At DC privates - Why are VA parents considered "inferior"?

[Anonymous]

Here we are on page 20, and no one has said it better than the poster on page 1:

NOVA=NJ burbs

MD=CT or NY burbs

Rightly or wrongly, factual or not, it is so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Washingtonian here who went to a big 3 followed by a Virginia Prep school. Here is my experience:

The majority (not all) of families who live in Virginia have a suburban mindset that is not as sophisticated as those who live in DC proper. The Potomac River draws a geographical & psychological line that separates NOVA residents from DC residents in so many ways. As for Maryland, the barrier line to me is the beltway. I believe those outside the beltway have more in common with NOVA residents than DC residents.

I take exception with Old Town and the areas of NOVA immediately across Chain Bridge. Old Town has an urban & historical appeal which is not suburban, and families who live just across Chain Bridge are so close in - they are closer to Georgetown than Tysons. I would never hold it against someone for living in McLean (beyond Crest Road which is practically DC but with a river view), but I would rather kill myself than be stranded out there with all those Real Housewives & people who watch Bravo TV.

"Hold against"? So strange you are. Find some worthwhile pursuits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here we are on page 20, and no one has said it better than the poster on page 1:

NOVA=NJ burbs

MD=CT or NY burbs

Rightly or wrongly, factual or not, it is so.

Sorry..I am from jersey area and VA is polar opposite. Have no idea what you are talking about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow - I am glad that we just moved out to VA from DC. We are far from old or new money and couldn't afford to send 3 kids to private. And now I'm really relieved that our children won't be surrounded by so many pompous snobs. I have to imagine that most of the families in our public will be much more down-to-earth.

Welcome to VA! We live in VA but sent our children to a DC private for preschool. We left after a couple of years for our local public school and couldn't be happier. Our children are receiving a great education and the people are much nicer, friendlier and real.

Thank you! We are nervous and excited for the fall.

I can totally understand being nervous. It's hard not to be, but focus more on being excited. Best wishes to you all!!

I would be nervous, too. What are you going to do when you actually have to tell people that you live in NOVA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here we are on page 20, and no one has said it better than the poster on page 1:

NOVA=NJ burbs

MD=CT or NY burbs

Rightly or wrongly, factual or not, it is so.

Sorry..I am from jersey area and VA is polar opposite. Have no idea what you are talking about?

I see what the PP is getting at. If you are a New Yorker (as in, Manhattanite) you view NJ with disdain, CT, Westchester or LI are mildly acceptable.

To add to this analogy, I'd put parts of NOVA (McLean, Arlington, Great Falls) in the Brooklyn category.

Signed,
A NOVA resident who doesn't give a rats ass about what you think. DS's friends have no issue crossing the river for playdates with us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here we are on page 20, and no one has said it better than the poster on page 1:

NOVA=NJ burbs

MD=CT or NY burbs

Rightly or wrongly, factual or not, it is so.

As someone who currently lives in MD, works in DC, worked in Manhattan formerly, and lived in NJ for many years, this is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

DC area residents (NOVA and MD): Simple federal government bureaucrats or synchophants. Plain and simple. What's all the fuss about?

[Anonymous]

I doubt any of the “D.C.” posters on the preceding 20 pages have children at our dcs’ independents because the parents who do seem perfectly sane. I chuckle though when our fellow parents from D.C. say they live in the “city.” They either hail from Forest Hills or the sliver of D.C. that's north of R Street and west of Connecticut (but which does not seem to include many [any?] children who live in AU Park). Of course, that isn't city at all. It’s indistinguishable from the garden suburbs of Detroit, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and other Rust Belt cities. Sort of Mclean with cracked sidewalks. D.C. residents from the Hill, Logan Circle, lower Georgetown, Crestwood, and Brookland live in a city. D.C.’s faux urbanites have beautiful suburban homes in nice neighborhoods. But those neighborhoods possess little city vive. They may be a five minute drive from Connecticut or Wisconsin, but the shopping and restaurants there are indistinguishable from Bethesda and Arlington. Well, the latter may have more authentic ethnic restaurants, but they seem largely the same to me otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here we are on page 20, and no one has said it better than the poster on page 1:

NOVA=NJ burbs

MD=CT or NY burbs

Rightly or wrongly, factual or not, it is so.

bahahahahahah

MD = California (liberal, haven for undocumented, high taxes)
VA = VA (cause it's the richest no comparison to anything else)
DC = baghdad minus the money

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-09-19/local/35496568_1_household-income-census-rankings-counties

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here we are on page 20, and no one has said it better than the poster on page 1:

NOVA=NJ burbs

MD=CT or NY burbs

Rightly or wrongly, factual or not, it is so.

There is one flaw in your premise. Washington, D.C. is not even close to being socially in the same league as NYC. Until 30 years ago most foreign diplomats considered Washington, D.C. to be hardship duty; perhaps some still do. New York is cosmopolitan, diverse, and exciting. New York has real money, old money, and university libraries named after their some of their resident's great-grandfathers. Washington, D.C., has clerks, chump change and a hand-full of first generation Ivies. In Washington, D.C., last week's pay check is considered to be "old money". NYC has Broadway Theater with real stagecraft, and hundreds of top tier restaurants. Washington, D.C., has second string road shows that make to the National Theather after they've played the Orpheum in Baltimore. Congratulations to the many Washingtonians who have recently just squeaked into the lower-upper class. Now that's an accomplishment for which you must be very proud.

Thank you, but please let me correct your equation.

NYC=London, Paris, Rome
D.C.=Peoria, Illinois

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here we are on page 20, and no one has said it better than the poster on page 1:

NOVA=NJ burbs

MD=CT or NY burbs

Rightly or wrongly, factual or not, it is so.

There is one flaw in your premise. Washington, D.C. is not even close to being socially in the same league as NYC. Until 30 years ago most foreign diplomats considered Washington, D.C. to be hardship duty; perhaps some still do. New York is cosmopolitan, diverse, and exciting. New York has real money, old money, and university libraries named after their some of their resident's great-grandfathers. Washington, D.C., has clerks, chump change and a hand-full of first generation Ivies. In Washington, D.C., last week's pay check is considered to be "old money". NYC has Broadway Theater with real stagecraft, and hundreds of top tier restaurants. Washington, D.C., has second string road shows that make to the National Theather after they've played the Orpheum in Baltimore. Congratulations to the many Washingtonians who have recently just squeaked into the lower-upper class. Now that's an accomplishment for which you must be very proud.

Thank you, but please let me correct your equation.

NYC=London, Paris, Rome
D.C.=Peoria, Illinois

DC is more like Brussels.

- MD resident

[Anonymous]

VA = (1) lower taxes; (2) can get an ambulance if one is required; (3) TJ / UVA = Love it!

[Anonymous]

Wow, you miss a day and you miss a whole lot on this site. Can't believe this conversation has gone 20 pages! Since someone brought up Bravo TV, I should mention, only because my husbands works in production, not even the DC franchise could make the cut on that network. When one is rejected by the bottom of the barrel- it doesn't really speak too well on one's aspirations of being seen as "cosmopolitan". I jest, I jest...don't want to get anyone's La Perla or Provocateur in a bunch but I really do agree with the previous: NYC=London, Paris, Rome. As much as I've traveled, I have never heard DC spoken of in the same light as these cities. In my humble opinion, one lives where one is happy or can build a happy family. That's all that matters!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op. why do you live in Virginia? And why do you send your kids to DC schools? Start there and you'll find your answers.

OP: To VA for lots of outdoor space and to DC for the schools like I had in Massachusetts. What answers are there that I will find?

But this is exactly the point. Why do you need "lots of space," outdoors or not? How many people live at your house... 20? Or is it that you need room for all of your "toys" -- your pool, your media room, your tacky furniture, your cars. THIS is what DC people turn up their noses at.

Because we think it is good for kids to have lots of space outdoors to run and play that is just outside our house And we don't like to be squashed like sardines in an old, tiny 3 bedroom colonial in which the third bedroom is really the size of a coat closet.

You don't care for these things? Great. Different strokes, and all that. But maligning all people who live in Va is a little weird.

All my friends who went to the Big 3 loved swimming in the VA/MD indoor pools....

[Anonymous]

I live in SE - other side of the river. Y'all on the other side ain't DC and ain't urban. So, f**k y'all!