Is it an Exurb or a Suburb... Where is the Dividing Line in Nova? (Arlington: employment, live in)

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by adolpho

San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland are three distinctive cities, with SJ being by far the largest of the three. That would be a Hellish commute, too, about like going DC--Fredericksburg.

Actually, I think the comparison is a good one. If you look on google maps, San Jose is 47 miles from San Francisco. Leesburg is 41 miles from Washington DC. That makes them similar, distance wise, IMO.

Also, Leesburg was an independent city with thriving businesses for decades before Washington DC was even built. It has always had businesses. And, as you note, a commute over 40 miles is hellish. So fairly few people live in Leesburg and commute to DC.

So I'm not sure how it became a "bedroom community" of DC. Or why people think there's nothing there but homes.

Not that there's anything wrong with being a bedroom community, but it just feels weird when you're mislabelled.

[eastli84]

Personally, I'm a fan of the terms inner suburb and outer suburb for this region. Inner suburbs would be every place inside the beltway plus the first ring of towns outside the beltway. Past that would be outer suburb. Of course this is all subjective.

At the same time, each of the major NOVA job centers (28 Corridor, Toll Road Corridor, Tysons, and Orange Line Corridor) have their own surrounding neighborhoods which could be considered bedroom communities of their respective job center.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by eastli84

Personally, I'm a fan of the terms inner suburb and outer suburb for this region. Inner suburbs would be every place inside the beltway plus the first ring of towns outside the beltway. Past that would be outer suburb. Of course this is all subjective.

I like your terms ("inner suburb" and "outer suburb") much better than using "suburb" and "exurb". Your way the difference is geographic. The other way it's all about who has businesses and who does not. That's a distinction that might work for other cities but doesn't work well in the DC metro area.

Actually, I'd be ok with just calling all the communities just plain old suburbs. Why do we need to separate them, anyway? We are all equal parts of Nova.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by Tone509

In fact, I believe some urban planners would consider Ashburn/Sterling/Leesburg to be "edge cities": that is, large towns/small cities on the exurban fringe.

"Edge cities" is definitely cool sounding. Like something from Star Trek! So it gets a thumbs up for that. But it doesn't really work in Loudoun, since there are almost no cities there. Ashburn, Sterling, Reston, Chantilly are the home of the Dulles Tech Corridor and in many ways they appear to be cities--but technically, they're not cities.

[g3org3]

Originally Posted by Caladium

I like your terms ("inner suburb" and "outer suburb") much better than using "suburb" and "exurb". Your way the difference is geographic. The other way it's all about who has businesses and who does not. That's a distinction that might work for other cities but doesn't work well in the DC metro area.

Actually, I'd be ok with just calling all the communities just plain old suburbs. Why do we need to separate them, anyway? We are all equal parts of Nova.

I've always considered Middleburg a typical exurb. "Weathly" being the distinction between that and an outer suburb.

ex·urb (ěk'sûrb')
n. A region lying beyond the suburbs of a city, especially one inhabited principally by wealthy people.
exurb. Dictionary.com. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/exurb (accessed: January 05, 2010).

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by g3org3

I've always considered Middleburg a typical exurb. "Weathly" being the distinction between that and an outer suburb.

ex·urb (ěk'sûrb')
n. A region lying beyond the suburbs of a city, especially one inhabited principally by wealthy people.
exurb. Dictionary.com. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/exurb (accessed: January 05, 2010).

Aha! I just realized something, there are several different definitions of the word "exurb." The definition above doesn't say anything about businesses. But the definition I know says an exurb is a suburb that is strictly residential; it does not have any businesses or visible means of support and thus the residents must commute to the central city. AKA a bedroom community.

Using my definition, I've always been a little offended by the term. Not that there's anything wrong with bedroom communities, but that's not what you find in Nova's outer burbs. So it felt like people were denying our existence. When people said I live in an exurb I used to feel like either they didn't know what they're talking about or they're denying that my town exists. And it made me feel like one of those hoos in Horton Hears A Who--like we need to say "We are here, we are here, we are HERE" for people to see there are businesses out here.

But your definition isn't offensive at all, it's a compliment. So the next time somebody says that I'll remember that they're probably using your definition.

[gogogo]

As someone who lives in Loudoun and who lived for 25 years in the SF Bay Area, there is no similarity between San Jose and Leesburg. All you have to do is go downtown to either city and you'd know the difference right off. Leesburg is has such a smaller central downtown and it is older, more small town feel. SJ has large cmuseums, a huge library, performing arts center, high rise commercial and residential buildings, public rail, etc.. I don't love san jose (I do love san fran), but just be sure that there is no logical comparison between Leesburg and San Jose. No offense meant-just not talking apples to apples here.

SF is more the financial center of the Bay Area with the peninsula (Palo Alto, Menlo Park, etc.) and San Jose repping more the technology side. With the huge population, there is tons of local gov work and education, too, all across the area.

Leesburg and Purcellville, for instance strike me as more Railroad stop and agro towns that did their own thing for decades and then as industry came within commutable distance (IAD, all of the defense/aerospace in herndon, etc.) the bedroom community aspect kicked in. I have absolutely zero facts to back this up, but that is just what it appears like from a newbie standpoint.

Most people I know in Leesburg and Purcellville work in Loudoun or Fairfax counties. It is a rare thing to run into someone who commutes to DC on any regular basis. You'd be crazy to drive that daily! Yikes!

2 cents from a girl who has lived in both places.

Have a lovely day all!

[Caladium]

Reviving because some of our newer posters will find the maps on the first page of this thread interesting.

Also, we've been discussing Gainesville quite a bit lately. What do you think, exurb or suburb? I think it's moved into the suburban category, since it does have it's own businesses and isn't just a bedroom community. But, YMMV. What do the rest of you think?

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Reviving because some of our newer posters will find the maps on the first page of this thread interesting.

Also, we've been discussing Gainesville quite a bit lately. What do you think, exurb or suburb? I think it's moved into the suburban category, since it does have it's own businesses and isn't just a bedroom community. But, YMMV. What do the rest of you think?

I personally consider Gainesville (along with nearby Haymarket and Bristow) an exurb, if only because I believe a fair amount of people commute from there to DC via I-66 or the VRE. On the other hand, there may well be those who commute up through Fairfax County to Dulles and Tysons Corner; in that case, it may act more as a "suburb" to western Fairfax County. The fact that there is a growing business base - which is certainly good news for both the town and as Prince William County in general - may mean that Gainesville may be seen more as a suburban job center in the foreseeable future.

[Denton56]

Two years ago I moved to far western Loudoun county. I was very surprised by the number of people who commute to DC everyday. I think it's a hellish commute but those who do it think that it's worth it to live in a rural community. Many take the commuter buses that drop off in various places in the city.