What is the value added proposition for living in the District?

[Anonymous]

I drive maybe once a week. My second unit tenant pays my mortgage. And I make a nice living working in the public service sector you denigrate. I walk bike or bus to meet up with friends at nice restaurants and bars, go to world class museums, parks, movies, and live music.

Meanwhile your fat a$s is clogging up the beltway and you are getting cankles because you never walk anywhere. Also your friends neighbors children and spouse count the seconds until you shut up bc you are such a tremendous b*tch.

[Anonymous]

13:35, please elaborate...how is Wilson the road to the Ivies? Genuinely curious as to what you mean...

[Anonymous]

Money talks. DC homes are worth more per square foot than county homes. The market has spoken.

BTW I live in NOVA. But reality is reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:13:35, please elaborate...how is Wilson the road to the Ivies? Genuinely curious as to what you mean...

The Ivies are only going to take so many from TJ, Whitman, etc....

[Anonymous]

OP: Others have already said it, so I will keep it short: the prospect of commuting every week day from either Potomac or McLean makes my heart race. I have only been late once to get my kids in eight years. Not confident I would hold that record if I had a longer commute.

[Anonymous]

If you have to ask, you won't ever understand

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wilson High School.

Really.

Have our heart set on an Ivy, and this is the surest road there.

I sincerely hope that you mean that your high-school-age child has his or her heart set on an Ivy. The way you are talking in the first person makes me wonder what failings in your own life you are trying to make up for through your child. Wilson's a great school but wow, is this a recipe for your kid hating you.

[Anonymous]

I am with you OP.
I was just down in DC driving to HU, I was going nuts with the traffic.

[Anonymous]

The secret is that people who live in DC don't have to drive there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:--Short commute so more time with family
--Walkable to shops, restaurants, amenities, parks, etc.
--Great neighbors from all different backgrounds
--Easy access to museums, sporting events, culture, music, history, etc.
--Character
--Most of our friends live within a 10-minute walk

I lived in NW (Dupont, then moved to the "burbs" of Cleveland Park and Woodley Park) for fifteen years. I was like many on this board, who looked down on people who lived in Maryland or Virginia, much less *gasp* outside the beltway. Then I moved to close-in Virginia, and realized what a fool I'd been -- I have an as short, if not shorter, commute, all of the amenities listed above (I live about the same distance from the metro as I did in DC), and do not have to pay extra taxes to a ridiculously corrupt, inept city government (just a mildly stupid city government). The little secret is that the commute from NW DC is not that great, unless you live in Woodley or Cleveland Park right near Connecticut and work around Farrugut North (which I did, at one time), and that's on a good day. When I worked near Capitol Hill, the commute was a nightmare of gridlock (and the traffic is worse now than when I was doing it). If I took the Metro, I had to change trains, so it wasn't any faster. One immutable law of Washington is that everyone lies about the length of their commute, and that includes folks (outside of the category listed above) who say their commute from NW is "20 minutes." Yeah, it is -- at midnight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson High School.

Really.

Have our heart set on an Ivy, and this is the surest road there.

I sincerely hope that you mean that your high-school-age child has his or her heart set on an Ivy. The way you are talking in the first person makes me wonder what failings in your own life you are trying to make up for through your child. Wilson's a great school but wow, is this a recipe for your kid hating you.

Lighten up, it's a joke!

[Anonymous]

And what's more, there are entire groups of people who work and shop outside the Beltway. I hear they'll have to erase a couple of dragons in the Prince William and Loudoun County areas of the map and replace them with actual roads. But the north wind remains on top of the map. I can't imagine people living there.

[Anonymous]

8:41 again. Seriously, the OP is a troll. I've posted in past threads when DC-ites declare that anywhere west of Vienna is destined to become a complete ghetto and that one day folks will talk about Loudoun County the way we today talk of Anacostia.

DC works for many people, whether it be the more high-rise areas or the more SFH areas (either Kent/Palisades or Takoma/Shepherd Park). Likewise, McLean/North Arlington/Alexandria works for others, Reston/Vienna/Fairfax for yet others, and so on, and so forth.

Leesburg works for us, we like being near a historic downtown even if it's only 20% as awesome as Old Town. The good public schools, quarter-acre lot, and proximity to good chain shopping make up for it.

Let's start putting each other down over things like leaving cars on blocks in the front yard, failing to stay employed for longer than six weeks at any job, and getting addicted to alcohol. I see large numbers of people who are basically functional and arguing over aesthetics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:--Short commute so more time with family
--Walkable to shops, restaurants, amenities, parks, etc.
--Great neighbors from all different backgrounds
--Easy access to museums, sporting events, culture, music, history, etc.
--Character
--Most of our friends live within a 10-minute walk

I lived in NW (Dupont, then moved to the "burbs" of Cleveland Park and Woodley Park) for fifteen years. I was like many on this board, who looked down on people who lived in Maryland or Virginia, much less *gasp* outside the beltway. Then I moved to close-in Virginia, and realized what a fool I'd been -- I have an as short, if not shorter, commute, all of the amenities listed above (I live about the same distance from the metro as I did in DC), and do not have to pay extra taxes to a ridiculously corrupt, inept city government (just a mildly stupid city government). The little secret is that the commute from NW DC is not that great, unless you live in Woodley or Cleveland Park right near Connecticut and work around Farrugut North (which I did, at one time), and that's on a good day. When I worked near Capitol Hill, the commute was a nightmare of gridlock (and the traffic is worse now than when I was doing it). If I took the Metro, I had to change trains, so it wasn't any faster. One immutable law of Washington is that everyone lies about the length of their commute, and that includes folks (outside of the category listed above) who say their commute from NW is "20 minutes." Yeah, it is -- at midnight.

I'm sorry that it took you 15 years to realize that there are some areas of NW that are further than some areas of VA. I choose not to live in those areas. Dupont was too far for me. I live downtown with a 10 minute walking commute (no need to lie about it, that is how long it is). As DC is a hub and spoke city, living downtown is the best way to ensure that you won't have a terrible commute if you work in the city. From downtown, the public transportation options are seemingly endless, and there is never a need to switch metro lines. And, the walkability score is 100. So, although you situated yourself in a manner that made it a bad commute, for some people the reality is that living in DC is the best way to ensure that they don't have a terrible commute.

[Anonymous]

There is no "value proposition" for living in the District. It comes down to personal preferences, which you obviously don't share OP. Me, I like living in the District because my social network is here, my kids go to a great school, I can actually do a lot of cultural events with very little planning and no commute time, and I love my neighborhood.