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The scarcity of incorporated areas (relative to other states) is common throughout the South, where counties are the primary administrative divisions. In the northeast (PA, NJ and north), counties are divided into towns, boroughs, and townships.
For some historical background (for the curious): Recall that in 4th Grade Virginia history many of us learned that Maryland and Virginia, and the other colonies of the Old South, especially in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont regions, were divided into large plantations, and courthouses were often located along rural roads surrounded by fields of tobacco. A courthouse by itself did not necessitate any kind of urban growth. There were a few towns and cities that developed as regional centers for commerce, transportation, and government, but that was it. Baltimore and New Orleans were the largest cities in the antebellum South.
Sterling Park, in spite of its merits, is just another contemporary "leapfrog" development somewhat isolated from neighboring communities. This is a typical pattern of suburban development particularly in the South, which lacked the identifiable towns of the North and thus a de facto growth control mechanism. In communities that developed more or less as an outgrowth of older established areas, like the neighborhoods in Arlington, McLean, Falls Church, Vienna, Chevy Chase, and Shepherd Park DC, to name a few, modest areas blend in with more upscale areas, and there is often a mix of housing types. Arlington, for example, has some "less affluent" areas, but because they are not physically isolated, there is a fair amount of public and private investment. I believe that many modern isolated or self-contained developments undercut investment potential, especially as they age and with the unwarranted stigma sometimes associated with changing demographics.
Hopefully, despite its shortcomings, Sterling Park and similar, aging communities will continue to offer a stable, middle class lifestyle even with the inevitable demographic shifts. Sterling Park does have attractive neighborhoods as Normie pointed out. There are also parks, neighborhood shopping centers, and schools within walking distance of the homes.
Thank you very much for this post - it validates a lot of what I had been suspecting (and had seen alluded to here and there). It also explains why there is a much higher proportion of suburbs with "cute little historical downtowns" *swoon* in the metro areas of Northern cities - in Chicago's case, for example, many of the sprawling suburbs of today originated back in the nineteenth century around clusters of services for family farmers - a general store, a church, etc. So, these days, if you have to live in, say, the western suburbs of Chicago, you can choose a McMansion on what was formerly farmland (or formerly an older, less ostentatious neighborhood), or a historic home in or near the cute little nineteenth-century downtown area. *swoon* Obviously, there are historic small towns in the South (I'm sure irvine could tell us more about them ), but I do think VA's origins as a planatation state have played a HUGE role in the way the NoVA suburbs look today.
IMO, it's all about HOA's. Creating an HOA has taken the place of incorporating formal town governments. Large HOAs are the city government model of the future, and you see this happening all over the country. People prefer the HOA because services are streamlined and you don't need to build an expensive city hall or have expensive political campaigns everytime you want to change a minor regulation. Also, when it comes to enforcing things like parking violations, HOAs are more effective than town governments. IMO, it's very effective to have people sign an HOA agreement as part of the conditions for buying a house.
So what does this have to do with Sterling Park? It's one of the few areas in Loudoun that does not have an HOA, in fact many people live there specifically for this reason. They like the idea of being independent, and I totally respect that.
From time to time the residents discuss the idea of creating an HOA for the entire Sterling Park area. Everyone agrees it would help the crime situation, but whenever the subject comes up the proposals draw only a lukewarm reception. The residents like living in an area without many rules, they don't want to be in an HOA and, they don't want to be in an incorporated town, either. Many of them cherish a sense of independence even if the inevitable result is petty crime and unmown lawns. (Note: some of the newer neighborhoods have established their own HOA's in recent years--but it's not really the same thing. A small HOA does not have much clout).
By the way, just a historic note. Northern Virginia didn't really have plantations. We had small farms, horse ranches, and land grants given to people as political favors (and often left as empty fields when the new owners found out the land was pretty useless). You have to go a little further south to find the sort of soil that a plantation needs.
great points from both alicia and v-to-n. i can relate to the swooning over "cute little historical downtowns." i remember feeling that way when i was in my 20s and first saw hermosa beach. it had such a cute little main street with a cute little firehouse, a cute little police station, a cute little city hall, and a cute little library. so i moved there and i often enjoyed walking up and down the main street admiring our cute little city services. but after i lived there awhile i found out my taxes were not cute or little. those buildings needed a lot of maintenance and i never even used the library because it didn't have many books.
the one thing i hated about hermosa was the tickets. they give out parking tickets like they're candy, traffic tickets if you go one mile over the speed limit, all kinds of other tickets for every imaginable offense. and don't even bother trying to fight them, these tickets are an important source of revenue. hermosa is a small town with big expenses, they have to give out all those tickets to pay for the services. that's a problem that can develop with incorporated cities.
here in cascades i don't pay city taxes and i don't ever seem to get tickets. in fact in my entire family only one person has gotten a ticket for all the years we've lived here. (and he deserved it, he was speeding down potomac view. that's a no no.) i pay $56 every month for hoa dues. that pays for snow plowing, trash and recycling services, landscaping medians and common grounds, playgrounds, swimming pools, tennis, gyms, even resealing my pipestem every two years. imo the hoa system is a good deal.
By the way, just a historic note. Northern Virginia didn't really have plantations. We had small farms, horse ranches, and land grants given to people as political favors (and often left as empty fields when the new owners found out the land was pretty useless). You have to go a little further south to find the sort of soil that a plantation needs.
VAtoNC, I dunno what you're smoking, but I don't think I want any of it!
There were dozens of plantations in Northern VA. Southern U.S. history isn't my specialty, but it didn't take very long to dig up lots of info about plantations in No. Virginia on the 'net. For example (from History of Annandale) -
"Annandale is unique in that its history can be traced directly to the pre-Revolutionary period, when, in 1685, an Englishman by the name of Col. William H. Fitzhugh purchased over 24,000 acres of land and his descendants later named the tract "Ravensworth." From an untamed wilderness, Fitzhugh converted the land into one of the largest tobacco plantations in Northern Virginia."
There's also Oatlands, Gunston, Woodlawn, Leo.. all in what are currently NoVA suburbs. (And this took me just five minutes. If you want to get really serious, though, I'm game. And I'm warning you - I've been described as "tenacious as a barnacle" in these sorts of situations. )
I even lived down the street/hill from the site of a former slave market in College Park, MD (north of NoVA , near the Calvert family's Riversdale plantation (what is now Riverdale Park)). Even though Riversdale was a "smaller" plantation at only 739 acres, family farms in the northern Midwest in the nineteenth century (when most of the small towns dotting the countryside, including those that have since become suburbs of larger metro areas, were established) were much smaller.. In 1880, for instance, the average farm unit in Iowa included only 85 acres. So, anyway - you may have been talking about the relative size of No. VA vs. So. VA plantations, but my point still stands.
For the record, though, I (mostly) agree with you about HOAs.
Last edited by Alicia Bradley; 06-30-2009 at 09:49 AM..
great points from both alicia and v-to-n. i can relate to the swooning over "cute little historical downtowns." i remember feeling that way when i was in my 20s and first saw hermosa beach. it had such a cute little main street with a cute little firehouse, a cute little police station, a cute little city hall, and a cute little library. so i moved there and i often enjoyed walking up and down the main street admiring our cute little city services. but after i lived there awhile i found out my taxes were not cute or little. those buildings needed a lot of maintenance and i never even used the library because it didn't have many books.
the one thing i hated about hermosa was the tickets. they give out parking tickets like they're candy, traffic tickets if you go one mile over the speed limit, all kinds of other tickets for every imaginable offense. and don't even bother trying to fight them, these tickets are an important source of revenue. hermosa is a small town with big expenses, they have to give out all those tickets to pay for the services. that's a problem that can develop with incorporated cities.
here in cascades i don't pay city taxes and i don't ever seem to get tickets. in fact in my entire family only one person has gotten a ticket for all the years we've lived here. (and he deserved it, he was speeding down potomac view. that's a no no.) i pay $56 every month for hoa dues. that pays for snow plowing, trash and recycling services, landscaping medians and common grounds, playgrounds, swimming pools, tennis, gyms, even resealing my pipestem every two years. imo the hoa system is a good deal.
I can see the merits of suburban HOAs as an alternative to actual "towns" with long histories (and cute little historical city centers), but I will always prefer the latter. *sigh* (musing *sigh*, not irritated *sigh* ) At some point a 'debate' like this one starts to be about aesthetics rather than pragmatics, and convincing someone to share your aesthetic viewpoint is waaaaaaaay harder, even, than convincing her/him to share your political or religious one. Usually.
I can see the merits of suburban HOAs as an alternative to actual "towns" with long histories (and cute little historical city centers), but I will always prefer the latter. *sigh* (musing *sigh*, not irritated *sigh* ) At some point a 'debate' like this one starts to be about aesthetics rather than pragmatics, and convincing someone to share your aesthetic viewpoint is waaaaaaaay harder, even, than convincing her/him to share your political or religious one. Usually.
I can see the merits of suburban HOAs as an alternative to actual "towns" with long histories (and cute little historical city centers), but I will always prefer the latter. *sigh* (musing *sigh*, not irritated *sigh* ) At some point a 'debate' like this one starts to be about aesthetics rather than pragmatics, and convincing someone to share your aesthetic viewpoint is waaaaaaaay harder, even, than convincing her/him to share your political or religious one. Usually.
i agree, very nicely said indeed. it all comes down to aesthetics, as you said.
as for the plantation argument, well I'm no expert but I'm going with alicia on this one. of course, you're probably both right, just looking at it from slightly different perspectives. It becomes a question of how many plantations equal a lot of plantations. also, v-to-n is much further west than alicia, she's probably thinking about the farms near waterford, rather than the larger properties to the east.
and of course the biggest question is where you draw the line between a farm and a plantation. i remember when i moved here and went out to see oatlands. i was expecting something impressive, like the big cotton plantations. but oatlands is, to be honest, dinky. i thought "how can they call this a plantation, who are they kidding? this is just a farm!"
i mean, there were mcmansions not that far away that were more impressive than oatlands. but since the owners wanted to call it a plantation, who am i to judge? it's called a plantation, so i guess that makes it one. but it's a dinky plantation... so i guess i can see v-to-n's point of view, too.
I can see the merits of suburban HOAs as an alternative to actual "towns" with long histories (and cute little historical city centers), but I will always prefer the latter. *sigh* (musing *sigh*, not irritated *sigh* ) At some point a 'debate' like this one starts to be about aesthetics rather than pragmatics, and convincing someone to share your aesthetic viewpoint is waaaaaaaay harder, even, than convincing her/him to share your political or religious one. Usually.
(for somewhat more recent history) While there are few incorporated towns in the DC metro area, small streetcar suburbs did develop along the trolley lines, but they were much more modest than those of Chicago, NY, NJ, Boston, Philadelphia, and LA which were usually also incorporated towns. Streetcar suburbs in the DC area inlcude Garrett Park (MD), Takoma Park, Clarendon, Glencarlyn, Vienna, Silver Spring, Chevy Chase, and Falls Church. Of course, these modest DC suburbs were more like neighborhoods than actual towns, and with the exception of Clarendon, Takoma Park, and Chevy Chase (DC and MD), these quaint communities were largely swallowed up by the growth of the region after WWII and became barely recognizable. Prior to WWII, Washington was a "small Southern town" with just a handful of small trolley suburbs.
DC sprawl closely resembles that of Baltimore, Richmond, and Atlanta, cities with very similar development patterns that can be traced back to Old South, the modest streetcar lines of the early 20th century, and more recently post WWII suburban sprawl.
Quote:
Originally Posted by normie
great points from both alicia and v-to-n. i can relate to the swooning over "cute little historical downtowns." i remember feeling that way when i was in my 20s and first saw hermosa beach. it had such a cute little main street with a cute little firehouse, a cute little police station, a cute little city hall, and a cute little library. so i moved there and i often enjoyed walking up and down the main street admiring our cute little city services. but after i lived there awhile i found out my taxes were not cute or little. those buildings needed a lot of maintenance and i never even used the library because it didn't have many books.
I like LA sprawl, and the many dozens of small, unique towns and larger cities that make up LA and Orange Counties. I'm speaking strictly in terms of aesthetics and urban design (and I do like the proximity to the coast and the mts.), however, and not the notoriously high taxes Californians pay for services. I don't miss the orange groves between the quaint Southern California towns, because I wasn't alive to see em, but I know people lament the loss of that rich agricultural tradition.
I think I'd be willing to pay higher taxes to live in Hermosa, Manhattan B., Santa Monica, or the Pacific Palisades in LA, because I just like those areas. I'd absolutely choose Manhattan B or the Pac Palisades (for a decent sized yard) over newer suburban towns like Santa Clarita or Mission Viejo, even if services are much more expensive.
It has been previously mentioned in other threads that Northern Virginia might one day become another LA, with its endless sprawl. I don't think so. My first point is that I don't think LA sprawl is as bad as people often make it out to be, because of the geographical boundaries that break it up: the mountains, the ocean, and protected grassland and desert areas. And, as I previously indirectly pointed out, LA sprawl is a collection of towns and cities with unique identities. In LA, towns simply grew to their boundaries and met the growth of others. Even newer city/suburbs like Mission Viejo and Laguna Niguel connect very well to neighboring cities and the transition is often seamless.
The suburban typologies of the DC area are very different: largely a collection of scattered, independent developments of varying sizes that don't connect well and the pedestrian infrastructure is usually very poor. Are the newer developments in unincorporated Loudon County attempting to address these issues?? I do like how the suburban Southern California cities manage development and infrastructure, but I realize this is very difficult for a large county like Loudon, which has many landowners who choose to develop at different times.
(for somewhat more recent history) While there are few incorporated towns in the DC metro area, small streetcar suburbs did develop along the trolley lines, but they were much more modest than those of Chicago, NY, NJ, Boston, Philadelphia, and LA which were usually also incorporated towns. Streetcar suburbs in the DC area inlcude Garrett Park (MD), Takoma Park, Clarendon, Glencarlyn, Vienna, Silver Spring, Chevy Chase, and Falls Church. Of course, these modest DC suburbs were more like neighborhoods than actual towns, and with the exception of Clarendon, Takoma Park, and Chevy Chase (DC and MD), these quaint communities were largely swallowed up by the growth of the region after WWII and became barely recognizable. Prior to WWII, Washington was a "small Southern town" with just a handful of small trolley suburbs.
DC sprawl closely resembles that of Baltimore, Richmond, and Atlanta, cities with very similar development patterns that can be traced back to Old South, the modest streetcar lines of the early 20th century, and more recently post WWII suburban sprawl.
I like LA sprawl, and the many dozens of small, unique towns and larger cities that make up LA and Orange Counties. I'm speaking strictly in terms of aesthetics and urban design (and I do like the proximity to the coast and the mts.), however, and not the notoriously high taxes Californians pay for services. I don't miss the orange groves between the quaint Southern California towns, because I wasn't alive to see em, but I know people lament the loss of that rich agricultural tradition.
I think I'd be willing to pay higher taxes to live in Hermosa, Manhattan B., Santa Monica, or the Pacific Palisades in LA, because I just like those areas. I'd absolutely choose Manhattan B or the Pac Palisades (for a decent sized yard) over newer suburban towns like Santa Clarita or Mission Viejo, even if services are much more expensive.
It has been previously mentioned in other threads that Northern Virginia might one day become another LA, with its endless sprawl. I don't think so. My first point is that I don't think LA sprawl is as bad as people often make it out to be, because of the geographical boundaries that break it up: the mountains, the ocean, and protected grassland and desert areas. And, as I previously indirectly pointed out, LA sprawl is a collection of towns and cities with unique identities. In LA, towns simply grew to their boundaries and met the growth of others. Even newer city/suburbs like Mission Viejo and Laguna Niguel connect very well to neighboring cities and the transition is often seamless.
The suburban typologies of the DC area are very different: largely a collection of scattered, independent developments of varying sizes that don't connect well and the pedestrian infrastructure is usually very poor. Are the newer developments in unincorporated Loudon County attempting to address these issues?? I do like how the suburban Southern California cities manage development and infrastructure, but I realize this is very difficult for a large county like Loudon, which has many landowners who choose to develop at different times.
I registered to say that I didn't buy a word of what those other posters have been selling. My friend has lived in Round Hill (old Loudoun) for a long time and schooled me on Loudoun county perceptions, misconceptions, and lifestyle. These pictures of Sterling Park are beautiful and I'm going to scout it out today with my husband so we can check out some homes for sale.
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Obviously, there are historic small towns in the South (I'm sure irvine could tell us more about them 
), but I do think VA's origins as a planatation state have played a HUGE role in the way the NoVA suburbs look today.
I knew it!
