Ashburn Might be Nicest Outside-the-Beltway Suburb (Arlington, Burke: townhouse, job market, school)

[TheWatchmen]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

Well, to be fair: The oldest of old money in this area is in Middleburg, and I'd venture there's also some in Leesburg, on the old farms/estates. They probably drive beat-up old pickups, I bet.

Old money describes absolutely zero people that I know who live in Loudoun County. But I have been meaning to visit Middleburg. I just put it on my summer bucket list - thanks for the reminder!

[gomason]

People don't think and realize that Loudoun has very little poverty especially compared to say NYC or any other major city. NYC has tons of extremely rich but also tons of extremely poor that bring the median down.

And FYI several of the NYC suburban counties are usually on the list. I think several in Northern Jersey, Westchester, and Fairfield County CT.

Not surprising that all are suburban because they don't have the extreme economic disparities that you see in inner cities.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

Well, to be fair: The oldest of old money in this area is in Middleburg, and I'd venture there's also some in Leesburg, on the old farms/estates. They probably drive beat-up old pickups, I bet.

These people aren't likely to mention they live in the wealthiest county in America. I describe these people as "those that don't have to work; their money is doing all of the work for them".

Originally Posted by TheWatchmen

Old money describes absolutely zero people that I know who live in Loudoun County. But I have been meaning to visit Middleburg. I just put it on my summer bucket list - thanks for the reminder!

You aren't likely to meet too many "old money" people on a weekend trip to Middleburg. Most locals ("old money", "new money", and "little money") stay away from downtown, as it is invaded by visitors.

[TheWatchmen]

Originally Posted by spencgr

These people aren't likely to mention they live in the wealthiest county in America. I describe these people as "those that don't have to work; their money is doing all of the work for them".

You aren't likely to meet too many "old money" people on a weekend trip to Middleburg. Most locals ("old money", "new money", and "little money") stay away from downtown, as it is invaded by visitors.

LOL, I don't want to meet old money, but I do like quaint, historic towns. Yes, I will be an annoying tourist there.

[TyBrGr]

I think it is funny how many people from Fairfax always try to say Loudoun isn't nearly as rich as Fairfax, but facts are facts people. I think Fairfax would be higher than Loudoun if eastern fairfax and western fairfax weren't the same county because western Fairfax is much wealthier than eastern Fairfax

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

Yeah, nationally, I would've thought Manhattan and SFO (whatever county it's in) would be up there. Maybe Honolulu County.

Those neighborhoods/cities are also not as exclusive as those in DC. You have a lot of rent control in NYC. Also, other counties in the country have larger low-income neighborhoods as their cities are a bit older than those in Loudoun County, VA. and haven't enjoyed the benefits of being located near the capital of the free world.

Ashburn benefited from the tech boom of the late 90's early 2000's. There wasn't any need for low-income housing. It was assumed that if you were moving out there, you already could afford it.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by TyBrGr

I think it is funny how many people from Fairfax always try to say Loudoun isn't nearly as rich as Fairfax, but facts are facts people. I think Fairfax would be higher than Loudoun if eastern fairfax and western fairfax weren't the same county because western Fairfax is much wealthier than eastern Fairfax

Yeah. McLean, Oakton, Vienna, Mantua = full of poors.



I don't live in FFX or Loudoun, but in the absence of facts that say otherwise, I'm pretty sure eastern FFX is the wealthiest portion of that county.

[airjay75]

Just want to note on the whole "richest county" stats. These rankings are all measures of median household income - and I'm not entirely certain whether they only include earned income, although I'm not sure. There can be significant differences between income and wealth. If you make lots of income but have equally high expenses, you're not going to be wealthy. While the DC area has high median incomes, it also has a high cost of living. I'm not disputing that this area overall is pretty prosperous or that Loudoun County has the highest median income, but let's not take that statistic to be more than it is.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by airjay75

Just want to note on the whole "richest county" stats. These rankings are all measures of median household income - and I'm not entirely certain whether they only include earned income, although I'm not sure. There can be significant differences between income and wealth. If you make lots of income but have equally high expenses, you're not going to be wealthy. While the DC area has high median incomes, it also has a high cost of living. I'm not disputing that this area overall is pretty prosperous or that Loudoun County has the highest median income, but let's not take that statistic to be more than it is.

Agreed. While I admit my husband and I have high incomes; I am very opposed to calling us wealthy.

[NOVA_guy]

I think having lived and grown up in the DC area I've kind of lived in a bubble and I didn't realize it until I went off to college. Kids thought I was crazy because I didn't consider $80,000 a year a lot... and not that it's a little bit but... I don't know... There's a lot here that we take for granted, I know that I did, and there's things that are normal to us that aren't normal to a lot of people.