Life After DMV...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was thinking yesterday about how DC is a trap. I’m sick of it here, tied of the hyper-competitive people and the exhausting political virtual signaling (I’m a lefty, I just don’t care about “winning” the DC game of “who’s the MOST progressive?”). People here are addicted to work and prestige and as a west coast transplant, it’s disturbing how much even mid-level office drones think their job is the most interesting thing about them. And even people with hobbies are weird about it. Again, just competitive in an almost dispassionate way. It’s exhausting and I can’t believe we are raising kids here.

But every time we talk about leaving, it’s impossible. DC is expensive but so are lots of places. The weather here sucks and yet is weirdly middle of the road. Once you’ve been here for over a decade, going somewhere much warmer or colder feels hard. I dislike the work culture here, but there are so many jobs and they pay well and the city is so resistant to downturn (knock on wood). Buying a home here is miserable but once you have one the idea of selling it and missing out on certain appreciation is unappealing. And so on.

It’s like I dislike DC but it’s too hard to leave.

DC isn’t even all that progressive. What are you talking about?

PP and I agree with you. But there is a weird culture in DC that I have never experienced elsewhere where people are always trying to one up each other on the external signifiers of being progressive. I find myself just rolling my eyes at everyone’s “tolerance” and MLK quote yard signs, especially when you know they send their kids to majority white charters. Another weird thing in DC is how often people will pontificate about some political issue they just learned about yesterday, or on which they have the shallowest of understanding, as though they are done kind of academic scholar. It’s like, girl, I read Twitter too, you don’t need to explain what BLM or MeToo is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t wait to leave this area. I’m from here, and we are counting down the days until our youngest is done with school and we can escape.

There are soooo many things I’m never going to miss about this area. The people, the weather, the traffic, the people, the taxes, the people, the cost of living, the people, the competitive drama, the people, the people, the people....

Can’t wait to move to America.

STFU with the “real America” vs “fake America” crap.

You sound nice

However, promoting the "real America v. fake America" attitude is kind of how we've gotten to this truly rotten, divisive place we are in history. So the STFU poster may not have been super refined with their request not to propagate this divisiveness, but they are not off-base with their sentiment.

It’s a little too late to call out divisiveness and start preaching com’by’yah now that you’ve won an election, after having spent the last five years calling half the country deplorables.

So I’m good with division. Let’s just keep it this way.

[Anonymous]

Transplant problems.

[Anonymous]

You can run from DC but you cannot run from yourselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone? There’s a whole Life After California FB group about this, but it’s mostly conservatives and I don’t necessarily want to go somewhere conservative.

It's not mostly conservatives. California's politics are so progressive that most people here would also reject them. For example, the city of San Francisco is one giant school cluster and students are placed with no regard for proximity. That means a kindergartener may have a 50 minute commute by train and/or a lengthy walk through what has become a notoriously dangerous and unsanitary city. They also decriminalized nonviolent property crimes, so you can literally be mugged with no recourse, people can break into your house, and they can shoplift from stores. Homeless people can live in your doorway.

DMV people wouldn't stand for this and are hardly in a position to judge Californians for saying enough is enough. But, we don't have these problems in the DMV, which is why we are not experiencing an exodus like California.

This seems made up. Home invasions are legal??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was thinking yesterday about how DC is a trap. I’m sick of it here, tied of the hyper-competitive people and the exhausting political virtual signaling (I’m a lefty, I just don’t care about “winning” the DC game of “who’s the MOST progressive?”). People here are addicted to work and prestige and as a west coast transplant, it’s disturbing how much even mid-level office drones think their job is the most interesting thing about them. And even people with hobbies are weird about it. Again, just competitive in an almost dispassionate way. It’s exhausting and I can’t believe we are raising kids here.

But every time we talk about leaving, it’s impossible. DC is expensive but so are lots of places. The weather here sucks and yet is weirdly middle of the road. Once you’ve been here for over a decade, going somewhere much warmer or colder feels hard. I dislike the work culture here, but there are so many jobs and they pay well and the city is so resistant to downturn (knock on wood). Buying a home here is miserable but once you have one the idea of selling it and missing out on certain appreciation is unappealing. And so on.

It’s like I dislike DC but it’s too hard to leave.

DC isn’t even all that progressive. What are you talking about?

PP and I agree with you. But there is a weird culture in DC that I have never experienced elsewhere where people are always trying to one up each other on the external signifiers of being progressive. I find myself just rolling my eyes at everyone’s “tolerance” and MLK quote yard signs, especially when you know they send their kids to majority white charters. Another weird thing in DC is how often people will pontificate about some political issue they just learned about yesterday, or on which they have the shallowest of understanding, as though they are done kind of academic scholar. It’s like, girl, I read Twitter too, you don’t need to explain what BLM or MeToo is.

Eh, all states have something. Seattle Freeze. Bay Area is all about networking for your startup or wannabe Google career or virtue signaling granola living.

LA is very image conscious and so many people in the industry.

NYC is full of themselves and proud to be rude.

Chicago out to prove it’s not flyover country.

The South with it’s a fake politeness and not so fake racism (Though Boston is hands down the most racist city, and has winters are brutal)

On and on. Everyplace has something awful. We prefer California b/c our preference is access to nature, but DC is fine. There is plenty of nature here, it’s one of the most walkable metros in the US, and weather is actually quite mild overall, though more grey than I would like. And yes “what do you do” is a thing but many places have that and no worse then the obsessive surfers in CA.

One thing amuses me is how outdoorsy people love to flock to Cali, but once the acclimate to that climate, being outdoors almost anywhere else in the world but California is a hardship!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone? There’s a whole Life After California FB group about this, but it’s mostly conservatives and I don’t necessarily want to go somewhere conservative.

It's not mostly conservatives. California's politics are so progressive that most people here would also reject them. For example, the city of San Francisco is one giant school cluster and students are placed with no regard for proximity. That means a kindergartener may have a 50 minute commute by train and/or a lengthy walk through what has become a notoriously dangerous and unsanitary city. They also decriminalized nonviolent property crimes, so you can literally be mugged with no recourse, people can break into your house, and they can shoplift from stores. Homeless people can live in your doorway.

DMV people wouldn't stand for this and are hardly in a position to judge Californians for saying enough is enough. But, we don't have these problems in the DMV, which is why we are not experiencing an exodus like California.

This seems made up. Home invasions are legal??

Google "California Prop 47." It does sound made up, I'll give you that.

[Anonymous]

These threads always sound like people are describing a different world than I live in. Everyone I know is normal, not status addicted or hyper competitive or any of that. Y'all just need better friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was thinking yesterday about how DC is a trap. I’m sick of it here, tied of the hyper-competitive people and the exhausting political virtual signaling (I’m a lefty, I just don’t care about “winning” the DC game of “who’s the MOST progressive?”). People here are addicted to work and prestige and as a west coast transplant, it’s disturbing how much even mid-level office drones think their job is the most interesting thing about them. And even people with hobbies are weird about it. Again, just competitive in an almost dispassionate way. It’s exhausting and I can’t believe we are raising kids here.

But every time we talk about leaving, it’s impossible. DC is expensive but so are lots of places. The weather here sucks and yet is weirdly middle of the road. Once you’ve been here for over a decade, going somewhere much warmer or colder feels hard. I dislike the work culture here, but there are so many jobs and they pay well and the city is so resistant to downturn (knock on wood). Buying a home here is miserable but once you have one the idea of selling it and missing out on certain appreciation is unappealing. And so on.

It’s like I dislike DC but it’s too hard to leave.

DC isn’t even all that progressive. What are you talking about?

PP and I agree with you. But there is a weird culture in DC that I have never experienced elsewhere where people are always trying to one up each other on the external signifiers of being progressive. I find myself just rolling my eyes at everyone’s “tolerance” and MLK quote yard signs, especially when you know they send their kids to majority white charters. Another weird thing in DC is how often people will pontificate about some political issue they just learned about yesterday, or on which they have the shallowest of understanding, as though they are done kind of academic scholar. It’s like, girl, I read Twitter too, you don’t need to explain what BLM or MeToo is.

Eh, all states have something. Seattle Freeze. Bay Area is all about networking for your startup or wannabe Google career or virtue signaling granola living.

LA is very image conscious and so many people in the industry.

NYC is full of themselves and proud to be rude.

Chicago out to prove it’s not flyover country.

The South with it’s a fake politeness and not so fake racism (Though Boston is hands down the most racist city, and has winters are brutal)

On and on. Everyplace has something awful. We prefer California b/c our preference is access to nature, but DC is fine. There is plenty of nature here, it’s one of the most walkable metros in the US, and weather is actually quite mild overall, though more grey than I would like. And yes “what do you do” is a thing but many places have that and no worse then the obsessive surfers in CA.

One thing amuses me is how outdoorsy people love to flock to Cali, but once the acclimate to that climate, being outdoors almost anywhere else in the world but California is a hardship!

Sounds more like the DC people who have never been to NYC.

[Anonymous]

We struggle with where we'll go once we retire. I find it so convenient to live here- so many nice things to do but it is just a tad busier than we want and it is certainly expensive so we will likely move. I think DC has the prettiest spring and fall seasons and our winter is pretty easy to get through. (I find the summers too hot and humid).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was thinking yesterday about how DC is a trap. I’m sick of it here, tied of the hyper-competitive people and the exhausting political virtual signaling (I’m a lefty, I just don’t care about “winning” the DC game of “who’s the MOST progressive?”). People here are addicted to work and prestige and as a west coast transplant, it’s disturbing how much even mid-level office drones think their job is the most interesting thing about them. And even people with hobbies are weird about it. Again, just competitive in an almost dispassionate way. It’s exhausting and I can’t believe we are raising kids here.

But every time we talk about leaving, it’s impossible. DC is expensive but so are lots of places. The weather here sucks and yet is weirdly middle of the road. Once you’ve been here for over a decade, going somewhere much warmer or colder feels hard. I dislike the work culture here, but there are so many jobs and they pay well and the city is so resistant to downturn (knock on wood). Buying a home here is miserable but once you have one the idea of selling it and missing out on certain appreciation is unappealing. And so on.

It’s like I dislike DC but it’s too hard to leave.

DC isn’t even all that progressive. What are you talking about?

PP and I agree with you. But there is a weird culture in DC that I have never experienced elsewhere where people are always trying to one up each other on the external signifiers of being progressive. I find myself just rolling my eyes at everyone’s “tolerance” and MLK quote yard signs, especially when you know they send their kids to majority white charters. Another weird thing in DC is how often people will pontificate about some political issue they just learned about yesterday, or on which they have the shallowest of understanding, as though they are done kind of academic scholar. It’s like, girl, I read Twitter too, you don’t need to explain what BLM or MeToo is.

Have you been to Park Slope? Or other progressive parts of Brooklyn?

[Anonymous]

I moved to Charleston SC and it was the best decision of my life. I’m definitely a dem by all standards, but I’ve become more moderate and tolerant of other beliefs the longer I’ve lived down here. My family of origin abhors the south and my decision but TBH when I go home they are completely addicted to the news and practically liberal zombies. It’s exhausting.
I have a great quality of life, the beach ten minutes away, a home on the water, little traffic. I don’t make as much money as I would up there but I just don’t care because my standard of living is great and we have everything we need plus more.
By the way, charleston is so full of transplants we are in a diverse area. None of our friends are racists or god squad. Similar to us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I moved to Charleston SC and it was the best decision of my life. I’m definitely a dem by all standards, but I’ve become more moderate and tolerant of other beliefs the longer I’ve lived down here. My family of origin abhors the south and my decision but TBH when I go home they are completely addicted to the news and practically liberal zombies. It’s exhausting.
I have a great quality of life, the beach ten minutes away, a home on the water, little traffic. I don’t make as much money as I would up there but I just don’t care because my standard of living is great and we have everything we need plus more.
By the way, charleston is so full of transplants we are in a diverse area. None of our friends are racists or god squad. Similar to us.

I would love to live in Charleston, but I live in VA because my kids and grandkids live here. We are close to DC and I love that the weather is rarely severe. There are good and bad things everywhere. Find your friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t wait to leave this area. I’m from here, and we are counting down the days until our youngest is done with school and we can escape.

There are soooo many things I’m never going to miss about this area. The people, the weather, the traffic, the people, the taxes, the people, the cost of living, the people, the competitive drama, the people, the people, the people....

Can’t wait to move to America.

STFU with the “real America” vs “fake America” crap.

You sound nice

However, promoting the "real America v. fake America" attitude is kind of how we've gotten to this truly rotten, divisive place we are in history. So the STFU poster may not have been super refined with their request not to propagate this divisiveness, but they are not off-base with their sentiment.

It’s a little too late to call out divisiveness and start preaching com’by’yah now that you’ve won an election, after having spent the last five years calling half the country deplorables.

So I’m good with division. Let’s just keep it this way.

You just won this thread re: life after DC - to get away from people like you who make extreme assumptions of other posters.

Your "good with divisiveness" makes anywhere else better than being near people like you.

And by the way - it's spelled KUMBAYA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you moving away from the DMV? Where are you headed? Tell me more!!!

Yes, moving to our farm in VA or Florida if schools aren’t 5 days a week. Waiting to see how it shakes out.