Maryland vs Virginia (Baltimore, Towson, Salisbury: crime rate, law school, universities)

[cpterp]

Originally Posted by Stephen 81

I'm pretty sure that someone with one post (from March 2008, no less) isn't going to come back from the City-Data dead and debate MD vs. VA for the umpteenth time.

How do all these threads get resurrected, anyhow?

I missed that date. I saw the thread at the top of the board and didn't even realize it was a resurrected one.

Originally Posted by Stephen 81

Edited to add: That said, I think UVA and William & Mary are consistently higher ranked than UMD by far, and Hopkins is neither #5 nor a reflection of Maryland higher education (which isn't bad, but just like MD outperforms VA in areas like access to health care, VA outperforms MD in others, like higher ed).

They are, and I didn't say that UMD or Maryland's public institutions were better than those in VA, I just pointed out that whatever gap there was wasn't nearly as huge as the author made it out to be. JH is actually #14, and UMD is a top 20 (#18) public school and tied with OSU and GWU at #53 overall, according to US News. I was actually recalling JH's health programs when I said it was top 5, my mistake.

It's interesting you point out access to health care, since access to higher education is an area I think that is an area where Maryland does trump VA in, although a lot of that could probably be linked to political differences between the two states. While Virginia has raised tuition at public universities (even when Kaine was in charge), there's still a freeze in Maryland, despite the budget problems. Maryland also has a higher percentage of bachelor's degree holders (4th in the country, not counting DC; Virginia is 6th), and advanced degree holders (2nd in country; Virginia is 5th).

[vivo]

I wonder how the private primary and secondary schools of the MD DC burbs would compare to nova.

[HurricaneDC]

They would compare very well or outdo them. Trust me, I went to private school in DC so I'm impartial :P

[cpterp]

Originally Posted by vivo

I wonder how the private primary and secondary schools of the MD DC burbs would compare to nova.

Probably on the same level since private shools are aren't controlled by the government or funded by taxes, and both sides of the Potomac are relatively very wealthy. I do know that Maryland and DC have a large number of Catholic schools, and schools in the Archdiocese of Washington (DC, Montgomery and Prince George's, and Southern MD) such as Gonzaga, DeMatha, and Good Counsel are supposed to be among the best and most prestigious in the nation.

Sidwell Friends School, a Quaker school located in NW DC and Bethesda, is where the President's daughters attend. I think Fenty and Rhee had campaigned for them to attend DCPS, but I guess they decided to play it safe (I can't really blame them).

[selhars]

I was hoping to see more about WHY people chose MD or VA, not just comparisons.

I guess being SINK my decisions can be all about ME.

I chose MD, as I said, for basic down to earth practical reasons: the short, easy commute to work, and closer to where I travel most....period.

[jayman1981]

I agree there isn't that big of a difference between Northern Virginia and DC suburbs in Maryland. A couple of things I've noticed is the attitudes. It seems to me that Fairfax, Loudoun and Arlington Counties in particular, people have stuck up attitudes. It's not to say Maryland is completely free of this persona, but it just seems more apparent in Nova. It seems like people in Maryland are more down to earth. Just my opinion. Traffic is definitely worse in Va. Which for the life of me I never understood. Why an area with that many people do not design roadway to meet the needs of the population. 495 N to 270 is ridiculous. The worst I've seen in Maryland.

Crime is consentrated more along the SE/MD border in P.G. Outside of that you really won't have a hard time finding good schools (yes even in P.G. gotta represent) and great neighborhoods on either side.

[slowlane]

Virginia overall, and its legislature, is weighted toward a rural downstate population (more so than Maryland is), which affects things such as
1. gun laws and sales of guns at "gun shows" without background checks
2. hard liquor is sold only in "ABC stores", and not on Sunday
3. spending on welfare programs is lower
4. a lack of paved shoulders on highways. MD by contrast has paved shoulders on ALL its main highways - a big help to bicyclists
5. inferior road signage - even major Virginia intersections have only very small signs - hard to read at night - while MD in recent years has put up more large overhead signs strung across the roads (modeled after California's and Florida's example)
6. VA has much less interest in / funding for mass transit than MD. Richmond and Hampton Roads have no commuter rail.
7. the downstate legislators balk at funding highway and transit improvements in No.Va. which are desperately needed
8. a less friendly climate toward gambling (VA has more rural Bible-belt influence than MD which is historically Catholic). VA finally did open one racetrack. Slots are out of the question)
9. VA incessantly names its streets, roads, parks, and schools after Confederate generals or leaders - even in the far northern parts.
10. VA has FAR fewer women in its local and Federal legislatures than MD does. (At one time a few years ago, fully HALF of MD's Congressional delegation were women.)
10. VA's cigarette taxes were almost the lowest in the country, until recently they were raised just a little bit.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by slowlane

4. a lack of paved shoulders on highways. MD by contrast has paved shoulders on ALL its main highways - a big help to bicyclists

One of my pet peeves about MD is so many main roads that lack shoulders. When you say "highways" what kind of roads do you mean? One example I can think of right now is MD-115.

[slowlane]

Originally Posted by dkf747

One of my pet peeves about MD is so many main roads that lack shoulders. When you say "highways" what kind of roads do you mean? One example I can think of right now is MD-115.

I've lived in Maryland 59 years, and every "Maryland State Highway" (one or two-digit numbered highways and even some three-digits) I've ever noticed has paved shoulders. (County-maintained roads do Not). All the official "Virginia State Highways" and most "U.S. Highways" I've ever noticed over all of Virginia have only dirt shoulders. Granted, Virginia is bigger than Maryland, and has enormous expanses of rural low-density areas where paving is clearly not worth the effort -- but it would be good to at least pave the ones that are in suburban areas. And I wish VA could put up giant road-naming signs strung overhead across main intersections like MD did back in the 80's or 90's (copying FL and CA).

[KeyserSoze]

Whichever state you happen to like or feel is "better" is up to you, BUT....there are those who try and pass of their opinion as fact. Well the FACT of the matter is that neither state is "better" than the other. Both have their strengths and their weaknesses. There are things in which Maryland is stronger in that Virginia isn't, and vice versa. And even with that in mind, neither state is further behind the other. Trying to pass of your OPINION as FACT, and saying one state "blows the other out of the water" is only blissfully ignorant, ego-stroking homerism, whether you're from Maryland OR Virginia. Then there are those who always want to try and find differences and speak on how the two states "are so different", when really, it's the opposite. Yea, they have their differences, but they are more similar, or equal, than anything else. Again, whatever you believe to be "better" is PURELY SUBJECTIVE, or OPINION. The FACT is that either state is "better than the other, and considering statistics, BOTH are decent. Your OPINION DOES NOT EQUAL FACT.