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Every major MSA has a section of suburbs that are generally wealthy as opposed to middle-class. The following list is my guess as to where most of them generally are in every MSA with 1,000,000+ population...
Wealthy suburbs mostly to the north
- New Orleans
Not really. Although there is an abundance of upper middle class suburbs on the Northshore, truly wealthy enclaves are on the Southshore to the west of the city and a few to the south. People move North because it is affordable. The wealthy people stay on this side because they can afford to. It's weird when you think about it. The poor, middle class, and wealthy all live underneath each other, while the bulk of the upper middle class live 20 miles out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vivelafrance
The wealthy suburbs of Memphis are to the east, not south. Desoto Co is solidly middle class while Germantown, Collierville, and now Piperton are the more prestigious addresses.
I was about to say. I was thinking when did Southaven and Olive Branch become more upperclass than Germantown, Collierville, etc.
Last edited by WestbankNOLA; 09-16-2011 at 02:06 AM..
Baltimore's finest suburbs, horse farms, country-clubs, private schools, etc. are to the north and northwest, more than the west.
Richmond VA's finest suburbs are not to the south, but rather the West (on both sides of the James River). Due South of Richmond is gritty and industrial, then you come to Fort Lee - Colonial Heights which are just average.
Pittsburgh has the very rich suburb of Sewickly on the West side.
It's a characteristic of many American cities, that their finer residential districts developed historically to the north or west, away from the waterfront or coast which was characterized by industry, factories, shipping and freight railroads, and in the 19th century, associations with malaria and diseases. In the 19th century, urbanites would take refuge from the city heat, in summer cottages in the "uptown" districts to the north and west, which were slightly cooler. This pattern continued as country-clubs, private schools, luxurious shopping malls, high-tech offica parks, and prestigious churches eventually sprang up in the north and west suburbs of these cities. This pattern is true of N.Y. City (somewhat), and definitely with greater Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, and Richmond. Also to some extent with Los Angeles and San Diego??
Baltimore's finest suburbs, horse farms, country-clubs, private schools, etc. are to the north and northwest, more than the west.
Richmond VA's finest suburbs are not to the south, but rather the West (on both sides of the James River). Due South of Richmond is gritty and industrial, then you come to Fort Lee - Colonial Heights which are just average.
Pittsburgh has the very rich suburb of Sewickly on the West side.
It's a characteristic of many American cities, that their finer residential districts developed historically to the north or west, away from the waterfront or coast which was characterized by industry, factories, shipping and freight railroads, and in the 19th century, associations with malaria and diseases. In the 19th century, urbanites would take refuge from the city heat, in summer cottages in the "uptown" districts to the north and west, which were slightly cooler. This pattern continued as country-clubs, private schools, luxurious shopping malls, high-tech offica parks, and prestigious churches eventually sprang up in the north and west suburbs of these cities. This pattern is true of N.Y. City (somewhat), and definitely with greater Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, and Richmond. Also to some extent with Los Angeles and San Diego??
Nice post! I agree completely on Richmond. The city grew to the west, and is now wayyy out west. Monument Avenue is nice to travel down, seeing the big houses, and it goes for quite a way. Grove Ave and Cary St. also have some nice neighborhoods. Unfortunately, the far west burbs are much less planned and tend to circle Short Pump.
Douglas County, CO south of Denver, does have the 7th highest household income in the country, but really, its big burb, Highlands Ranch does not scream "money" for the most part. My daughter is renting a house down there, and it's not particularly "McMansion"-y. I think the fact that Doug. Co. is virtually all suburban (no large cities) has something to do with the high-income ranking. Evergreen, in the foothills of the Rockies to the west of Denver is a much classier burb, and has higher housing values.
In the LA area.....there are wealthy areas everywhere. In LA County ITSELF, in terms of where they are in relation to DTLA (which, geographically, is in the FAR southern part of the county. LA County is HUGE!)
West of DTLA
Bel-Air
Beverly Crest
Pacific Palisades
Malibu
Unincorporated Santa Monica Mountains
North of DTLA
San Marino
La Cañada Flintridge
Westlake Village
Calabasas
Hidden Hills
Stevenson Ranch
Porter Ranch
South of DTLA
Rolling Hills
Palos Verdes Estates
Rolling Hills Estates
Manhattan Beach
Rancho Palos Verdes
East of DTLA
La Habra Heights
West San Dimas
Bradbury
Then you add in areas in Ventura County like Thousand Oaks (next to Westlake Village and Agoura Hills), Orange County like Newport Beach and Southern OC generally, and newer development areas like Rancho Cucamonga in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.
On the same token, you can find middle class, and poorer areas everywhere too.
Generally, I'd assume that for most large metros, it's much of the same way. Smaller metros may have a certain concentration in a given area, but even then, it's not exclusive.
For Raleigh, most of the wealthy neighborhoods are in the city itself. Cary is a "wealthy" suburb statistically because of its strong and large upper middle class population, its new country club neighborhoods and its general lack of any poverty or working class demographic. And true to the OP, it's to the immediate West of Raleigh. However, the true wealth in Raleigh is in its older neighborhoods "Inside the Beltline" in the city itself. These neighborhoods were established before RTP was even an idea. Places like Hayes Barton, Budleigh, Country Club Hills and Anderson Heights come to mind.
Newer suburban development on the north end of the city (out of the city limits but with Raleigh addresses) is built around the Falls Lake watershed and is often superior to neighborhoods in Cary. This is due to the fact that development must be sparse in the lake's watershed to protect the drinking water. Some of these neighborhoods have homes that are absolutely monstrous on large lots and often in gated and secured neighborhoods. These are not McMansions like one often finds in Cary....these are just mansions. It's difficult to find developments with truly large plots of land in Cary.
This describes it for Raleigh pretty well. There's a big difference between the "old money" inside the beltline and the "new money" (because of RTP) in the suburbs.
Cities in red are the suburbs most famous for their affluence, but as you can see, there is a lot of wealth all in every direction except west because that's the ocean.
Only places with more than 200 households btw.
Also, the East Bay is constantly put down by people in the City and Peninsula and Marin(I know, Ive heard it myself several times) but darnnit if we dont have a lot of wealthy people. LOL.
Last edited by 18Montclair; 09-17-2011 at 10:09 AM..
Cities in red are the suburbs most famous for their affluence, but as you can see, there is a lot of wealth all in every direction except west because that's the ocean.
Only places with more than 200 households btw.
Also, the East Bay is constantly put down by people in the City and Peninsula and Marin(I know, Ive heard it myself several times) but darnnit if we dont have a lot of wealthy people. LOL.
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