Why has DC failed so badly on clearing the streets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived here since 1993 and have never seen a storm like this (snow then sleet that quickly compacted into ice, followed by a record-breaking cold snap). I shoveled multiple times on Sunday and the ground was already concrete by early evening. The vast majority of the plows in DC can easily handle snow but not a slab of ice. I’m not sure what all the people whining about this wanted the city to do?

And the whiners — almost all of them very recent transplants — also conveniently neglect to point out that things are just as bad in Virginia, Maryland, Philly, NYC (the crowing by Mamdani fanboys has been overtaken by complaints, and how many homeless there have died because of his new policies) and Boston. They act as if DC alone is struggling.

Why does it matter when someone moved here? Whether someone has been here for 40 years or 4 years, if they are a taxpayer, they deserve to have competent city services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived here since 1993 and have never seen a storm like this (snow then sleet that quickly compacted into ice, followed by a record-breaking cold snap). I shoveled multiple times on Sunday and the ground was already concrete by early evening. The vast majority of the plows in DC can easily handle snow but not a slab of ice. I’m not sure what all the people whining about this wanted the city to do?

And the whiners — almost all of them very recent transplants — also conveniently neglect to point out that things are just as bad in Virginia, Maryland, Philly, NYC (the crowing by Mamdani fanboys has been overtaken by complaints, and how many homeless there have died because of his new policies) and Boston. They act as if DC alone is struggling.

If the city’s leadership cannot respond to a weather event in an appropriate amount of time (ie, within a day), it has failed its main responsibility to its citizens. And as “once a century” weather events become more and more regular, the excuse that these are unprecedented just doesn’t cut it - it just means that the leadership has a failure of imagination and planning. It’s really sad.

This type of event has not become more regular. They've happened, on average, every 7 years for the past 100 years. If anything they've become less common.

They've also never been this unique combination of circumstances. I'm sorry that reality doesn't match your rhetoric.

Apology accepted.

[Anonymous]

If you live long enough to DC, you know people here treat every single snow storm like it's a natural disaster. You'd think we'd been hit by an EF5 tornado by the way people carry on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you live long enough to DC, you know people here treat every single snow storm like it's a natural disaster. You'd think we'd been hit by an EF5 tornado by the way people carry on.

I would amend your statement to say that in DC we treat the first snow storm of every year like we've never ever seen snow before. It's totally befuddling. Usually if we get a second and third snowstorm, those are handled better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived here since 1993 and have never seen a storm like this (snow then sleet that quickly compacted into ice, followed by a record-breaking cold snap). I shoveled multiple times on Sunday and the ground was already concrete by early evening. The vast majority of the plows in DC can easily handle snow but not a slab of ice. I’m not sure what all the people whining about this wanted the city to do?

And the whiners — almost all of them very recent transplants — also conveniently neglect to point out that things are just as bad in Virginia, Maryland, Philly, NYC (the crowing by Mamdani fanboys has been overtaken by complaints, and how many homeless there have died because of his new policies) and Boston. They act as if DC alone is struggling.

If the city’s leadership cannot respond to a weather event in an appropriate amount of time (ie, within a day), it has failed its main responsibility to its citizens. And as “once a century” weather events become more and more regular, the excuse that these are unprecedented just doesn’t cut it - it just means that the leadership has a failure of imagination and planning. It’s really sad.

This type of event has not become more regular. They've happened, on average, every 7 years for the past 100 years. If anything they've become less common.

They've also never been this unique combination of circumstances. I'm sorry that reality doesn't match your rhetoric.

Apology accepted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived here since 1993 and have never seen a storm like this (snow then sleet that quickly compacted into ice, followed by a record-breaking cold snap). I shoveled multiple times on Sunday and the ground was already concrete by early evening. The vast majority of the plows in DC can easily handle snow but not a slab of ice. I’m not sure what all the people whining about this wanted the city to do?

And the whiners — almost all of them very recent transplants — also conveniently neglect to point out that things are just as bad in Virginia, Maryland, Philly, NYC (the crowing by Mamdani fanboys has been overtaken by complaints, and how many homeless there have died because of his new policies) and Boston. They act as if DC alone is struggling.

NYC got 15 inches of snow. Boston got 23 inches. DC got 6.

Also, it seems rich for longtime DC residents to accuse transplants of being whiners about the weather. Have you lived anywhere north of here? Where I grew up, they don't cancel school unless it's snowing so much that you can't see the road in front of you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived here since 1993 and have never seen a storm like this (snow then sleet that quickly compacted into ice, followed by a record-breaking cold snap). I shoveled multiple times on Sunday and the ground was already concrete by early evening. The vast majority of the plows in DC can easily handle snow but not a slab of ice. I’m not sure what all the people whining about this wanted the city to do?

And the whiners — almost all of them very recent transplants — also conveniently neglect to point out that things are just as bad in Virginia, Maryland, Philly, NYC (the crowing by Mamdani fanboys has been overtaken by complaints, and how many homeless there have died because of his new policies) and Boston. They act as if DC alone is struggling.

Why does it matter when someone moved here? Whether someone has been here for 40 years or 4 years, if they are a taxpayer, they deserve to have competent city services.

Welcome to the South! DC is now handling storms as if we live in Raleigh, NC where I grew up. It's fine to just let the snow melt and chill out if you're a Southern city that gets a major storm once a decade. That's what our weather looks like, more and more, so our policies are changing to be those which are rational for a Southern city.

The next part of the equation: new transplants proclaim their Northern city's superiority while us southerners roll our eyes and make an apple pie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived here since 1993 and have never seen a storm like this (snow then sleet that quickly compacted into ice, followed by a record-breaking cold snap). I shoveled multiple times on Sunday and the ground was already concrete by early evening. The vast majority of the plows in DC can easily handle snow but not a slab of ice. I’m not sure what all the people whining about this wanted the city to do?

And the whiners — almost all of them very recent transplants — also conveniently neglect to point out that things are just as bad in Virginia, Maryland, Philly, NYC (the crowing by Mamdani fanboys has been overtaken by complaints, and how many homeless there have died because of his new policies) and Boston. They act as if DC alone is struggling.

NYC got 15 inches of snow. Boston got 23 inches. DC got 6.

Also, it seems rich for longtime DC residents to accuse transplants of being whiners about the weather. Have you lived anywhere north of here? Where I grew up, they don't cancel school unless it's snowing so much that you can't see the road in front of you.

You forgot to include the 3" of sleet which has a snow equivalence of 12".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived here since 1993 and have never seen a storm like this (snow then sleet that quickly compacted into ice, followed by a record-breaking cold snap). I shoveled multiple times on Sunday and the ground was already concrete by early evening. The vast majority of the plows in DC can easily handle snow but not a slab of ice. I’m not sure what all the people whining about this wanted the city to do?

And the whiners — almost all of them very recent transplants — also conveniently neglect to point out that things are just as bad in Virginia, Maryland, Philly, NYC (the crowing by Mamdani fanboys has been overtaken by complaints, and how many homeless there have died because of his new policies) and Boston. They act as if DC alone is struggling.

NYC got 15 inches of snow. Boston got 23 inches. DC got 6.

Also, it seems rich for longtime DC residents to accuse transplants of being whiners about the weather. Have you lived anywhere north of here? Where I grew up, they don't cancel school unless it's snowing so much that you can't see the road in front of you.

You forgot to include the 3" of sleet which has a snow equivalence of 12".

Exactly. I don't want to hear anyone who hasn't personally shoveled out their car or sidewalk tell me how this is just 6 inches of snow.

[Anonymous]

The ice broke a plow off a bobcat in Clarendon. There is also very little melt, we are stuck with it for a while. The snow mounds are also blocking all of the parking and bike lanes in Arlington. It isn’t just a DC problem

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived here since 1993 and have never seen a storm like this (snow then sleet that quickly compacted into ice, followed by a record-breaking cold snap). I shoveled multiple times on Sunday and the ground was already concrete by early evening. The vast majority of the plows in DC can easily handle snow but not a slab of ice. I’m not sure what all the people whining about this wanted the city to do?

And the whiners — almost all of them very recent transplants — also conveniently neglect to point out that things are just as bad in Virginia, Maryland, Philly, NYC (the crowing by Mamdani fanboys has been overtaken by complaints, and how many homeless there have died because of his new policies) and Boston. They act as if DC alone is struggling.

Why does it matter when someone moved here? Whether someone has been here for 40 years or 4 years, if they are a taxpayer, they deserve to have competent city services.

Welcome to the South! DC is now handling storms as if we live in Raleigh, NC where I grew up. It's fine to just let the snow melt and chill out if you're a Southern city that gets a major storm once a decade. That's what our weather looks like, more and more, so our policies are changing to be those which are rational for a Southern city.

The next part of the equation: new transplants proclaim their Northern city's superiority while us southerners roll our eyes and make an apple pie.

Ok, well, DC says it owns more than 300 snowplows. Buffalo has 36.

[Anonymous]

Snowstorms happen once every 10 years, and the amount of ice that came down with this one I’ve only seen once in the last 50 years.

Whiners… every month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived here since 1993 and have never seen a storm like this (snow then sleet that quickly compacted into ice, followed by a record-breaking cold snap). I shoveled multiple times on Sunday and the ground was already concrete by early evening. The vast majority of the plows in DC can easily handle snow but not a slab of ice. I’m not sure what all the people whining about this wanted the city to do?

And the whiners — almost all of them very recent transplants — also conveniently neglect to point out that things are just as bad in Virginia, Maryland, Philly, NYC (the crowing by Mamdani fanboys has been overtaken by complaints, and how many homeless there have died because of his new policies) and Boston. They act as if DC alone is struggling.

Why does it matter when someone moved here? Whether someone has been here for 40 years or 4 years, if they are a taxpayer, they deserve to have competent city services.

Welcome to the South! DC is now handling storms as if we live in Raleigh, NC where I grew up. It's fine to just let the snow melt and chill out if you're a Southern city that gets a major storm once a decade. That's what our weather looks like, more and more, so our policies are changing to be those which are rational for a Southern city.

The next part of the equation: new transplants proclaim their Northern city's superiority while us southerners roll our eyes and make an apple pie.

Ok, well, DC says it owns more than 300 snowplows. Buffalo has 36.

That’s because they contract out snow plowing events.

[Anonymous]

They have done a lousy job in Montgomery County, MD. This is day four after the storm and all the major roads are still messed up. Six lane roads they can't even clear. State roads. Turning lanes still not clear. Almost every intersection screwed up. The side streets still haven't been touched. The government lies saying they are working around the clock. We saw maybe one plow on our street and it look like a leftover army truck from world war one. His plow was up in the air not touching the pavement and no salt was being spread out the back. What a joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Snowstorms happen once every 10 years, and the amount of ice that came down with this one I’ve only seen once in the last 50 years.

Whiners… every month.

The problem with the streets in our area is snow. The roads aren't icy. The ice is everywhere but where people drive. I don't understand why there's still four inches of snow on our street.