Its the same around DC. The newer ex-urbs are now waaaaay out of town. But you can buy a good sized house, small yard, great schools, and much lower taxes than near the city. No wonder it’s so attractive. One caveat, the commute. Half hour each way on a good day, or two hours plus with traffic. Some take commuter rail, some take busses, but it is still a heck of a lot of time traveling. Are there alternatives? For middle income families? No.
DC schools are horrible or you go broke paying for private school. You can buy a nasty house in the hood for the same price as a brand new home. Don’t even mention the tax differences. You have to do whats best for your family, and near large urban areas, that is getting away from town.
Now many of these new suburbs are new-urbanist in design with sidewalks and little downtowns, with shopping centers on the fringes. Everybody touts the ‘planning succeses’ of Greenbelt, Kentlands, Columbia, and Reston around here…but they too, are suburbs. Self contained suburbs – purposely disconnected from the city.
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