Why do people in DC/MD look down on Virginians?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:the accessibility argument is so backwards. try to get downtown from bethesda or arlington, and tell me what takes longer.

On a perfect day, you can get to downtown faster from Arlington. However, in the 2 years I lived and commuted from Arlington, I'd say it was a perfect day only about 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time, you're stuck sitting in traffic waiting to cross a bridge for 30+ minutes. My commute to and from Bethesda to near the White House is faster on average than my commute from N Arlington to the same area. Sure, I could make it faster from Arlington some of the time. But never once have I been stuck for an hour (or more) waiting to cross a bridge to Bethesda as I was on more occasions that I care to count when I lived in Arlington. While my best commute to/from Arlington was shorter, my worst commute to/from Bethesda is soooo much better than my worst commute to/from Arlington, that in all, I prefer the Bethesda commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What OP is precisely referring to is DC and MD snobbery toward close-in VA burbs like Alexandria, Arlington and McLean. I think (having lived in both DC and Arlington) it is a question of aesthetics. NWDC, Chevy Chase and Bethesda have many lovely areas with pretty landscaping, forrests, and houses. Arlington is fairly hideous (split levels and ranchers) with a very few pretty pockets like Country Club HIlls and Maywood/Cherrydale but even those areas have some seriously uglies as well. Alexandria is prettier but too many tiny colonials and so inconvenient to everywhere else in the metro area. McLean also has afew pretty pockets but too many McMansions and ranchers. Also, it is an accessibility snobbery - in VA you have to cross a bridge, which is more likely to get backed-up with traffic, to get to the rest of the metro area. Getting stuck crossing a bridge is a serious con to many people.

Totally. Most of NoVa is just plain ugly. That being said, I don't look down on Virginians, most of the ones I know are good people. I just wouldn't want to live in their state (or at least the Northern part of it).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:the accessibility argument is so backwards. try to get downtown from bethesda or arlington, and tell me what takes longer.

At rush hour, Bethesda, no contest. Arlington is closer but the routes are limited to the bridges (i.e. fewer lanes, no back roads route choices) and bridges get badly backed up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What OP is precisely referring to is DC and MD snobbery toward close-in VA burbs like Alexandria, Arlington and McLean. I think (having lived in both DC and Arlington) it is a question of aesthetics. NWDC, Chevy Chase and Bethesda have many lovely areas with pretty landscaping, forrests, and houses. Arlington is fairly hideous (split levels and ranchers) with a very few pretty pockets like Country Club HIlls and Maywood/Cherrydale but even those areas have some seriously uglies as well. Alexandria is prettier but too many tiny colonials and so inconvenient to everywhere else in the metro area. McLean also has afew pretty pockets but too many McMansions and ranchers. Also, it is an accessibility snobbery - in VA you have to cross a bridge, which is more likely to get backed-up with traffic, to get to the rest of the metro area. Getting stuck crossing a bridge is a serious con to many people.

Totally. Most of NoVa is just plain ugly. That being said, I don't look down on Virginians, most of the ones I know are good people. I just wouldn't want to live in their state (or at least the Northern part of it).

Franklin Forest is beautiful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What OP is precisely referring to is DC and MD snobbery toward close-in VA burbs like Alexandria, Arlington and McLean. I think (having lived in both DC and Arlington) it is a question of aesthetics. NWDC, Chevy Chase and Bethesda have many lovely areas with pretty landscaping, forrests, and houses. Arlington is fairly hideous (split levels and ranchers) with a very few pretty pockets like Country Club HIlls and Maywood/Cherrydale but even those areas have some seriously uglies as well. Alexandria is prettier but too many tiny colonials and so inconvenient to everywhere else in the metro area. McLean also has afew pretty pockets but too many McMansions and ranchers. Also, it is an accessibility snobbery - in VA you have to cross a bridge, which is more likely to get backed-up with traffic, to get to the rest of the metro area. Getting stuck crossing a bridge is a serious con to many people.

I see your point on traffic (at least when it comes to rush hour - I don't have trouble on weekends or evenings), but would disagree with your broad brush of aesthetics. There are pockets of Arlington that are indeed those awful ranch and split levels....but far more of Arlington is made up of colonial, arts & crafts, victorian and other styles of homes. Drive around Lyon Village, Ashton Heights, Maywood, Yorktown, Madison Manor, Leeway Heights, Cherrydale and yes neighborhoods like Country Club Hills. The houses and lots may vary in size, but ugly 1970s construction they are not. If your interest and income run more towards townhomes and condos, then Fairlington is just beautiful. The lots are generally smaller than those in parts of MoCo, but it's also generally a more "urban suburban" (if that makes sense) than farther out places. Alexandria also has lots of interesting areas and neighborhoods including Del Ray and Old Town, and south along GW Parkway into the Ffx County portions of Alexandria. I don't know much about McLean so can't speak to it.

[Anonymous]

NoVA has a lot more locations that have a sense of place, with their own downtown with shops, restaurants, bars, etc. MD has Bethesda and ??? And please, don't tell me anything off Rockville Pike. That's a surburban hell you could fine anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What OP is precisely referring to is DC and MD snobbery toward close-in VA burbs like Alexandria, Arlington and McLean. I think (having lived in both DC and Arlington) it is a question of aesthetics. NWDC, Chevy Chase and Bethesda have many lovely areas with pretty landscaping, forrests, and houses. Arlington is fairly hideous (split levels and ranchers) with a very few pretty pockets like Country Club HIlls and Maywood/Cherrydale but even those areas have some seriously uglies as well. Alexandria is prettier but too many tiny colonials and so inconvenient to everywhere else in the metro area. McLean also has afew pretty pockets but too many McMansions and ranchers. Also, it is an accessibility snobbery - in VA you have to cross a bridge, which is more likely to get backed-up with traffic, to get to the rest of the metro area. Getting stuck crossing a bridge is a serious con to many people.

I see your point on traffic (at least when it comes to rush hour - I don't have trouble on weekends or evenings), but would disagree with your broad brush of aesthetics. There are pockets of Arlington that are indeed those awful ranch and split levels....but far more of Arlington is made up of colonial, arts & crafts, victorian and other styles of homes. Drive around Lyon Village, Ashton Heights, Maywood, Yorktown, Madison Manor, Leeway Heights, Cherrydale and yes neighborhoods like Country Club Hills. The houses and lots may vary in size, but ugly 1970s construction they are not. If your interest and income run more towards townhomes and condos, then Fairlington is just beautiful. The lots are generally smaller than those in parts of MoCo, but it's also generally a more "urban suburban" (if that makes sense) than farther out places. Alexandria also has lots of interesting areas and neighborhoods including Del Ray and Old Town, and south along GW Parkway into the Ffx County portions of Alexandria. I don't know much about McLean so can't speak to it.

No you're not convincing us. Georgetown, Capitol Hill, Spring Valley, CC DC, Forest Hills DC, Normanstone, Bradley Hills, Burdette, CC MD, are all nicer areas than anywhere VA has to offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What OP is precisely referring to is DC and MD snobbery toward close-in VA burbs like Alexandria, Arlington and McLean. I think (having lived in both DC and Arlington) it is a question of aesthetics. NWDC, Chevy Chase and Bethesda have many lovely areas with pretty landscaping, forrests, and houses. Arlington is fairly hideous (split levels and ranchers) with a very few pretty pockets like Country Club HIlls and Maywood/Cherrydale but even those areas have some seriously uglies as well. Alexandria is prettier but too many tiny colonials and so inconvenient to everywhere else in the metro area. McLean also has afew pretty pockets but too many McMansions and ranchers. Also, it is an accessibility snobbery - in VA you have to cross a bridge, which is more likely to get backed-up with traffic, to get to the rest of the metro area. Getting stuck crossing a bridge is a serious con to many people.

I see your point on traffic (at least when it comes to rush hour - I don't have trouble on weekends or evenings), but would disagree with your broad brush of aesthetics. There are pockets of Arlington that are indeed those awful ranch and split levels....but far more of Arlington is made up of colonial, arts & crafts, victorian and other styles of homes. Drive around Lyon Village, Ashton Heights, Maywood, Yorktown, Madison Manor, Leeway Heights, Cherrydale and yes neighborhoods like Country Club Hills. The houses and lots may vary in size, but ugly 1970s construction they are not. If your interest and income run more towards townhomes and condos, then Fairlington is just beautiful. The lots are generally smaller than those in parts of MoCo, but it's also generally a more "urban suburban" (if that makes sense) than farther out places. Alexandria also has lots of interesting areas and neighborhoods including Del Ray and Old Town, and south along GW Parkway into the Ffx County portions of Alexandria. I don't know much about McLean so can't speak to it.

No you're not convincing us. Georgetown, Capitol Hill, Spring Valley, CC DC, Forest Hills DC, Normanstone, Bradley Hills, Burdette, CC MD, are all nicer areas than anywhere VA has to offer.

Fairly certain I didn't say nicer. In fact, I didn't make comparisons at all. What I did do was refute your statements of fairly hideous and serious uglies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What OP is precisely referring to is DC and MD snobbery toward close-in VA burbs like Alexandria, Arlington and McLean. I think (having lived in both DC and Arlington) it is a question of aesthetics. NWDC, Chevy Chase and Bethesda have many lovely areas with pretty landscaping, forrests, and houses. Arlington is fairly hideous (split levels and ranchers) with a very few pretty pockets like Country Club HIlls and Maywood/Cherrydale but even those areas have some seriously uglies as well. Alexandria is prettier but too many tiny colonials and so inconvenient to everywhere else in the metro area. McLean also has afew pretty pockets but too many McMansions and ranchers. Also, it is an accessibility snobbery - in VA you have to cross a bridge, which is more likely to get backed-up with traffic, to get to the rest of the metro area. Getting stuck crossing a bridge is a serious con to many people.

I see your point on traffic (at least when it comes to rush hour - I don't have trouble on weekends or evenings), but would disagree with your broad brush of aesthetics. There are pockets of Arlington that are indeed those awful ranch and split levels....but far more of Arlington is made up of colonial, arts & crafts, victorian and other styles of homes. Drive around Lyon Village, Ashton Heights, Maywood, Yorktown, Madison Manor, Leeway Heights, Cherrydale and yes neighborhoods like Country Club Hills. The houses and lots may vary in size, but ugly 1970s construction they are not. If your interest and income run more towards townhomes and condos, then Fairlington is just beautiful. The lots are generally smaller than those in parts of MoCo, but it's also generally a more "urban suburban" (if that makes sense) than farther out places. Alexandria also has lots of interesting areas and neighborhoods including Del Ray and Old Town, and south along GW Parkway into the Ffx County portions of Alexandria. I don't know much about McLean so can't speak to it.

No you're not convincing us. Georgetown, Capitol Hill, Spring Valley, CC DC, Forest Hills DC, Normanstone, Bradley Hills, Burdette, CC MD, are all nicer areas than anywhere VA has to offer.

You must not have spent much time in Virginia then. I have lived in more than one of the neighborhoods you mentioned, and there are definitely comparable ones in NoVa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What OP is precisely referring to is DC and MD snobbery toward close-in VA burbs like Alexandria, Arlington and McLean. I think (having lived in both DC and Arlington) it is a question of aesthetics. NWDC, Chevy Chase and Bethesda have many lovely areas with pretty landscaping, forrests, and houses. Arlington is fairly hideous (split levels and ranchers) with a very few pretty pockets like Country Club HIlls and Maywood/Cherrydale but even those areas have some seriously uglies as well. Alexandria is prettier but too many tiny colonials and so inconvenient to everywhere else in the metro area. McLean also has afew pretty pockets but too many McMansions and ranchers. Also, it is an accessibility snobbery - in VA you have to cross a bridge, which is more likely to get backed-up with traffic, to get to the rest of the metro area. Getting stuck crossing a bridge is a serious con to many people.

I see your point on traffic (at least when it comes to rush hour - I don't have trouble on weekends or evenings), but would disagree with your broad brush of aesthetics. There are pockets of Arlington that are indeed those awful ranch and split levels....but far more of Arlington is made up of colonial, arts & crafts, victorian and other styles of homes. Drive around Lyon Village, Ashton Heights, Maywood, Yorktown, Madison Manor, Leeway Heights, Cherrydale and yes neighborhoods like Country Club Hills. The houses and lots may vary in size, but ugly 1970s construction they are not. If your interest and income run more towards townhomes and condos, then Fairlington is just beautiful. The lots are generally smaller than those in parts of MoCo, but it's also generally a more "urban suburban" (if that makes sense) than farther out places. Alexandria also has lots of interesting areas and neighborhoods including Del Ray and Old Town, and south along GW Parkway into the Ffx County portions of Alexandria. I don't know much about McLean so can't speak to it.

No you're not convincing us. Georgetown, Capitol Hill, Spring Valley, CC DC, Forest Hills DC, Normanstone, Bradley Hills, Burdette, CC MD, are all nicer areas than anywhere VA has to offer.

You must not have spent much time in Virginia then. I have lived in more than one of the neighborhoods you mentioned, and there are definitely comparable ones in NoVa.

exactly. I'd much rather be in McLean, Falls Church City or parts of Vienna or Old Town than any of those areas, but I don't like an urban environment. If I did, then I'd live in the city. The argument is MD vs VA, but urban vs suburban.

[Anonymous]

I see your point on traffic (at least when it comes to rush hour - I don't have trouble on weekends or evenings), but would disagree with your broad brush of aesthetics. There are pockets of Arlington that are indeed those awful ranch and split levels....but far more of Arlington is made up of colonial, arts & crafts, victorian and other styles of homes. Drive around Lyon Village, Ashton Heights, Maywood, Yorktown, Madison Manor, Leeway Heights, Cherrydale and yes neighborhoods like Country Club Hills. The houses and lots may vary in size, but ugly 1970s construction they are not. If your interest and income run more towards townhomes and condos, then Fairlington is just beautiful. The lots are generally smaller than those in parts of MoCo, but it's also generally a more "urban suburban" (if that makes sense) than farther out places. Alexandria also has lots of interesting areas and neighborhoods including Del Ray and Old Town, and south along GW Parkway into the Ffx County portions of Alexandria. I don't know much about McLean so can't speak to it.

I have been in all of those neighborhoods. I lived in Maywood for over 5 years and still go to Arlington and Alexandria for many shops and my nail salon (VA nail salons are MUCH better than anything in DC or MD!! At least in terms of bang for your buck) but I disagree in general. None of those neighborhoods have nearly as many consistently pretty houses with gorgeous landscaping and old growth tree canopies the way most of NWDC and CC/Bethesda in MD do. In both Arlington and Alexandra there are more "sore thumbs" aka ugly homes and/or those that are badly kept with overgrowth and chain link fences even in the midst of the nicer areas. Of course, driving along Lorcom Lane and Military and Lee Hwy or even Glebe doesnt help either. As pretty as individual houses or streets or neighborhoods in NOVA can be, there alwasy seems to be a sore spot of some kind that detracts from the overall aesthetic. Not nearly as common in Spring Valley, Wesley Heights, Kent (although you do have the houses along Arizona Ave. - yuck), Village of Chevy Chase, etc... of course another truly hideous road for eye sores is River Rd in Potomac but that is a whole other ball game and more akin to parts of McLean. However, different strokes and all, right?

Regardless, it is certainly NOT a reason to look down on anyone. That attitude is just ridiculous and a sign of nothing other than insecurity.

[Anonymous]

NoVa is not Virginia. Blacksburg is Virginia, Charlottesville is Virginia, Roanoke is Virginia. NoVa is it's own state that just hasn't realised it yet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I see your point on traffic (at least when it comes to rush hour - I don't have trouble on weekends or evenings), but would disagree with your broad brush of aesthetics. There are pockets of Arlington that are indeed those awful ranch and split levels....but far more of Arlington is made up of colonial, arts & crafts, victorian and other styles of homes. Drive around Lyon Village, Ashton Heights, Maywood, Yorktown, Madison Manor, Leeway Heights, Cherrydale and yes neighborhoods like Country Club Hills. The houses and lots may vary in size, but ugly 1970s construction they are not. If your interest and income run more towards townhomes and condos, then Fairlington is just beautiful. The lots are generally smaller than those in parts of MoCo, but it's also generally a more "urban suburban" (if that makes sense) than farther out places. Alexandria also has lots of interesting areas and neighborhoods including Del Ray and Old Town, and south along GW Parkway into the Ffx County portions of Alexandria. I don't know much about McLean so can't speak to it.

I have been in all of those neighborhoods. I lived in Maywood for over 5 years and still go to Arlington and Alexandria for many shops and my nail salon (VA nail salons are MUCH better than anything in DC or MD!! At least in terms of bang for your buck) but I disagree in general. None of those neighborhoods have nearly as many consistently pretty houses with gorgeous landscaping and old growth tree canopies the way most of NWDC and CC/Bethesda in MD do. In both Arlington and Alexandra there are more "sore thumbs" aka ugly homes and/or those that are badly kept with overgrowth and chain link fences even in the midst of the nicer areas. Of course, driving along Lorcom Lane and Military and Lee Hwy or even Glebe doesnt help either. As pretty as individual houses or streets or neighborhoods in NOVA can be, there alwasy seems to be a sore spot of some kind that detracts from the overall aesthetic. Not nearly as common in Spring Valley, Wesley Heights, Kent (although you do have the houses along Arizona Ave. - yuck), Village of Chevy Chase, etc... of course another truly hideous road for eye sores is River Rd in Potomac but that is a whole other ball game and more akin to parts of McLean. However, different strokes and all, right?

Regardless, it is certainly NOT a reason to look down on anyone. That attitude is just ridiculous and a sign of nothing other than insecurity.


Hahhahhhaha. I live right around there and I always laugh at the house on Arizona with the blue and white carport, and the one with the additions upon additions next to the Kingdom Hall. They've all lived in that neighborhood for decades though.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Northern VA so I am partial to it over the other two areas. Not sure why people in MD are so proud of all the old trees in the area though. You guys lose power every time a raindrop falls.

[Anonymous]

I love the trees in MD and established neighborhoods that have looked lovely for generations. I think part of the problem is that the main drags in VA are cluttered with ugly houses (50, Lee Hwy etc) while main roads going through DC and MD (Conn Ave, Wisconsin Ae, Mass Ave) have beautiful homes (with the execption of Rockville Pike, once you are up thre outside of the Beltway, it is the 7th circle of the worst suburban hell ever).