What the heck is up with these exburb boosters?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, how late do you need to stay up? My DH goes to sleep between 10:30 and 11, is up at 5:30, and out the door by 6:30.

Many of us live in the exurbs BECAUSE WE LIKE IT. We don't want to live closer in, and either have jobs out here or are willing to commute a little more to live here. If you want the city life, then enjoy it! But the thought that everyone who lives in the suburbs or exurbs has the desire to live in DC or even in the close-in areas in absurd.

Sheesh, if the sedentary lifestyle and stress-filled commute doesn't kill you, the lack of sleep will.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20012475-10391704.html
http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/02/commuter-stress-d-c-commute-can-add-to-existing-health-problems-72857.html

Because working 60+ hours a week and living in a 'gentrifying' (i.e. crime-ridden) neighborhood is absolutely un-stressful.

Who works 60+ hours a week? And if you think gentrifying neighborhoods are "crime-ridden" enough to be stressful, you've been watching too much TV. Most of the folks I know in town work about 35 hours a week, work from home, and meet up for 2 hour lunches a couple of times a week. And on the rare occasion that someone gets shot at 2 am a few blocks away, it makes for interesting cocktail banter.

You seem to have a really weird conception of what life in the city is like.

You seem to have a really weird conception of what constitutes the city since the majority of DC proper residents are utterly unfamiliar with the lifestyle you describe.

[Anonymous]

Why do you have to drag Ohio into it?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Who works 60+ hours a week? And if you think gentrifying neighborhoods are "crime-ridden" enough to be stressful, you've been watching too much TV. Most of the folks I know in town work about 35 hours a week, work from home, and meet up for 2 hour lunches a couple of times a week. And on the rare occasion that someone gets shot at 2 am a few blocks away, it makes for interesting cocktail banter.

You seem to have a really weird conception of what life in the city is like.

Recognizing this is troll bait, but the shootings and muggings in DC trigger pleas for additional police resources and anxious postings on community blogs, not entertaining "cocktail banter."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yay for you, OP. I am super thrilled that you are happy with where you live. But not everyone can afford to live in Kent/SV. Some of us can only afford to live outside the Beltway and drive 40 minutes or take the Orange Line to downtown DC. We make that trade off so that our kids can have safe neighborhoods and good schools. Stop being so elitist.

Just curious - are you in a condo/townhouse? Or are you one of those people who "can't afford" to live in the city because you simply must have 4+ bedrooms, a sun parlor, etc?

Not the poster you quoted, but our 1600 sq ft townhouse is more than what we could afford when we bought three years ago. It's not a palace, but we couldn't even have entered the DC market, at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zipcodes are often NOT competitive.
This is a distinctly DC and NYC phenomena.
No, not new to life. I just have one.
Zing! I win! Bye!
(ooo, you are sooo mad now aren't you? GO ALL CAPS WHY DON'T YOU, MR. LAWYER/LOBBYIST/INDUSTRY HACK!!! YAY, A CHANCE TO VENT BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T GOTTEN YOUR RDA OF POWER TODAY!!!)

It must suck working for some Fed agency, stuck in the bowels on Constitution ave. You came here thinking you'd change the world, and now all you do is change forms and forms and forms. You found out America doesn't care about your plight and by the way it's really expensive here. But you're stuck here because your "skill" doesn't translate into a job any where else. Unless you just want to become a clerk. Enjoy the exburbs tonight. Take those 3 hours driving home to think about it.

First, do you actually know what your neighbors who work for the Federal Government do all day, or do you just believe everything talk radio tells you, and second, you sound like an idiot when you write, as OP did "exburb." It's "exurb." Or do you order "expresso," too?

Do any of you even know what an exurb is? This is thrilling to watch so many people banter so ignorantly. The "exurb line" of DC starts west of Ashburn, at least in Virginia. I wouldn't be comfortable living as far west as Oakton or Chantilly, but that doesn't mean they're exurbs, same goes for Fairfax or Falls Church for those of you who live in DC.

[Anonymous]

Just a friendly reminder that there are nearly 7000 homeless residents of DC, of whom nearly 2000 are children.

http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/bystate/Rankings.aspx?state=DC&ind=4833

If you'd like to help, here are organizations worthy of your time, donations, or support:

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/

http://www.endhomelessness.org/

http://www.some.org/

http://www.dccentralkitchen.org/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yay for you, OP. I am super thrilled that you are happy with where you live. But not everyone can afford to live in Kent/SV. Some of us can only afford to live outside the Beltway and drive 40 minutes or take the Orange Line to downtown DC. We make that trade off so that our kids can have safe neighborhoods and good schools. Stop being so elitist.

Just curious - are you in a condo/townhouse? Or are you one of those people who "can't afford" to live in the city because you simply must have 4+ bedrooms, a sun parlor, etc?

I love the implication that really cool, virtuous, GOOD people must continue to live in cramped quarters as long as they are within city limits instead of decamping to, SHUDDER, suburbs that are a better match for the real needs of their family, which do not include racking up UrbanCool(TM) points.

I nearly choked on my candy, re: the TM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zipcodes are often NOT competitive.
This is a distinctly DC and NYC phenomena.
No, not new to life. I just have one.
Zing! I win! Bye!
(ooo, you are sooo mad now aren't you? GO ALL CAPS WHY DON'T YOU, MR. LAWYER/LOBBYIST/INDUSTRY HACK!!! YAY, A CHANCE TO VENT BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T GOTTEN YOUR RDA OF POWER TODAY!!!)

It must suck working for some Fed agency, stuck in the bowels on Constitution ave. You came here thinking you'd change the world, and now all you do is change forms and forms and forms. You found out America doesn't care about your plight and by the way it's really expensive here. But you're stuck here because your "skill" doesn't translate into a job any where else. Unless you just want to become a clerk. Enjoy the exburbs tonight. Take those 3 hours driving home to think about it.

You know what is really going to piss you off? My husband is a federal employee. We live in your neighborhood...or something pretty close to it. Our house was not paid for by his federal employee salary, mind you. We are lucky to have other family resources that enable to live close-in in a beautiful house with amazing schools. We have curtains on our windows and furniture in every room of our house, too! Wow, imagine that. He doesn't shuffle papers all day long. While he may not be "changing the world," he enjoys his work, works hard at it and knows that he is contributing to making this country a better place through his work. We live right near a metro station, so his commute is so, so awesome compared to most. We are not "stuck here." His experience would translate very well into another sector; he is definitely not "stuck" in the federal workforce and may actually not spend his entire career there -- he'll do what makes him happy when the time is right for a change. Granted, this is a good place to be for employment -- both his and mine. And it's a great geographical compromise too in terms of where both of our families live. We'll enjoy our home...not in an exurb. We'll think about what you said while we sip our wine on our beautiful patio tonight. You may actually have found that we are wonderful, intelligent, hospitable people who would have loved to have you and your family over for dinner one night...but you're a dick, so no.