Why do people here bash suburbia when most of the NW DC moms live in what is essentially the burbs?

[Anonymous]

Within a mile of my house, I'm looking at farmland, cows and horses....I wouldn't trade it for the world!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Within a mile of my house, I'm looking at farmland, cows and horses....I wouldn't trade it for the world!!

Old McDonald had a farm..

[Anonymous]

When I moved to DC, I heard tons of condescending "I can't believe you live in the district." As if it were some newly-discovered planet. Now that we've moved to the burbs, I hear tons of "Oh, I could never live in the burbs." That's just the way it is. People love to judge. Find a place you like, live there, be happy. If you love the city, live there. If you like the burbs or the country, live there. Not hard stuff. The hard stuff is tuning out the judgemental chatter than runs both ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whatever. Lived in D.C. for years. Paid my dues. Would not go back. I don't have to justify myself to you judgmental schmucks. If I lived in Arlington, should I claim to be superior to McLean? WTF? Are you people for real? Try living elsewhere. Try venturing out once in while. This happens truly only in the D.C. area that anyone would actually give a flying f*ck. Really.

You could NOT be MORE wrong! Every city has addresses with more "snob appeal," places where folks think they have a better addresses than the other poor schmucks. It is so not DC-specific. How, for instance, do you think the "bridge-and-Tunnel-Crowd" got it's name? From the folks in NYC proper looking down their noses at those pesky outer borroughs and NJ types. In Atlanta, its the Buckhead crowd looking down their noses at those "outside the beltway." In Los Angeles it is 90210. This attitude runs through out every city, small and large from London to lafayette, LA, and from Paris, France to Paris, TX.

Every city has it's perceived "best addresss" and, in DC, many people think that means 20007 or 20016 or 20015 (Basically, Georgetown, Wesley Heights, Kent, Spring Valley, and AU park for the younger set - with Chevy Chase Village in MD up there, too). Don't fool yourself that it is a DC-thing. It is not. These 'hoods DO have more "social cache" and that is a fact. You do not have to care, you do not have to buy into it or like it but, it is what it is.


Not sure the NYC "bridge-and-tunnel" analogy works when looking at the DC/burb conflict that is always bubbling here. The reason is that, often, DC residents look down on all burbs. In NYC, there is a great aspirational quality to suburban living (at least in our 40ish/parent demographic). Many NYC professionals would love to live in Greenwich, Darien, Westport, Rye, etc. And, let's face it, those suburbs are really more equivalent to the DC burbs were talking about (Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Potomac).
L

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whatever. Lived in D.C. for years. Paid my dues. Would not go back. I don't have to justify myself to you judgmental schmucks. If I lived in Arlington, should I claim to be superior to McLean? WTF? Are you people for real? Try living elsewhere. Try venturing out once in while. This happens truly only in the D.C. area that anyone would actually give a flying f*ck. Really.

You could NOT be MORE wrong! Every city has addresses with more "snob appeal," places where folks think they have a better addresses than the other poor schmucks. It is so not DC-specific. How, for instance, do you think the "bridge-and-Tunnel-Crowd" got it's name? From the folks in NYC proper looking down their noses at those pesky outer borroughs and NJ types. In Atlanta, its the Buckhead crowd looking down their noses at those "outside the beltway." In Los Angeles it is 90210. This attitude runs through out every city, small and large from London to lafayette, LA, and from Paris, France to Paris, TX.

Every city has it's perceived "best addresss" and, in DC, many people think that means 20007 or 20016 or 20015 (Basically, Georgetown, Wesley Heights, Kent, Spring Valley, and AU park for the younger set - with Chevy Chase Village in MD up there, too). Don't fool yourself that it is a DC-thing. It is not. These 'hoods DO have more "social cache" and that is a fact. You do not have to care, you do not have to buy into it or like it but, it is what it is.

L

In Atlanta, the "beltway" is called the Perimeter--sorry, former Atlantan here, just had to comment! And BTW, Buckhead is not necessarily the best address--personally I'd much rather live in Druid Hills or Morningside.

[Anonymous]

WHO CARES ABOUT WHERE ANYONE ELSE DECIDES TO LIVE??? So sick of these posts. Stop!!!

[Anonymous]

18:33, perhaps you should say some NYC professionals. Most of those I know don't want the commute trade-off. I couldn't imagine schlepping Cheeveresque style M-F on Metro North.

[Anonymous]

You could NOT be MORE wrong! Every city has addresses with more "snob appeal," places where folks think they have a better addresses than the other poor schmucks. It is so not DC-specific. How, for instance, do you think the "bridge-and-Tunnel-Crowd" got it's name? From the folks in NYC proper looking down their noses at those pesky outer borroughs and NJ types. In Atlanta, its the Buckhead crowd looking down their noses at those "outside the beltway." In Los Angeles it is 90210. This attitude runs through out every city, small and large from London to lafayette, LA, and from Paris, France to Paris, TX.

Every city has it's perceived "best addresss" and, in DC, many people think that means 20007 or 20016 or 20015 (Basically, Georgetown, Wesley Heights, Kent, Spring Valley, and AU park for the younger set - with Chevy Chase Village in MD up there, too). Don't fool yourself that it is a DC-thing. It is not. These 'hoods DO have more "social cache" and that is a fact. You do not have to care, you do not have to buy into it or like it but, it is what it is.

Not sure the NYC "bridge-and-tunnel" analogy works when looking at the DC/burb conflict that is always bubbling here. The reason is that, often, DC residents look down on all burbs. In NYC, there is a great aspirational quality to suburban living (at least in our 40ish/parent demographic). Many NYC professionals would love to live in Greenwich, Darien, Westport, Rye, etc. And, let's face it, those suburbs are really more equivalent to the DC burbs were talking about (Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Potomac).

Maybe in the past but so not true anymore. My friends who stayed in NYC after having kids, whether Upper East Side or other, did so because they could not stand the thought of moving somewhere like Greenwich or Rye. They completely think living in the city is "superior" and do everything to make it work when the children are babies/young, getting drivers and full-time nannies and then fight the whole private school admission battle which makes Washington admissions season look like a cake-walk. It is the same attitude you hear in Washington. The NYCers I know though do the commuting thing in the summers - they all own fabulous summer homes where mom and kids spend most of the summer while the dads commute on the weekends. Washington folks do this too but usually only for parts of July and/or August and Dad may work from the beach house as its often not truly feasible to commute (of course, that depends on if they are in Nantucket or Betheny).

[Anonymous]

In Atlanta, the "beltway" is called the Perimeter--sorry, former Atlantan here, just had to comment! And BTW, Buckhead is not necessarily the best address--personally I'd much rather live in Druid Hills or Morningside.

I am from Atlanta too and, while I vastly prefer Ansley Park (my mom loves Morningside!), most Atlanta folks think Buckhead is the "best address." Really only those who grew up there, or have lived there long enough, get that there are other fabulous neighborhoods like Druid Hills (also totally gorgeous homes) and Ansley Park, etc... Regardless, all these fabulous 'hoods are inside the perimeter (which is what they call the beltway but noone from outside Atlanta would get that) which equates to being inside the DC borders so, it is still the same thing as we see here in Washington.

[Anonymous]

I was in Buckhead in April and it's nothing like Mazza Gallerie or Tysons Galleria. Just didn't seem that upscale to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in the hood, straight up.

Is there some code that I can append to my suburb-bashing posts to prove my bashing rights?

(This all reminds me of the Chris Rock bit, "is it ever ok for a white person to say [the n-word]." "If it's between 3:30 and 4:00AM on Christmas Eve, and you're in the parking lot of Toys R Us...")

Take that you crack ass mother f-er! That was one of the best bits of stand up comedy ever...
Thanks. That was only thing worth reading in this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You could NOT be MORE wrong! Every city has addresses with more "snob appeal," places where folks think they have a better addresses than the other poor schmucks. It is so not DC-specific. How, for instance, do you think the "bridge-and-Tunnel-Crowd" got it's name? From the folks in NYC proper looking down their noses at those pesky outer borroughs and NJ types. In Atlanta, its the Buckhead crowd looking down their noses at those "outside the beltway." In Los Angeles it is 90210. This attitude runs through out every city, small and large from London to lafayette, LA, and from Paris, France to Paris, TX.

Every city has it's perceived "best addresss" and, in DC, many people think that means 20007 or 20016 or 20015 (Basically, Georgetown, Wesley Heights, Kent, Spring Valley, and AU park for the younger set - with Chevy Chase Village in MD up there, too). Don't fool yourself that it is a DC-thing. It is not. These 'hoods DO have more "social cache" and that is a fact. You do not have to care, you do not have to buy into it or like it but, it is what it is.

Not sure the NYC "bridge-and-tunnel" analogy works when looking at the DC/burb conflict that is always bubbling here. The reason is that, often, DC residents look down on all burbs. In NYC, there is a great aspirational quality to suburban living (at least in our 40ish/parent demographic). Many NYC professionals would love to live in Greenwich, Darien, Westport, Rye, etc. And, let's face it, those suburbs are really more equivalent to the DC burbs were talking about (Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Potomac).

Maybe in the past but so not true anymore. My friends who stayed in NYC after having kids, whether Upper East Side or other, did so because they could not stand the thought of moving somewhere like Greenwich or Rye. They completely think living in the city is "superior" and do everything to make it work when the children are babies/young, getting drivers and full-time nannies and then fight the whole private school admission battle which makes Washington admissions season look like a cake-walk. It is the same attitude you hear in Washington. The NYCers I know though do the commuting thing in the summers - they all own fabulous summer homes where mom and kids spend most of the summer while the dads commute on the weekends. Washington folks do this too but usually only for parts of July and/or August and Dad may work from the beach house as its often not truly feasible to commute (of course, that depends on if they are in Nantucket or Betheny).

^^Absolutely true. Leaving NYC for Greenwich, Westport, etc. was not an option for me. (Ironic since I'm now in DC.) The "bridge n tunnel" crowd was usually a term for people from burroughs across the river, northern Jersey, or Long Islanders. Although I loved living in NYC, I don't make fun of those who didn't.

[Anonymous]

Cleveland Park was one of the original "street car suburbs." The side streets in its historic district still have a village vibe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was in Buckhead in April and it's nothing like Mazza Gallerie or Tysons Galleria. Just didn't seem that upscale to me.

Ahhhhem, Buckhead is a neighborhood, not a Shopping Mall. WTH???

[Anonymous]

I love living in the suburbs. This Sunday we took a nice 20 minute drive into DC and spent the day walking around the Mall with the little one. Probably won't go back into the city for another month or so until we have some relatives visiting from out of the country.

Couldn't pay me enough to live in a city.

Bottom line - different strokes for different folks.