I was born in Washington DC, but my parents moved out of the city and into the suburbs in 1972, to Columbia, MD and so that's where I grew up. It's a planned commumity along the I-95 corridor between DC and Baltimore (a little closer to B'more actually). It was a frightfully boring place to grow up but a couple of years ago was said to be the best place in America to live:
Columbia is Best Place to Live in America for 2016: Money Magazine
I stayed in the area after college (went to the University of Maryland) and at various times lived in DC, Baltimore and Ellicott City MD. Even did a short stint in West Virginia. Then, when I met my wife, who is a SoCal native, I moved to LA and that's where I still am 22 years later.
As Smitty, and Mdubya who are still in our state, plus Gball, DonO and a few others know, I am also here in Maryland. Having grown up in Towson and then Cockeysville after mom moved us to a happier home, I only went to Columbia that Gball spoke of if I wanted to go see a concert. Having him mention it as a "planned community", I usually vowed to almost never go there, as if one were not born and raised there, you were doomed to get lost as if falling into a black hole.
Almost all businesses, signage, landmarks of any kind were all somehow concealed in shrubs and trees which make it impossible to tell one road from the other and even what direction one was traveling would get one easily confused.
At least where I grew up had roads that either went north and south, east and west and went endlessly for miles on end. To me, one can easily find anywhere when the roads make sense and East west roads intersect the North South ones and vice versa so that one just had to know directions and how far up/down to or fro you were when starting and aiming for. Also, in contrast to what Gball mentions as frightfully boring, we had all manner of facilities, natural resources, and even ways to make fun out of things and places Columbia must have been lacking.
I still remember playing as many sports as possible, fishing, snake hunting, bb gun and later .22 and 30-06, 357 magnum shooting, firecracker lighting, woods and stream hiking, horse riding, skateboarding, sled riding, dirtbike and pedal bike riding, swimming, movies, billiards, girls, national and local live band scene as we got older and could drive etc.
The video doesn't show you all the rain, though!
