Battle of Cities: Rockville, Bowie, Gaithersburg, College Park, Laurel, Greenbelt, Takoma Park (Bethesda: 2013, apartments)

[MDAllstar]

It's time to liven this board up. Remember, this is only for municipalities with boundaries. Otherwise things get confusing about which area is what with unincorporated areas. Rank these cities in order based on this criteria? Who has the best in each criteria? This thread is really to bring a little excitement to this board like the city vs. city forum but with some local flavor.

Criteria:

-Diversity
-Urbanity/Density
-Architecture
-Housing Stock (Apartments/Condos, Single Family Homes, TownHouses, Row Houses)
-Public Transportation (Bus, Subway access etc.)
-Restaurants: variety, authenticity, ambience, price
-Job Market
-Entertainment Districts
-Shopping


Rank them in order based on the criteria 1 through 7.

[westsideboy]

What are these cities "battling" over. How do you define "victory" or "defeat." Maybe we should just pick a city and start freestylin'

Hagerstown rocks, it makes the jaws drop
City with a German feel, everyday people still keepin' it real
Commute to the city or work in town
Opportunities for career improvement readily around.
Got more Walmarts than Gadafi's got support
Stop by the shops, then hit the food court.

Interstate highways make this city swell
Traffic ain't too bad, it's no Frederick. H*ll
if I was looking to move out east
I'd check Hagerstown out, it puts the master in beast

West Side Boy, 2011
Representin' that west side of the Free State
Still what we were, way back when
Keepin' it real right down to the end.

[MDAllstar]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Duplicate post. What are these cities "battling" over. How do you define "victory" or "defeat." Maybe we should pick a city and start freestylin'

Rank them in order based on the combination of the criteria listed.

[westsideboy]

Frederick is one h*ll of a town
From Yellow Springs all the way down
to Ballanger Creek, suburbs surround
an urban core where history abounds

270 is as busy as a Kardasians' curlies
If you want to get work you better leave early
City, burb or farm, this place got it all
Lucky for you, those housing prices fall
like bombs from a drone over the Hindu-Kush
if you buy in now, you won't have to push
your credit to the limit of what you can afford

This towns got entertainment, you'll never get bored.
Head up Market on a pretty day, check out all the hotties
They'll make you want to stay
around the clustered spires for the rest of your life
Frederick is the place for white, black, and other
If diversity is your thang, this place got spice

WSB keepin' it real
Shout out to all my hommies from back in Frederick
Patty, Mick, Dan, y'all know who you are
Thanks for taking care of me when I was too far
from the home that I claim to be my own
C-land represent even though MDstar throws you no bone.

[Tiger Beer]

Granted, this is probably very subjective. I'm also not even living in Maryland. But I like your state, and find the thread interesting.

I'll rank from what I've researched from afar - using maps, statistics, etc.

Feel free to disregard it as well, if you feel only a person living there is qualified for this one...

Nontheless...of the cities:

Takoma Park - Gets a MoCo address, cool bungalows, and interesting description, seems like something interesting is going on there.
College Park - Huge college town, probably with enormous unrealized potential.
Gaithersburg - Some interesting things happening soon, from what I can tell.
Rockville - Most expensive of the lot, but if $$, probably the best.
Greenbelt -I could probably rank this higher, but the others appeal a bit more.
Bowie - Again, sorry for Bowiens. If I knew this one better, I could place it higher. Seems rural and far out though.
Laurel - Similar to Bowie, but Bowie does seem to have a very good reputation.

Sorry to those who like the areas I placed at the bottom. Feel free to discount mine though, as again it's from far away research

[tcave360]

Fast-forward to the end of 2013, and it there's a lot of things going on with most of the cities on this list, especially Rockville and College Park.

[tcave360]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Granted, this is probably very subjective. I'm also not even living in Maryland. But I like your state, and find the thread interesting.

I'll rank from what I've researched from afar - using maps, statistics, etc.

Feel free to disregard it as well, if you feel only a person living there is qualified for this one...

Nontheless...of the cities:

Takoma Park - Gets a MoCo address, cool bungalows, and interesting description, seems like something interesting is going on there.
College Park - Huge college town, probably with enormous unrealized potential.
Gaithersburg - Some interesting things happening soon, from what I can tell.
Rockville - Most expensive of the lot, but if $$, probably the best.
Greenbelt -I could probably rank this higher, but the others appeal a bit more.
Bowie - Again, sorry for Bowiens. If I knew this one better, I could place it higher. Seems rural and far out though.
Laurel - Similar to Bowie, but Bowie does seem to have a very good reputation.

Sorry to those who like the areas I placed at the bottom. Feel free to discount mine though, as again it's from far away research

Its got a well-known "Berkeley of the East" reputation

[adelphi_sky]

Any reason why Hyattsville is left off the list? It's a pretty big city (largest in PG in terms of?). It has boundaries.

[tcave360]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

Any reason why Hyattsville is left off the list? It's a pretty big city (largest in PG in terms of?). It has boundaries.

I just realized that too. As well as Mount Rainier and Bethesda.

And I think Bowie is the largest city in PG by land area and population, though Hyattsville is much more denser.

[EducatedBro82]

I think this was before the "Revitalization" phase kicked in...

Mt. Rainier is getting more hipster
Ft.Washington is getting more of a tourist destination with National Harbor and Tanger Outlets
Brandywine is getting more suburban with is building boom for Southern PG and more of a "suburb of Waldorf" if that makes sense


And to tcave, youre correct... Bowie is largest in PG by land while Hyattsville is denser