i hate the dc burbs! are there ANY like philly or boston burbs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the Boston suburbs and I find Beth-CC to be much more walkable. Other things are different of course, maybe because Mass. is still mostly organized around towns, whereas most of metro DC is unincorporated (the places that are incorporated, like Town of CC, Garrett Park, Alexandria probably have more of that suburban Boston feel).

This is correct. The difference between the suburbs here and those of Philly, Boston and other Northeastern cities is that here we have counties and there they have towns. Towns are able to individualize themselves, while counties focus on a much larger geographic area. Of course, certain parts of counties may be town-like, but they will never be the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I now live in the Philly suburbs (Main Line) and while there are lots of little towns they are, with only an exception or two, mostly not set up for walking. There's no street life, barely one decent restaurant. We have beautiful trees for sure, beautiful houses, hardly any traffic, but it's not all wine and roses. I miss being able to sit outdoors in Bethesda and have a nice glass of wine at a cafe table, or just eat decently without having to drive into the city.

Where do you live?! The Main Line has some of the best restaurants in the area. Wayne/Ardmore/Bryn Mawr, etc. Heck - even Paoli and Malvern are pretty nice places for restaurants and shops now.

[Anonymous]

Mass. has counties, actually, but they are extremely weak.

Anyway, Boston inner 'burb native here. I think that Old Town Alexandria and Del Ray, and Takoma Park are most close to Boston suburbs. Of course, a big difference is that Boston itself is TINY, so indeed, much of what is suburbia there is in the District here -- like Cleveland Park, AU Park, etc. Of course, we don't have squares here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, check out Rosemont and Beverly hills in Alexandria. You will love them.

Agree with this. And I would add the adjoining neighborhood of Del Ray, which is VERY walkable and has an awesome main street ("the Avenue") full of unique shops and restaurants. These are zips 22301, 22304, and 22305.

[Anonymous]

I would be in heaven if I could find a place like Maplewood, NJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I now live in the Philly suburbs (Main Line) and while there are lots of little towns they are, with only an exception or two, mostly not set up for walking. There's no street life, barely one decent restaurant. We have beautiful trees for sure, beautiful houses, hardly any traffic, but it's not all wine and roses. I miss being able to sit outdoors in Bethesda and have a nice glass of wine at a cafe table, or just eat decently without having to drive into the city.

Where do you live?! The Main Line has some of the best restaurants in the area. Wayne/Ardmore/Bryn Mawr, etc. Heck - even Paoli and Malvern are pretty nice places for restaurants and shops now.

Not to get off-topic, but this hasn't been our experience. There are nice shops, but the restaurants are, with few exceptions, remarkably crummy. It's surprising considering the demographics of the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I now live in the Philly suburbs (Main Line) and while there are lots of little towns they are, with only an exception or two, mostly not set up for walking. There's no street life, barely one decent restaurant. We have beautiful trees for sure, beautiful houses, hardly any traffic, but it's not all wine and roses. I miss being able to sit outdoors in Bethesda and have a nice glass of wine at a cafe table, or just eat decently without having to drive into the city.

Where do you live?! The Main Line has some of the best restaurants in the area. Wayne/Ardmore/Bryn Mawr, etc. Heck - even Paoli and Malvern are pretty nice places for restaurants and shops now.

Not to get off-topic, but this hasn't been our experience. There are nice shops, but the restaurants are, with few exceptions, remarkably crummy. It's surprising considering the demographics of the area.

Oddly, Bethesda also doesn't have any restaurants I'd consider really great (although I wouldn't say they are crummy either).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would be in heaven if I could find a place like Maplewood, NJ.

Yes! Or Montclair, NJ? Or Chestnut Hill, MA?

[Anonymous]

Me, I'm glad the "DC 'burbs" aren't like Philly or Boston. I like the fact that we retain some regional variety in the good old USA, even in this age of a Starbucks on every corner and a Gap in every mall. There are plenty of great neighborhoods in this area, but some people are just blind to their charms because they are too busy comparing it wherever they are from. Unrealistic.

[Anonymous]

To 13:16 - how about Persimmon?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Me, I'm glad the "DC 'burbs" aren't like Philly or Boston. I like the fact that we retain some regional variety in the good old USA, even in this age of a Starbucks on every corner and a Gap in every mall. There are plenty of great neighborhoods in this area, but some people are just blind to their charms because they are too busy comparing it wherever they are from. Unrealistic.

agree with this x 10000. it gets so old when people complain about not being able to find a neighborhood similar to Brooklyn, Boston, Philly, etc. Either move to the parts of the country you like or spend some time investigating what makes local areas unique. And despite the strip malls and starbucks, the DC area does have its own flavor if you take the time to explore it and learn a little about its history instead of using it as pitstop on your way to the next cooler town.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, check out Rosemont and Beverly hills in Alexandria. You will love them.

Agree with this. And I would add the adjoining neighborhood of Del Ray, which is VERY walkable and has an awesome main street ("the Avenue") full of unique shops and restaurants. These are zips 22301, 22304, and 22305.

What about the schools, though? They're pretty bad, no?

[Anonymous]

I live in Arlington Heights just over Route 50 in South Arlington and we love it here.

Lots of old trees, very walkable and the houses are not cookie cutter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Me, I'm glad the "DC 'burbs" aren't like Philly or Boston. I like the fact that we retain some regional variety in the good old USA, even in this age of a Starbucks on every corner and a Gap in every mall. There are plenty of great neighborhoods in this area, but some people are just blind to their charms because they are too busy comparing it wherever they are from. Unrealistic.

agree with this x 10000. it gets so old when people complain about not being able to find a neighborhood similar to Brooklyn, Boston, Philly, etc. Either move to the parts of the country you like or spend some time investigating what makes local areas unique. And despite the strip malls and starbucks, the DC area does have its own flavor if you take the time to explore it and learn a little about its history instead of using it as pitstop on your way to the next cooler town.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

I think the areas most similar to what you are talking about is most like the upper nw neighborhoods in DC -

I agree with this. What burbs in Mass are you thinking of? Many are so different from each other.