What are the best and worst exurbs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ashburn/Leesburg has to be the worst. Soulless, lacks charm, flat, spread out, cookie-cutter manufactured suburbia. The wine country to the west is nice but I'm fine making the longer drive further out there when I need to.

But Vienna and Reston are the epitome of charm.

Vienna and Reston are both literally cookie cutter planned communities. Nothing is organic there. If you love strip malls and shitty TGI Fridays, you’ll feel right at home.

I work in regional planning and Reston (and Columbia) and well-known as some of the first planned communities as part of the new town movement. Calling Reston and Vienna exurbs is just silly.

I think some people on here have either never been out of DC or get their kicks out of posting insults.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ashburn/Leesburg has to be the worst. Soulless, lacks charm, flat, spread out, cookie-cutter manufactured suburbia. The wine country to the west is nice but I'm fine making the longer drive further out there when I need to.

But Vienna and Reston are the epitome of charm.

Vienna and Reston are both literally cookie cutter planned communities. Nothing is organic there. If you love strip malls and shitty TGI Fridays, you’ll feel right at home.

I work in regional planning and Reston (and Columbia) and well-known as some of the first planned communities as part of the new town movement. Calling Reston and Vienna exurbs is just silly.

I think some people on here have either never been out of DC or get their kicks out of posting insults.

There is no way that poster has spent more than 5 minutes in Reston.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ashburn/Leesburg has to be the worst. Soulless, lacks charm, flat, spread out, cookie-cutter manufactured suburbia. The wine country to the west is nice but I'm fine making the longer drive further out there when I need to.

But Vienna and Reston are the epitome of charm.

Vienna and Reston are both literally cookie cutter planned communities. Nothing is organic there. If you love strip malls and shitty TGI Fridays, you’ll feel right at home.

I work in regional planning and Reston (and Columbia) and well-known as some of the first planned communities as part of the new town movement. Calling Reston and Vienna exurbs is just silly.

I think some people on here have either never been out of DC or get their kicks out of posting insults.

It’s the same spammers who keep saying places like Fairfax and Ashburn are the exurbs. Basically anything not DC is the exurbs.

[Anonymous]

I think a lot of the definition of modern exurbia is based on out west and not the northeast. Here if you push out far enough from the city you end up in another city (at least a small one) which has probably been around forever and exists with its own distinct history since before the civil war. Out west you have exurbs in Texas and the inland empire and Vegas that popped up in the desert as truly residential extensions of cities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people in this thread have no idea what an exurb is.

exurb
ĕk′sûrb″
noun
A semirural region lying just beyond the suburbs of a city.


Places like Fairfax, Leesburg, Ashburn, Frederick exurbs is just ridiculous. There’s hardly any rural land in any of these places. Those are the definition of suburb. Even Woodbridge is a suburb not exurb.

+1

None of the places listed are semi-rural. They’re all strip malls and cookie cutter houses.

People need to educate themselves on what an exurb is. This thread is embarrassing.

Disagree. it’s about zoning. Davidsonville, MD is zoned for farm agricultural use. Tons of farms and lots of people on well water. It’s not that far from annapolis though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people in this thread have no idea what an exurb is.

exurb
ĕk′sûrb″
noun
A semirural region lying just beyond the suburbs of a city.


Places like Fairfax, Leesburg, Ashburn, Frederick exurbs is just ridiculous. There’s hardly any rural land in any of these places. Those are the definition of suburb. Even Woodbridge is a suburb not exurb.

+1

None of the places listed are semi-rural. They’re all strip malls and cookie cutter houses.

People need to educate themselves on what an exurb is. This thread is embarrassing.

Disagree. it’s about zoning. Davidsonville, MD is zoned for farm agricultural use. Tons of farms and lots of people on well water. It’s not that far from annapolis though.

Disagree all you want. You’re simply incorrect.

Comparing Davidsonville to Fairfax is just utterly stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of the definition of modern exurbia is based on out west and not the northeast. Here if you push out far enough from the city you end up in another city (at least a small one) which has probably been around forever and exists with its own distinct history since before the civil war. Out west you have exurbs in Texas and the inland empire and Vegas that popped up in the desert as truly residential extensions of cities.

You know what, I think your point makes a lot of sense as to why there is so much disagreement about it. I think areas outside the traditional suburbs in places out west might be more semi rural like you pointed out. Whereas here they look and feel more suburban or are their own towns but then they're still so much further out of what people would consider the major city center yet people may work or see that major city center as part of their sphere.

[Anonymous]

Clearly people are arguing about what an exurb is without knowing the definition.

https://www.brookings.edu/research/finding-exurbia-americas-fast-growing-communities-at-the-metropolitan-fringe/

“Since the Finding Exurbia report by the Brookings Institution in 2006, the term is generally used[citation needed] for areas beyond suburbs and specifically less densely built and populated than the suburbs to which the exurbs' residents commute.[9] To qualify as exurban, a census tract must meet three criteria:
Economic connection to a large metropolis.
Low housing density: bottom third of census tracts with regard to housing density. In 2000, this was a minimum of 2.6 acres (11,000 m2) per resident.
Population growth exceeding the average for its central metropolitan area.”

In the study (from 2006 though), the exurbs are Frederick, Charles, Calvert, extreme northern Montgomery and extreme southern Prince George’s, southern Anne Arundel, western Howard, western but not eastern Loudoun, only a bit of Prince William, Culpeper, Faucquier, King George, Orange, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Warren in VA and Jefferson County in WV.
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/20061017_exurbia.pdf see pages 17 and 22

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Clearly people are arguing about what an exurb is without knowing the definition.

https://www.brookings.edu/research/finding-exurbia-americas-fast-growing-communities-at-the-metropolitan-fringe/

“Since the Finding Exurbia report by the Brookings Institution in 2006, the term is generally used[citation needed] for areas beyond suburbs and specifically less densely built and populated than the suburbs to which the exurbs' residents commute.[9] To qualify as exurban, a census tract must meet three criteria:
Economic connection to a large metropolis.
Low housing density: bottom third of census tracts with regard to housing density. In 2000, this was a minimum of 2.6 acres (11,000 m2) per resident.
Population growth exceeding the average for its central metropolitan area.”

In the study (from 2006 though), the exurbs are Frederick, Charles, Calvert, extreme northern Montgomery and extreme southern Prince George’s, southern Anne Arundel, western Howard, western but not eastern Loudoun, only a bit of Prince William, Culpeper, Faucquier, King George, Orange, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Warren in VA and Jefferson County in WV.
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/20061017_exurbia.pdf see pages 17 and 22

Old study that’s almost 20 years old. But the point still remains that places like Ashburn, Reston or Fairfax are not exurbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clearly people are arguing about what an exurb is without knowing the definition.

https://www.brookings.edu/research/finding-exurbia-americas-fast-growing-communities-at-the-metropolitan-fringe/

“Since the Finding Exurbia report by the Brookings Institution in 2006, the term is generally used[citation needed] for areas beyond suburbs and specifically less densely built and populated than the suburbs to which the exurbs' residents commute.[9] To qualify as exurban, a census tract must meet three criteria:
Economic connection to a large metropolis.
Low housing density: bottom third of census tracts with regard to housing density. In 2000, this was a minimum of 2.6 acres (11,000 m2) per resident.
Population growth exceeding the average for its central metropolitan area.”

In the study (from 2006 though), the exurbs are Frederick, Charles, Calvert, extreme northern Montgomery and extreme southern Prince George’s, southern Anne Arundel, western Howard, western but not eastern Loudoun, only a bit of Prince William, Culpeper, Faucquier, King George, Orange, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Warren in VA and Jefferson County in WV.
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/20061017_exurbia.pdf see pages 17 and 22

Old study that’s almost 20 years old. But the point still remains that places like Ashburn, Reston or Fairfax are not exurbs.

I don’t think anyone was calling Reston or Fairfax exurbs. Ashburn yes but that’s because it’s in Loudoun which is further out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clearly people are arguing about what an exurb is without knowing the definition.

https://www.brookings.edu/research/finding-exurbia-americas-fast-growing-communities-at-the-metropolitan-fringe/

“Since the Finding Exurbia report by the Brookings Institution in 2006, the term is generally used[citation needed] for areas beyond suburbs and specifically less densely built and populated than the suburbs to which the exurbs' residents commute.[9] To qualify as exurban, a census tract must meet three criteria:
Economic connection to a large metropolis.
Low housing density: bottom third of census tracts with regard to housing density. In 2000, this was a minimum of 2.6 acres (11,000 m2) per resident.
Population growth exceeding the average for its central metropolitan area.”

In the study (from 2006 though), the exurbs are Frederick, Charles, Calvert, extreme northern Montgomery and extreme southern Prince George’s, southern Anne Arundel, western Howard, western but not eastern Loudoun, only a bit of Prince William, Culpeper, Faucquier, King George, Orange, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Warren in VA and Jefferson County in WV.
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/20061017_exurbia.pdf see pages 17 and 22

Old study that’s almost 20 years old. But the point still remains that places like Ashburn, Reston or Fairfax are not exurbs.

I don’t think anyone was calling Reston or Fairfax exurbs. Ashburn yes but that’s because it’s in Loudoun which is further out.

Someone upthread did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clearly people are arguing about what an exurb is without knowing the definition.

https://www.brookings.edu/research/finding-exurbia-americas-fast-growing-communities-at-the-metropolitan-fringe/

“Since the Finding Exurbia report by the Brookings Institution in 2006, the term is generally used[citation needed] for areas beyond suburbs and specifically less densely built and populated than the suburbs to which the exurbs' residents commute.[9] To qualify as exurban, a census tract must meet three criteria:
Economic connection to a large metropolis.
Low housing density: bottom third of census tracts with regard to housing density. In 2000, this was a minimum of 2.6 acres (11,000 m2) per resident.
Population growth exceeding the average for its central metropolitan area.”

In the study (from 2006 though), the exurbs are Frederick, Charles, Calvert, extreme northern Montgomery and extreme southern Prince George’s, southern Anne Arundel, western Howard, western but not eastern Loudoun, only a bit of Prince William, Culpeper, Faucquier, King George, Orange, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Warren in VA and Jefferson County in WV.
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/20061017_exurbia.pdf see pages 17 and 22

Old study that’s almost 20 years old. But the point still remains that places like Ashburn, Reston or Fairfax are not exurbs.

I don’t think anyone was calling Reston or Fairfax exurbs. Ashburn yes but that’s because it’s in Loudoun which is further out.

There’s nothing rural about Ashburn. Unless data centers are considered “rural”.