Are people in the DC area just a different kind of rude?

[Anonymous]

I just don't find this to be my reality at all. I've lived in Glover Park, DC for many years and this neighborhood is very friendly. Of course when I'm downtown I don't smile at everyone on the sidewalk... I mean, get real. But if I'm dealing with or meeting someone directly I smile, look them in the eye, greet them pleasantly, and generally receive the same in return. I certainly don't find DC ruder than any other place I've lived.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading all these replies, I can’t help to think it’s very much dependent on your SES and neighborhood. Maybe it’s a thing with the UMC of the DMV who care about status. In the real world (which DCUM tends to ignore….), I don’t find this to be the case. We live in Vienna. Not in a posh neighborhood. All the parents are well educated but everyone is pretty laid back.
If everyone is your circle is an A hole, you probably are as well.

The irony here makes my heart swell. PP, you are actually in the Group of Dicks yourself if you genuinely believe what you just wrote.

Interpretation: Do you earn a lot? Do you also live in a zip code where the majority of residents earn a high salary? Why, you are likely an a$$hole!

Nope, not what I said. If you are surrounded by people who are very status conscious and cut throat all the time, then you might be one as well...you can money and be educated and not be a douche.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just don't find this to be my reality at all. I've lived in Glover Park, DC for many years and this neighborhood is very friendly. Of course when I'm downtown I don't smile at everyone on the sidewalk... I mean, get real. But if I'm dealing with or meeting someone directly I smile, look them in the eye, greet them pleasantly, and generally receive the same in return. I certainly don't find DC ruder than any other place I've lived.

Same. I've lived all over the world, in big cities, in small towns, in countries at war, in countries at peace. I've always thought that the DMV is friendly. Like anywhere else, when I am in the city I don't smile at people but in my neighborhood, friendly smiles abound.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There are other work centric cities in the US and people seem to have more fun!

How are you living in DC and hanging out at a brewery, backyArd with friends, going to the beach? There aren’t any nice beaches nearby. It’s typically too hot to hang in a backyard with kids. Where is a nearby brewery?

I think part of the reason people are so rude and unfriendly is the lack of ability to have fun. There aren’t many places to go have fun. Which is evident by how many people leave DC in the summer. People vacation to go have fun. If you live in NY or LA, wealthy people might head out to a place like the Hamptons for the summer but it’s still relatively close by.

Nobody stays in NYC in the summer. Uptown is a ghost town in August. I have plenty of fun in DC. We have bbqs or drinks with friends, do playdates at parks or in each other's backyards, go for hikes, go to the club to swim or play tennis or golf, etc. This weekend our friends went tubing, though we couldn't join. This coming weekend I have a book club meeting with friends and a friend's bday dinner and a friend's kid's bday party.

I just said they go to the Hamptons. There is nowhere close to DC fun to go.

Not sure where you hike as the closest decent hiking is 1.5-2 hrs away. Kids birthday parties? Yawn. Tubing? No thanks.

Swimming at the club sounds nice. I’ll give you that. But the rest sounds very well....not a lot of fun.

Most of the New Yorkers I know (which is a lot as DH grew up on the UES and his whole family lives in Manhattan) don't go to the Hamptons. Some do, but others go to MV/Nantucket, Fishers Island, Maine, Vermont, Westchester/Fairfield, Hudson Valley, etc. Many of those places aren't that close. As for hiking, my kids are K and younger so Billy Goat and Rock Creek Park work for us. And I like attending my friends' kids' birthdays because it's a chance to hang out with my friends. If your definition of fun is exclusively going to the beach, I have no idea what's available within driving distance though I know some people like the Eastern Shore, but places like Charleston are also basically a 1-hour flight. If you can't find ways to have fun and don't have friends here who help you have fun, that may be on you.

You sound like the typical insufferable DC resident. Condescending talk about how NYers don’t stay in the city during the summer (who doesn’t know this)? Then next writing out a list of all of the places they go instead of the Hamptons. Do you even hear yourself? The point of PP was that a lot of people in DC travel to far away places to have fun during the summer because there aren’t as many fun places close by. Not to find out if you think Fischers island is somewhere a new Yorker could go on summer vacation. JFC

Since apparently this point bypassed you, the point is that most of those places are in fact not that close to NYC (even the Hamptons are hours away). If you think there's nothing accessible to DC that is the equivalent of New England's proximity to NYC, again I must assume the problem is you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move to a Black neighborhood, OP. Much friendlier. You'll see the difference right away.

+1

That is true, actually - people are civil.

Coming from another city as a transplant, D.C. is very different since there are no older ethnic neighborhoods like in most other cities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think dc is at all that bad it’s just got a ton of unattractive people I guess this is due to the professions that are popular in this area (law, non-profits)

Am I the only one who sees the lack of obsession with looks as a plus? Why would you want live somewhere like LA or NYC where fashion is important?

Small correction: They might be obsessed with fashion in NYC, but they are actually obsessed with plastic surgery and hair in LA, not fashion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like there's a certain brand of obnoxiousness that is generally present in a lot of DC-area people, notably those who are originally from outside the area.

It's hard to describe.

They "made it" by living here now. And they are so proud, bless their hearts. Tear falling.

What about those of us who feel that they have gone backward by moving here?

I am a transplant. I don't feel I made it by living here. However, I enjoyed traveling along the East coast. I had never been to RI, Maine, NYC, Boston, so I spent many weekends traveling just for fun to explore. I also really enjoyed the touristy sightseeing in DC.

I realized though, that not everyone I worked with was happy to see me so happy. The people who are from DC and surrounding area don't have anywhere else to go to work. They don't like transplants. I get it, now. I have a real hometown I can move back to whenever I want. I can live closer in the my job in downtown DC. I can enjoy a lot of what makes DC great, while people from here go through the drudgery of a long commute back to the burbs.

[Anonymous]

Reading all these replies, I can’t help to think it’s very much dependent on your SES and neighborhood. Maybe it’s a thing with the UMC of the DMV who care about status. In the real world (which DCUM tends to ignore….), I don’t find this to be the case. We live in Vienna. Not in a posh neighborhood. All the parents are well educated but everyone is pretty laid back.
If everyone is your circle is an A hole, you probably are as well.


The irony here makes my heart swell. PP, you are actually in the Group of Dicks yourself if you genuinely believe what you just wrote.

Interpretation: Do you earn a lot? Do you also live in a zip code where the majority of residents earn a high salary? Why, you are likely an a$$hole!



Nope, not what I said. If you are surrounded by people who are very status conscious and cut throat all the time, then you might be one as well...you can money and be educated and not be a douche.

Giant logic fail to suggest that "being surrounded by" people who have a personality trait XYZ is a solid predictor of whether or not you will have the same personality trait. The entire point of this thread is that OP and others -don't- share the values of the people who surround them at work, near home and at every damn coffee shop.

[Anonymous]

The people who are from DC and surrounding area don't have anywhere else to go to work.

If you were born in DC, Maryland or NoVA, it's impossible for you to move to another city or state and work there? Er, what?

I get it, now. I have a real hometown I can move back to whenever I want.

Real, like how? In what way is Elgin, Illinois more real than Hyattsville? Wait -- are you telling me that the 6 million people here are living in the Truman Show???

I can live closer in the my job in downtown DC. I can enjoy a lot of what makes DC great, while people from here go through the drudgery of a long commute back to the burbs.

I can't even with this one. People 'from here' all have really long commutes? Only transplants get to live close to downtown?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The people who are from DC and surrounding area don't have anywhere else to go to work.

If you were born in DC, Maryland or NoVA, it's impossible for you to move to another city or state and work there? Er, what?

I get it, now. I have a real hometown I can move back to whenever I want.

Real, like how? In what way is Elgin, Illinois more real than Hyattsville? Wait -- are you telling me that the 6 million people here are living in the Truman Show???

I can live closer in the my job in downtown DC. I can enjoy a lot of what makes DC great, while people from here go through the drudgery of a long commute back to the burbs.

I can't even with this one. People 'from here' all have really long commutes? Only transplants get to live close to downtown?

But how many people from DC and surrounding area ever actually move for work to another city? They can move away but they don't. And they don't like transplants moving here and taking their jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, DC is the only city I've lived in where the culture is to not talk to or look at anyone on the metro, sidewalks, etc. I do get it though as usually the person who approaches you on the street is mentally ill or some college kid asking you for your signature.

You apparently have chosen to live in a neighborhood where people act like this. This is not the case in my neighborhood at all. The best move I ever made was to a low-income neighborhood in DC 20 years ago. The people were welcoming and I learned to say hi to strangers on the street. Even with the gentrification in recent years, the neighborhood continues to be friendly.

Seriously, folks, if the people in your neighborhood are rude, consider moving to another neighborhood. You don’t have to live with rude people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

How are you living in DC and hanging out at a brewery, backyArd with friends, going to the beach? There aren’t any nice beaches nearby. It’s typically too hot to hang in a backyard with kids. Where is a nearby brewery?

DP here. Are you serious? It seems from your tone and context that you ARE serious, but this is such a bizarre insinuation that I can't help but clarify.

I mean, yes, I realize that the District of Columbia is not Malibu or Daytona with beaches that are steps from homes. However, there is this wonderful thing called a "car" and you can own or rent one and drive it for a couple of hours and spend the day at the beach.

Backyard & kids on a DC summer day? Sprinkler. Kiddie pool. $13 box fans for the parents. Apologies to the apartment dwellers for being SFH-centric, but then I'd direct your attention to spray parks or pools.

Re: the brewery question, I can't even take this seriously. Please don't write back and ask "where is a nearby spray park"

Perhaps I’m just spoiled from where I’ve lived previously, but it’s a stretch to drive to say sandy point and spend the day with kids. We knew many people living in DC and no one we knew regularly visited nearby beaches. For a reason.

I wouldn’t want to hang out in a backyard on a summer day in DC. It’s extremely humid and hot. Most people aren’t comfortable. Perhaps at night if it’s 70 degrees or cooler but you can’t count on that.

I’m serious about a brewery. I’m only aware of one local brewery and it’s not really a destination. There are some restaurants that serve local beers but not like a traditional brewery.

Friend, I'm gonna help you out:

3 Stars (Takoma Park DC)
City-State (Brookland)
Hellbender (Hyattsville)
Right Proper (Brookland and Shaw)
DC Brau (Woodridge -- pick up some Roaming Rooster up in the strip mall before heading down to the tasting room, you're welcome)
Atlas (Ivy City)
Red Bear (NoMa/Union Station)
Bluejacket (Navy Yard)
Denizens (Silver Spring)
Aslin (Alexandria)

That's not counting a ton of breweries within an hour of the city -- Crooked Run out in Sterling is a favorite. I think I'm missing some DC breweries here too, but these are major ones. DC has a fantastic beer culture with tons of local beer. I am from Colorado originally so I grew up going to little microbreweries and every town has a brewery or two, and the scene in DC has exploded in the last 15 years. Now when I visit Colorado and some of the brewers I know out there, they ask me about what we've been drinking out here and what people are doing. It's crazy.

DC is a great town.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move to a Black neighborhood, OP. Much friendlier. You'll see the difference right away.

+1

That is true, actually - people are civil.

Coming from another city as a transplant, D.C. is very different since there are no older ethnic neighborhoods like in most other cities.

Uh, pp, are you sure you don’t want to rethink that statement and retract it? There are plenty of old, ethnic neighborhoods in DC. They just happen to be Black. You may not be familiar with them, but they’re here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people in DC are pretty friendly. I know my neighbors. We lend a hand to each other. Strangers say hi back when I pass them. My colleagues here are no different than they were in other cities I’ve lived.

I don’t experience what many of you are describing.

I’m 1/2 Asian, live on The Hill, married, I am a social worker and my husband is a teacher, we have one child, one dog, and have lived in DC 4 years.

+1 not on the hill but also downtown DC

+2 SW Waterfront. People say hi and smile on the sidewalk, even under masks. Strangers chat at the duck pond. My fear is the increased density Andover development may change the quiet friendly neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

These "I hate DC" threads always have two things that are true, but unsaid:

1. The people who most vehemently hate DC people are insecure and unhappy with themselves - what they see in those around them is in fact a reflection of themselves.

2. The people that are unhappy and thing DC has nothing to do and that all people are obsessed with work and status are inevitably from some far-off suburb. Of course they hate their life and the people around them - they are exhausting themselves with their commutes and between their jobs and their commutes, they have no time for fun.