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I've spent extensive time in both. To me the culture doesn't really feel the same. The vibe is even more different.
Like yea, there are wealthy people and super commuters and diversity on paper, and ties via being in the NEC but that's kind of where it ends.
Feels a lot more transient and faceless in NoVa. Town identity is really weak, and yea- its just more polished and more connected to the rest of America in a way. With fewer pockets of extreme poverty/segregation/wealth/urbanism. NNJ just feels more extreme.
I think New Jersey in that is just short hand for 'metropolitan North'. It's probably short-selling New Jersey's unique features when it's really just meaning to say that NoVa is an integral part of the Northeast Corridor.
I think New Jersey in that is just short hand for 'metropolitan North'. It's probably short-selling New Jersey's unique features when it's really just meaning to say that NoVa is an integral part of the Northeast Corridor.
Yea, that's all too much of a crass overgeneralization.
I'm sure Jersey has parts that ffel like Virginia but I really doubt its NoVa and NNJ. Nova is only barely part of the NEC (think southern equivalent to Southern New Hampshire) whereas Jersey is in the heartbeat of it.
You can feel more "Virginia" in a place like Paulsboro than Union City or Weehawken.
NOVA is the most Sunbelt-ish part of the DC metro area so I don't think it's a good comparison to NJ at all. If NOVA compares to Jersey in any way, it's definitely South Jersey, which is the slower, less developed part of the state. But even that's not the best comparison in terms of land use, political structure, culture, demographics, etc.
Fairfax County isn't much denser than Cobb County, GA so I'm not sure why you believe the former is much more built up.
I feel like a lot of people are talking about Ashburn or Reston or other far out suburbs. When I say NoVa I’m thinking of Alexandria, Arlington and Falls Church. I don’t really go far out to places like Ashburn or Brambleton, which similar to North Atlanta are very new suburbs. But you can’t tell me Arlington and Alexandria is similar to Atlanta. When I lived in Arlington I didn’t even own a car I walked everywhere, biked or took Metro, you can’t really do that in Atlanta suburbs or if you do it’s gonna be tough. Also, the vibe and cultures are completely different.
People in Atlanta are friendlier and less cold and less self involved. I don’t think NJ is a perfect match but it’s definitely closer of a comparison than Atlanta but that’s jmo.
Too much focus on Suburban DC vs. Atlanta suburbs here, that's not the focus of this poll. Let's look at the bigger statewide picture and does VA (suburban DC and the REST OF THE STATE) fall more in line with GA to it's south or NJ up the coast in terms of look, feel, culture, etc ?
I have spent some time in northern VA but hardly an expert on the area. From what I have seen, some of the close in (to DC) older areas could pass for parts of north NJ but there is a lot of newer stuff + more recent growth and with it being newer and more genteel look/ feel - I relate those areas to north side Atlanta suburbs of course.
I feel like a lot of people are talking about Ashburn or Reston or other far out suburbs. When I say NoVa I’m thinking of Alexandria, Arlington and Falls Church. I don’t really go far out to places like Ashburn or Brambleton, which similar to North Atlanta are very new suburbs. But you can’t tell me Arlington and Alexandria is similar to Atlanta. When I lived in Arlington I didn’t even own a car I walked everywhere, biked or took Metro, you can’t really do that in Atlanta suburbs or if you do it’s gonna be tough. Also, the vibe and cultures are completely different.
People in Atlanta are friendlier and less cold and less self involved. I don’t think NJ is a perfect match but it’s definitely closer of a comparison than Atlanta but that’s jmo.
No, I'm not necessarily thinking of those places. I'm accounting for Arlington and Alexandria.
Northern NJ is a completely different landscape from NOVA. It probably has more visible signs of heavy industry than any other part of the country (aside from maybe Chicago, Detroit or parts of LA). Much of it--especially Bergen, Hudson and Essex--is a patchwork of medium density towns, many of which have walkable cores. And many of the structures are old. Granted, you get some of that in Alexandria, but that's limited mostly to Old Town and few other places like Del Rey. Overall, though, NNJ has a much more worn, industrial feel to it compared to NOVA, which feels new and sanitized by comparison.
And those are just the physical differences. Jersey has a HUGE Italian-American presence, which you won't find in NOVA. I'd say the NYC and Philly burbs also have much more of a white working-class feel to them even if they have relatively high levels of educational attainment. That's absent for the most part in NOVA and Atlanta and any white working-class remnants in both places definitely lean southern, culturally speaking.
Gwinnett County, GA - 1997
Prince William County, VA - 1994
Clayton County, GA - 1989
Cobb County, GA - 1989
Fairfax County, VA - 1983
Dekalb County, GA - 1982
Arlington, VA - 1974
Alexandria, VA - 1974
Bergen County, NJ - 1959
Essex County, NJ - 1958
Passaic County, NJ - 1957
Union County, NJ - 1956
If you wanna see Jersey in VA, it’s in Tidewater, not NOVA.
Phoebus is more like NJ than Arlington.
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