The Mid-Atlantic's Most "Exciting" Suburbs

Downtown Silver Spring, MD at night
Photo Credit: UrbanTurf DC

Yesterday, real estate website Movoto released its ranking of the "Most Exciting Suburbs In America." Movoto created its ranking by selecting the 139 largest suburbs (using Census data)
and averaging their ranking over the following 6 criteria:

• Nightlife per capita (bars, clubs, comedy, etc.)
• Live music venues per capita
• Active life options per capita (parks, outdoor activities, etc.)
• Fast Food restaurants per capita (the fewer the better)
• Percentage of restaurants that are fast food (the lower the better)

A number of suburbs in the Mid-Atlantic made the top 50 ranking, although none of them made the top 10. The region also seems to be a little underrepresented on the top 50 as well with only with only five suburbs ranked (16% of US population should equal exactly 8 on the list). 

The #1 ranked suburb in the nation, Cambridge, MA, isn't really a surprise, neither are a few of the others in the top 10 such as Berkeley, CA and Santa Monica, CA. Some of the other top 10 suburbs however, might cause a few raised eyebrows.  It should come as no surprise though that many suburbs on the list are college towns including the Mid-Atlantic's "most exciting": Towson, MD.

Continue reading to see the national top 10 "most exciting" suburbs ranking as well as the most exciting suburbs here in the Mid-Atlantic.


Top 10 Most Exciting Suburbs in America

Rank	City
1.	Cambridge, MA
2.	Quincy, MA
3.	Berkeley, CA
4.	Miami Beach, FL
5.	Santa Monica, CA
6.	Lakewood, OH
7.	Jacksonsville, FL
8.	Tempe, AZ
9.	Santa Clara, CA
10.	Evanston, IL

Top 10 Most Exciting Suburbs in the Mid-Atlantic

(with national rank)

Rank	City
11.	Towson, MD
13.	Silver Spring, MD
16.	Alexandria, VA
17.	Frederick, MD
42.	Upper Darby, PA
43.	New Rochelle, NY