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Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
8,128 posts, read 7,550,614 times
Reputation: 5785
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DC's Finest
Who says DC is number one in everything. Your inferiority complex is leaking out.
It's been apparent thread after thread, especially with the Boston posters. I just refrain from mentioning it. I literally am scrolling this thread saying the exact same thing. Why they have it in for DC idk.
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
8,128 posts, read 7,550,614 times
Reputation: 5785
Quote:
Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade
Right. By those words you implied Alexandria the best suburb there is.
Your explanation was so pedantic and nitpicky I can’t take that serious.
“I said Alexandria had more good qualities but not that those places aren’t as good/don’t equate”
..seriously dude?
Cpomp and I only responded to your Alexandria claim. You are 100% off your rocker if you think Alexandria has more of anything other than affordable rents/apartment complexes than these other places. Alexandria is a middling town in MA. That’s the hard truth. Yes, even including Old Town.
This post is just filled with fallacy and errors.
You're mis-quoting verbatim quotes that all you have to go back and do is copy and paste instead of typing out what you THINK I said. Please thoroughly read what I have posted.
No where in this thread did I say "Alexandria had more good qualities, but not that those places aren't as good/ don't equate."
My orignial quote in post #76 was:
"None of those places you've mentioned have more charm, history, connectivity, architecture, etc than Alexandria."
My follow up quote in post #83 after I was accused of claiming everything in DC is #1:
"I said that none of those definitively have MORE of those attributes than Alexandria which happens to be a DC suburb. I didn't say they do not equate."
You come in these threads that everyone is about boasting or hyping things up, when all I do is provide as close to objective and factual info as possible. There may be others who are here for that or to push an agenda, but I ain't. Categorically the original post I replied to was false about DC suburbs (even IF you want to say Alexandria is the only comparable one). It's simply not true regarding the attributes of that particular suburb.
I never said such a thing, and have barely been commenting in this thread. You have me confused with another poster. Please don't confuse me with another poster.
Your quote was DC doesn't have suburbs that are "unique towns filled with old world charm, connectivity, history, varying architecture, walk-ability, and of course affluence."
This is your quote. With this being your criteria that you've stated in this thread Alexandria, VA by definition checks all boxes and makes your statement categorically false. Again all I do is jump in when non-factual things are being stated or need to be clarified. I've been to Main Line specifically and it's extremely prestigious, so you're barking up the wrong tree on those thoughts.
DC has a couple suburbs like that but not many. It was a city built by Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower. While the rest were 19th century industrial titans.
Like obviously DC will lag in old villages and quaint suburbs. It’s just how it is.
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
8,128 posts, read 7,550,614 times
Reputation: 5785
Quote:
Originally Posted by btownboss4
DC has a couple suburbs like that but not many. It was a city built by Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower. While the rest were 19th century industrial titans.
Like obviously DC will lag in old villages and quaint suburbs. It’s just how it is.
You are correct. My point was fact checking those who said they were non-existent in the DC region.
Boston has North Shore suburbs like Salem, Newburyport, Gloucester, and Marblehead which used to compete with it for shipping business and were founded around the same time. These North Shore suburbs were settled by Puritans, who were way more successful than the Pilgrims to the South, which is why you don't get as many 17th century seaport towns on the South Shore. Those South Shore towns in what is now Plymouth County were part of the far less successful and far less populated Plymouth Colony which was forced to merge with the Mass Bay Colony. Greenwich, CT was also settled by 17th century Puritans as were the incredibly nice and underrated shoreline suburbs east of New Haven.
While New England towns got a huge benefit due to the Puritan system of town government, 17th century Maryland and Virginia were far more rural. Georgetown and Alexandria developed in the 18th century and today provide some of the most interesting neighborhoods in the DC area. But lacking the town history, and also a coastline, pretty much the rest of DC suburbia is converted farmland, much like the sunbelt or Midwest. To make matters worse, unlike Philly, there was never anything like the suburban Main Line, so DC's streetcar suburbs, like Cleveland Park, were in the city. The tiny town of Glen Echo, MD was the last stop on the streetcar line that ran up the Potomac, and does not look like typical suburban DC today, but the northern streetcar line ended at Friendship Heights, right on the District line.
Bethesda has a lot of walkable areas downtown, but I struggle to call it charming in the way Salem, Marblehead, or even Alexandria is. And outside of Alexandria, most of suburban DC is like suburban Atlanta or Dallas.
Generally speaking, if you look at most interesting suburbs in this country, they either benefit from:
1.A physical surrounding, which you see a lot of in the West, or
2.Like Walnut Creek and San Mateo in the Bay Area, or Kirkland near Seattle, they're nearly as old as the central city itself...or
3.Were on a streetcar line before WW2.
Bethesda has a lot of walkable areas downtown, but I struggle to call it charming in the way Salem, Marblehead, or even Alexandria is. And outside of Alexandria, most of suburban DC is like suburban Atlanta or Dallas.
Generally speaking, if you look at most interesting suburbs in this country, they either benefit from:
1.A physical surrounding, which you see a lot of in the West, or
2.Like Walnut Creek and San Mateo in the Bay Area, or Kirkland near Seattle, they're nearly as old as the central city itself...or
3.Were on a streetcar line before WW2.
I think your post is pretty spot on, but I'd simply add that DC, as I know you're aware, is just a completely different animal.
The region's growth and development (and accumulation of wealth) is very tied to being the nation's capital and heavy white-collar government job base, so in that sense it never had the organic, business-based wealth that you find in essentially every other city, but especially the industrial titans of Boston, New York and Philadelphia where wealth began being quickly generated at the turn of the 20th Century and the Gilded Age was heavily concentrated in/around these cities.
By contrast, DC wealth is overwhelmingly derived from wealthy in-migrants/diplomats seeking political influence and the massive expansion of the Federal government/private contractors, both of which are relatively recent phenomena within the past 40 years.
Chicago is in the North, though not Northeastern. Chicago has more in common wit the Northeast than DC, although location-wise there is obviously less connection.
In Chicago, NYC, Boston, and Philly, you will find large historic ethnic populations of Irish, Italians, Polish, and Greeks, and even Puerto Rican’s. DC doesn’t have these populations.
Chicago and the NE cities are legacy cities that are blue collar and industrial. Because of the historic demographics, you’ll find traditional “Democrats” that are mostly due to unions and political ties, rather than the new school liberals, you find in DC.
You will not find a sports follow like the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs/Sox, or Eagles that have die hard fans in DC. People don’t move to DC and become Wizards, Nats, or even Skins fans like they do in Chicago or the Northeastern cities.
You will not find booming skyscrapers in DC like you will in NYC, Philly, Boston, or Chicago. You will not find the old school El (elevated) trains that roll through urban neighborhoods in DC like you will in Chicago or the Northeastern cities.
Chicago,Boston, Philly and NYC are known as “tough” cities. This goes back to the historic blue collar and industrial backbones of the cities. You will not find a “Chicago PD” type show filmed in DC. These types of shows are filmed in Chicago or the Northeastern cities.
Chicago, NYC, Boston, and Philly Whites all have a stereotype. Chicago (“Da Bears” Saturday Night Live stereotype), NYC and Philly (the Italian bravado), and Boston (the Irish Bostonian and accent). DC Whites have no stereotype. They are about as plain as vanilla. Their only stereotype is the nerdy government worker.
Chicago has more in common with NYC, Philly, and Boston than DC does, other than location. Although Chicago, Philly, Boston, and NYC are all in the “North.” DC (MD and VA) are all in the “South.”
Chicago is in the North, though not Northeastern. Chicago has more in common wit the Northeast than DC, although location-wise there is obviously less connection.
In Chicago, NYC, Boston, and Philly, you will find large historic ethnic populations of Irish, Italians, Polish, and Greeks, and even Puerto Rican’s. DC doesn’t have these populations.
Chicago and the NE cities are legacy cities that are blue collar and industrial. Because of the historic demographics, you’ll find traditional “Democrats” that are mostly due to unions and political ties, rather than the new school liberals, you find in DC.
You will not find a sports follow like the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs/Sox, or Eagles that have die hard fans in DC. People don’t move to DC and become Wizards, Nats, or even Skins fans like they do in Chicago or the Northeastern cities.
You will not find booming skyscrapers in DC like you will in NYC, Philly, Boston, or Chicago. You will not find the old school El (elevated) trains that roll through urban neighborhoods in DC like you will in Chicago or the Northeastern cities.
Chicago,Boston, Philly and NYC are known as “tough” cities. This goes back to the historic blue collar and industrial backbones of the cities. You will not find a “Chicago PD” type show filmed in DC. These types of shows are filmed in Chicago or the Northeastern cities.
Chicago, NYC, Boston, and Philly Whites all have a stereotype. Chicago (“Da Bears” Saturday Night Live stereotype), NYC and Philly (the Italian bravado), and Boston (the Irish Bostonian and accent). DC Whites have no stereotype. They are about as plain as vanilla. Their only stereotype is the nerdy government worker.
Chicago has more in common with NYC, Philly, and Boston than DC does, other than location. Although Chicago, Philly, Boston, and NYC are all in the “North.” DC (MD and VA) are all in the “South.”
Chicago might have more in common from a build standpoint but DC has a stronger connection to the NE. Stop using the census map as the delineation of what's south and north, that was created using the Mason Dixon line and alot of things have changed since then. Let's be more sensible about culturally "today". I've lived in Chicago and Chicago is distinctly Midwestern.
Personally I agree that DC is probably the last in this grouping on this thread and I'm from there.
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