Np here- former New Yorker here and living in ( and loving) Arlington. So... There goes your theory of New Yorkers avoiding Va.... |
I'm not the one who posted that. Try to keep up
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Do you think it is like the NYC suburbs? |
+1 born and bred Manhattanite and never for a single moment have considered living in Arlington, or anywhere in VA |
Well, not really. NYC is just such a completely different vibe to me. I honestly find parts of the " city" of DC much more comparable to parts of Jersey/ Long Island. I find Arlington ( on the whole) to feel more suburban than say- Hoboken. I had heard that an Arlington County Board member had said they wanted Arlington to be modeled after Queens. I lived in Astoria for a minute and I'm not anti Queens, but I don't think that is the area I would be looking to emulate, ya know? |
| Former nothern NJ resident here. I wanted to love NOVA when we moved here -- the lure of lower taxes and good public colleges were two reasons. Alas, most of NOVA is just really ugly. It's as if the town and county planners didn't even consider smart growth or aesthetics at all. MOCO is only marginally better, TBH, but it's a step closer to looking like someone actually cared. |
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Arlington is much more suburban than Hoboken. Not even close. I do actually kinda, sorta agree about Arlington being modeled after Queens, if you think in terms of commercial development along the major thoroughfares like Roosevelt Ave, Astoria Blvd, etc.
The biggest problem I see with these comparison, is that there are so many variables. A place as close in as Hoboken, won't have the same architecture or vibe as Hoboken. A place as wealthy as New Canaan or Bedford Hills won't have the same walkable village aspects. The closest comparison I have ever heard is that Maplewood/Montclair are like Takoma Park/close in Silver Spring. But, the jersey towns are not as close in as TP/SS, and the entire school situation is different, due to countywide school systems down here. Going up along the Hudson River towns has no equivalent on the Potomac. And nobody down here pays anything like the astronomical property taxes in NY/NJ. |
Yeah, I'm the poster from above who mentioned queens. That makes sense when you talk about commercial corridors. What parts of nova are you finding more objectionable? I find Arlington a million times more attractive than Astoria, but I totally agree with you about lack of city planning / suburban sprawl. And taxes... Lord I don't know how people make it work up there. I don't know that we would have ever made a SFH work up there. On the whole I agree going up along the Hudson River towns is on the whole much more attractive. |
| ^^^ sorry just realized I combined the previous two responses from different people. |
Ummm what part of DC do you reside in? Say what u want to about PG and Mont counties (DC suburbs) but their park and recreation amenities are the best of the best in the nation. Here's proof of it The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) today won the prestigious 2015 National Gold Medal Award for excellence in Parks and Recreation Management. The Gold Medal is one of the highest professional awards available to parks and recreation agencies throughout the country and involves a stringent qualification and judging process. The Gold Medal Award is presented annually by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration (AAPRA) in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA). http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/504973.page |
I'm from Great Neck. Potomac is the most like Great Neck, partially because that's where many people from Great Neck wind up. There's even a temple row. However, Potomac doesn't have something like the Middle Neck road, and there's nothing really like Northern Boulevard. Simply, down here doesn't have the same mix of very big money mixed right in with European-ethnic middle class that dots most of Long Island. You don't have blue and white collar workers living side by side. Far more people have their heads up their you-know-whats in the DC suburbs. Close-in NYC suburbs don't have white-bread, "Christian/Bible church" culture, no white Baptists, etc. Unless you are old-school, mainline Protestant, you are no more than two or three generations removed from Ellis Island or other immigration channel. That just gives a totally different vibe. |
| Based SIL/BIL lives and Basking Ridge and our. Lives in McLean, I would say they are equivalent. |
So damn true. |
Northern NJ? Now that's seriously ugly. And that's before you get to the residents. Not real interested in the aesthetic judgments of someone who should have stayed in Paramus or Teaneck. |
Oh honey. You're showing how provincial and stuck in Virginia you are. Really... venture outside the south. It's okay
Signed, Native Washingtonian that is aware that New Jersey deserves the name "Garden State" |