I haven't figured out how people raise children in DC

[Anonymous]

the only reason i stay here is b/c my whole family and DH's family live here. And we have decent jobs here, but horrible commutes. We live 3 miles from Dunn Loring metro, but it still takes my husband about an hour to get into L'Enfant Plaza. Takes me an hour to get to Reston for job. We live in Falls Church b/c it was a half way point between our jobs and semi-close to a metro -- not close enough to walk, but close. It does take my husband over 1/2 hour to go down Gallows Road to get to our house and it's only 3 miles!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i want to move to Portland.

Which one?

[Anonymous]

For those of you who have support here, be grateful. Don't be an ingrate by criticizing those who don't have support here - especially if you know somone in that situation. Reach out to them in a positive way, not a critical way.

For example, even if you are military or government (someone mentioned Burke on an earlier post), you have built in support by being surrounded by those in a similar situation, financially and socially. You don't even realize it. I know people who are military (by their DH), and if it was not for that, they would not have any (built in or otherwise) support system. I could not imagine having all that and criticizing others who do not. Wow. Just wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The crazy part is some people LOVE the weather here. I don't like the hot summers, but we have mild winters and exceptionally long spring and fall. Also, where is it that has year-round ideal weather? Maybe in Northern California which is just insanely expensive.

Are you kidding? Spring and fall are exceptionally short, here.

And to answer your weather...southern coastal California.

See this is where weather just becomes incredibly personal. I would hate to live someplace with no seasons. And I also think temps in the 80s (like they get in LA all summer) are honestly too hot. I think San Francisco has close to pretty perfect weather. Just personal preference.

I think in a place that truly experiences four seasons, 1-2 months for spring and fall can be pretty typical. We often get up to 3 months.

L.A. on the coast is not 80 degrees all summer. Most people come to L.A. and are disappointed by how "cold" it is by the beach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if the "must live 20016" poster is deciding which DCPS middle/high combo he/she wants to attend. Come on, suburb bashers, which combo other than Deal/Wilson will YOU send your kids? If the answer is, "I'll just go private," then you lack any understanding of what the sub-300k set faces. (That, and complaining about gangs in Fairfax/Montgomery whilst ignoring problems with DCPS is just rich.)

12:10 raises a good point. I think we can try and split up the various areas in DC into a variety of "clusters."

My theory on DC and its suburbs:
1. Wealthy SFH nabes that are still fairly urban: upper NW, McLean, parts of Bethesda, North Arlington
2. Wealthy SFH nabes that are pretty rural: Great Falls, Potomac, Poolesville
3. Dense urban wealthy: Dupont, Georgetown, Old Town Alexandria, innermost Bethesda, Orange/Blue Line Arlington
4. Dense urban poor: SE DC, inner Prince George's, West End Alexandria, South Arlington, inner Silver Spring
5. Urban crunchy: Takoma (Park), Del Ray, College Park
6. Rural crunchy: Glen Echo, Middleburg
7. OK-but-generic suburbs: Centreville, Chantilly, upper Silver Spring, Burke, Springfield
8. OK-but-generic suburbs surrounding some historic core: Vienna, Herndon, Fairfax, Rockville, Gaithersburg
9. Wealthy exurbs: western PWC, Lake Ridge, western Howard, Loudoun (ex-Sterling)
10. Not wealthy exurbs: the rest of Eastern PWC, Sterling, outer Prince George's
11. Separate cities which got swallowed by exurbs: Winchester, Front Royal, Warrenton, Leesburg, Fredericksburg, Frederick, Annapolis.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to call you out too. We live in the West End of Alexandria and our HHI is 220+K (not a ton, but also not poor, IMHO). My neighbors are MDs, lawyers, lobbyists, etc.--professions that I personally don't consider to be held by the poor. Nice try stereotyping though!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if the "must live 20016" poster is deciding which DCPS middle/high combo he/she wants to attend. Come on, suburb bashers, which combo other than Deal/Wilson will YOU send your kids? If the answer is, "I'll just go private," then you lack any understanding of what the sub-300k set faces. (That, and complaining about gangs in Fairfax/Montgomery whilst ignoring problems with DCPS is just rich.)

12:10 raises a good point. I think we can try and split up the various areas in DC into a variety of "clusters."

My theory on DC and its suburbs:
1. Wealthy SFH nabes that are still fairly urban: upper NW, McLean, parts of Bethesda, North Arlington
2. Wealthy SFH nabes that are pretty rural: Great Falls, Potomac, Poolesville
3. Dense urban wealthy: Dupont, Georgetown, Old Town Alexandria, innermost Bethesda, Orange/Blue Line Arlington
4. Dense urban poor: SE DC, inner Prince George's, West End Alexandria, South Arlington, inner Silver Spring
5. Urban crunchy: Takoma (Park), Del Ray, College Park
6. Rural crunchy: Glen Echo, Middleburg
7. OK-but-generic suburbs: Centreville, Chantilly, upper Silver Spring, Burke, Springfield
8. OK-but-generic suburbs surrounding some historic core: Vienna, Herndon, Fairfax, Rockville, Gaithersburg
9. Wealthy exurbs: western PWC, Lake Ridge, western Howard, Loudoun (ex-Sterling)
10. Not wealthy exurbs: the rest of Eastern PWC, Sterling, outer Prince George's
11. Separate cities which got swallowed by exurbs: Winchester, Front Royal, Warrenton, Leesburg, Fredericksburg, Frederick, Annapolis.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to call you out too. We live in the West End of Alexandria and our HHI is 220+K (not a ton, but also not poor, IMHO). My neighbors are MDs, lawyers, lobbyists, etc.--professions that I personally don't consider to be held by the poor. Nice try stereotyping though!

I wonder if PP has ever been to 90% of the places she is grouping. The house across the street from me in SE DC (aka "dense urban poor") just sold for over $900K. But anyway, what's the point of these "clusters"? I'm not following.

[Anonymous]

oooohhhhh....L.A. has almost perfect weather! If we are talking weather, I try not to dread each "season" in D.C.: summer is so hot you can't even breathe; "winter" is when we close the government and businesses for no reason because people claim we don't usually get snow (but really there are no plowers not lazy enough to get out there at night and actually plow when you are supposed to be plowing), and don't forget - you will lose power, guaranteed! winter or summer!; and fall and spring are in the blink of an eye. It's hard not to be depressed, so I guess it explains why people feel the way they do!

Many facets form one's opinion, weather and people are just two of them to many. Unless you are totally brain dead, I suppose.

[Anonymous]

I moved from a place that had seasons to a place that had the same weather year 'round and it was a classic "grass is greener". I missed the seasons sooooo much. But then when I returned to having seasons, I missed nicer weather during the extreme seasons.

You gotta learn to appreciate what you got. Or change it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please don't judge me for my toddler's $50 shoes. He has XW feet and the only shoes I can find for him are from Stride-Rite and that's how much things cost there. Since all his other clothes are hand-me-downs and consignment shop finds, can we please hang with you?

And he wore those shoes to watch an amazing parade and to check out the National Museum of Natural History yesterday, which is only 20 minutes from our house.

Love,
DC native

Amen! I wish I could get wide shoes for my boy that aren't more expensive than my own shoes. Heck, they're more expensive than our car. Please don't judge!

[Anonymous]

I agree, it is awful here. I hate being able to go to free museums on weekends. It's awful living near neighbors who bring us baked goods and send their older kids to play with our toddler. I hate biking to work, and the worst was Bike to Work Day the other week with some 7,000 bike commuters.

I hate meeting people from all around the country and world and hearing about their dull lives, jobs, and hobbies. It was terrible last week taking a day off, going to a great restaurant, and then going on a hike not far away. I hate my book group with new people I met in DC. Our son is miserable digging dirt in our vegetable garden and playing with the other kids his age who live near by.

Just about the only thing I like here is the humidity and heat. I think I saw a rat the other day too. That was awesome!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree, it is awful here. I hate being able to go to free museums on weekends. It's awful living near neighbors who bring us baked goods and send their older kids to play with our toddler. I hate biking to work, and the worst was Bike to Work Day the other week with some 7,000 bike commuters.

I hate meeting people from all around the country and world and hearing about their dull lives, jobs, and hobbies. It was terrible last week taking a day off, going to a great restaurant, and then going on a hike not far away. I hate my book group with new people I met in DC. Our son is miserable digging dirt in our vegetable garden and playing with the other kids his age who live near by.

Just about the only thing I like here is the humidity and heat. I think I saw a rat the other day too. That was awesome!

Yeah, I'd add to this that I hate being surrounded by a lot of highly educated people with interesting careers. I hate being around people who care about their careers and their work. I hate that you never meet anyone who's not from DC, who's never traveled anywhere.

I also hate being able to walk tons of places. I hate how the city is clean. I hate that there are no parks at all here.

The fall and spring SUCK here.

Gee, so many things to hate about this place. I think I'll move to the south, where it's so charming, or the midwest,where so much is going on, or the really chill area of NY.....

[Anonymous]

Wait, I would LOVE to meet someone who doesn't insist they are from D.C. when they are not. Most are not, isn't that what is supposed to make this area so great? Then tell me where you are from - we're not supposed to be lemmings, are we?!?!

[Anonymous]

I love this thread....it makes me feel relieved to know that so many other people share our love/hate relationship with DC.

OP: we rent a 700 SF one bedroom in Upper NW and have a 1-1/2 year old. To be frank, by our neighborhood standards, we are low income (HHI $120K). We are a DC stereotype, overeducated and underpaid, so the combo of over $100K of school loans and $2000 a month nanny share costs make it tough to save for a bigger place or buy a place.

Am I complaining? No, it's just our reality. Yes, we'd love to have a bigger place and own a place, but not if we have to give up our amazing neighborhood which has 4 parks within walking distance, 2 grocery stores, bevy of affordable restaurants (including an ice cream shop and a cupcake bakery), great access to public transportation and a farmer's market. Owning a place isn't as important to us as liking our day-to-day life. It makes me happy to see my kid squeal with delight when we roll up to the park that's 5 minutes from our apartment. Who cares if I don't make $400K a year or live in a million dollar house (which happen to be across the street from my apartment building)?

Job stuff: yes, this town has a work-centric culture,but it doesn't mean you have to buy into that. No one makes you bring your blackberry to the park; you can control how you spend your time outside of work.

One last thing- if you are employed and living in the DMV, you are probably one of the richest people in the world, so please be grateful for your opportunities: you can see where you rank here: http://www.globalrichlist.com/


wishing joy to all~

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if the "must live 20016" poster is deciding which DCPS middle/high combo he/she wants to attend. Come on, suburb bashers, which combo other than Deal/Wilson will YOU send your kids? If the answer is, "I'll just go private," then you lack any understanding of what the sub-300k set faces. (That, and complaining about gangs in Fairfax/Montgomery whilst ignoring problems with DCPS is just rich.)

12:10 raises a good point. I think we can try and split up the various areas in DC into a variety of "clusters."

My theory on DC and its suburbs:
1. Wealthy SFH nabes that are still fairly urban: upper NW, McLean, parts of Bethesda, North Arlington
2. Wealthy SFH nabes that are pretty rural: Great Falls, Potomac, Poolesville
3. Dense urban wealthy: Dupont, Georgetown, Old Town Alexandria, innermost Bethesda, Orange/Blue Line Arlington
4. Dense urban poor: SE DC, inner Prince George's, West End Alexandria, South Arlington, inner Silver Spring
5. Urban crunchy: Takoma (Park), Del Ray, College Park
6. Rural crunchy: Glen Echo, Middleburg
7. OK-but-generic suburbs: Centreville, Chantilly, upper Silver Spring, Burke, Springfield
8. OK-but-generic suburbs surrounding some historic core: Vienna, Herndon, Fairfax, Rockville, Gaithersburg
9. Wealthy exurbs: western PWC, Lake Ridge, western Howard, Loudoun (ex-Sterling)
10. Not wealthy exurbs: the rest of Eastern PWC, Sterling, outer Prince George's
11. Separate cities which got swallowed by exurbs: Winchester, Front Royal, Warrenton, Leesburg, Fredericksburg, Frederick, Annapolis.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to call you out too. We live in the West End of Alexandria and our HHI is 220+K (not a ton, but also not poor, IMHO). My neighbors are MDs, lawyers, lobbyists, etc.--professions that I personally don't consider to be held by the poor. Nice try stereotyping though!

I wonder if PP has ever been to 90% of the places she is grouping. The house across the street from me in SE DC (aka "dense urban poor") just sold for over $900K. But anyway, what's the point of these "clusters"? I'm not following.

ITA. The PP didn't even mention Annandale, but I'm guessing we'd be clustered in with Burke and Springfield. The house two lots down from me just sold for close to $1 M and we are inside-the-Beltway.

[Anonymous]

I dont think it can be done, which is why we have a plan to leave within 18 months. The only thing keeping us here is our jobs and we dont make enough to sustain living in the city anymore. Just have to figure out if that means suburbs or to a new city entirely where quality of life is better.