America's Most Prestigious Suburbs
Since everyone loves debating the prestige of each bank, why not debate the prestige of all the affluent suburbs around the country that many of us have either lived in or are working hard towards moving to one day.
When evaluating an area's prestige, I feel like you should consider more than just towns' with the most expensive real estate and median household income. You should also factor in the area's history, location, cost of living, education/prep schools, and household's net worth ("old money").
For shits and giggles I broke em into BBs (powerhouse areas/counties), elite boutiques (affluent town not necessarily in the most prestigious region), MM (prestigious areas in otherwise less prestigious regions/states), and regional boutiques (prestigious town in basically bumblefuck state).
Let the arguing begin
BBs:
NYC Fairfield County (Greenwich, Westport, New Caanan, Darien)
NYC Westchester County (Rye, Mamaroneck, Bronxville, Scarsdale)
SF North Bay Area (Sausalito, Tiburon, Belvedere)
SF Silicon Valley (Atherton, Hillsborough, Los Altos)
Orange County (Laguna, Newport, Costa del Mar)
LA County (Beverly Hills, Malibu, Hidden Hills, Calabasas)
Long Island's Gold Coast (Old Westbury, Manhasset, Great Neck)
Philadelphia's Main Line (Gladwynne, Villanova, Haverford)
Chicago's North Shore (Kenilworth, Winnetka, Lake Forest)
Elite Boutiques:
Alpine, NJ
Weston, MA
Monetecito, CA
Cherry Hills Village, CO
MMs:
DC/Virginia (McLean, Potomac, Great Falls)
New Jersey (Summit, Saddle River, New Vernon, Bernardsville)
Dallas (Highland Park, Preston Hollow)
Regional No-Name Boutiques:
Atlanta's Buckhead
Houston's River Oaks
Seattle's Mercer Island
Kansas City's Mission Hills
Been working in Greenwich and I'm starting to think khaki shorts with a tucked in polo and loafers would actually be a good thing to wear around. Someone please help me =(
Lol, this is gonna be an interesting thread Would consider both of these suburbs BB. FL Dade (Fisher Island, Star Island). Fisher Island is the most expensive zip code of florida. You need to drive your car into a fairy in order to get on the island LOL (of course, its a protected community). Most of the actresses/celebrities live in star island.
You're forgetting about all of North Miami Beach (Indian Creek Village), Key Biscayne, Coconut Grove even (maybe)
Dude...
That list is not even close.
It's a large country with many pockets of extreme wealth and upscale neighborhoods which is why this is a fun debate. Don't really have the time to hit every single one but I'd say that list is a very good start.
Feel free to add.
Also, that list isn't even touching the prestigious neighborhoods in cities like Upper East Side in Manhatten or Pacific Heights in SF. That shit would take forever.
I attend a college with kids from all over the country and generally from privileged backgrounds in these areas. It's been real exciting over the last few years to visit these different areas and see the best towns this country has to offer.
Really makes you want to work your ass off and achieve the same level of success as some of these families
I went to one of these places recently. It scared me. Very intense.
I would add Glencoe for sure to the North Shore of Chicago, in some areas I would say it's more elite than Lake Forest. I would also maybe add Wilmette (definitely nice suburbs, but maybe some areas of it that are less prestigious)
I'm from the Chicago area too and agree. I think the author just meant the North Shore and general, implying that Glencoe is included
How are you forgetting Winnetka? You know, the suburb better than all of the ones you just listed....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Shore_(Long_Island)
Areas like Brookville are as "old" as money gets.
Haha yea I know a few Gold Coast old money folks.
Wikipidia's "old money" entry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_money
The oldest money in America would probably be in Virginia, more specifically Westmoreland county and Jamestown, it’s where a lot of founding fathers come from. Look at families such as the Randolphs and Byrds.
Can we talk about the world's most prestigious rusty cars that are likely to get pulled over in these neighborhoods?
BBs:
'93 Civic (bad muffler.) '87 Accord (black hood, white body.)
MMs: '91 Hyundai (badly done window tint with several creases) '83 Suburban (emits terrible black-tinged diesel exhaust) '95 Mitsubishi Eclipse (blasting techno music and cracked rear blinker.)
I used to caddy at a country club in one of the locales listed above when I was home from college in the summers. I'm pulling out of a side street in my '95 Buick LeSabre after caddying one morning, unlit cigarette dangling out of my mouth, wearing a wife beater after taking my golf shirt off. Cop car goes by me, then another couple of cars, and I pull out . . . 150 yards down the road the cop pulls over, lets the other two cars pass and then myself, then pulls out immediately and tails me until I reach the town line.
So yeah, add '95 Buick LeSabre to that list.
I will contribute nothing here because all prestige conversations are useless. Besides, I despise people that live in "affluent suburbs" and wanna get the fuk outta here asap
You know its a meme
Febreeze, you're right - this is total fail. I don't even know where to begin correcting this list in all it's wrongness...
Columbia Maryland. Equal distances from dc and baltimore, top 5 highest median salary, top 5 richest counties in the nation, and one of the lowest crime rates per capita.
Was just going to say I think some communities in Maryland and Northern VA need to be on the list/NOVA moved up to BB since I read an article a few months ago that those counties had become the richest per capita or something along those lines.
Damn beltway bandits.
I can see Potomac or Bethesda, but definitely inot[/i] Columbia.
Actually, it's pretty cheap when compared to NW DC or Arlington/McLean/Great Falls.
Do vacation spots like Cape Cod count? People still commute into Boston during the summer and some of those houses . . . damn
Good post, you listed the ones I was thinking of.
Definitely a good call on Cherry Hills CO, that place is amazing.
yea this list is absolute shit...you forgot bergen county in jersey
The Bureau of Economic Analysis ranked the county as having the 20th-highest per capita income of all 3,113 counties in the United States
201 represent
as Swagon's boy Luda once said....2-0-1, too much green, too much fun
Suburbs = Sellside.
Greenwich even makes me feel poor :(
ITT - college students post their hometowns.
Greenwich isn't the nicest Suburb in CT. But good try. and By NYC Fairfield County you mean CT Fairfield County. Don't disrespect my state.
ehhh that site seems off...for my hometown and towns around it, it has the wrong areas
Ehhhhhh another Fairfield County original here..... while this overall topic is fucking retarded (just live where you want!), one thing that really grinds my gears is the attention Greenwich receives from people who have never lived in the area. A little history lesson....
Greenwich originally rose to prominence as a summer community in the early 19th century where wealthy NYC folks would build vacation houses. When you look at some of the beautiful historic homes in the city, this is where they got their start. The town didn't become a suburb until reliable train service to NYC was installed and popularized in the late 19th and early 20th century. At that point, Greenwich was still pretty far from downtown Manhattan relative to other "suburbs" (parts of Brooklyn were still considered a suburb at that point....). As rail service increased in quality and popularity in the early 20th century, the town rose to prominence as a bastion of WASPy old money and, by the mid-20th century, became a center of this lifestyle. This changed DRAMATICALLY in the 1990's largely because of one fucking company.... Long Term Capital Management. LTCM started the hedge fund craze in CT and generous tax reduction by the state gave incentives for FI's to move out there and ultimately resulted in RBC and RBS moving their banks to Stamford. The preponderance of "new money" led to the construction of McMansions built solely for size and not for architectural integrity, something that Greenwich had previously claimed in spades thanks to their old-money, understated population with prep school educations holding the mantle of America's aristocracy. Fast forward to today - RBS and RBC are largely gone from Stamford but the hedge fund craze (and, to a lesser extent, PE) is still in full force. Now, Greenwich more closely resembles Manhattan with its influx of new money and many of the old guard have left the town or operate in the minority "understated elegance" of the town. I mean, I couldn't see someone from the British royal family moving there but I definitely COULD see a Trump calling the town home.
Darien also saw this transition, albeit not to the same extent, and has become more nouveau riche. If I had to put my finger on the "nicest" town in FC, it would probably be New Canaan, Ridgefield, Weston or Southport. These town are a little more shielded from NYC (NC, Ridgefield and Weston are not on the main New Haven Line and Southport is pretty far from the city) but boast some of the most beautiful estates in the region that can trace their lineage back generations.
/rant
All that said, in the end of the day who cares how prestigious your town is, find a place with good schools, a commute you can manage, a downtown you like and an area you feel at home. And get off my lawn.
no rockville, md? isn't that one of the most expensive /sq ft locations?
kind of, Rockville is just north of Potomac (both in Montgomery Co along with Bethesda). I think Clarksville in HoCo actually beats them both tho from a straight up wealth perspective.
edit. my bad for necroing this thread.
i'm still here so thanks for the insight.
no rancho sante fe elite boutique?
haha riiiight
I lived in Encinitas for a year --- there are some badass homes in Rancho Santa Fe. I went to a house party in one there that was like a $20 million dollar pad and they had one of those wrinkly Chinese dogs and all the accouterments of the champagne lifestyle. It was kind of like a European villa style place, very classy.
How good did the dog taste?
Suburbs are for normies and basics.
You use the word "normie"...
I didn't know Greenwich was in NY, or Westport, or Darien
Also pretty sure Larchmont should be in the Westchester County group...and maybe not Mamaroneck or all of Bronxville.
A few West Coast ones I didn't see mentioned,
AZ - Paradise Valley, North Scottsdale, Biltmore/ Arcadia Area CA - Bradbury, La Jolla, Holmby Hills NV - Summerlin Area WA - Bellevue, Medina
I would put these all as regional except for Medina and Holmby Hills, the people that are richer than your boss's boss live in these neighborhoods.
Some more West Coast ones that would fit somewhere between EB and MM: Cupertino, California Palo Alto, California
Buckhead isn't a suburb.
Alpharetta and East Cobb would be the prestigious suburbs for Atlanta.
I'm out of MS for now but I'll revisit as soon as I can..
Sunnyvale Trailer Park
Since this showed up, I will contribute with Franklin/Brentwood TN. Old money/New money plus a country music start or two (plus a dope ass Pagani I saw when visiting)
Planning for a move to the suburbs and found this.
I'll add:
- SF East Bay: LaMOrinda (Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda)
- SF Peninsula: Woodside
- LA South Bay: Manhattan Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes
- LA Westside: Brentwood, Pacific Palisades
.
Indian hill, Ohio
Well if Burbs had to be banks. Greenwich and Rothschild are a match made in heaven.
Medina wa.
Mercer Island
Never thought I would see my town's name on WSO.... S/O NYC suburbs
bunch of towns u can add in NJ
Summit, Montclair, Chatam, Princeton
Yeah NJ is littered with these towns. Ridgewood, Franklin Lakes, Tenafly. These towns are quite wealthy with great schools generally.
Saw the suburb I grew up in, and one I go to school near! Really beautiful, quiet places.
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