Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so weird to me and not how SP seems at all. Anywhere in upper NW in DC WOTP or Chevy Chase has far more wealthy/elite people than SP. The typical house here is a split level or raised ranch. Most of the houses look a lot like Wheaton or Silver Spring outside the beltway - 1960s and 1970s houses. We live in a new house in an older neighborhood. Yeah the diversity of all kinds is low but classist and snobs? I just don’t see it. What I see is close knit neighborhood groups where like orients around your kid’s swim team.

You are either oblivious, didn’t live in Severna Park in 2015 or 2019 when proposals for affordable housing came to the county council, or maybe you weren’t paying attention to the numerous classist and racist comments made by a plethora of SP residents in public testimony and in local FB groups. Lots of families I knew with kids who played sports wouldn’t let their kids befriend or date student athletes attending Pasadena and Glen Burnie schools. It wasn’t uncommon for kids in SP who misbehaved to be told they were acting “like Glen Burnie trash.” Some years ago, Severna Park HS parents wanted a magnet program at SPHS, but they wanted the magnet program to be open to ONLY kids zoned for SPHS because they didn’t want to create an opportunity for kids from poorer parts of the county to have an opportunity to attend SPHS. Go ask Shipley’s Choice families what they think of their kids going to Old Mill HS and then tell me SP doesn’t have snobs and classist people.

Seriously, anyone native to Anne Arundel County about Severna Park will almost always tell you that SP is full of snobby rich people. It may not be as affluent as Bethesda/CC/Potomac, but it’s a huge stretch to say it’s like Wheaton or even Silver Spring. Those places have multi family housing and apartments, Severna Park literally has none except for two senior citizens restricted apartments. SP is almost all SFHs that start at $600k and often go as high as the $1M+ range. Home prices and income levels in SP are very comparable to those in the River Hill school district area in Howard County, which is also notorious for being competitive, affluent, and snobby.

Severna Park is literally the DMV’s poster child of upper-middle-class affluence and NIMBYism. It’s all SFHs, and they’re so NIMBY that they even NIMBY’d away their potential to have good restaurants and infrastructure that isn’t shit so that they can avoid any chance of the poors and non-parkies having a reason to go to SP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Burke

Burke is no longer considered part of the immediate DC suburbs, frankly no one can possibly commute on a daily basis from Burke, Centreville, Chantilly, PW or Loudoun County. Northern Virginia? Yes. DC? No.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Burke

Burke is no longer considered part of the immediate DC suburbs, frankly no one can possibly commute on a daily basis from Burke, Centreville, Chantilly, PW or Loudoun County. Northern Virginia? Yes. DC? No.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Burke

Burke is no longer considered part of the immediate DC suburbs, frankly no one can possibly commute on a daily basis from Burke, Centreville, Chantilly, PW or Loudoun County. Northern Virginia? Yes. DC? No.

Anonymous wrote:This is so weird to me and not how SP seems at all. Anywhere in upper NW in DC WOTP or Chevy Chase has far more wealthy/elite people than SP. The typical house here is a split level or raised ranch. Most of the houses look a lot like Wheaton or Silver Spring outside the beltway - 1960s and 1970s houses. We live in a new house in an older neighborhood. Yeah the diversity of all kinds is low but classist and snobs? I just don’t see it. What I see is close knit neighborhood groups where like orients around your kid’s swim team.

Anonymous wrote:Burke

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope so. I stay out of FB groups like Chat in SP like PP mentioned - it’s just stupid mostly. I imagine each neighborhood is different so can only speak to my own experience. In the area where I live which is in the Folger McKinsey Elementary school district I don’t see the overt super conservative stuff in my day to day life. I am sure there are right wing nutjobs around but I have met plenty of Dems. There are a good number of families that grew up here and it’s really common for kids to buy their parents houses or buy another house in the neighborhood where their parents live and those families due tend to be more conservative overall, but there are a lot of new families moving here from DC, Baltimore and Philly. I know at least 6 families who are from DC and have moved here recently (1-3 years or so). One of my neighbors is a DC firefighter (with a long commute!). I do definitely have Trump voting neighbors too, but they aren’t the majority. My impression is that the trend is going bluer and new residents are bluer than long term residents overall. I wouldn’t say it’s a tidal wave or anything, but if you’re liberal/Democrat, yes you can definitely find like minded people here and you won’t be the only ones.

The problem with Severna Park isn’t just politics, it’s also the mentality. It’s a very affluent area, and there’s problems with snobbery & keeping up with the jonses. Lots of people in SP are obsessed with status and money, their school rankings/reputation (both public and private), and putting their kids on a pedestal. Despite Bethesda, Chevy Chase, and Potomac being much more affluent than Severna Park, I’ve found snobbery, seclusion, and classism to be much larger issues in Severna Park than they are in those areas. Many SP people have this mentality that they are above people who live in any other part of AACo and think that county council/school board decisions should revolve around people who live in Severna Park. Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Walter Johnson High Schools are both significantly more racially and economically diverse than Severna Park HS, which has severely gerrymandered its school boundaries to be even whiter and wealthier than it should be. I have a long list of real-life examples I’d be happy to share that demonstrate how classist and racist SP can be. Lots of people in SP are from SP or the surrounding areas and have parents from SP, and they’re not receptive to change at all. They want to keep SP the same way it was in the 60s, when it had racial covenants and was a whites only suburb.

Anonymous wrote:Burke or West Springfield, VA. Plenty of homes for at or under $1M with 4 bedrooms.

Anonymous wrote:I live in SP and I love it. I live in a pretty tight-knit community, that's probably more diverse than other neighborhoods. It's true there's a lot of affluent people - but with a 1mil budget, you wouldn't be out of place. Certainly less diversity than closer into the DC area.

However, If you have young kids, i think the area is great. Communities are very active with events and picnics and camps. Someone said cult-ish, and I can see that - when you're hanging out with a lot of the same parents everyday, you form strong bonds. Anyway, weekends aren't boring - everyone's pretty chill, lots of stuff for people to do. Schools are great.

Anonymous wrote:I hope so. I stay out of FB groups like Chat in SP like PP mentioned - it’s just stupid mostly. I imagine each neighborhood is different so can only speak to my own experience. In the area where I live which is in the Folger McKinsey Elementary school district I don’t see the overt super conservative stuff in my day to day life. I am sure there are right wing nutjobs around but I have met plenty of Dems. There are a good number of families that grew up here and it’s really common for kids to buy their parents houses or buy another house in the neighborhood where their parents live and those families due tend to be more conservative overall, but there are a lot of new families moving here from DC, Baltimore and Philly. I know at least 6 families who are from DC and have moved here recently (1-3 years or so). One of my neighbors is a DC firefighter (with a long commute!). I do definitely have Trump voting neighbors too, but they aren’t the majority. My impression is that the trend is going bluer and new residents are bluer than long term residents overall. I wouldn’t say it’s a tidal wave or anything, but if you’re liberal/Democrat, yes you can definitely find like minded people here and you won’t be the only ones.