If you don't like DC, what prevents you from leaving?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^I mean, if you are sooooooo excited to live in DC, far be it for me to rain on your parade. The museums are great, absolutely. But the shittier and shittier with every passing year public transit makes it a hassle to get to, let alone the traffic

It's mainly the culture. There is such a dearth of creative culture in DC. Of course, it's a government center, so it's going to attract the wonk types, not the creatives, but still... for a large city the dearth of creativity on such a level is kind of remarkable.

Also the people. Again with the lack of creativity- it tends to attract many small minded rule follower types, whether liberal or conservative. It doesnt have the vibrancy of great world cities like New York, LA, San Francisco, even Seattle.

I think you'd be disappointed how uncreative NY and LA are. They are extremely expensive cities and many of the creative types are living off of their parents or trust funds. It's just truly not that creative. There are Starbucks and whole foods all over both of those cities.

Exactly. I don't think these people realize that the perfect place they left behind isn't anymore, if it ever was. My mother yearned for the city we moved away from for two decades. When they finally moved back, she discovered that either the city had changed, or she had, because it was not what she remembered.

FWIW, I know lots of creative people in DC -- noted sculptors, actors, etc. (and I'm a boring lawyer). Just because you don't know them, it doesn't mean they're not there. Maybe you're just not looking in the right place.

I'll say I could care less if a city has creative people in its culture or not. Just not important to me, compared to the things that matter: jobs, schools, well educated and interesting neighbors.

That's what I dislike the most about it: there are NO interesting neighbors, only a lot of people who think they are special. They're all the same -- same huge houses, same kitchens, same lawns, same furniture, same smell (air freshener). Their kids have a handful of the same names. And yet they all think they are unique. They may be well educated but they can't have an intellectual conversation.

Burbs.

So who are you living next door to them? What are your kids names? Why are some families living in a good neighborhood just trying to raise their families so repulsive to you?

The burbs are the burbs everywhere you go. If you want the interesting culture and character neighborhoods you have to live IN dc.

I just don't really believe that Belleview or Santa Clarita are that much different then McLean and Bethesda.

Yes, that's the thing I don't get. There are many different kinds of neighborhoods here. If you don't like your neighborhood with the huge houses and the neighbors who think they're special, there are neighborhoods where the houses aren't huge and people don't think they're special and if you try hard enough you can find something interesting about them.

That is, I understand hating your neighborhood but take responsibility for your own inertia. I don't understand blaming this city for your lack of willingness to move to a more interesting neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've always wondered why so many DCUMers believe they can only find work in DC. My sister has worked for the Federal government her entire career -- in California. There are Federal jobs in every state of the union. Is everyone on here a member of Congress?

"Federal job" is a really broad category. They aren't interchangeable. Someone in national security or intelligence, for instance, is basically stuck in the DC area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^I mean, if you are sooooooo excited to live in DC, far be it for me to rain on your parade. The museums are great, absolutely. But the shittier and shittier with every passing year public transit makes it a hassle to get to, let alone the traffic

It's mainly the culture. There is such a dearth of creative culture in DC. Of course, it's a government center, so it's going to attract the wonk types, not the creatives, but still... for a large city the dearth of creativity on such a level is kind of remarkable.

Also the people. Again with the lack of creativity- it tends to attract many small minded rule follower types, whether liberal or conservative. It doesnt have the vibrancy of great world cities like New York, LA, San Francisco, even Seattle.

I think you'd be disappointed how uncreative NY and LA are. They are extremely expensive cities and many of the creative types are living off of their parents or trust funds. It's just truly not that creative. There are Starbucks and whole foods all over both of those cities.

Exactly. I don't think these people realize that the perfect place they left behind isn't anymore, if it ever was. My mother yearned for the city we moved away from for two decades. When they finally moved back, she discovered that either the city had changed, or she had, because it was not what she remembered.

FWIW, I know lots of creative people in DC -- noted sculptors, actors, etc. (and I'm a boring lawyer). Just because you don't know them, it doesn't mean they're not there. Maybe you're just not looking in the right place.

I'll say I could care less if a city has creative people in its culture or not. Just not important to me, compared to the things that matter: jobs, schools, well educated and interesting neighbors.

That's what I dislike the most about it: there are NO interesting neighbors, only a lot of people who think they are special. They're all the same -- same huge houses, same kitchens, same lawns, same furniture, same smell (air freshener). Their kids have a handful of the same names. And yet they all think they are unique. They may be well educated but they can't have an intellectual conversation.

Burbs.

So who are you living next door to them? What are your kids names? Why are some families living in a good neighborhood just trying to raise their families so repulsive to you?

The burbs are the burbs everywhere you go. If you want the interesting culture and character neighborhoods you have to live IN dc.

I just don't really believe that Belleview or Santa Clarita are that much different then McLean and Bethesda.

Yes, that's the thing I don't get. There are many different kinds of neighborhoods here. If you don't like your neighborhood with the huge houses and the neighbors who think they're special, there are neighborhoods where the houses aren't huge and people don't think they're special and if you try hard enough you can find something interesting about them.

That is, I understand hating your neighborhood but take responsibility for your own inertia. I don't understand blaming this city for your lack of willingness to move to a more interesting neighborhood.

I see this toxic attitude mostly from the locals who can barely afford to stay in this area; they seem really upset by what they think is new (not always) money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^I mean, if you are sooooooo excited to live in DC, far be it for me to rain on your parade. The museums are great, absolutely. But the shittier and shittier with every passing year public transit makes it a hassle to get to, let alone the traffic

It's mainly the culture. There is such a dearth of creative culture in DC. Of course, it's a government center, so it's going to attract the wonk types, not the creatives, but still... for a large city the dearth of creativity on such a level is kind of remarkable.

Also the people. Again with the lack of creativity- it tends to attract many small minded rule follower types, whether liberal or conservative. It doesnt have the vibrancy of great world cities like New York, LA, San Francisco, even Seattle.

I think you'd be disappointed how uncreative NY and LA are. They are extremely expensive cities and many of the creative types are living off of their parents or trust funds. It's just truly not that creative. There are Starbucks and whole foods all over both of those cities.

Exactly. I don't think these people realize that the perfect place they left behind isn't anymore, if it ever was. My mother yearned for the city we moved away from for two decades. When they finally moved back, she discovered that either the city had changed, or she had, because it was not what she remembered.

FWIW, I know lots of creative people in DC -- noted sculptors, actors, etc. (and I'm a boring lawyer). Just because you don't know them, it doesn't mean they're not there. Maybe you're just not looking in the right place.

I'll say I could care less if a city has creative people in its culture or not. Just not important to me, compared to the things that matter: jobs, schools, well educated and interesting neighbors.

That's what I dislike the most about it: there are NO interesting neighbors, only a lot of people who think they are special. They're all the same -- same huge houses, same kitchens, same lawns, same furniture, same smell (air freshener). Their kids have a handful of the same names. And yet they all think they are unique. They may be well educated but they can't have an intellectual conversation.

Burbs.

So who are you living next door to them? What are your kids names? Why are some families living in a good neighborhood just trying to raise their families so repulsive to you?

The burbs are the burbs everywhere you go. If you want the interesting culture and character neighborhoods you have to live IN dc.

I just don't really believe that Belleview or Santa Clarita are that much different then McLean and Bethesda.

Well, we're all just trying to raise our kids, now aren't we? But some people are just boring as hell. We were here first, and while the neighborhood didn't used to be filled with artists, at least it was filled with normal people. One by one the normal houses are torn down and replaced with massive houses that are all exactly the same inside, right down to the people in them. Obviously they are not REALLY all the same, but that's why they are so fake. Must be hard to put so much energy into having all your furniture, clothing, cars, names and smells just right, all while maintaining your illusion of super-specialness. I find that boring. And if you don't want to put all of your energy into looking, speaking, smelling and naming your children just right then there's not much to talk about with these people.

They have a lot of money but they are as dull as door-posts.

Good thing you aren't bitter about the new neighbors having shiny, new houses and cars.

If I had that kind of money, I would find more interesting ways to spend it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just really curious. No snark intended. It's just tiresome to read the ad nauseam posts about being miserable in DC. If I truly hated a place, I would leave right away. Life's too short. If another place calls to you, you have ties there, you just love love love it, and the people are awesomely friendly, surely you can find a job there? Why be so unhappy that your perspective is clouded to the point that you think everyone here is terrible? That's just illogical.

OP, I just need to say that the high number of know-it-all-know-nothings are worth the price of admission, alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just really curious. No snark intended. It's just tiresome to read the ad nauseam posts about being miserable in DC. If I truly hated a place, I would leave right away. Life's too short. If another place calls to you, you have ties there, you just love love love it, and the people are awesomely friendly, surely you can find a job there? Why be so unhappy that your perspective is clouded to the point that you think everyone here is terrible? That's just illogical.

I can tell two things about you, just from this OP: you SAH or don't make much money, because you think jobs here are fungible with jobs in Cleveland, and you're not a lawyer ("ad nauseam [sic]").

[Anonymous]

Military moved us here. We would never, ever choose DC unless the alternatives were somewhere like a city in the deep south or midwest.

I can't deal with the weather. It wasn't this awful ten years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just really curious. No snark intended. It's just tiresome to read the ad nauseam posts about being miserable in DC. If I truly hated a place, I would leave right away. Life's too short. If another place calls to you, you have ties there, you just love love love it, and the people are awesomely friendly, surely you can find a job there? Why be so unhappy that your perspective is clouded to the point that you think everyone here is terrible? That's just illogical.

I can tell two things about you, just from this OP: you SAH or don't make much money, because you think jobs here are fungible with jobs in Cleveland, and you're not a lawyer ("ad nauseam [sic]").

The OP used ad nauseam properly.

And if you live in Cleveland, the COL is much, much lower. You can get a nice home there for $200,000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Military moved us here. We would never, ever choose DC unless the alternatives were somewhere like a city in the deep south or midwest.

I can't deal with the weather. It wasn't this awful ten years ago.

Feel fortunate that you're not at Leavenworth or Hood. Could be worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Military moved us here. We would never, ever choose DC unless the alternatives were somewhere like a city in the deep south or midwest.

I can't deal with the weather. It wasn't this awful ten years ago.

Feel fortunate that you're not at Leavenworth or Hood. Could be worse.

I get that.

That there are worse places to be is not exactly a ringing endorsement of DC though. I think what's most shocking is that none of our family or friends are all that interested in visiting us here. No one wants to take vacation days only to "waste" them in DC, so we're really lonely and homesick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Military moved us here. We would never, ever choose DC unless the alternatives were somewhere like a city in the deep south or midwest.

I can't deal with the weather. It wasn't this awful ten years ago.

Feel fortunate that you're not at Leavenworth or Hood. Could be worse.

I get that.

That there are worse places to be is not exactly a ringing endorsement of DC though. I think what's most shocking is that none of our family or friends are all that interested in visiting us here. No one wants to take vacation days only to "waste" them in DC, so we're really lonely and homesick.

Well, you're military. You'll be posted to a variety of crappy or good places.

Too bad the military isn't doing accompanied tours overseas much anymore. I grew up at various posts in Europe and it was awesome. I hope you can try to enjoy the nation's capital while you're here. There really is a lot to offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just really curious. No snark intended. It's just tiresome to read the ad nauseam posts about being miserable in DC. If I truly hated a place, I would leave right away. Life's too short. If another place calls to you, you have ties there, you just love love love it, and the people are awesomely friendly, surely you can find a job there? Why be so unhappy that your perspective is clouded to the point that you think everyone here is terrible? That's just illogical.

I can tell two things about you, just from this OP: you SAH or don't make much money, because you think jobs here are fungible with jobs in Cleveland, and you're not a lawyer ("ad nauseam [sic]").

"Ad nauseam" can be used in more than a legal context.

[Anonymous]

I don't *hate* DC but I somewhat dislike it. I can't leave because of my husband's job. It's either the very stable job here that makes use of his PhD or restarting from scratch elsewhere. I don't make more than him so I can't exactly take on the primary provider role, which would be the only bargaining chip.

[Anonymous]

Money?

I feel like this thread is posted on a monthly basis. There's a reason that people put up with living in crowded, high COL places like NYC, Boston, DC, SF etc. -- there are lots of job opportunities and those jobs pay more than the same job in Cleveland (for most industries), if you can even find a job in your exact field in Cleveland. And there's the added plus of if you lose your job or hate your job and want/need to get another one, you'll find another one in aforementioned HCOL big city, whereas in CLE, you may likely have to pick up and move to another city which is no easy feat esp. if you need to sell a home in a rust belt/no growth market.

Now if you're in a field like medicine or teaching or IT, they may not apply to you so go where you please. But for the rest of us, living decisions go hand in hand with working decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Money?

I feel like this thread is posted on a monthly basis. There's a reason that people put up with living in crowded, high COL places like NYC, Boston, DC, SF etc. -- there are lots of job opportunities and those jobs pay more than the same job in Cleveland (for most industries), if you can even find a job in your exact field in Cleveland. And there's the added plus of if you lose your job or hate your job and want/need to get another one, you'll find another one in aforementioned HCOL big city, whereas in CLE, you may likely have to pick up and move to another city which is no easy feat esp. if you need to sell a home in a rust belt/no growth market.

Now if you're in a field like medicine or teaching or IT, they may not apply to you so go where you please. But for the rest of us, living decisions go hand in hand with working decisions.

+1