New York transplants asking about the general politics of the DC area

[Anonymous]

OP, I am a former NYer, born, raised, schooled, and first-jobbed. I moved here over 25 years ago. Highly and proudly socially (and otherwise) liberal, and I donate and vote accordingly. First lived in DC. Got sick of lousy local services. Moved in with new bride in Alexandria, VA, over every instinct and objection.

I have been shocked and impressed.

VA, taken statewide, is bluer than MD. VA is more transparent. There is actual citizen govt in VA. There is astounding and easy diversity in VA. Our statewide elected officials are in many respects just wonderful. The redneck count isn't even a fraction of what I expected, and the VA rednecks are no more difficult to deal with than the rad-right outer-borough and Long Island republicans back in NY. And for a weekend trip, there is no funkier and nicer and more accessible and fascinating place in the world than Richmond.

Pls consider.

[Anonymous]

Richmond needs to end it's ties with Philip Morris

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pets are just as important as politics in this equation. OP- do you have pets?

We've already established that TP is the home of cat ladies. If you're a dog couple then move to Chevy Chase. Everyone in Chevy Chase has a dog, if your dog is a cat eating dog even better. Politics in CC is very global as in everyone talks about their glamorous global job that is connected to politics.

If you have large sporting dogs and always thought if you weren't a lesbian then Dick Cheney would be your dream guy then head to old McLean. By old McLean ,the house needs to be near Langley, huge and built before 1980 when McLean turned into people who worked at AOL and now work at some other tech company. Political conversation is all about defense contracts and Reagan era political maneuvers.

If you have a dog breed with the word -doodle or -orky in it then you aren't allowed in old McLean. You'll need to buy one of the huge houses in Great Falls and just say you live in McLean. Politics lean center right and your neighbors probably voted for Trump (hoping for lower taxes) but wont admit it. NPR is very popular as everyone has hours in the car with nothing else to listen to during the ride.

This post is funny. We love dogs in Bethesda too! Rescues and -oodles equally welcome! It goes with our weird mix of country club types, foreign embassy/IMF staff, brilliant Nih research scientists, military doctors, and government/nonprofit lawyers. We’re an eclectic bunch living in our old cape cods next door to McMansion tear downs.

Yes! Love this descriptor. OP, I would not live in VA as a gay person. Will you be working? At which metro stops or will you drive? Why not DC proper?

[Anonymous]

OP, Silver Spring has the best dog parks, but more crime than Bethesda. Takoma Park is cute and near SS. It’s incorporated and plugged into MoCo politics. Check it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pets are just as important as politics in this equation. OP- do you have pets?

We've already established that TP is the home of cat ladies. If you're a dog couple then move to Chevy Chase. Everyone in Chevy Chase has a dog, if your dog is a cat eating dog even better. Politics in CC is very global as in everyone talks about their glamorous global job that is connected to politics.

If you have large sporting dogs and always thought if you weren't a lesbian then Dick Cheney would be your dream guy then head to old McLean. By old McLean ,the house needs to be near Langley, huge and built before 1980 when McLean turned into people who worked at AOL and now work at some other tech company. Political conversation is all about defense contracts and Reagan era political maneuvers.

If you have a dog breed with the word -doodle or -orky in it then you aren't allowed in old McLean. You'll need to buy one of the huge houses in Great Falls and just say you live in McLean. Politics lean center right and your neighbors probably voted for Trump (hoping for lower taxes) but wont admit it. NPR is very popular as everyone has hours in the car with nothing else to listen to during the ride.

This post is funny. We love dogs in Bethesda too! Rescues and -oodles equally welcome! It goes with our weird mix of country club types, foreign embassy/IMF staff, brilliant Nih research scientists, military doctors, and government/nonprofit lawyers. We’re an eclectic bunch living in our old cape cods next door to McMansion tear downs.

Yes! Love this descriptor. OP, I would not live in VA as a gay person. Will you be working? At which metro stops or will you drive? Why not DC proper?

I know gay people happily living in Virginia. In NOVA and Richmond and even in more rural parts of the state. I'm not sure why some people want to peddle this fiction that Maryland is better for gay people than Virginia, and I'm from Maryland! It's not the state, it's how you live your life.

[Anonymous]

I can't believe no one has mentioned Del Ray.

[Anonymous]

FWIW our home is very close in, in a good school pyramid and will be priced about $800k. We are in the cheaper section of a nice zip code/school zone.

I'm the writer for the longer parody posts. I don't know enough about Del Ray but would love if someone else could do one! I'm considering doing one on Rockville aka THE PIKE. Herndon and Reston need one too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is Libertarian Bro central. They won't care that you're lesbians, in fact they'd probably be into that. Just make sure you're into Ayn Rand.

Spot on.

Move to Alexandria, OP, and you'll need to SIGNIFICANTLY dumb yourself down. What's the Ayn Rand quote?

“There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."

(I liked Ayn Rand up to my freshman year in college. I'm smarter now)

This is the difference between Alexandria bros and LI/NJ bros – the Alexandria bros all work for the Koches and thus don't understand how the world works. It puts an edge on Alexandria.

[Anonymous]

OP here:

This thread is as entertaining as intended to be. Thanks.

The honest answer is it will come down to money. We have saved a boatload of money renting in southeast DC so we can make a downpayment somewhere fun but not ridiculously upscale (So, probably not Bethesda or Crystal City or Rosslyn). Silver Spring is on the table, and also interested in looking at Del Ray (somewhat concerned about home buying now that Amazon is coming). PG County is considerable but only places that are walkable. From what I know College Park seems to be the only place that has a community vibe with walkable amentities - Greenbelt and such are too sprawly.

As for politics - this won't be a serious deciding factor BUT it's something my wife and I like to joke about! I'm interested in how the neighborhoods around the DC area differ culturally (and not just racially - I'm Jewish and my wife is Chinese, we don't really care how white or nonwhite an area is, people are just people)
All DC area suburbs may vote 70-90% Democratic, but we wonder what the political vibe is in Bethesda, Clarendon, Alexandria, Silver Spring, Rockville etc and which one of us would feel more at home vs. be more in a feisty debate!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

This thread is as entertaining as intended to be. Thanks.

The honest answer is it will come down to money. We have saved a boatload of money renting in southeast DC so we can make a downpayment somewhere fun but not ridiculously upscale (So, probably not Bethesda or Crystal City or Rosslyn). Silver Spring is on the table, and also interested in looking at Del Ray (somewhat concerned about home buying now that Amazon is coming). PG County is considerable but only places that are walkable. From what I know College Park seems to be the only place that has a community vibe with walkable amentities - Greenbelt and such are too sprawly.

As for politics - this won't be a serious deciding factor BUT it's something my wife and I like to joke about! I'm interested in how the neighborhoods around the DC area differ culturally (and not just racially - I'm Jewish and my wife is Chinese, we don't really care how white or nonwhite an area is, people are just people)
All DC area suburbs may vote 70-90% Democratic, but we wonder what the political vibe is in Bethesda, Clarendon, Alexandria, Silver Spring, Rockville etc and which one of us would feel more at home vs. be more in a feisty debate!

The.incorporated City of Hyattsville is more walkable IMO than College Park. (You have to be careful when looking at listings because the post office includes unincorporated areas of the county in what it calls Hayattsville.)

The City of Hyattsville is extremely diverse. There are lots of LGBTQ couples/families there. The new chief of police is a black lesbian. At the same time, there is also a sizable group of very conservative Catholics. Artists, UMD professors, feds, and non-profit workers are well represented among residents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Takoma Park is ground zero for the far left and known for ideology over intellect and passion over pragmatism. Lots of untalented arts and crafts wanna bees. Get ready for old lady crafts, cats, and bad pottery. They think they are the Berkeley of the east coast, they have never been to Berkeley.

Silver Spring is mostly faux liberals who couldn't afford Bethesda and are bitter about it. They are a very hypocritical group who brag about liking diversity while segregating themselves within their schools. Not a bright group but they will love you if you are gay ....as long as you are white.

Kensington- pocket of conservative Catholics and people praying that when MCOS rezones they'll get out of Einstein and into BCC.

Arlington -liberal or centrist democrat with a few establishment Republicans. More concerned with on trend kitchen remodels than politics though.

Alexandria - liberal to centrist. Wants to be Annapolis, antiqu'ing becomes a verb in Old Town.

Bethesda -where to start. Centrist to liberal left with closet Republican fiscal leanings. Locally turning right because they feel they get stuck with the bill for the loony policies coming out of TP and SS. There is a dress code.

Potomac - republicans.

This is hysterical, especially the Silver Spring description

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Takoma Park is ground zero for the far left and known for ideology over intellect and passion over pragmatism. Lots of untalented arts and crafts wanna bees. Get ready for old lady crafts, cats, and bad pottery. They think they are the Berkeley of the east coast, they have never been to Berkeley.

Silver Spring is mostly faux liberals who couldn't afford Bethesda and are bitter about it. They are a very hypocritical group who brag about liking diversity while segregating themselves within their schools. Not a bright group but they will love you if you are gay ....as long as you are white.

Kensington- pocket of conservative Catholics and people praying that when MCOS rezones they'll get out of Einstein and into BCC.

Arlington -liberal or centrist democrat with a few establishment Republicans. More concerned with on trend kitchen remodels than politics though.

Alexandria - liberal to centrist. Wants to be Annapolis, antiqu'ing becomes a verb in Old Town.

Bethesda -where to start. Centrist to liberal left with closet Republican fiscal leanings. Locally turning right because they feel they get stuck with the bill for the loony policies coming out of TP and SS. There is a dress code.

Potomac - republicans.

This is hysterical, especially the Silver Spring description

What’s incredible about Montgomery County is that David Blair, who ran on a VERY progressive campaign for County Executive (as another person wrote l, he proposed government-sponsored lawyers for illegal immigrants) was demonized by the Takoma Park/Silver Spring extreme left as a conservative, I kid you not. Mainly because, as a businessperson, he said, maybe don’t scare off all businesses so that they’ll stay and we can use their tax revenue for these social programs we love so much. But nope, he’s an Evil Capitalist.
Marc Elrich had the Takoma Park/Silver Spring extreme left vote locked up and its surprising that he almost lost. He emulates Cuba and Venezuela. This is not an exaggeration. He has spoken at length about the virtues of the Cuban communist regime and he invited the Venezuelan government to instruct the county on social programs when he was council member.

This is why we can’t have nice things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Takoma Park is ground zero for the far left and known for ideology over intellect and passion over pragmatism. Lots of untalented arts and crafts wanna bees. Get ready for old lady crafts, cats, and bad pottery. They think they are the Berkeley of the east coast, they have never been to Berkeley.

Silver Spring is mostly faux liberals who couldn't afford Bethesda and are bitter about it. They are a very hypocritical group who brag about liking diversity while segregating themselves within their schools. Not a bright group but they will love you if you are gay ....as long as you are white.

Kensington- pocket of conservative Catholics and people praying that when MCOS rezones they'll get out of Einstein and into BCC.

Arlington -liberal or centrist democrat with a few establishment Republicans. More concerned with on trend kitchen remodels than politics though.

Alexandria - liberal to centrist. Wants to be Annapolis, antiqu'ing becomes a verb in Old Town.

Bethesda -where to start. Centrist to liberal left with closet Republican fiscal leanings. Locally turning right because they feel they get stuck with the bill for the loony policies coming out of TP and SS. There is a dress code.

Potomac - republicans.

This is hysterical, especially the Silver Spring description

What’s incredible about Montgomery County is that David Blair, who ran on a VERY progressive campaign for County Executive (as another person wrote l, he proposed government-sponsored lawyers for illegal immigrants) was demonized by the Takoma Park/Silver Spring extreme left as a conservative, I kid you not. Mainly because, as a businessperson, he said, maybe don’t scare off all businesses so that they’ll stay and we can use their tax revenue for these social programs we love so much. But nope, he’s an Evil Capitalist.
Marc Elrich had the Takoma Park/Silver Spring extreme left vote locked up and its surprising that he almost lost. He emulates Cuba and Venezuela. This is not an exaggeration. He has spoken at length about the virtues of the Cuban communist regime and he invited the Venezuelan government to instruct the county on social programs when he was council member.

This is why we can’t have nice things.

Re: Erlich, This is what the GOP has wrought. By falsely calling Obama a socialist they’ve made Democrats (the majority of voters) want socialism.

As a pro-market, pro-safety net person, this makes me a little frustrated.

But this is what the Republicans have brought us. Thank the Koches, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Murdoch, Limbaugh.
We can’t have a normal debate about politics because the national GOP has filled Americans’ minds with lies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Richmond needs to end it's ties with Philip Morris

Like others have said, there's a strong nanny state/"I want to control what you do because I know better than you" element in this area. This post is case-in-point.

As an LGTBQ family, you will feel very welcomed here (I'm LGBTQ too). You're unlikely to have anyone in your face complaining about you, but some older black residents in older neighborhoods might not be embracing you with open arms (I say that from personal experience; most are awesome but some are just not very accepting). However, nobody under 40 in any area around here will care that you are gay. LGBTQ people here are very visible and most straight people are extremely affirming and supportive.

The biggest thing that I can add to the great posts in this thread is that in the District, most residents are disengaged in local politics except for NIMBY matters. Crime and corruption barely register a blip but remove a tree and the wrath of the community comes out in full force. It's weird but a byproduct of the transience and that many people living here are more invested in national-level matters that they came here to work on. There's a lot of liberal guilt in this area that honestly challenges my own liberalism. I live in a neighborhood with a lot of older people who have strong activist traits. They are the kind people who go to every public water board meeting, every ANC meeting, ever liquor license review. Nobody I know under 70 does that.

Don't let anyone worry you about Virginia. Northern Virginia is extremely diverse and highly educated. Even Richmond has a very lively LGBTQ community. The only backwards people in Virginia live far away in the sticks and don't have much clout in political issues anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

This thread is as entertaining as intended to be. Thanks.

The honest answer is it will come down to money. We have saved a boatload of money renting in southeast DC so we can make a downpayment somewhere fun but not ridiculously upscale (So, probably not Bethesda or Crystal City or Rosslyn). Silver Spring is on the table, and also interested in looking at Del Ray (somewhat concerned about home buying now that Amazon is coming). PG County is considerable but only places that are walkable. From what I know College Park seems to be the only place that has a community vibe with walkable amentities - Greenbelt and such are too sprawly.

As for politics - this won't be a serious deciding factor BUT it's something my wife and I like to joke about! I'm interested in how the neighborhoods around the DC area differ culturally (and not just racially - I'm Jewish and my wife is Chinese, we don't really care how white or nonwhite an area is, people are just people)
All DC area suburbs may vote 70-90% Democratic, but we wonder what the political vibe is in Bethesda, Clarendon, Alexandria, Silver Spring, Rockville etc and which one of us would feel more at home vs. be more in a feisty debate!

Clarendon and Courthouse are close together. So walkable you can easily live there without a car. Alexandria is so cute - need car. Bethesda you need a car plus train stations lack parking. It's like NY/NJ train stops. Plus is a real PIA driving around. Redline further out has parking but charmless suburban sprawl living - Rockville. Redline up Conn Ave - you will see people lugging groceries on the train from the Vanness Giant. What are your metro stops for work in DC? If a stop is Foggy Bottom , metro from Bethesda is actually double the commute as from Courthouse.

use trip planner on metro https://www.wmata.com/schedules/trip-planner/

King street metro and love the architecture https://www.redfin.com/VA/Alexandria/520-John-Carlyle-St-22314/unit-118/home/17061307