# Areas named specifically to be associated with an affluent area **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 23, 2022, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676 "2022-06-23T13:38:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/41 "2022-06-26T12:36:25Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > A good rule of thumb nationwide is that if there’s a desirable {Someplace}, there will probably be a {North / East / West / South Someplace} that was once a middle-class poseur but is now a dump. Ditto for {Someplace Heights / Glades / Bluffs / Valley / Estates}. When you hear “East Cleveland,” you would naturally think they’re talking about the east side of downtown Cleveland. Nope. It’s a city that separate from Cleveland. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/42 "2022-06-26T13:23:20Z")
Another common naming habit is that the streets in well-off sections of cities get names that sound well-off. I remember reading about this in the novella “Goodbye, Columbus” by Philip Roth. About five pages into it (depending on the edition you read), the main character, who isn’t from a rich family, goes to visit a girl who definitely is from a rich one, and notices that the street’s “names were those of eastern colleges, as though” the people there wanted to let outsiders know that their children would be going to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/43 "2022-06-26T14:32:35Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > as though” the people there wanted to let outsiders know that their children would be going to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. I’m pretty sure my mother decided on our house in PA because it was on Vasser Rd., connecting to the main street via Lawrence Ln. and Radcliffe Rd. They weren’t all that well known names to the general public, the snob appeal was rather limited. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/44 "2022-06-26T14:56:30Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Vasser Rd. It’s Vassar Road, of course. If they had named it Vasser Road, that would be really ironic. Then the people naming it would be trying to boast about going to a top college even though they couldn’t spell very well. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/45 "2022-06-26T15:09:38Z")
> [@kferr](#): > > In the UK a couple posh towns are Walton-on-Thames and Henley-on-Thames. A few years ago the town called Staines (where the UK version of The Office was set) tried to change their name to Staines-on-Thames to try to get rid of their “just a bunch of industrial estates” image. ooooo! I have to nitpick. The Office was set in Slough, not Staines. However, Ali G. was from Staines so the principle still applies ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/46 "2022-06-26T16:16:52Z")
Vassar of course. I can hear my mom’s exasperation. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/47 "2022-06-26T18:42:51Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Another common naming habit is that the streets in well-off sections of cities get names that sound well-off. Palo Alto has a lot of streets named for famous writers. But it is Palo Alto. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/48 "2022-06-26T19:55:32Z")
Constantia is one of the weathiest suburbs of Cape Town. The neighbouring suburb of Plumstead has a considerably less affluent reputation. Real estate agents have started rebranding part of Plumstead as “Plumstantia” to make it sound more posh. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/49 "2022-06-27T06:48:15Z")
Another estate agents’ confection in London is that an unlovely area of Deptford along the river north of Greenwich (formerly wharfage, warehouses, light industry and social housing, but now acquiring posh residential development) was being called the Deptford Riviera, but that seems to have been laughed away. And some upper-crust (or would-bes) moving into Stockwell and Streatham (pleasant but ordinary middle-class residential areas) took for a time to referring to them as though they were idyllic country villages - St. Ockwell and St. Reatham. I don’t think that lasted long, either. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/50 "2022-06-27T18:06:44Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I could forgive that if these developments were close to the Potomac river, but I know that they are not; actual Potomac basically has a monopoly on all of the residential riverfront property. It’s funny. My subdivision is in Rockville and you can tell where Rockville ends and Potomac begins because that’s where the sidewalk ends and there’s a small sign saying, “End County Maintenance.” Otherwise, it’s identical on either side of the line. Same selection of home models and everything. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/51 "2022-06-27T18:21:17Z")
Hyde Park is a neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, which is home to the University of Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry. It was first created and named in 1853, by a real estate speculator; at that time, it was not within Chicago’s city limits, and the developer named it after London’s Hyde Park, in order to attract affluent businessmen to buy a home there. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/52 "2022-06-28T07:41:42Z")
The Toronto suburb of The Beaches has a Kew Gardens possibly for a similar reason. ---
**Author:** ![Kzbre5m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kzbre5m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kzbre5m)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/53 "2022-06-28T09:53:47Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > There is a “Sharon Chinese School” and a “Russian School of Mathematics - Sharon” neither of which are in Sharon but in adjacent towns with less glittering reputations for academic focus. Perhaps the Chinese school was once located in Sharon, but the math school never was. > > I guess in this case they are marketing themselves to the education-obsessed folks in the town of Sharon. What is puzzling is the “Sharon Chinese School” is in the Canton High School, no “less glittering” academic reputation school. The “Russian School” is in a former KFC restaurant, opposite a Walmart. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/54 "2022-06-28T12:07:18Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Do you have examples of this around where you live? No cause you took all of mine! I sometimes get mail that says North Potomac though I’m firmly in Gaithersburg, even my street signs say Gaithersburg on them. Didn’t they just rename the White Oak Metro stop to North Bethesda as well? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/55 "2022-06-28T12:10:57Z")
Around these parts, trailer parks/mobile home parks for some reason are often named “Estates”. Sunset Valley Estates, Denny Estates, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/56 "2022-06-28T12:24:24Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > Didn’t they just rename the White Oak Metro stop to North Bethesda as well? Yes, but it was White Flint, not White Oak. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/57 "2022-06-28T12:28:10Z")
Oh yeah, there’s a White Oak here too and I got them mixed up. I try to avoid that area as much as possible. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/58 "2022-06-28T13:29:55Z")
It had that freestanding Sears that was there for forever until it closed last year. Used to go there all the time. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/59 "2022-06-28T14:53:11Z")
That’s where we usually bought clothes for our kids, as well as appliances. We’d probably still shop there if it stuck around. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676/60 "2022-06-28T15:05:15Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Curiously, there are both a “Hollywood” and “Bel Air” in Maryland, but both cities predate their Los Angeles counterparts by a large margin, over a hundred years in the latter case. About five miles down the road from Hollywood you will find California, Maryland, which _was_ named for the state. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-named-specifically-to-be-associated-with-an-affluent-area/966676.md?page=4)