Has anyone decided to give up on DCPS and move to Virginia?

[Anonymous]

The Trinidad poster....also, do realize this, as I did: it is only a minor proportion of DC proper area that has urban delights like stylish restaurants, bars, libraries, parks, retail and food stores within walking distance. You can live in DC outside of expensive desirable areas and have to ride a bus for an hour to get to a library or a nearest bar, and it won't be all that. So outside of desirable areas life in DC can be just as isolated and culturally barren as in the burbs, without redeeming value of the burbs.

And that is, ironically, also true of the poshest parts of DC like upper-upper Northwest - they are basically suburban areas in DC zip codes, nothing walkable or easy-reach about them. I would live there in a heartbeat, but no hopes of ever affording more than a closet worth of space there

[Anonymous]

Driving is not just about whether it is convenient or fun... what about the environment?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The snark isn't necessary. The PP may be suggesting that if you're only looking at the total number of children in the city (as the Post article does) you're not seeing the underlying shift in economic circumstances, nor how they will ripple through the school system.

Oh, good heavens! Don't scare snarky PP away with nuance. This is pretty obvious if you think about it for more than thirty seconds, but it's so much easier to be snotty.

There's nothing even remotely obvious about how the changing economic circumstances of some DC residents will "ripple through the school system." At this point, it's a crap shoot.

So long as the number of well-heeled in DC who send their kids to public schools remains substantially lower than the number living in DC with 2-year-olds, the ripple effect may be very shallow. Most of the noise is from people who are trying to convince others to stay in DC because it's in their personal financial interests that they do so. Other people remain stubbornly resistent, however, to using their kids to advance someone else's agenda.

This is a town, after all, where Adrien Fenty and Michelle Rhee were sent packing in short order. So why is it "pretty obvious" to hope that crappy DC schools will be transformed into Boston Latin and Hunter College in a few years.

And yet...try as you might, you cannot deny the hard evidence of the last census. E pur si muove...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Politically, DC is just an echo chamber with little to no exchange of ideas, merely adherence to orthodoxy.

If you're off orbiting Neptune on Wingnut Base Alpha, it absolutely must seem that way.

Um, anyone who can do math and read a poly sci map will tell you that 70%+ one party = corruption.

It's PolySci 101. Ok, well, it's the kind of poly sci they teach in elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll bite. I lived in DC pretty much since I moved to the U.S. in 1999, and thought I'd never leave the city. Fast forward to 2010, I'm married and pregnant, and even though I thought we would stay till DS turns five, we decided to move when he was two months old.

Here's the thing. DC can be an absolutely lovely, vibrant, fun place to be for a single person or a childless couple. And yes, there are good elementaries, pretty leafy neighborhoods and smart people, but we finally faced the fact that we cannot and will not be able to afford a house in Spring Valley or even upper NW or sexy parts of the Hill, or a large place in Dupont or Georgetown, and we weren't willing to live in a condo. Outside of a handful of desirable neighborhoods, DC can be very gritty and unwelcoming. I lived in Trinidad (H Street) for four years and never felt at home. Not unsafe, but not at home, either. Your problem is that you are taking Georgetown and even gentrified Bloomingdale, and declaring it to be “DC”. It isn’t. It’s only a small part of DC, and many, many people in the city cannot afford the sort of stylish urban paradise you described. I really don’t get the benefit my kid gets from walking past beat-up bus shelters, vinos and boarded-up houses – aplenty in Trinidad.

We bought a big house in Falls Church near McLean. Yes, the place needs work but the neighborhood is pretty and friendly, there are parks and supermarkets within walking distance, and people are interesting enough. Most everyone is from somewhere else. I’m suddenly enjoying the space, the quiet and the backyard. Traffic? It takes me less time to drive from McLean to Van Ness (to work) than from Trinidad to Van Ness. Public transit? Don’t care. Never used the metro even when lived in Dupont, drove everywhere and loved it. Driving is actually more fun and convenient (to me) than public transit. There will, however, be a metro station in walking distance from the house two years from now. Our elementary school is one block away. Can all of this be had in DC? Sure. Just for a lot more money.


Museums and restaurants don’t disappear anywhere just because I have to drive half an hour to get there. It’s not outer space, is it.

A week ago we had to take DS to emergency room. We drove to NOVA in 15 minutes, valet parked, were seen by a doctor in 10 minutes and sent home in half an hour fully checked. The one time I went to GWU emergency, it took four hours in and out. And don’t forget surly, indifferent, inefficient public services in DC. Even my local Safeway is way pleasanter than the one in Trinidad.

I guess that this reluctant suburbanite is beginning to appreciate some good things about suburbia. And ladies, for all the talk about your treasured diversity, you sure aren’t very friendly to people who dare to voice a different opinion in this thread – witness all the “good riddance” posts.

Sincerely glad it all worked out for you. But you sound like you were a good fit for the suburbs all along what with driving everywhere, hankering for a big house, feeling out if sorts in Trinidad etc.

The good riddance posts are for the people coming in the DC PUBLIC SCHOOLS forum and lecturing others about it being time to grow up and move to the suburbs. That's annoying. Your post, in comparison is charming

Excellent points. Anyone talking about "what DC is" should be met with extreme skepticism. But we do know one thing that DC is: rapidly gentrifying, and becoming middle-class. The fact that someone who wants to live in the 'burbs didn't feel comfortable in one of the most violent neighborhoods in the city hardly seems like a surprise.

[Anonymous]

We bought a big house in Falls Church near McLean. Yes, the place needs work but the neighborhood is pretty and friendly, there are parks and supermarkets within walking distance, and people are interesting enough. Most everyone is from somewhere else. I’m suddenly enjoying the space, the quiet and the backyard. Traffic? It takes me less time to drive from McLean to Van Ness (to work) than from Trinidad to Van Ness. Public transit? Don’t care. Never used the metro even when lived in Dupont, drove everywhere and loved it. Driving is actually more fun and convenient (to me) than public transit. There will, however, be a metro station in walking distance from the house two years from now. Our elementary school is one block away. Can all of this be had in DC? Sure. Just for a lot more money.

Enjoy it while it lasts. One of the great things about all the folks who just *love* to drive leaving the city is that they're taking themselves out of the voting pool. As anyone who picks up a newspaper can see, that's resulted in those staying behind (and moving in) being fairly antipathetic to drivers and commuter culture. So essentially, folks move out to the 'burbs, and crow about how easy it is to commute into the city. Of course, those left behind vote for policies to make suburban commutes as difficult as possible--to the benefit of residents.

You see this particularly with all the folks who moved out of NE DC to PG County, who then are stunned to find their commute times go through the roof as the new residents vote en masse for traffic-calming policies (and as gas climbs above $4 per gallon).

My advice is that anyone who lives in the far burbs and needs to get into the city with any frequency check their access to public transit. With an explosion of regional population growth on the horizon; and a DC electorate increasingly self-selecting for transit-friendly city policies, you're going to need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But the question (a total sideline from the topic) is whether the realtor's statements re the schools are racist. Uninformed yes, but racist? Are suburban residents that are scared of the big city racists or just idiots?

Sadly, a little bit of both. I too have coworkers that commute as far as WV and look down their noses on DC residents thinking it's nothing but a butch of hoodlums and Marion Berry style crackheads. Unfortunately, a lot of it stems from racial stereotypes. Racist probably isn't the right term, more like prejudice.

It goes both ways. I think they're a bunch of hilljack, inbred rednecks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Trinidad poster....also, do realize this, as I did: it is only a minor proportion of DC proper area that has urban delights like stylish restaurants, bars, libraries, parks, retail and food stores within walking distance. You can live in DC outside of expensive desirable areas and have to ride a bus for an hour to get to a library or a nearest bar, and it won't be all that. So outside of desirable areas life in DC can be just as isolated and culturally barren as in the burbs, without redeeming value of the burbs.

And that is, ironically, also true of the poshest parts of DC like upper-upper Northwest - they are basically suburban areas in DC zip codes, nothing walkable or easy-reach about them. I would live there in a heartbeat, but no hopes of ever affording more than a closet worth of space there

ITA!

[Anonymous]

I'm so much like you. But I have been told by friends that it's not all about me or what I want anymore. Kids want to hang out at their friends' houses not at the museum and want a home cooked meal not a fancy restaurant. The other problem is that in DC you're either rich or poor so it is a skewed view of the world. Middle class folks live in the burbs. Oh and since it's mostly liberal, you won't have your views opposed. Hope you have a good school but others aren't so lucky so they need to move.

I realize I'm a little late to the party, but I did a double take at the bolded portions above. Are you under the impression that homes in DC don't have living rooms or kitchens? My home does, as do all the other places I've seen in DC, but I admit that's a small sample. As some posters are fond of reminding us, the plural of anecdote is not data. Perhaps we should conduct a survey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
And yet...try as you might, you cannot deny the hard evidence of the last census. E pur si muove...

The hard evidence of the last census was that the number of school-age children in the District had declined. It wasn't exactly an endorsement of DCPS by any stretch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Enjoy it while it lasts. One of the great things about all the folks who just *love* to drive leaving the city is that they're taking themselves out of the voting pool. As anyone who picks up a newspaper can see, that's resulted in those staying behind (and moving in) being fairly antipathetic to drivers and commuter culture. So essentially, folks move out to the 'burbs, and crow about how easy it is to commute into the city. Of course, those left behind vote for policies to make suburban commutes as difficult as possible--to the benefit of residents.

You see this particularly with all the folks who moved out of NE DC to PG County, who then are stunned to find their commute times go through the roof as the new residents vote en masse for traffic-calming policies (and as gas climbs above $4 per gallon).

My advice is that anyone who lives in the far burbs and needs to get into the city with any frequency check their access to public transit. With an explosion of regional population growth on the horizon; and a DC electorate increasingly self-selecting for transit-friendly city policies, you're going to need it.

That's a laugh. DC doesn't even have full voting rights in Congress, so an emboldened DC electorate would make life difficult for MD and VA commuters at its own peril.

As to the folks who live in the "far burbs," they generally don't work in DC and wouldn't care much if the whole city was swallowed up by the Potomac.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Trinidad poster....also, do realize this, as I did: it is only a minor proportion of DC proper area that has urban delights like stylish restaurants, bars, libraries, parks, retail and food stores within walking distance. You can live in DC outside of expensive desirable areas and have to ride a bus for an hour to get to a library or a nearest bar, and it won't be all that. So outside of desirable areas life in DC can be just as isolated and culturally barren as in the burbs, without redeeming value of the burbs.

And that is, ironically, also true of the poshest parts of DC like upper-upper Northwest - they are basically suburban areas in DC zip codes, nothing walkable or easy-reach about them. I would live there in a heartbeat, but no hopes of ever affording more than a closet worth of space there

This is a pretty accurate statement. Thank you for your honesty without just bashing DC. It is a really, really expensive city to live in. We can and are doing it. But I realize we have always done this just for the kids they can walk to a playmate house--although there is sometimes an incredible amount of social chafing for them on balance if we were in an affluent suburb like Mclean, no one (or hardly anyone) has the sort of casual block wide roaming of kids as young as 6 or 7. Our kids would be sooooo isolated in Potomac or Mclean because of my social laziness and phobia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Enjoy it while it lasts. One of the great things about all the folks who just *love* to drive leaving the city is that they're taking themselves out of the voting pool. As anyone who picks up a newspaper can see, that's resulted in those staying behind (and moving in) being fairly antipathetic to drivers and commuter culture. So essentially, folks move out to the 'burbs, and crow about how easy it is to commute into the city. Of course, those left behind vote for policies to make suburban commutes as difficult as possible--to the benefit of residents.

You see this particularly with all the folks who moved out of NE DC to PG County, who then are stunned to find their commute times go through the roof as the new residents vote en masse for traffic-calming policies (and as gas climbs above $4 per gallon).

My advice is that anyone who lives in the far burbs and needs to get into the city with any frequency check their access to public transit. With an explosion of regional population growth on the horizon; and a DC electorate increasingly self-selecting for transit-friendly city policies, you're going to need it.

That's a laugh. DC doesn't even have full voting rights in Congress, so an emboldened DC electorate would make life difficult for MD and VA commuters at its own peril.

As to the folks who live in the "far burbs," they generally don't work in DC and wouldn't care much if the whole city was swallowed up by the Potomac.

You're an ass.

[Anonymous]

Here's the thing. DC can be an absolutely lovely, vibrant, fun place to be for a single person or a childless couple. And yes, there are good elementaries, pretty leafy neighborhoods and smart people, but we finally faced the fact that we cannot and will not be able to afford a house in Spring Valley or even upper NW or sexy parts of the Hill, or a large place in Dupont or Georgetown, and we weren't willing to live in a condo. Outside of a handful of desirable neighborhoods, DC can be very gritty and unwelcoming. I lived in Trinidad (H Street) for four years and never felt at home. Not unsafe, but not at home, either. Your problem is that you are taking Georgetown and even gentrified Bloomingdale, and declaring it to be “DC”. It isn’t. It’s only a small part of DC, and many, many people in the city cannot afford the sort of stylish urban paradise you described. I really don’t get the benefit my kid gets from walking past beat-up bus shelters, vinos and boarded-up houses – aplenty in Trinidad.

I think here's where you lose me - it's not that you were forced out of DC, it that you couldn't afford the housing you wanted in DC. News flash - most of us can't. I certainly don't live in Spring Valley. But there are plenty of condos in neighborhoods that are not "gritty and unwelcoming" that are great places to raise a family. There are a whole lot of DC that falls between Spring Valley/Georgetown and Trinidad.

I'm not criticizing you - that's a valid choice, and there are plenty of good things about suburbia. All the Applebees, for example. (Kidding. KIDDING!) But it IS a choice, not a fiat accompli. Let's not pretend otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But the question (a total sideline from the topic) is whether the realtor's statements re the schools are racist. Uninformed yes, but racist? Are suburban residents that are scared of the big city racists or just idiots?

Sadly, a little bit of both. I too have coworkers that commute as far as WV and look down their noses on DC residents thinking it's nothing but a butch of hoodlums and Marion Berry style crackheads. Unfortunately, a lot of it stems from racial stereotypes. Racist probably isn't the right term, more like prejudice.

It goes both ways. I think they're a bunch of hilljack, inbred rednecks.

Hilljack. That might be an IPhone auto-type error, but I like it!

And thus, another urban dictionary term was born...