Just found my tag. I was about to get on you OP for not tagging me in a home thread lol but you came thru as usual
As for the ranking, I give the DMV a 10/10. I know it may seem biased since it’s home but it truly is one of the GOAT regions in the country and DC itself is a pretty dope city for the most part and my third most favorite American city.
Individually, I’d give DC itself a mid 8; Suburban Maryland a low 9; and Northern VA a mid 7.
Reasons for the individual rankings?
DC Pros:
- Still feels like a culturally Black city even if the Chocolate City days are unfortunately long gone.
- Metro covers a good portion of the city and the metro area in general and is decently frequent during the workweek. It’s also clean for the most part (a few underground stations do smell a lil funny tho).
- One of the most walkable cities in the country.
- One of the most underrated music scenes out there, being an historic and current hotbed for Trip Hop, Hardcore Punk, Jazz, Bluegrass, House music, Moombahton, GoGo, Funk, Gospel, R&B, Quiet Storm, Hip Hop, Trap music, etc.
- Moechella
- Downtown is better than ever and the neighborhoods are cool.
- Significant Black cultural presence from ADOS, East Africans, West Africans, Jamaicans, and Islanders.
- Higher Ed powerhouses in Howard, GWU, G-Town, Trinity, UDC, Gallaudet, etc.
- Some of the most beautiful Black women in America are here.
- Nightlife is pretty good for the most part, not uncommon for places to stay open til 3 or 4 AM Thurs to Sat nights.
- World class museums and institutions.
- Very smooth and slick accent
- Dynamic job market in addition to being damn near recession proof like the rest of the DMV.
- Got every major sports team you think of.
- Generally beautiful and diverse architecture, DC got some of the most beautiful rowhouses and rooftop terraces out there.
- Like the rest of the DMV, DC Black folks got a swag and style that is unique and unmatched anywhere. Not to mention one of the GOAT slang. Not to brag too much but DMV nikkas are some of the flyest MFers you’ll ever cross paths with.
- High minimum wage
- Very compact size, human-scaled city. I like how despite being so small geographically, it’s population size, structural density, and human density gives it a fairly big city feel without feeling overwhelming.
- Mumbo sauce
- It’s got a lot of green space, parkland, and tree-lined neighborhoods which give DC a very natural look that blends well with its deceptively low-key aesthetic.
- Decent food market culture. It’s restaurant scene has been gradually improving since the beginning of the decade. Can get some really good Ethiopian, Jamaican, Ramen, Soul Food, Italian, French, Seafood, West African, Greek, Spanish, Salvadoran, Vegetarian/Vegan, etc. Also got the GOAT carryout culture with some of the GOAT hood food.
- Close proximity to other major cities within a day’s drive such as Bmore, Philly, NYC, Richmond, Pittsburgh, and Norfolk/VA Beach as well as beaches in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and New Jersey.
- Shopping has improved. DC City Center alone is just
DC Cons:
- Too many damn Cacs nowadays.
- With it being too many Cacs, you get goofy ass shyt like “OpenStreetsDC” or whatever it’s called as well as a huge LGBT presence in some of the Downtown-adjacent historically Black neighborhoods
- Northwest is crazy overpriced and Northeast is on its way there.
- WMATA can be such a damn bureaucratic joke, I’m not even gonna get real deep into it. The fact that these jackasses won’t restore late night service to 3 AM even after the so-called SafeTrack work from 5 years ago
It runs too slow on weekends and the fare can be expensive asf.
- It can be fun during the summer but it’s not as festive as NYC and prolly Chicago around that time.
- Cameras, cameras, cameras, and more cameras. And a shyt ton of speed traps. Them DC speeding tickets ain’t no joke smh.
- The DC gov’t can be a lil too anti-automobile at times, they might as well just ban non-Gov’t vehicles from the city at this point
- Their mayor (Muriel Bowser) stay pandering to these damn Cacs. What’s even more wild is that her ass is from Ward 4, which is DC’s Gold Coast (mainly consists of Black upper middle class and old money neighborhoods), born & raised, yet she has never heard of mumbo sauce a day in her life
She just threw the shyt out there on Twitter earlier last year, shyt was jih wild slim lmao.
- Even though the restaurant scene has been making strides, it still kinda falls flat in some aspects. The food scenes in NYC, LA, New Orleans, Chicago, Philly, San Fran, etc. seem much more dynamic and innovative overall in comparison. Plus, overall international offerings are much better in the suburbs in DC and I can find even better Seafood and BBQ out here in Suburban Maryland.
- Hyper-gentrification. Along with NYC, DC is practically the poster child for the whole shyt.
- Can’t even front, DC can definitely be one pretentious ass city lol.
- Noticeably doesn’t have as much soul as it had before 2013 due to gentrification and some of the city’s leaders basically selling the city off to Cacs and developers.
Suburban Maryland (PG County, Montgomery County, Charles County, Frederick County, Calvert County) Pros:
- The Blackest part of the whole DMV region with endless Black Excellence everywhere
Both Suburban Maryland and DC itself are undisputed Black Mecca status.
- It’s Home Sweet Home
Born & raised in The Illustrious and Prosperously Black ASF Prince George’s County y’all
- The finest Black women be outchea
- Got a lot of dope and chill spots out here that are a good blend between suburban and urban such as Silver Spring, Hyattsville, Mount Rainier, Rockville, National Harbor, Bethesda, Wheaton, Greenbelt, New Carrollton, Bowie, Adelphi, College Park, Laurel, Riverdale Park, etc.
- Got areas that got a nice boondocks/country feel to them such as Brandywine, Chesapeake Beach, Waldorf, Upper Marlboro, Accokeek, Friendly, Eagle Harbor, La Plata, Indian Head, etc.
- High state minimum wage
- Birthplace of GoGo music (Fairmount Heights, MD in PG County)
- It’s a lot of high rolling Black folks out here making bank in the Gov’t and with businesses on the side. But what I really enjoy is how lowkey middle class and upper class Black folks in the MD Burbs are in showing off their wealth compared to our counterparts in the ATL, LA, and NYC areas. It’s a lot of shyt we do out here that could motivate young brehs and brehettes nationwide
- In PG County, southern Mo County, and to some extent Waldorf, you can go a whole day to a whole year without seeing a single Cac anywhere.
- Got access to Bay beaches in Calvert County and small river beaches in the cut in Mo County and PG, just be careful about swimming in the Potomac
- Philly blessed us with WaWa’s
- Good ass Seafood, BBQ, Caribbean, Ethiopian, West African, Peruvian, Filipino, Mexican, Salvadoran, and Chinese food can be had outchea.
- More down to earth and chill than DC and NoVa overall.
- MGM
- Purple Line light rail will be operable soon.
- UMD and Bowie State be holding it down. Special S/O to PGCC too
- Strong high school culture/pride amongst the youth.
- Some of the better rap artists in the DMV often be from PG and Mo County.
- Six Flags America
- The Redskins
Suburban Maryland Cons:
- Not as exciting economically and development-wise as DC and VA.
- Much of it is safe including a large portion of PG but most of the hoods in the MD Burbs do be in PG and some of them can be as wild as the ones in DC. Can’t lie, most of the violent crime in the MD Burbs do come from my County and the rate is noticeably higher than the average suburban county. At least MD nikkas aren’t as entrenched into heavy gunplay as DC nikkas and generally prefer to use their hands.
- Speaking of hoods, it do be a good amount of thorough nikkas outchea but it’s also a good amount who are on that fake thug tip despite growing up in damn near million dollar homes in places like Mitchellville, Bowie, Woodmore, Rockville, Aspen Hill, etc.
- Also can’t lie, Suburban Maryland can be kinda boring sometimes.
- Six Flags America lol
- Jeepers is gone
- MetroBus schedules be on dikks out here in MD and MetroRail coverage be kinda limited at times, especially in PG. They need to expand the lines further in Maryland and consider BRT lanes as well.
- Some of the most deadly and accident-prone roads in the metro area are in MD, especially PG with Suitland Parkway, Livingston Rd, Hwy 301, Riverdale Rd, etc.
- Taxes can be a bytch, especially property taxes.
- PGCPS is unfortunate the one school jurisdiction in Suburban MD and the whole DMV that’s about as bad as DCPS.
- It can be boujee as hell in some areas.
- Shopping is excellent in Mo County and decent in Charles County but outside of PG Mall, Bowie Town Center, Woodmore Town Center, National Harbor/Tanger Outlets, PG County leaves a lot to be desired.
- One would be surprised by the amount of food and retail deserts that are in PG, even in some of the nice areas.
- PGPD be ON dikkS.
- The Redskins
Northern Virginia Pros:
- Lower taxes and laxer gun laws
- The best International food offerings in the DMV, you can get a lot of Arabic, Afghani, Persian, Indian, Pakistani, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, West African, Chinese, Thai, and Central American foods in this part of the DMV.
- Strong cultural and ethnic diversity if that’s your thing. It’s like demographically, NoVa is similar to Queens while Suburban Maryland is similar to Brooklyn.
- I actually like how modern looking a lot of NoVa is. It’s a nice contrast to the somewhat more old school, slightly gritty or weathered aesthetic of Suburban Maryland, which I also like.
- Shopping is A1. You tryna get fresh fresh? Hit up Pentagon City. You trynna look like some new money on some Dapper Dan/GQ/high roller shyt? Hit up Tyson’s Corner. It’s a shyt ton of malls and shopping centers and lifestyle centers out in NoVa.
- Two of the area’s major airports are located here with endless flights almost anywhere you could think of.
- Got the best Metro coverage and general public transit coverage in the whole region outside of DC.
- Very exciting economically with a lot of interesting developments and a massive job market. Bonus for Amazon expanding here.
- Seems like it’s hard to really get bored over there.
- GMU maintains a strong presence on that side of the bridge.
- Alexandria is practically neck to neck with Silver Spring as the best “suburban” city in the DMV.
- NoVa got a strong supply of BAD women, even among the foreign born populations. Hell some of the Cac women would prolly meet The Coli’s definition of a PAWG.
Northern Virginia Cons:
- Outside of Alexandria and southern Arlington, a lot of North VA can feel very sterile at times.
- Traffic congestion is arguably the worst in the DMV, especially I-66
- Speaking of traffic, VA drivers can’t drive for jack shyt
- State minimum wage be low like shyt.
- VA State Troopers and Fairfax Co Police
- Can’t really get good mumbo sauce on the VA side of the bridge.
- Only way in and out is bridge and tunnel or taking a water taxi.
- The Cacs be on some obnoxiously and otherworldly high level of entitlement and pretension and some of the upper middle class Black folks give me
vibes. And on top of that, some of the foreigners/immigrants over there be on some other shyt I swear and where I work at, I’m unfortunately well acquainted with some of their BO
- Outside of Alexandria, Prince William County, and parts of Fairfax County, Black folks ain’t really that entrenched in North VA.
That pretty much about sums it up for my reasons behind my rankings of the DMV. Now you can see why it’s been taking me so long to participate in this thread, I’ve literally been writing this post since 12 PM
Gotta give my hometown its proper dues. I also just realized how long this thread is. I didn’t even know the DMV was that popular here on The Coli, I feel like most of us DMV posters just be minding our own business on here lol.
