Demographics of the DC/MD/VA area

Originally posted by Hoya Paranoia:

Originally posted by Jaguar:
Hoya, please be careful what kinds of ideas you throw around. Someone might just actually book them.

i've always been fascinated by the demographics of the DC/MD/VA area

i'm guessing their fanbase consists of 20 and 30-somethings who grew up in between DC and MD, maybe went to Towson or UMCP/UMBC for school, maybe didn't, and never really left their hometown … the same ones you see in dewey and ocean city

it seems like there's a similar demographic of "young adults" (20 to 30-somethings) in northern virginia who grew up in fairfax, went to radford or JMU or something, and stayed in their hometown … but it doesn't seem like the virginians move to maryland or vice-versa, and they DEFINITELY don't move into DC proper

i'm guessing these are the people who vote for Junk Food or Gonzo's Nose as the best local band in those annual washpost polls

does any of this make sense or is it way off base? not trying to be demeaning at all, just curious

no, you're definitely on to something. i find that people from NoVa and MD very much stick to their hometowns. and virginians HATE going to MD and vice-versa. you'd swear it's another country or something. i once dated a lifer from ballston, and proposed that we grab dinner at a new place in bethesda. she looked at me like i was speaking mandarin. we ended up not going.

i'm completely unfamiliar with the repetoire of JCS, but they've always struck me as a college band that people don't grow out of. some people go to eagles and stones concerts to relieve their youth, but if you're going to be hometown minded then gonzo's nose is a logical choice.

btw, it's the marylanders who end up at dewey and ocean shitty for the most part. virginians go to virginia beach.

Funny you mention Dewey Beach and Ocean City regarding this band. It was during the summer of '94/'95/'96 (one of those years but can't remember exactly which) that I saw Jimmy's Chicken Shack several times at clubs in Ocean City. This was back when I was teaching and would spend much of my summer at my parent's condo down the Ocean. Which ever year it was, JCS was one of the house bands, so to speak, for a couple of the nightclubs. This was just before HFS fell in love with them. So, you may very well be dead on with your theory.

Personally, that summer, I can't say I was a big fan of their's but they weren't that bad either. Then again, I guess they were a breath of fresh 'Alternative' air in relation to most of the other crap that ended up on most of the local stages. All of the visiting students from the UK sure loved them.

-Edit-
Or maybe it's Hoya whom I should credit for this theory. ;)

Re: V Fest - Page 6

Maybe she wasn't into you?! How can anyone refuse to go to a restaurant in Bethesda?! :roll:

Originally posted by sweetcell:
i once dated a lifer from ballston, and proposed that we grab dinner at a new place in bethesda. she looked at me like i was speaking mandarin. we ended up not going.

Originally posted by Joe Marshmallow III:
Maybe she wasn't into you?! How can anyone refuse to go to a restaurant in Bethesda?! :roll:

Originally posted by sweetcell:
i once dated a lifer from ballston, and proposed that we grab dinner at a new place in bethesda. she looked at me like i was speaking mandarin. we ended up not going.

It's a virginia thing…..you wouldn't understand! :roll:

Originally posted by sweetcell:
no, you're definitely on to something. i find that people from NoVa and MD very much stick to their hometowns. and virginians HATE going to MD and vice-versa. you'd swear it's another country or something. i once dated a lifer from ballston, and proposed that we grab dinner at a new place in bethesda. she looked at me like i was speaking mandarin. we ended up not going.

i got nothing to add about the demographics, but thought your anecdote was funny. when i lived in d.c., i never even thought about going out in maryland. if i wanted to go out outside of d.c., i always went to virginia, and not maryland (unless i had a specific reason for going to baltimore). for that matter i also avoided georgetown at all costs.

I grew up in Md, and I can definitely tell you that Virginia sucks!

perhaps the big huge traffic headache people call DC is the reason people dont like to go from MD to VA and back?

there doesnt seem to be much in northern va thats not in MD and vice versa.

the drive to philly is more pleasant than the one to NOVA in most cases! (which is where i'll be this weekend!)

i grew up in montgomery county, went to school at college park and now i live in arlington.

can't we all just get along?

I think especially for slightly younger folks (say, high school age) it's the "OH MY GOD THAT'S IN ANOTHER STATE!" syndrome … we live in MoCo and when my daughter would talk about going to a show at Jammin' Java, a lot of her friends would act like she was talking about a major three-hour road trip … (though I guess sometimes on the Beltway it's one and the same)

Or yeah, it could just be red/blue state provincialism.

Originally posted by They call me Doctor Doom.:
I grew up in Md, and I can definitely tell you that Virginia sucks!

a case in point…

I wasn't born in MD or VA, but I did live in MD for almost 20 years and worked in VA for about 13+- or them and have to say I much prefer MD to VA, but I don't hate VA either. If you could get rid of most of DC, or more to the point the self-important, pretentious wankers that seem to congregate in DC the metro area would be a lovely place to live.

I thought you were 14.

Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:
I wasn't born in MD or VA, but I did live in MD for almost 20 years and worked in VA for about 13+- or them and have to say I much prefer MD to VA, but I don't hate VA either. If you could get rid of most of DC, or more to the point the self-important, pretentious wankers that seem to congregate in DC the metro area would be a lovely place to live.

Originally posted by Joe Marshmallow III:
I thought you were 14.

Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:
I wasn't born in MD or VA, but I did live in MD for almost 20 years and worked in VA for about 13+- or them and have to say I much prefer MD to VA, but I don't hate VA either. If you could get rid of most of DC, or more to the point the self-important, pretentious wankers that seem to congregate in DC the metro area would be a lovely place to live.

You've obviously visited my "My Space" site then!!!

Originally posted by le sonick:
perhaps the big huge traffic headache people call DC is the reason people dont like to go from MD to VA and back?

that may be true. i lived on the hill, and it was much easier for me to hop on 395 and get to virginia than figure out how to get maryland, instead of living in NW (although, i did go to arundel mills a lot more than potomac mills).

The Hill sux… the only thing it is convenient to is 395. It's not even convenient to the rest of DC…

The suckiest part of Northern VA has got to be the Tyson's Corner area. Man, the traffic there is just unbearable. Hope none of you live there?

Montgomery County is the place to be :)

I used to do the Gaithersburg-to-Tysons commute … needless to say, I do not miss it at all …

I never appreciated working from home as much as the day of the first ice/snowstorm where all I had to do was look out the window, say "wow, it sucks out there" and turn on my laptop.

Traffic in VA sucks overall. My cousin came out for Easter and when I began discussing traffic, he asked "Is it always like this here?" People are just getting crazier around here. Even after that aggressive driving story splashed all over the Post. Even years ago when my dad came out from DC he say VA traffic is the worst.

I grew up in the Fredericksburg area and I think that the fact that it was overrun by annoying DC commuters who were moving there from places like Fairfax and Alexandria over the last decade or so turned me off to Nova completely.

So I settled in College Park Maryland when I got a job up here last summer. I try to avoid Nova as much as possible.

So why are DC commuters annoying? Because they want to live in the same place as you?