How can you NOT like living in DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:found the people small-minded

What is small-minded? Is it the opposite of big-minded?

Well, you just may fit the definition, b/c you apparently do not know this vocabulary word nor do you know a way to self-educate, but, here you go:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/small-minded

Wrong. The original terms were open-minded and narrow-minded. But because people are idiots, they expanded it to include whatever the fuck they wanted.

Just like closed-minded, only idiots use small-minded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think any rational case can be made for this being a 'great' city.


The population is far too transient to have any sort of character beyond being the nation's capital - the weather (this summer aside) is marginal at best, the people are self obsessed and hyper competitive and there is extremely little work life balance to be found. Also throw in that traffic is terrible and it is a dreadful sports town.

Everyone says that Washington is a transient town, but I don't think it is, any more than most other places. Some families leave DC for the suburbs, and some people move away entirely (as some do after a few years in NY). Political jobs tend to create some transition, but to the extent that staffers or appointees move to Washington from elsewhere, a large number stay and do other things once their time in the government is over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: there is extremely little work life balance to be found.

There is more than plenty of work-life balance to be found. You must just run in shitty little circles.

Meet some new friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Outside the US -- I loooooooooooooooooooooove London and would love to live there -- love the energy, the history, the creativity, the theater. In DC or anywhere in the States, we do not have the affordable theater opportunities b/c our govt. does not support the arts like they do in the UK, and I really miss that.

This is wrong. There are plenty of cities with a very strong, thriving theater scene at all price points. Minneapolis is one. There are big traditional theaters, experimental theaters, small theaters, puppet theaters, you name it. And TONS of them. Hell, even the community college theater productions are top notch. Tickets are less than $10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: there is extremely little work life balance to be found.

There is more than plenty of work-life balance to be found. You must just run in shitty little circles.

Meet some new friends.

Maybe you need to make more money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:found the people small-minded

What is small-minded? Is it the opposite of big-minded?

It usually means that the poster found that a number of people did not necessarily share his/her personal views on selected political and social matters.

It is when educated people are around non-educated ones, and find their opinions parochial and stifling.

But, of course, someone with an M.A. or Ph.D. who is pro-life and has reservations about gay marriage would still be parochial, stifling and "small minded."

[Anonymous]

I look at DC as a means to an end.

This is the place that I work because I can make the best living here.

I don't like the environment - I don't think it is a great place to raise a family in contrast to where some of my friends live, it is expensive and I don't enjoy being here. All of that said, I constantly remind myself that at some point, I will be able to take the money I make here, sell my overpriced house and move on to a better place with a better pace of life and a much lower cost of living.

A means to an end. By the time this all happens I will have been here about 35 years but I even then, I will always see myself as just passing through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Outside the US -- I loooooooooooooooooooooove London and would love to live there -- love the energy, the history, the creativity, the theater. In DC or anywhere in the States, we do not have the affordable theater opportunities b/c our govt. does not support the arts like they do in the UK, and I really miss that.

This is wrong. There are plenty of cities with a very strong, thriving theater scene at all price points. Minneapolis is one. There are big traditional theaters, experimental theaters, small theaters, puppet theaters, you name it. And TONS of them. Hell, even the community college theater productions are top notch. Tickets are less than $10.

Which are good to have when the temperature is consistently below zero!

[Anonymous]

Our family moved to DC from the NYC suburbs a couple of years ago. We moved for work (naturally!) but really do like it here. Manhattan is so dark with all of the skyscrapers - like walking through endless tunnels. I prefer the openness of DC. I also really like the international flavor of DC. Even in NYC I didn't have contact with the variety of people from different cultures that I do here. I don't find the COL in DC to be as bad as everyone says, but I'm sure that's because New York is even worse.

On the other hand, DC has its drawbacks. It does lack the artistic vibrance and energy of some other cities, including NYC. Things close up much earlier here than in other cities I've been to. I love the Metro and take it all the time, but it closes too early for my taste. The DC suburbs are pretty ugly and bland too. The old housing stock exists, but it's in demand. Most folks like in nondescript boxes. Also, as others have said, DC isn't close enough to the ocean for me. Three hours is a lot of travel to reach a real beach; Annapolis and Harpers Ferry are growing on me, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the people. I know -- lots of us are great. But we are all the same. In my upper-middle-class suburban hometown, there were lots of white-collar types, sure, doctors, lawyers, VPs at major corporations. But there was also...the guy who ran the soccer apparel store. The car dealership owner. The cafeteria aid. I went to school with all of their children. Around here, the people who fill these roles live in their own suburbs. At least in the nice DC neighborhoods, people aren't mixed together for a healthy sense of what life is.
I know that this is the case for a lot of major cities -- in high-density areas, people self-segregate. But DC also lacks the diversity typical of many cities. There aren't a lot of artists, for instance. Yeah...I know that instead we have people from all over the world, and rather than the car dealership owner's kids, my kids hang out with the kids of the guy with a prominent role at an important and unique NGO, or whatever. But that's fake diversity. When you get down to it, that guy is the same as a lawyer in terms of education, upbringing and life goals. A journalist is like a lobbyist (though they make a lot less.) Worldly, goal-oriented -- and at the end of the day, quite dull, when that's all there is.
Sorry, but you know I'm right.

My next door neighbors are a large family from Ethiopia, who invite my daughter to play with their kids all the time. We have a tenant who lives with us who makes a living as an artist, as well as her boyfriend who is a pretty well known artist in this area. I am an artist myself, but make my living in a slightly different way. My husband works at a non profit dealing with middle east peace issues. Across the street there is an old lady from Jamaica who is the epitome of the nosy neighbor and knows everyone's business, blares gospel music from her porch every Sunday morning. Next door to her is another white family, and next door to them is the football coach at a nearby high school. And yes, we live IN DC.

I really think it just depends on the neighborhood.

Yes, I'm the pp way back who complained about people not realizing that their neighborhood doesn't represent everything there is to DC. Just wanted to say that I went downtown today for an appointment and I realized that this is where all those competitive annoying people work that DCUMers complain about. I guess if I lived in some neighborhoods in the upper northwest and worked downtown I might think DC is all transient self-important assholes and I wouldn't like it either so I'm a little more sympathetic to the complainers. But I do wish they'd try harder to go out and meet some different kinds of people. There are good, interesting people in this city but sometimes you have to get out of your small world and find them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do love the green of DC and Atlanta ( a place I have also lived), but my heart craves the majestic simplicity of the west. It is amazing to see huge rugged mountains in one direction and a horizon that goes on forever in the other. Much as I do enjoy the green, it feels like a Victorian sitting room to me - fun as a bed and breakfast holiday, but too overdecorated for long term living - ewww - all those tangled vines.

I don't feel that way myself, pp, but I think this is beautifully written. Nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think any rational case can be made for this being a 'great' city.


The population is far too transient to have any sort of character beyond being the nation's capital - the weather (this summer aside) is marginal at best, the people are self obsessed and hyper competitive and there is extremely little work life balance to be found. Also throw in that traffic is terrible and it is a dreadful sports town.

You definitely live in the wrong neighborhood. Although, granted, that won't change the weather or the sports teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are few places that truly have no redeeming value. If you can't find something you enjoy about this area, the problem is probably you.

The question is "how can you NOT like living in DC?" not, "why do you dislike everything about DC?" There're plenty of great things here; it's just not enough to overcome the drawbacks for many of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My main issues are:

1. The weather - too hot and humid too much of the year. I like crisp weather, and I like cold weather.
2. The distance from the ocean or for that matter, any natural bodies of water.
3. The lack of character in the suburbs.

I'm not a hater. I just think DC is very expensive for what it is.

Uh, have you heard of the Potomac River?

b/c it's so "swimmable?"

Or maybe the flesh-eating disease is your thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My main issues are:

1. The weather - too hot and humid too much of the year. I like crisp weather, and I like cold weather.
2. The distance from the ocean or for that matter, any natural bodies of water.
3. The lack of character in the suburbs.

I'm not a hater. I just think DC is very expensive for what it is.

I don't understand your #2 - what about the two rivers that go through the city and the Chesapeake Bay?

Well those are fine if you don't want to swim.....seriously after my friend got awful bacterial infections (twice) from swimming in the bay, I won't do it anymore. And the Potomac? Eeeeeek.

I agree with the PP, DC is fine, but pretty much have those exact reasons for not liking it more. Other places offer a quality of life I like better at a more reasonable cost of living. Which we would probably persue if our jobs, or DH's job specifically, weren't tied here.