What are the nicest U.S. suburbs you've ever visited?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:US suburbs are all equally soulless and boring.
Flame away.

Agreed. I love big cities and small towns, but suburbs? Ugh.

The Boston suburbs are not soulless. There are too many charming ones to choose from.

Yes, and your choice of “charm” becomes notably limited if you’re a POC.

Np. Yawn. Stop making everything into the race issue.

You clearly have no knowledge about metro Boston.

It is very racist

No it's not

Maybe you’re talking about Boston, England, because you’re certainly not talking about Boston, Ma.

No, talking about Boston, MA, where I grew up

PP must be a troll.

Because they grew up in Boston?

[Anonymous]

Bostonites, for all their world-class institutions, are incredibly insular and parochial. Same with Boston suburbanites. Not from the area but every time I visit it's palpably noticeable. Even NOVA feels less monotonously provincial.

I think it's made all the more obvious because people from the Boston area think oh so highly of themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bostonites, for all their world-class institutions, are incredibly insular and parochial. Same with Boston suburbanites. Not from the area but every time I visit it's palpably noticeable. Even NOVA feels less monotonously provincial.

I think it's made all the more obvious because people from the Boston area think oh so highly of themselves.

Insular? Yep. Parochial? Look up the definition. Not true at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Lexington, MA and we have a lot of diversity (>30%+). Most of that is folks of Asian descent and lost of mixed/multi race families. The African American population is more limited BuT does exist. The town makes a concerted effort to hire muni opal employees (including police) that represent the diversity in the town and also recently passed a resolution making diversity, equity and inclusion a priority in town decision making. Is it a racial utopia - no. Does my minority race husband feel not quite comfortable/accepted in certain situations - yes. But, to say all Boston area suburbs are totally unwelcoming to POC isn’t correct. Now, it is horribly expensive to purchase a house here (a realtor just circulated a listing of what is currently in the market and well over 2/3s of the houses for sale are $2M+) so that limits economic diversity for sure.

Hello from nearby Arlington! I agree with everything you said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:US suburbs are all equally soulless and boring.
Flame away.

Agreed. I love big cities and small towns, but suburbs? Ugh.

The Boston suburbs are not soulless. There are too many charming ones to choose from.

Yes, and your choice of “charm” becomes notably limited if you’re a POC.

Np. Yawn. Stop making everything into the race issue.

You clearly have no knowledge about metro Boston.

It is very racist

No it's not

Maybe you’re talking about Boston, England, because you’re certainly not talking about Boston, Ma.

No, talking about Boston, MA, where I grew up

This is BS.

[Anonymous]

Grosse Pointe, MI. Maybe someone said this earlier...sorry, couldn’t go through all the thread pages. Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia (even though it’s technically in the city)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My post got cut off. I'm PP above. I truly believe there's nowhere as nice as New England: World-class universities, culture, history, and hospitals of Boston. Beautiful ocean and mountains for recreation, with the Cape, Nantucket, the Vineyard, Maine...on and on. Great colleges with small towns for day trips. Close to NYC for easy weekend jaunts. Liberal, progressive mindset (if that appeals to you, of course.) It's the best of almost every world. The winters do stink and the people can be reserved.

This is how I feel about Maryland, but I realize many would disagree with me.

LOL, no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Second Whitefish Bay Wi—Norman Rockwell kind of place.

Its really is charming, even in the winter- we picked up library books in shorewood, walked at atwater and then grabbed some stuff from TJs in Whitefish bay, super cosy and pretty. I love the east coast and won't live here forever but its great for the elementary years. Kids bike everywhere, the schools are great, and its so affordable. The housing stock has spoiled us, its so well built and charming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bostonites, for all their world-class institutions, are incredibly insular and parochial. Same with Boston suburbanites. Not from the area but every time I visit it's palpably noticeable. Even NOVA feels less monotonously provincial.

I think it's made all the more obvious because people from the Boston area think oh so highly of themselves.

+1 (for the “insular” comment)

I grew up in Lexington, went to college in Boston, and left the area after law school never looking back. Boston and its suburbs are laughably overrated, as is the city’s perception of itself, especially on the global scale. It has a few excellent schools. It has a few well-respected cultural institutions. Some select parts of its economy are doing well. But Boston also has a lot of baseless arrogance, close-mindedness, and racism — all of which runs deep through its history and identity.

Massachusetts loves to proclaim itself as a liberal utopia. In reality, it segregates people better than the South ever did — conveniently using 400 year-old colonial boundaries that pen most minorities and low-income earners into specific cities, towns and neighborhoods.

Add in an exorbitant cost of living, infrastructure that is ancient and falling apart, and mind boggling traffic congestion that just gets worse and worse (without any meaningful capacity improvements), the decision to never move back was an easy one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bostonites, for all their world-class institutions, are incredibly insular and parochial. Same with Boston suburbanites. Not from the area but every time I visit it's palpably noticeable. Even NOVA feels less monotonously provincial.

I think it's made all the more obvious because people from the Boston area think oh so highly of themselves.

+1 (for the “insular” comment)

I grew up in Lexington, went to college in Boston, and left the area after law school never looking back. Boston and its suburbs are laughably overrated, as is the city’s perception of itself, especially on the global scale. It has a few excellent schools. It has a few well-respected cultural institutions. Some select parts of its economy are doing well. But Boston also has a lot of baseless arrogance, close-mindedness, and racism — all of which runs deep through its history and identity.

Massachusetts loves to proclaim itself as a liberal utopia. In reality, it segregates people better than the South ever did — conveniently using 400 year-old colonial boundaries that pen most minorities and low-income earners into specific cities, towns and neighborhoods.

Add in an exorbitant cost of living, infrastructure that is ancient and falling apart, and mind boggling traffic congestion that just gets worse and worse (without any meaningful capacity improvements), the decision to never move back was an easy one.

I am originally from Newton, MA and agree with all of this. My parents (the Smiths) used to joke about how for the first 15 years they lived in their house, all their neighbors called it "the Johnson's old house". There is also a reason that in that SNL sketch about the white supremist meeting, Adam Driver says "I'm from up North but don't worry, I'm from Boston." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKcUOUYzDXA&list=PLjVefJBey6MGRAdyuWeHIYFZkrSjp-0SJ&index=32

And yet, Newton itself is so nice (beautiful homes, cute town centers, great schools) compared to Bethesda. That said I realize I would likely feel very differently if I wasn't white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bostonites, for all their world-class institutions, are incredibly insular and parochial. Same with Boston suburbanites. Not from the area but every time I visit it's palpably noticeable. Even NOVA feels less monotonously provincial.

I think it's made all the more obvious because people from the Boston area think oh so highly of themselves.

Insular? Yep. Parochial? Look up the definition. Not true at all.

"having a limited or narrow outlook or scope."

Where's the lie?

[Anonymous]

Jupiter Island, Florida

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CT Gold Coast defines the standard that others strive to emulate.

Um on what planet is that true? There are some strange people clinging to CT superiority but it seems hard to justify.

I absolutely love Greenwich and Darien. The architecture and setting is my jam and I love the city. There's no way I actually want to raise my kids in such a waspy elitist bubble though. Those aren't really the values I want to pass down to the younger generation.

[Anonymous]

The problem with this thread on a DC board is many haven't gotten out much to other areas out west so they are limited to judging the burbs of the East Coast cities and FL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem with this thread on a DC board is many haven't gotten out much to other areas out west so they are limited to judging the burbs of the East Coast cities and FL.

Why is this a problem? It's a DC-based Forum.

I think the larger problem is too may people "out West" posting in this Forum about things that are irrelevant to D.C.