Do you think of North Arlington as suburban?

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Why should there only be one look for a suburb to have?

There are many looks. Annandale doesnt look like Kingstowne, which doesnt look like say Huntington Long Island.

But I dont think legal definitions are what most of us mean by urban/suburban.

I lived in Jacksonville florida for three years. most of it was single family homes on cul de sacs, two story (or even one story) garden apartement complexes - and even a few farms. Technically it was ALL urban because Jax had annexed all of Duval County except for the three beach towns and Baldwin. But no one would have denied that Southside was suburban, while Riverside was not.

[Carlingtonian]

Quick, look at the streetview in this link and then mentally answer the question, suburban or urban?

Then look and see where it's located.

[brooklynborndad]

"Meanwhile, "suburban" is usually defined for statistical purposes as any place in a metropolitan area outside the central city. That definition is less than ideal in both directions. There are beautiful, affluent, quiet, black and white neighborhoods within the political boundaries of the city of Atlanta that feature trees, lawns, and single-family detached homes. For all practical purposes, they look and function like suburbs even though they are usually counted as urban. Similarly, there are downtrodden neighborhoods in outlying "suburban" jurisdictions that are nothing but extensions of either urban or rural poverty. Suppose, therefore, a neighborhood is functionally suburban, regardless of its location within a metro area, if it is predominantly residential, well off, and marked by single-family homes."

Joel Garreau , Edge City: Life on the New Frontier

"The central municipality can be differentiated from the suburbs in a number of ways. We will try to impose some order on these ideas by presenting four ways of categorizing them, based on four criteria for delineation: 1) administrative or political boundaries; 2) the boundaries of the city’s central core... 3) distance from the city centre; and 4) neighbourhood density. As we will see, each one has its strengths and weaknesses... "

Statistics Canada

[brooklynborndad]

Free Merriam Webster

Definition of SUBURB

1
a : an outlying part of a city or town b : a smaller community adjacent to or within commuting distance of a city c plural : the residential area on the outskirts of a city or large town

Note the difference between definition a, and definition b

[Alicia Bradley]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Me neither, but I find this question amusing considering usually we see posts like "all the Nova burbs look exactly alike." It's fun to discuss, for a change, how they actually have different looks. They all look like suburbs to me, though. There are lots of different looks a suburb can have.

ps. FWIW, if you go by the largest number of SFHs, IMO the "typical" suburban development in northern Virginia is probably the planned "town center" types of communities. A huge number were built in the last 20-30 years.

But 'typical' is in the eye of the beholder.. and its view is determined by where said beholder lives. For instance, I don't spend much time out in the way-outer 'burbs, so when I think of 'quintessential NoVA,' I tend to think of modest 1950s ramblers with smatterings of oddly positioned and designed 'infill' properties.

[michgc]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

Quick, look at the streetview in this link and then mentally answer the question, suburban or urban?

Then look and see where it's located.

It looked urban to me.

[robbobobbo]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

Quick, look at the streetview in this link and then mentally answer the question, suburban or urban?

Then look and see where it's located.

Yes, the District has suburbs, in the original sense of the word. People built homes up Connecticut Ave and elsewhere to be away from downtown, and to have cooler temperatures, too. Those were suburbs. Urban meant living in a rowhouse or apartment for most people.

But those of us who grew up in post-1950s suburbia probably think suburbs means subdivisions, with strip malls, cul-de-sacs, cars in driveways, and people tending to their lawns.

The Wilson corridor, with its highrises and businesses, is urban. Go a few blocks off of Wilson or Clarendon and, to me at least, it's suburban. Different from Fairfax County suburbia, to be sure, because the two were developed in different times, with different ideas of what was considered a desirable standard of living.

As for Old Town Alexandria, it's in an actual city, albeit a small one. It's urban due to the density and the proximity to businesses. Outside of Old Town, much of Alexandria has suburbs like Arlington's.