One-sided "Rivalry" between NoVA and Suburban MD (Greenbelt: transplants, renting)

[dukeofbelair]

Hello folks...

I've lived in the DMV for about 5 years now, starting out renting in NoVA and then buying a house in MD. When I lived in VA, there seemed to be a REALLY intense local rivalry between the two states. Either it was a rant about "Maryland Drivers" (they're just as bad on the VA side), or a diatribe about how "I could NEVER live in Maryland."

I was surprised to move to MD (been here for most of the time) and find that this side... just doesn't really reciprocate. If anything, it's a bit of a shrug and "Yeah, Alexandria is nice" or "My cousin lives down in Fairfax." There's just not much sense of rivalry, just "Yeah, NOVA is there, on the other side of the river. It's a place that exists." The whole thing just seems really strange and one-sided:

VA: "Hi I live in Northern VA"
MD: "Cool, I've been there before."

MD: "Hi, I live in Maryland"
VA: "Ugh, the drivers! And the stupid flag! Your taxes are so high! VA is SO much nicer! Tysons is growing! We have longer metro lines! I could NEVER live there."

Of course, it's not everyone, and the people who have lived here longer seem less prone to it, but still, it's... odd.

What's the deal with it, from the perspective of folks who have lived here longer? Was it more mutually reciprocated at one time? Is it a lingering effect of Fairfax having been more rural and less developed than MoCo in the past, feeling judged by the other side?

(Posting this in the NOVA forum as well, just to get a balanced perspective)

[jlbr21]

Yes, don't have anything to add really except that, as a MD resident, Greenbelt, specifically, for some 5 years now, I never knew there was a supposed rivalry. My experience with NoVa is as you described it, just a place that...well... exists. I know a couple of colleagues from work who live there, I know of a couple of people in my neighborhood who commute to Alexandria and thereabouts for work, they hate it (not bc of it being Va, just the commute), other than that, nothing really.



Interesting to know there is a perceived rivalry between the two areas.

[hikerMD]

I don't know about Virginians, but I can confirm the Maryland side of your hypothesis.

[DCarea]

I’m a newcomer to the DC area, so I was only aware of the rivalry when my NoVa friends mentioned it, lol.

My general impression is that NoVa was very recently developed. The buildings along the Metro line in Arlington appeared to be relatively new. MD seems to have higher proportion of old money, with Chevy Chase area being well established, whereas NoVa consists of many recent transplants in the area with decent paying upper-middle class jobs. Because the upper-middle class are strivers and competitive in nature, they are more prone to rivalry mentality. Rivalry culture thus dominates NoVa, whereas old money and DC culture has greater influence in MD. Just a theory, lol.

In regards to drivers, I do see MD drivers being more aggressive generally.

[NW4me]

Originally Posted by dukeofbelair

MD: "Hi, I live in Maryland"
VA: "Ugh, the drivers! And the stupid flag! Your taxes are so high! VA is SO much nicer! Tysons is growing!

We have longer metro lines! I could NEVER live there."

"Stupid flag"??

The Maryland flag is about the coolest state flag of them all (the only possible rival is Arizona's).
Virginia's flag is... the state seal on a blue background... borrring.

[QuietOpinion]

As someone who grew up in NoVA and moved to MD, I can confirm that a lot of development in VA is pretty new and there are a lot of transplants. My family transplanted from somewhere else back in the day. There are a lot of perceptions of Maryland but honestly, I barely knew anything about Montgomery County when I was there. It was just a place I heard about on the radio that seemed to have bad traffic.

Northern Virginia used to be sleepier but yes, there were impressions of Maryland as being higher tax, higher crime and generally less affluent. I've seen a bit of the rivalry with Virginia on the Maryland side. I've run into a few people who were competitive about Northern Virginia or they would make jokes about Virginia and I'd remind them that I grew up there.

I think both regions have their benefits and now I interchangeably go between them whenever I want but I have friends who act like going 20 minutes in Maryland is going to another planet when they will drive much further in Virginia. The whole area is growing.

[Turnerbro]

I’ve heard plenty of Marylanders complain about Virginia drivers.