Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Look up basic statistics, the Philadelphia area is overall wealthier and provides a much much better range of architectural styles. Yes, Buckhead is wonderful (I have been several times), but that is in Atlanta and also one municipality. I know ATL area has beautiful neighborhoods and municipalities, but I could name 3 or 4 dozen towns in metro Philly, NYC, Boston, and Chicago (respectively) that compare to Buckhead from an economic standpoint and far exceed most ATL suburbs from an aesthetic standpoint.
There are lot of misconceptions about Philadelphia suburbs because they fall under the radar moreso than NYC, and they are often lumped with the city of Philadelphia, but there has been thread after thread about suburbs on here and PHL is consistently viewed as among the best.
We are also not talking about Philadelphia, we are talking about suburbs. Just look up stats of Montgomery County, Chester County, Delaware County and Bucks County and compare them to the counterparts in the Atlanta area, not even close. That doesn't even include South Jersey and Northern Delaware.
Yes, Philly is ahead of Atlanta. That does not mean atlanta’s suburbs are bad, they just cannot compete with philly or any other legacy city’s suburbs. Philly has the second best suburbs in the country, IMO. Atlanta falls somewhere near tenth. It just doesn’t have the same feel, and Philly’s suburbs are wealthier with better schools.
Wealth isn't the defacto criteria used when I made that post. I'm speaking just on architecture, aesthetics of the neighborhoods. Buckhead looks and feels like new money compared to other sections/suburbs of other cities. I will admit that I'm not a fan of the older mansions found in the Northeast, and particularly the NYC area as I think that they are some of the ugliest houses in the country. Atlanta's wealthier areas are beautiful as are many wealthy areas are the south and Southwest.
Ok, you are in the minority then. To me, the Northeastern mansions are stunning, and Southern cookie-cutter development is ugly and boring.
And if there was one place of the prewar abolition movement that stand out it would probably be Harpers Ferry which I guess is technically in the D.C. CSA but I think it would be a stretch to call it a suburb. That was one seminal event that came to symbolize the movement, rather than the Underground Railroad which existed across the country which no one city can truly claim.
Also the turning point of the War the the Battle of saratoga, that convinced the French it was a battle worth fighting, and they joined the war shortly after.
Yea I hate to break it to you. But Trenton is part of the Philadelphia suburbs. It is DIRECTLY across the river from towns like Yardley, Pennsylvania which are 100% Metro Philadelphia. FYI. Princeton, NJ is less than 45 minutes from Philadelphia.
Bucks County, PA (with towns like Yardley) are 100% part of the Philadelphia suburbs.
Boston is a great place. Lots of history. But equally. So is Southeast Pennsylvania. I mean this thread is not about a history contest. I have already denoted that Boston has some of the best suburbs in the nation. Other posters have noted that it is smaller and less varied than Southeast Pennsylvania. Which I was not aware. FYI. Bucks County has the highest concentration of colonial farmhouses in the USA. This is not a history contest. But if you choose to lament your ignorance I will counter.
With that the best Suburbs in the nation go to (again in NO ORDER; because this is not an ordering contest)
Chicago
Philadelphia
Boston
NYC
Inner ring of DC (Places like Montgomery County, MD + Arlington/Alexandria, VA)
Orange County, CA
Immediate parts of San Fran. (Not San Jose)
What we are not comparing. (wealth). Meaningless.
What we are comparing. Unique character, history, legacy, and architecture. And Transit access and walkable towns are highly important ratio.
Last edited by rowhomecity; 01-25-2018 at 05:27 PM..
The Buckhead district of northern Atlanta, especially west of Peachtree Street/ Road on streets like Peachtree Battle Avenue, West Paces Ferry Road, Hambersham Road, and West Westley Road have many, many exquisite estate homes on acreage. Most of these were designed by notable architects (Phillip Schulz, etc.) from the end of World War I until the the early 1930's, well before the area was annexed into the City of Atlanta in 1952. They may not be from the colonial or even antebellum eras, but they are beautiful and certainly NOT cookie cutter. Still, as I have said before earlier in this thread, perhaps a conversation about Buckhead is inappropriate because it is the uptown district of Atlanta and is IN the city limits of the City of Atlanta.
I agree it is innapropriate to mention Buckhead but those guys who are saying Philly burbs beat Buckhead, they should know not only does Buckhead cover a third of Atlanta it is a district home to didiculously low dense and large mansions as well as this ridiculously amazing linear skyline. Buckhead Skyline
I don’t think any philly suburb can compete against that combination, I’m not from Atlanta but comparing such an expansive district to the relatively small borders of most suburbs.
I agree it is innapropriate to mention Buckhead but those guys who are saying Philly burbs beat Buckhead, they should know not only does Buckhead cover a third of Atlanta it is a district home to didiculously low dense and large mansions as well as this ridiculously amazing linear skyline. Buckhead Skyline
I don’t think any philly suburb can compete against that combination, I’m not from Atlanta but comparing such an expansive district to the relatively small borders of most suburbs.
No denial Buckhead is nice. But Buckhead is not the only 'affluent' district with estate size lots and grand architecture in the USA. It is a great area and has a nice influx of urban and suburban qualities.
But a place like Chestnut Hill Philadelphia (also in city limits) will match or exceed that level in many ways.
I value these urban/suburban enclaves and think it is great that places like Buckhead, Chestnut Hill, NW DC (Spring Valley, etc), all are within city limits yet all retain unique character and charm.
Again though this thread is to compare suburban metros. Not one neighborhood within a city. And Buckhead is considered to be Atlanta. Just as Chestnut Hill is considered to be Philadelphia.
LOL. I said suburbs not areas part of the City Proper.
If you want to compare districts within the city then fair game: With that Buckhead in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM can compare to Chestnut Hill Philadelphia
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clayton white guy
Buckhead, being the uptown district within the City of Atlanta kid of negates it as a true "suburb", but it is a lovely, leafy, exceedingly wealthy spot with many historic estates, a booming office corridor, and arguably the best shopping in the South. Perhaps it did rank as a "top suburb" before its annexation to the City of Atlanta in 1952.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigLake
Buckhead just "feels" suburban.
My retort to the OP was his earlier statement that Atlanta was one of the most generic cities he knew. A previous poster listed Buckhead, not me and that was his response. I know it is in the city of Atlanta, but is on par distance wise and in character with some of the older suburbs listed by others in northeastern cities and was separate from the core city until annexation in the 50s.
Druid Hills is also a beautiful historic suburb of Atlanta, part lies within the city limits, part in unincorporated DeKalb County but is actually closer to downtown than Buckhead. So does it get excluded for not being an incorporated town and/or partially within the Atlanta city limits?
Same can be said of the historic neighborhood known as Brookhaven. Part is within the city of Atlanta and would be included in some people's wider reach of what is called Buckhead, the other part was formerly unincorporated DeKalb and now part of the newly incorporated city that shares the same name. Some old timers were against the new city using the name Brookhaven since it encompassed a much larger area than the original Brookhaven neighborhood.
This thread smacks of northeastern elitism. Northeastern elitism continuously looks down their upturned notices at anything southern or Sunbelt without having any local experience within these cities. That is fine with me. Stay up there.
My retort to the OP was his earlier statement that Atlanta was one of the most generic cities he knew. A previous poster listed Buckhead, not me and that was his response. I know it is in the city of Atlanta, but is on par distance wise and in character with some of the older suburbs listed by others in northeastern cities and was separate from the core city until annexation in the 50s.
Druid Hills is also a beautiful historic suburb of Atlanta, part lies within the city limits, part in unincorporated DeKalb County but is actually closer to downtown than Buckhead. So does it get excluded for not being an incorporated town and/or partially within the Atlanta city limits?
Same can be said of the historic neighborhood known as Brookhaven. Part is within the city of Atlanta and would be included in some people's wider reach of what is called Buckhead, the other part was formerly unincorporated DeKalb and now part of the newly incorporated city that shares the same name. Some old timers were against the new city using the name Brookhaven since it encompassed a much larger area than the original Brookhaven neighborhood.
This thread smacks of northeastern elitism. Northeastern elitism continuously looks down their upturned notices at anything southern or Sunbelt without having any local experience within these cities. That is fine with me. Stay up there.
I lived in Atlanta for awhile and still tend to favor the Northern burbs... Buckhead is nothing special, it reminds me of Tysons Corner, random skyscrapers next to expensive homes with lots all situated around a shopping mall.
My retort to the OP was his earlier statement that Atlanta was one of the most generic cities he knew. A previous poster listed Buckhead, not me and that was his response. I know it is in the city of Atlanta, but is on par distance wise and in character with some of the older suburbs listed by others in northeastern cities and was separate from the core city until annexation in the 50s.
Druid Hills is also a beautiful historic suburb of Atlanta, part lies within the city limits, part in unincorporated DeKalb County but is actually closer to downtown than Buckhead. So does it get excluded for not being an incorporated town and/or partially within the Atlanta city limits?
Same can be said of the historic neighborhood known as Brookhaven. Part is within the city of Atlanta and would be included in some people's wider reach of what is called Buckhead, the other part was formerly unincorporated DeKalb and now part of the newly incorporated city that shares the same name. Some old timers were against the new city using the name Brookhaven since it encompassed a much larger area than the original Brookhaven neighborhood.
This thread smacks of northeastern elitism. Northeastern elitism continuously looks down their upturned notices at anything southern or Sunbelt without having any local experience within these cities. That is fine with me. Stay up there.
Its not elitism. Its just reality. In the sense that most of the Sunbelt's growth has occurred roughly in the past 20/25 years. And therefore it is majority auto oriented. It is just the facts. Again I am not bringing wealth or anything.
In the opening thread I mentioned what constitutes a 'high ranked' suburb:
Character, Architecture, History, Legacy institutions, Open Space, Transit Access.
Cities ranging from Atlanta to Dallas just fall short on these measures.
I guess the reason I started this thread. Is to link similar suburbs, and then study those areas, and learn overall. How can we make our suburbs better?
Because overall across the USA. We are learning that perhaps our present day suburbs were the biggest mistake of the 20th century in terms of modern society. Our cookie cutter aesthetic and strip mall mantra. 1) Destroy a sense of place. 2) Which thereby disrupts community 3) Affects Health (both physical and mental). 3) And those sunbelt states will soon find out, that ALL THAT INFRASTRUCTURE IS GOING TO COST YOU LOTS OF MONEY down the road. Just ask the older states up North.
Very few of the mansions of Atlanta's Druid Hills, Buckhead (which is really more of Atlanta's uptown district with MANY neighborhoods including mega elite Tuxedo Park and Haynes Manor.), and Historic Brookhaven communities could be said to be "cookie cutter". All three of these communities are full of historic/ vintage mansions from post World War I through the 1920's and into the early 1930's. I know that many of Philadelphia's elite residences may be older (Atlanta did not exist in colonial times of course and "Old Atlanta" was burned down 150 years ago by a gentleman named Sherman). We are not talking about the "McMansions"of East Cobb or North Fulton (stereotypical upper middle class North Atlanta suburbs) or Peachtree City (Metro Atlanta's upper income "airport" suburb on the south side). These are Atlanta's elite "Old Money" communities inside, and sometimes straggling, the Atlanta city limits.
If you have ever seen Driving Miss Daisy, it was exclusively filmed on Lullwater Road in the City of Atlanta end of Druid Hills. The Druid Hills neighborhood was designed and laid out by Olmstead who designed New York's Central Park. The neighborhood's main drag is Ponce de Leon Avenue which begins near where it crosses Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta and is the gateway to many sought after northeastern Atlanta neighborhoods. "Ponce", as we refer to it locally, has many beautiful linear parks which look even more exquisite each April when the azaleas and dogwoods are in bloom (again see the opening scene to Driving Miss Daisy)
Buckhead (particularly the west of Peachtree Street/ Road mansion district) has gorgeous winding, tree shaded streets with lot acreage so large, it is difficult to believe that you are actually near the heart of a major city. There are even streams little winding through the Hambersham/ Valley Road area with little driveway bridges and ivy covered hills to the point that there are times when one feels as if he or she is in the North Georgia mountains. not less than a mile from bustling Peachtree!
Historic Brookhaven is one of the first (if not the first) golf club communities with homes built directly on the golf course. It started back in the 1920's when the Capital City Club decided to build their new golf course north of the city in unincorporated Fulton County.
I am not saying that these communities are the "best" residential areas in America, but I do think that they would be included on any "top" list is terms of affluence, architecture, and physical environment, AND NONE of these communities could remotely be called "cookie-cutter"!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
