Moved to the burbs and hate it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I look forward to city living again when the kids are out of school in a few years. But we will downsize to a real city, possibly abroad, not a depressing company town like DC.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My spouse moved here from NYC, hated DC, and insisted we move to the suburbs once our oldest was school-age. It wouldn't have been the case in NYC, which as PPs have noted is a "real" city, which to me means a city with a more diverse population and more options.

My spouse grew up on the UES. We recently bought in upper NW.

...Georgetown?

[Anonymous]

The good aspects of DC as a city are very different from large cities like NYC or London. It doesn't have the kind of 24/7 energy that comes with millions of people from everywhere living together. Nor does it have a significant amount of creative industries. It does, however, have a lot of breathing room, green space and human-scale size and some cute historic neighborhoods. The crime is pretty bad here tho - I feel much more susceptible to becoming a victim here than I ever did in those other cities. We lived in Logan circle when we first moved here but moved to a close-in burb with good schools and walkable to metro and other stuff not long after. Logan circle was ok - probably the most "urban" vibe that DC could offer but it still felt kinda weak. More like a shiny retail version of urban vibrancy but without any of the non-consumption-based fundamentals that make an urban area interesting.

[Anonymous]

What burb?

[Anonymous]

I don't get all the DC bashing. I grew up in a huge city (not in the US). I have also lived in NYC for several years.
I like DC. I like how it has so much green space and does not feel super crowded. Traffic can be bad but nothing like NYC, LA or Bangkok.
It is segregated but unfortunately so are a lot of big cities anywhere.
I love visiting some of the more cosmopolitan cities all over the world when we are on vacation but love coming home to DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get all the DC bashing. I grew up in a huge city (not in the US). I have also lived in NYC for several years.
I like DC. I like how it has so much green space and does not feel super crowded. Traffic can be bad but nothing like NYC, LA or Bangkok.
It is segregated but unfortunately so are a lot of big cities anywhere.
I love visiting some of the more cosmopolitan cities all over the world when we are on vacation but love coming home to DC.

I agree. I grew up in a world capital mega city and before I moved here I lived in Palo Alto. My wife used to live in London. We are happy in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get all the DC bashing. I grew up in a huge city (not in the US). I have also lived in NYC for several years.
I like DC. I like how it has so much green space and does not feel super crowded. Traffic can be bad but nothing like NYC, LA or Bangkok.
It is segregated but unfortunately so are a lot of big cities anywhere.
I love visiting some of the more cosmopolitan cities all over the world when we are on vacation but love coming home to DC.

I agree. I grew up in a world capital mega city and before I moved here I lived in Palo Alto. My wife used to live in London. We are happy in DC.

Similar story here. I think a lot of the bashing is by people from smaller cities or parts of the US where they aren't used to expensive housing, traffic, fighting for resources etc. really DC isn't that expensive or stressful. It has a lot to offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My spouse moved here from NYC, hated DC, and insisted we move to the suburbs once our oldest was school-age. It wouldn't have been the case in NYC, which as PPs have noted is a "real" city, which to me means a city with a more diverse population and more options.

My spouse grew up on the UES. We recently bought in upper NW.

...Georgetown?

No, not Georgetown. Spouse actually wanted a SFH and a quieter area, hence we looked elsewhere to find those things in upper NW. Plus, Georgetown would not have worked well for our commutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get all the DC bashing. I grew up in a huge city (not in the US). I have also lived in NYC for several years.
I like DC. I like how it has so much green space and does not feel super crowded. Traffic can be bad but nothing like NYC, LA or Bangkok.
It is segregated but unfortunately so are a lot of big cities anywhere.
I love visiting some of the more cosmopolitan cities all over the world when we are on vacation but love coming home to DC.

I agree. I grew up in a world capital mega city and before I moved here I lived in Palo Alto. My wife used to live in London. We are happy in DC.

Similar story here. I think a lot of the bashing is by people from smaller cities or parts of the US where they aren't used to expensive housing, traffic, fighting for resources etc. really DC isn't that expensive or stressful. It has a lot to offer.

Weird, because I think many of the DC supporters are from small towns and don't have any experience with real cities. People in NYC would never accept a non-functional disgrace of a transit system, an inept local government, or dangerous non-enforcement of the building code. But people from Bodunk, Iowa show up in DC with no awareness of what a functioning big city is like, so they support mediocre DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get all the DC bashing. I grew up in a huge city (not in the US). I have also lived in NYC for several years.
I like DC. I like how it has so much green space and does not feel super crowded. Traffic can be bad but nothing like NYC, LA or Bangkok.
It is segregated but unfortunately so are a lot of big cities anywhere.
I love visiting some of the more cosmopolitan cities all over the world when we are on vacation but love coming home to DC.

I agree. I grew up in a world capital mega city and before I moved here I lived in Palo Alto. My wife used to live in London. We are happy in DC.

Similar story here. I think a lot of the bashing is by people from smaller cities or parts of the US where they aren't used to expensive housing, traffic, fighting for resources etc. really DC isn't that expensive or stressful. It has a lot to offer.

Agree with all of this. i've lived in a lot of cities and think that DC is a great place to live. The ability to walk everywhere is fantastic, there are tons of free museums and activities, RCP is good, the people here are incredibly diverse and educated, and the city is fairly clean and attractive with different pockets of activity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get all the DC bashing. I grew up in a huge city (not in the US). I have also lived in NYC for several years.
I like DC. I like how it has so much green space and does not feel super crowded. Traffic can be bad but nothing like NYC, LA or Bangkok.
It is segregated but unfortunately so are a lot of big cities anywhere.
I love visiting some of the more cosmopolitan cities all over the world when we are on vacation but love coming home to DC.

I agree. I grew up in a world capital mega city and before I moved here I lived in Palo Alto. My wife used to live in London. We are happy in DC.

Similar story here. I think a lot of the bashing is by people from smaller cities or parts of the US where they aren't used to expensive housing, traffic, fighting for resources etc. really DC isn't that expensive or stressful. It has a lot to offer.

Weird, because I think many of the DC supporters are from small towns and don't have any experience with real cities. People in NYC would never accept a non-functional disgrace of a transit system, an inept local government, or dangerous non-enforcement of the building code. But people from Bodunk, Iowa show up in DC with no awareness of what a functioning big city is like, so they support mediocre DC.

People in NYC typically don't have the option to own and use a car on a regular basis. They are way more dependent on the subway.

I understand the NY subway runs all night and goes everywhere but it's not exactly a pleasant ride. So incredibly crowded. I hated riding it to work.

Both the NY subway and DC metro are a disgrace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get all the DC bashing. I grew up in a huge city (not in the US). I have also lived in NYC for several years.
I like DC. I like how it has so much green space and does not feel super crowded. Traffic can be bad but nothing like NYC, LA or Bangkok.
It is segregated but unfortunately so are a lot of big cities anywhere.
I love visiting some of the more cosmopolitan cities all over the world when we are on vacation but love coming home to DC.

I agree. I grew up in a world capital mega city and before I moved here I lived in Palo Alto. My wife used to live in London. We are happy in DC.

Similar story here. I think a lot of the bashing is by people from smaller cities or parts of the US where they aren't used to expensive housing, traffic, fighting for resources etc. really DC isn't that expensive or stressful. It has a lot to offer.

Agree with all of this. i've lived in a lot of cities and think that DC is a great place to live. The ability to walk everywhere is fantastic, there are tons of free museums and activities, RCP is good, the people here are incredibly diverse and educated, and the city is fairly clean and attractive with different pockets of activity.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you OP. It sounds like you are in one of the nicer suburbs but your post did make me feel slightly better about staying in DC. We have a 3 BR detached bungalow and a yard and the area is up-and-coming with new bars and restaurants opening, but there are shootings every week or so a few blocks away. We are past the free DC pre-school years and DH is making noises about moving before older DD hits HS. I know he is full of it because he hates commuting even more than I do.

Lovely. You couldn't pay me to live in that type of neighborhood, especially with kids.

+1 this is a dealbreaker, no amount of cool restaurants and bars could make up for this (and I live in the city)

Why are shootings a deal breaker but injury or death by auto accident isn't? I don't think the odds of either is particularly high.

If avoiding auto accidents is a priority then a metro accessible neighborhood like OP's where kids ride on super safe school buses is perfect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get all the DC bashing. I grew up in a huge city (not in the US). I have also lived in NYC for several years.
I like DC. I like how it has so much green space and does not feel super crowded. Traffic can be bad but nothing like NYC, LA or Bangkok.
It is segregated but unfortunately so are a lot of big cities anywhere.
I love visiting some of the more cosmopolitan cities all over the world when we are on vacation but love coming home to DC.

I agree. I grew up in a world capital mega city and before I moved here I lived in Palo Alto. My wife used to live in London. We are happy in DC.

Similar story here. I think a lot of the bashing is by people from smaller cities or parts of the US where they aren't used to expensive housing, traffic, fighting for resources etc. really DC isn't that expensive or stressful. It has a lot to offer.

Agree with all of this. i've lived in a lot of cities and think that DC is a great place to live. The ability to walk everywhere is fantastic, there are tons of free museums and activities, RCP is good, the people here are incredibly diverse and educated, and the city is fairly clean and attractive with different pockets of activity.

Another +1. I grew up and lived for many years in Berlin, and I also like DC. Similar to Berlin, DC has a lot of green space, and lots to do for kids. Of course public transportation is much better in Berlin (but also better than any other US city), which is not to say it runs without glitches. Also, coming from Berlin, I am not used to the kind of street crime and gun violence that exists in DC, which is why I live close to OP in Upper NWDC. Obviously, there are many more differences between Berlin and DC than there are similarities, but that wouldn't make me disparage DC as "not a real city".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The good aspects of DC as a city are very different from large cities like NYC or London. It doesn't have the kind of 24/7 energy that comes with millions of people from everywhere living together. Nor does it have a significant amount of creative industries. It does, however, have a lot of breathing room, green space and human-scale size and some cute historic neighborhoods. The crime is pretty bad here tho - I feel much more susceptible to becoming a victim here than I ever did in those other cities. We lived in Logan circle when we first moved here but moved to a close-in burb with good schools and walkable to metro and other stuff not long after. Logan circle was ok - probably the most "urban" vibe that DC could offer but it still felt kinda weak. More like a shiny retail version of urban vibrancy but without any of the non-consumption-based fundamentals that make an urban area interesting.

Pretty much this. DC has some surface appeal but as an urban environment it is decidedly underwhelming. Perhaps you need to have spent significant amounts of time in other, more interesting cities to grasp this.