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This is no different than Illinois trying to claim St. Louis or Washington trying to claim Portland to boost their profile.
Fact is, Virginia doesn't even have a Pittsburgh level city, let alone Philly. They need something that's not even located in their state to compete in this poll.
Let's not do this. VA contains a huge swath of the prosperous DC suburbs; they aren't "trying to claim" that, they actually have it. It just is what it is.
Let's not do this. VA contains a huge swath of the prosperous DC suburbs; they aren't "trying to claim" that, they actually have it. It just is what it is.
The poster invoked "D.C." to facilitate a Philadelphia comparison....seems like fair game to me.
Not the city itself, but Northern VA which are DC's suburbs. Don't be obtuse.
The poster said "D.C.'s strong ties to VA"
Its a direct invocation of an entity located outside of the state to boost the state.
Also think about it this way-the highest profile location in a state with 8+ million people is the trickle down suburbs of a major city outside the state?
We could remove Philadelphia and PA could still arguably win this.
Its a direct invocation of an entity located outside of the state to boost the state.
Also think about it this way-the highest profile location in a state with 8+ million people is the trickle down suburbs of a major city outside the state?
We could remove Philadelphia and PA could still arguably win this.
I did say that. What's so hard to understand about DC's ties to NOVA? It has nothing to do with boosting Virginia. It's just a fact.
But I'm sure the Census Bureau, CDC, Bureau of Justice, Department of Transportation and others are just full of sh*t right? How about the worst air quality in the US in Pittsburgh?
The whole state isn't Philly, the western portion for example is a mess.
I'm not necessarily questioning the data, but I am very skeptical of how US News presents it; it's a gigantic amalgamation of metrics, but the extent to which it can be used to decipher which states are "best" is highly questionable. Again, there's so many other qualitative (and quantitative, for that matter) factors to determine the on the ground, day-to-day feel of a state. Things like access to public parks/open space, basic metrics of personal income/poverty, or cultural institutions weren't even considered--all of which would certainly place PA much higher.
Are Wyoming or North Dakota really "better" states to live in than Pennsylvania? Even for PA's flaws, I don't know that there's many folks out there who would agree with that assertion.
The Western portion of the state is much more diverse in terms of QOL than you give credit for. Not every city/town is Braddock.
Its a direct invocation of an entity located outside of the state to boost the state.
Also think about it this way-the highest profile location in a state with 8+ million people is the trickle down suburbs of a major city outside the state?
We could remove Philadelphia and PA could still arguably win this.
That's the reality though; VA is home to a huge swath of DC's suburbs. He was merely stating a fact. What's the issue?
DC's suburbs do indeed "boost the state" because they are WITHIN the state. Is that somehow cheating or something? What's the problem?
That's the reality though; VA is home to a huge swath of DC's suburbs. He was merely stating a fact. What's the issue?
DC's suburbs do indeed "boost the state" because they are WITHIN the state. Is that somehow cheating or something? What's the problem?
I think the explanation is, Washington, D.C is not in Virginia so in the state to state comparison you cannot lay to claim that D.C and all its assets and amenities, as if it is located within VA. Just like New Jersey cannot claim NYC or PHL. VA cannot claim DC as if was their own. A lot of bordering states have this mentality but in terms of true comparison those cities are not located within the borders.
For example, VA has no professional sports teams that represent any place in VA. Simple fact.
Yes, VA benefits from bordering DC, but it is not within it.
Yes NOVA is a large area with some great pockets of wealth. But the fact is Virginia largest cities are Richmond and Norfolk.
It also is not well known the wealth of Southeast Pennsylvania, and the amount of old money that exists (you can attribute this to our humble quaker roots) as it is quite substantial and most definitely can hold its own against NOVA. The wealthiest zipcode of SEPA is wealther than the wealthiest of NOVA.
Also the large regions of SW Virginia have deep rural poverty. As another poster showed with facts it is deeper and more impoverished than the rural parts of Pennsylvania.
I recently watched a documentary on rural poverty and it took place all over Southern Virginia. NOVA wants to take no ownership of this, but it is the fact. I do not dismiss the success of NOVA, but I think certain posters are not giving credit where its due to PA and taking absolutely zero ownership of VA and its problems.
Here is an article by a very respectable publication the Atlantic and it discusses rural poverty and highlights Southern VA.
I think the explanation is, Washington, D.C is not in Virginia so in the state to state comparison you cannot lay to claim that D.C and all its assets and amenities, as if it is located within VA. Just like New Jersey cannot claim NYC or PHL.
Yes NOVA is a large area with some great pockets of wealth. But the fact is Virginia largest cities are Richmond and Norfolk.
VA gets to claim everything that is actually WITHIN VA, and yes, some of DC's assets and amenities are in Northern VA (e.g., the airport)--which VA gets to claim because it actually has those things.
VA gets to claim everything that is actually WITHIN VA, and yes, some of DC's assets and amenities are in Northern VA (e.g., the airport)--which VA gets to claim because it actually has those things.
This is getting ridiculous.
It's not ridiculous. It's the same way that NJ can claim its wealth and lifestyle thanks to bordering both NYC and Philly, but it can't actually says that the state is better than another because of that. I think there have been a few threads or at least discussions of MA v. NJ. MA as a state is arguably better than NJ as a state because Boston is more a central hub than anything in NJ is. MA is a more complete state than NJ since NJ does heavily rely on major cities in other cities for its wealth and lifestyle. It has its own amenities like the shore, Hudson County for urban living, amazing suburbs with awesome schools and pretty robust suburban downtowns, a statewide transit system, beautiful rural and hilly areas in the northwest, etc. However, NJ as a state can not beat many other states since it doesn't actually have a major city like Boston, NYC, Philly, or DC within its borders.
You can argue that VA's wealth and lifestyle is improved by bordering DC, but you cannot claim that VA is better than PA simply because it has DC next door. VA has no real major city to call its own, the same way NJ has no real major city to call its own. Yet, if we had to say, NJ does have the more important and major city of the two since both Newark and Hudson County could be their own major hubs on their own were they not enveloped in the NYC sphere of influence.
However, the fact is that PA actually contains two major metro areas. Nova is not its own metro area. It belongs to DMV's sphere of influence, the same way NNJ is not its own metro and it belongs to the NYC sphere of influence. So you may prefer Nova for being within commuting distance to DC and within its metro, but you can't actually say that VA>PA because VA has DC nearby.
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