things that upset you about nova (Richmond, Reston: fit in, private schools, to live)

[e30is]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

5.) Traffic. What angers me the most about NoVA's traffic is that officials permitted all of these places like Ashburn, Leesburg, Reston, Sterling, Chantilly, Centreville, Fairfax, etc. to mushroom in growth BEFORE making sure the infrastructure was available to service the needs of that new population. I always felt like NoVA was living in a "build first, plan later" mindset, and as an urban planning aficionado I couldn't help but shake my head in disgust. There's no reason why it should have taken me 45 minutes to commute from Reston to Tysons Corner, which was just six or seven miles away. Pittsburgh's traffic is a BREEZE in comparison, and before people start talking about population disparities bear in mind NoVA and Pittsburgh both have roughly 2.5 million inhabitants, if I'm not mistaken. I can't believe someone in this thread said "at least we're not Bahrain!" in regards to driving/traffic. That's like Cleveland saying "at least we're not Detroit!"

While I agree with you with the fact that planning is terrible, I don't think the "build first, plan later" mindset is unique to NoVA.

[pcity]

Originally Posted by e30is

While I agree with you with the fact that planning is terrible, I don't think the "build first, plan later" mindset is unique to NoVA.

That's a good point. Where I grew up in the Philly 'burbs, people complained about this kind of stuff as well- There would be permits given to put in a new development or office park and no infrastructure upgrades to accompany them. The difference is that the Philly metro area hasn't grown much, while the NoVA area has, so it's much more noticeable here.

[hokiematt]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

^ A few excellent examples to help illustrate my point. "If there's something here you don't like, then there must be something wrong with you".

For me it's not that I see nothing wrong here. There are a lot of nice things about the area that outweight the not-so-nice things.

A quick comparisons with other big cities in the US

Bay Area: too expensive
Seattle: too much rain
LA: too much superficial things
NYC: too crowd and too expensive
Boston: too cold
Chicago: too damn cold

I think NOVA is just about right.

[South Jersey Styx]

Originally Posted by hokiematt

A quick comparisons with other big cities in the US

Bay Area: too expensive
Seattle: too much rain
LA: too much superficial things
NYC: too crowd and too expensive
Boston: too cold
Chicago: too damn cold

I think NOVA is just about right.

Fine comparisons. But NOVA is an area outside of Washington, D.C. In the list above, every place is a major metropolitan city.

[e30is]

Originally Posted by pcity

That's a good point. Where I grew up in the Philly 'burbs, people complained about this kind of stuff as well- There would be permits given to put in a new development or office park and no infrastructure upgrades to accompany them. The difference is that the Philly metro area hasn't grown much, while the NoVA area has, so it's much more noticeable here.

And the growth has been recent here as well, esp when the economy went down and the area was still booming. This is also happening but at a slower pace in places like Denver, the Triangle (NC) and maybe some major cities in TX.

[airjay75]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Saying NoVA's housing prices are "comparable to what you'd pay in San Francisco, NYC, L.A., etc." is asinine because NoVA is a suburb---not a world-class city---and even though it's NEAR a world-class city access into it is sub-par with Metrorail trying desperately to play "catch up" far too late in laying down new rail lines and adding new stations.

Originally Posted by South Jersey Styx

Fine comparisons. But NOVA is an area outside of Washington, D.C. In the list above, every place is a major metropolitan city.

Well, when people compare NoVA to another large city, I think they are often referring to that city's metropolitan area and making general comparisons to the suburban areas that surround those metro areas. For example, when someone on here compares an aspect of NoVA to say, New York or San Franciso, I highly doubt they are referring only to San Franciso county or the 5 boroughs of New York City. They are likely using their reference to NY or SF as a shortcut for the entire metro area, including Silicon Valley, Marin County, the East Bay, etc. in SF, and Long Island, NJ, Westchester, Connecticut, etc. in NY. It seems kind of silly to get into that much specificity when generally comparing NoVA to other metro areas.

To SteelCityRising's points, I really think you're dreaming if you think housing in similar suburbs of SF, NYC, or LA is cheaper than NoVA. Sure, some suburbs might be cheaper and some will be more expensive, but, on the whole, I just don't see those areas being significantly cheaper than NoVA. In regards to Metro, it certainly has it's negatives, but I think you might not be familiar with how bad transit systems are in other metro areas. Ever been on the Septa regional rail in the Philadelphia area? I feel like comparing Metro to Philly's transit system is like comparing the automobile to the horse and buggy. In many southern and western cities, rail-based transit systems are almost non-existent. San Francisco has the BART system, which, to me, is the most similar type of transit system to Metro, but it has its fair share of similar problems too. Now, if you start comparing Metro and other U.S. transit systems to those in other countries, then you really do have a point.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by South Jersey Styx

Fine comparisons. But NOVA is an area outside of Washington, D.C. In the list above, every place is a major metropolitan city.

I don't really see the point. Do you think the weather in Newton or Evanston is a lot different from Boston or Chicago? Or that Scarsdale or Summit has a lot cheaper cost of living than NYC?

I assume the other poster had metro areas, not individual cities, in mind in any event. And I've always understood the "Bay Area" to refer to SF and its environs, and not just to SF.

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by metclubin

I know one in Ashburn where you will hear Eagles anthem on every touchdown every Sunday. I go there from Fairfax almost every Sunday if they don't show Eagles game on TV here.
All American Steakhouse

Another one I heard is Rhino Bar in Georgetown. Never been there yet. It seems its all about Philly sports.

Thanks for the tips!

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by metclubin

I was only once crapped by a Redskins fan one row below mine screaming at my face on almost all plays at FedEx field last year when I went for Eagles @ Redskins game. I told him "that's all you got". "try wearing your RG3 jersey anywhere in South Philly and see what you get, forget about actually going to the game." He did not bother me after that and Skins were already 20 pts up at that point.

LOL Gotta love Philly sports fans.

[hokiematt]

Like JEB77 mentioned, I had "Metro areas" on my mind, not just specific cities.

I think in US, SF Bay area will win hands down if it's not so expensive and Seattle might even be better than the Bay area if it doesn't rain or get cloudy that much!