Odenton poster here. Obviously people in Odenton don’t exclusively eat at places that aren’t Michelin star restaurants. Odenton is a boring suburb, I never denied that. I’m out of here the second the kids graduate high school, and I’m going back to DC. The point was that nobody here is jealous of the food and culture scene in Annapolis. 90% of it is unhealthy bar food and chains that exists in the strip malls that are 5 minutes away from our homes. If people want to experience something sophisticated or cultured, they go out to DC. Even people in Annapolis themselves go to DC or Baltimore for the night if they’re looking for something real extravagant. The northern and older part Odenton such as Chapelgate has pockets of working-class people, but pretending that Piney Orchard, Two Rivers, Chapel Grove, The Preserve at Severn Run, Saddlebrooke, Stonegate Forest, and all the neighborhoods along Waugh Chapel Road are like Glen Burnie is ridiculous. These areas are full of middle-class and upper-middle-class professionals working in DC and Fort Meade. People know it’s a boring suburb, but that’s the point. People want boring suburbs when they’re raising kids because they usually come with good schools, safety, and family-friendly atmospheres. I could have saved $100k on a house by buying the same house in another “boring suburb” zoned to Annapolis High School, but I didn’t, because then there’s an added cost of sending kids to private school. It doesn’t mean Odenton is where people want to stay forever. Nearly everyone I know plans to sell their house and move to “interesting” places once their youngest child graduates from high school. |
Is Annapolis not super racist and segregated? It’s the only place in the DMV where I’ve seen both white and black people are actively advocating for segregation, even those that claim to be democrats. The whole redistricting between Annapolis and South River High School brought out a lot of ugly racial tensions on both sides. The school board and politicians here actively advocate to keep these areas segregate, hostile, and racist. |
I’m not from AA County and wasn’t aware of race issues in Annapolis. If this is true, it’s unfortunate. I had heard many times in the past about race issues around Pasadena. Not sure if this is still prevalent? |
Oh yeah, big time. Anne Arundel County as a whole struggles with racism, and Annapolis is no exception. Annapolis is easily one of the most segregated areas in the DMV. White people and people of color in Annapolis don’t mix the same way oil and water don’t mix. White flight out of public schools in Annapolis was/is really bad, private school usage is the highest in Anne Arundel County, and any time anyone tries to change anything in Annapolis or in the immediate surrounding areas like Edgewater, Arnold, or Severna Park, people who might as well be affiliated with the KKK come out of the woodworks, politicians literally get death threats, and the ugliness comes out. People say Annapolis High is “diverse,” but it’s majority Hispanic and Black kids living in public housing and then 1/4 white kids who got into a magnet program. Asians and wealthier immigrant families don’t move to Annapolis because of the poor quality public schools and because there is nothing there that appeals to them. They go to Crofton, Odenton, Gambrills, or bypass AA County altogether for Howard County where they get better schools and more diversity. |
I grew up in Montgomery County and remember my parent's friends who were born and raised in DC always called it Warshington. I always thought that was surprising. Of course these are people who would be in their 80s today, and I think was more common in people born in DC before the 1960s. I also thought it was weird because my grandmother in Ohio was always talking about warshing her clothes. And just seemed so odd that older Washingtonians would say Warshington. Did not compute. lol |
But we’re the parents of your parents friends born in Washington? I was born in DC. Both of my parents were born in DC. But the parents of many of my friends were born in Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas — so there are some things that I say with a different accent from my parents, because my peers and some of my teachers were born in Southern states. I think “Warshington” is more of a blue collar thing, but I had to go to Bawmer to hear deug (that’s as close as I can get to the Baltimore pronunciation of “dog” and zink. |
This is not cosmopolitan. Lots of people from collectivist, low-trust nations, and just a few nations at that (India, El Salvador, Nigeria, and a few others), not "diverse" at all. These immigrants are doing well for their families here, achieving their wildest dreams, but are they civic-minded, proponents of western liberalism (not political liberalism but liberalism meaning the political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law), instead of racism, classicism, or caste-ism? Yes, these immigrants can have their perspective on what neighborhoods are attractive to them, but their definition of attractive, don't assume that non-immigrants, those of us whose families have been here for centuries, share the same values. Some of us may not want to live around people who are brand spanking new to American values, and who we are not sure take to heart American values. |
This. I live in Baltimore and went to private schools. It was very rare to hear a Baltimore accent there. Now I teach in the Essex/Middle River area and nearly every kid has a Bawlimore accent. |
Yep, this. Odenton and Crofton are perfectly nice suburbs with nice middle class families. Most folks either work in dc or Baltimore, or some fed job or maybe on ft Meade. Vastly different vibe than Glen burnie or Pasadena. |
I'm not from Maryland, so please excuse the ignorance. Are Glen Burnie and Pasadena full of white trash or something? |
Glen Burnout is great. Not as familiar with Pasadena, AKA Dirty ‘Dena. |
| What is a waterbillie? This term is referenced in an earlier post. |
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Just read that it is a hillbilly on the water.
To find out, you really need to go to the Eastern shore, of Virginia |
Yes they are. |
Glen Burnie is south Baltimore and has similar vibes and crime. Pasadena is more white trashy, although parts are lovely. |