Any other families finally had enough of DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would be very curious to know what percentage of posters on this thread lived here during the Barry years.

I did, his second run at mayor then council. He was a total joke then and now. Thats why I think its funny when people want to Mayor to give up control of schools. I remember when Fenty took over schools, yall don;t know how bad it was. the Feds wouldn;t even let half the schools open one year (maybe 98 or 99) cause they were either literally falling down and dangerous or there were no books. I don't care for this mayor at all, but trust me its better than letting a Union controlled school board run the show again.

I arrived in '99, so just at the tail end.

Let's be honest, the issue was not union control of the school board. The core issue was that the city was rotten with incompetence, cronyism and patronage. Anyone who was good who worked in DC government or DCPS quit in frustration.

Bowser is bringing these traditions back. She is reshaping the city in ways that when people look back on this era it will not be positive.

[Anonymous]

Fairwell all of you. I will gladly take my city back. I was born in DC in the 70's and am still in the area. Y'all don't know how good you have it here now. Don't know jack. BYE

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Been here 18 years.

For me it has been:
- The disaster of the vaccine rollout. Really revealing in terms of city government incompetence.
- The failure to fully reopen schools.
- Crime. Gun violence just blocks away from our home in broad daylight.
- Proximity of Jan. 6th events to our home, the fencing off of the Capitol, the militarization of the city related to political unrest.
- The nonsensical pandemic restrictions. Schools closed, but indoor dining open pre-vaccines. Outdoor mask mandate long after it was clear unnecessary. Mayor issuing and taking back new guidance this weekend. No metrics for when restrictions will be dropped. Mayor refusing to answer reporter questions on.

It's all just so exhausting. Add on top of it, how hard it is to buy a home, get into daycare, buy in a good school district.

I love the city and have really put down roots here through early career to building a family, but at some point it's just not worth it.

I've come to expect incompetence from the local DC government and am genuinely surprised if they don't completely mess up something. Bowser has made a mockery of the mayorship. I'm with you on everything that's bold.

She isn’t the first DC mayor to make a mockery of the mayorship.

+1. Barry. Moved here in 1987. DC has always been corrupt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would be very curious to know what percentage of posters on this thread lived here during the Barry years.

I lived here and worked for the Ward 3 rep on the DC Council. Barry was an ass pincher snd a BSer. He he had more charisma than Bill Clinton and was a panty dropper. But could he get things done and spread out the money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would be very curious to know what percentage of posters on this thread lived here during the Barry years.

I lived here and worked for the Ward 3 rep on the DC Council. Barry was an ass pincher snd a BSer. He he had more charisma than Bill Clinton and was a panty dropper. But could he get things done and spread out the money.

Was that Carole Schwartz?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fairwell all of you. I will gladly take my city back. I was born in DC in the 70's and am still in the area. Y'all don't know how good you have it here now. Don't know jack. BYE

You'll gladly take it back but you don't even live their now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fairwell all of you. I will gladly take my city back. I was born in DC in the 70's and am still in the area. Y'all don't know how good you have it here now. Don't know jack. BYE

So you want all the gentifiers to move (that includes UMC blacks you know) so DC can back to how awful, corrupt and bankrupt it was in the 70s-90s? Smart.

[Anonymous]

History Lesson- we are definitely back sliding.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1997/08/23/dc-school-appeal-rejected-by-judges/ffa6b991-9fc7-4782-ad95-5d03f7108967/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fairwell all of you. I will gladly take my city back. I was born in DC in the 70's and am still in the area. Y'all don't know how good you have it here now. Don't know jack. BYE

So you want all the gentifiers to move (that includes UMC blacks you know) so DC can back to how awful, corrupt and bankrupt it was in the 70s-90s? Smart.

That's what it sounds like. I just don't get what turning DC back into a dysfunctional city middle class people have to leave would do for anyone. Everyone loses when the city is broken. And DC was deeply broken. Why would it be any better if you harass middle class people into fleeing again?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fairwell all of you. I will gladly take my city back. I was born in DC in the 70's and am still in the area. Y'all don't know how good you have it here now. Don't know jack. BYE

So you want all the gentifiers to move (that includes UMC blacks you know) so DC can back to how awful, corrupt and bankrupt it was in the 70s-90s? Smart.

That's what it sounds like. I just don't get what turning DC back into a dysfunctional city middle class people have to leave would do for anyone. Everyone loses when the city is broken. And DC was deeply broken. Why would it be any better if you harass middle class people into fleeing again?

It's actually already turning into an awful, corrupt and bankrupt city regardless of whether people move or not.

[Anonymous]

I might be the only person here who moved for different reasons. I lived in DC for 16 years. I expected crime in the city, and I knew my kids education would be a hassle but I was down with it because that’s the trade off you make to live in a city. It was outweighed by the other experiences: going to plays, museums, mingling with people from diverse backgrounds, eating amazing foods from the diaspora and participating in the awesome DC music scene.

The problem came for me when those things started going away. I swear to God the city is so homogenous now. Every block looks the same: CVS, Starbucks, some kind of trendy bar. Even before Covid, the subculture took a big big hit. Businesses closing — people moving out — less sense of community. I hung out with a great group of people and you know what I just realized? There wasn’t one lawyer or government person. Those ppl can’t afford to live here anymore.

Not to mention that even when there was something worth doing, you have to deal with Metro or parking, and then when you get there it’s like being in a swarm of locusts.

I moved to a smaller city. Think Cincinnati or Louisville or Hartford. Not only is the cost of living lower but everything just feels so much easier. Not everything is a struggle. Is it As exciting as living in a more urban center? No. But I am able to live in a big house in a cool area and there is still a vibrant community and lots to do...it’s just more accessible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would be very curious to know what percentage of posters on this thread lived here during the Barry years.

I lived here and worked for the Ward 3 rep on the DC Council. Barry was an ass pincher snd a BSer. He he had more charisma than Bill Clinton and was a panty dropper. But could he get things done and spread out the money.

Was that Carole Schwartz?

Polly Shackleton

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I might be the only person here who moved for different reasons. I lived in DC for 16 years. I expected crime in the city, and I knew my kids education would be a hassle but I was down with it because that’s the trade off you make to live in a city. It was outweighed by the other experiences: going to plays, museums, mingling with people from diverse backgrounds, eating amazing foods from the diaspora and participating in the awesome DC music scene.

The problem came for me when those things started going away. I swear to God the city is so homogenous now. Every block looks the same: CVS, Starbucks, some kind of trendy bar. Even before Covid, the subculture took a big big hit. Businesses closing — people moving out — less sense of community. I hung out with a great group of people and you know what I just realized? There wasn’t one lawyer or government person. Those ppl can’t afford to live here anymore.

Not to mention that even when there was something worth doing, you have to deal with Metro or parking, and then when you get there it’s like being in a swarm of locusts.

I moved to a smaller city. Think Cincinnati or Louisville or Hartford. Not only is the cost of living lower but everything just feels so much easier. Not everything is a struggle. Is it As exciting as living in a more urban center? No. But I am able to live in a big house in a cool area and there is still a vibrant community and lots to do...it’s just more accessible.

I know what you mean, but I am going to take a small quibble with the "amazing food" comment. DC did not become a good restaurant place until the Obama administration or maybe late Bush. Prior to that, restaurants were pretty universally terrible - except for the extreme high end and even many of the high end restaurants like Nora and Asia Nora were poor. Most restaurants were "bar & grill" or "steakhouse". "Mexican" was actual Salvadorian or terrible Tex-Mex. Ethiopian was legitimately probably the only legitimately good thing you could get in the city for a long time. Otherwise, eating at restaurants in DC was disappointing. However, 20 years ago or so, the restaurant hotbed of the area was downtown Bethesda. But I digress, yes, everything is homogenous now and I also cannot stand it.
"

[Anonymous]

Maybe I’m in a minority, but I like the DC area. I’ve been here 20+ years and have no plans to move. Collectively, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. I’m content calling this region “home.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:30 years ago was 1991, when there were 482 homicides in DC.

Last year (2020), there were 198 homicides.

there are plenty of other violent crimes other than homicide. I am not the OP but have lived in DC since 1996, in all kinds of transitioning neighborhoods. I owned a condo in Columbia Heights in mid 2000s when it seemed like it wsa on upswing. Now its a total shit show. So many homeless and drug addicts, no long viable to have a restaurant at the corner of Kenyon annd 14th. Carjackings have tripled and now 14 year old girls are killing people while they carjack them. Im a liberal but DC council has gotten too soft on crime and want too much low income housing. After 22 years and now a kid in DCPS, I want out too OP.

Thank you for sharing. I’ve personally come to the same conclusion.

I have lived in this area since 1999 and I’ve lived in some of the worst neighborhoods in DC across NW, NE and SW (I drew the line at SE). I think your perception of Columbia Heights may have been warped by the new Target. There was for a long time a small group of homeless men strung out on heroin that lived on Mt. Pleasant (there used to be a methadone clinic on Columbia at 13th or 14th. Pre-Target there was always Sunday prostitution on 13th to catch the church traffic. Malcolm X Park used to be filled with needles. Kids would throw eggs at gentrifying white people near the Boys and Girls Club in 14th. On my block we had regular drive-by shootings. Pre-Wonderland 11th was legitimately dangerous. I also lived in Trinidad during the gang war years and a couple other places.

After a while you get sort of numb to it all. I tell myself that random violence is rare, that so long as I’m smart I’ll be safe. But honestly this murder broke me. The more I started reading about this kid and then the murderer and then how they put the murderer in a psychological facility in Tenleytown and then broke out. After all of this, I just cannot. I don’t think anyone is irredeemable, but how can this city just turn its back on victims? That’s the real tragedy that I just cannot get over.
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/shooting-on-good-hope-road-in-southeast-dc/2551069/
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/homicide-suspect-escapes-in-northwest-dc/2621562/

There are no excuses anymore. Even if 198 murders is “better” it’s not good enough. By comparison Montgomery County had 17 with 50% more population.

I’m right there with you as a parent with a young child. This is not something that they need to be exposed to. Exposure to death and violence will not enrich their experience or make them better people. I’ve seen enough for my lifetime.

OMG you lived in Trinidad but "draw the line at SE!" What a strange comment from a 20+ year resident. Usually people figure out pretty quickly that the city's dangerous blocks are not divided by quadrant!