fort Worth's urbanity plummets the further away from Downtown you go and it becomes generic sprawlsville quite quickly outside of Downtown and the immediate surrounding neighborhoods to Downtown.
The Dallas side of the Metroplex, in particular the city of Dallas itself is liberal, or at least very tolerant and Democrat-suitable. In contrast, Fort Worth and its suburbs on its side of the Metroplex are bloodshot red, extremely conservative, and also much more religiously influenced.
Culturally Dallas tends to lean more on the materialistic side of things. It is one of the best dressed cities in the country and shopping at luxury high-end retailers is an ingrained part of the culture there. Just about anyone with money spends a good portion of it at the upscale shopping destinations in Highland Park Village, Uptown, North Park, or elsewhere. The city is very fashion forward and focussed. Fort Worth in contrast is much more live and let live, it isn't unusual to see people wear jean-pants and informal slacks and botton down shirts to work in Fort Worth, whereas you would be pressed to see that in Dallas. Dallas and its suburbs on its side of the Metroplex are very white collar; in contrast, Fort Worth and its suburbs on its side of the Metroplex are extremely blue collar. Dallas and its side of the Metroplex tend to house an extreme amount of wealth; whereas Fort Worth and its side of the Metroplex are predominantly middle-class.
The differences between Washington D.C. and Baltimore are not dissimilar to the differences between Dallas and Fort Worth. Essentially in both cases the two sets of cities are comprised of a pair that couldn't be anymore different from each other while still being in the same metropolis. The Dallas side of Metroplex (Dallas-Plano-Frisco Metropolitan Division) today has over 5.1 million people; whereas the Fort Worth side of the Metroplex (Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Division) today has over 2.4 million people. It is almost a perfect 2:1 ratio split between them with regards to population. Similarly the Washington D.C. metropolitan area has 6.1 million people (Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-MD-VA-WV metropolitan area) and the Baltimore metropolitan area has over 2.8 million people (Baltimore-Towson-Columbia metropolitan area). Almost the same 2:1 ratio split between them with regards to population as you would see with Dallas and Fort Worth. Both Dallas and Fort Worth have a level of pride that keeps them distinct, neither city actually needs the other but sprawl, development, and contiguous connections due to geographical proximity have made them into one area. Sound familiar? It should.
So yes, being very different doesn't mean a place cannot be in the same metropolitan area as its polar opposite (in every way). Like Dallas-Fort Worth, the Washington DC-Baltimore area also seamlessly spills into one another. There is a break between Washington DC-Baltimore near Havre de Grace which keep them detached from Greater Philadelphia, and that will always stay that way. Washington DC-Baltimore are a metropolis the same way Dallas-Fort Worth are and will increasingly become even more like this moving forward. No one can change that.
DC isn't majority black anymore and will be majority white in about another 10 years guaranteed lol..
DC is a soft white people mecca and that's not up for debate, the vast majority of white people in DC are wayyy softer than white people in NYC, Philly, Boston, and even Baltimore. A bunch of white collar nerds that grew up in suburbia or out in the country. Black people go hard in any hood in any city, being black in America is tough. There are parts of NYC that are definitely worst than DC, especially up here in the Bronx.
Baltimore is more of a real city because it developed organically from the jump. DC was a planned town that was organized to be the seat of the US gov't. Baltimore has poor white people, DC is probably the ONLY city in the whole country that doesn't, it creates a false perception of reality for those who never leave the DC area. You'll grow up thinking that all white people are affluent and if you in to the hoods of DC and talk to residents, both adults and kids, you will see what I'm talking about.
End part very true as far as DC white collar population. DC is a real city though, hopefully black Americans remains a fabrick of its culture
DC isn't majority black anymore and will be majority white in about another 10 years guaranteed lol..
DC is a soft white people mecca and that's not up for debate, the vast majority of white people in DC are wayyy softer than white people in NYC, Philly, Boston, and even Baltimore. A bunch of white collar nerds that grew up in suburbia or out in the country. Black people go hard in any hood in any city, being black in America is tough. There are parts of NYC that are definitely worst than DC, especially up here in the Bronx.
Baltimore is more of a real city because it developed organically from the jump. DC was a planned town that was organized to be the seat of the US gov't. Baltimore has poor white people, DC is probably the ONLY city in the whole country that doesn't, it creates a false perception of reality for those who never leave the DC area. You'll grow up thinking that all white people are affluent and if you in to the hoods of DC and talk to residents, both adults and kids, you will see what I'm talking about.
DC does have poor white people. Don't forget that a lot of these so-called "rich" yuppies are only making 35-45k and living with several roommates. I've met many of them and I work with some. Assuming every white person you see that doesn't look like trash is "rich" just shows how ingrained racism can be in some people.
Now you'll probably say that 35-45k still isn't poverty. But there are white people living in poverty in DC also. Union Station and NoMa have a few homeless whites living on the street. I see them every day.
And lastly.. saying DC is not a "real city" because it was planned makes no sense. I guess your car is not "real" because it was designed. Right?
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