What the heck is up with these exburb boosters?

[Anonymous]

Geez. We get it. You enjoy driving 2 hrs to get to work, it allows you to listen to your favorite podcasts. Your favorite restaurant here is also located in every city in America which is great when you take that road trip back to Ohio and you sneer at those of us who live in "effectively suburban" parts of the District. All that being said, some of those places on the edges of the orange line, Dunn Loring and others are real holes.

[Anonymous]

Agreed.

[Anonymous]

Also, WTH do you do with a 5000 sq foot house? How do you clean it all? Do your kids get exercise by running loops through the living room?

[Anonymous]

What are you babbling about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Geez. We get it. You enjoy driving 2 hrs to get to work, it allows you to listen to your favorite podcasts. Your favorite restaurant here is also located in every city in America which is great when you take that road trip back to Ohio and you sneer at those of us who live in "effectively suburban" parts of the District. All that being said, some of those places on the edges of the orange line, Dunn Loring and others are real holes.

Since the suburban areas of DC have crappy schools and may sit on top of a munitions dump, we prefer to refer to them as the "ineffectively suburban" parts of the Distrct.

Carry on.

[Anonymous]

Oh please. I'm a former DC condo dweller who lives somewhere between exburb and close-in suburbs. I'm right outside the beltway which I used to consider the end of the universe as I knew it.

I didn't like it for the first few years but now I love it. We have 2 acres, a backyard pool, big walkout basement, breakfast room big enough to have a bunch of kids and their friends doing art stuff, enough garage space for bikes and all the sports stuff. I also have normal neighbors who don't go on about work and are not flashy with their money.

Yes, I miss restaurants but now that its warm we end up using the grill and having people over for dinner or vice versa, let the kids play in the yards/pools which is actually much better than dropping 100+ on a restaurant dinner anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geez. We get it. You enjoy driving 2 hrs to get to work, it allows you to listen to your favorite podcasts. Your favorite restaurant here is also located in every city in America which is great when you take that road trip back to Ohio and you sneer at those of us who live in "effectively suburban" parts of the District. All that being said, some of those places on the edges of the orange line, Dunn Loring and others are real holes.

Since the suburban areas of DC have crappy schools and may sit on top of a munitions dump, we prefer to refer to them as the "ineffectively suburban" parts of the Distrct.

Carry on.

I don't think anyone here is talking about DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Geez. We get it. You enjoy driving 2 hrs to get to work, it allows you to listen to your favorite podcasts. Your favorite restaurant here is also located in every city in America which is great when you take that road trip back to Ohio and you sneer at those of us who live in "effectively suburban" parts of the District. All that being said, some of those places on the edges of the orange line, Dunn Loring and others are real holes.

Funny thing is...they don't really. I mean, there's a thread that pops up every week or so saying something to the effect of "God How I Hate This Shitty Town Washington, DC". "Oh, the mean people! Oh, the terrible traffic! Oh, the restaurants suck! Oh, I can't wait to move to California!"

Then you scratch the surface a millimeter and it turns out everyone who's complaining is from the suburbs somewhere. I never would have imagined, but it seems like there's actually one thing everyone on DCUM agrees one: the suburbs suck.

[Anonymous]

I fucking hate the posters that are blathering on about Pimmit Hills, the Mosaic District and Dunn Loring in almost every thread, but I disagree with your characterization of those as exurbs. Those are classic suburbs; exurbs are further out (think Loudoun County, or Clarksburg in MD.)

And PP is totally right - I love the posts from the people who can't hack the stress of living in say, Annandale.

[Anonymous]

Let's repeat again and again - not everyone in this area works in downtown DC.

And I happen to like the suburbs. I can get to the city when I want to, which is every couple months. And the suburbs of this city are full of great things to do, too.

If I had to commute to downtown, our lives would be much different. We probably wouldn't live where we live, honestly. We'd likely have to give up on a yard entirely and live in a TH.

I don't tell people who need to commute to downtown to live in my suburban 'hood in Fairfax County. It is more for those who commute to Reston or Ashburn or Fairfax City or even Tysons. There are people who DO commute to downtown, and they say it takes about an hour. There are commuter busses that can take you to Metro right down the street from my house.

I've done the hour commute in the past (from other locations) and it does wear on you after a while. Some people, like my husband who currently does this by car to a "there be dragons" location way South of the city, don't seem to mind it at all. Driving an hour each way on a daily basis would drive ME insane, which is why I'm glad I don't have to do it.

I think people make all kinds of calculations about what they want and need out of a place to live. If living in the city is what you want, good for you. If others want to live in the suburbs, good for them. Neither is the wrong choice - it is all very personal.

I don't mind that we don't go to the hottest restaurants and that most of the stuff around us is big box/chain. We weren't doing that stuff even when we lived closer-in, anyway! We shop at the same stores and eat at the same restaurants, just different locations.

City living isn't for everyone, just like suburban living isn't for everyone. We stay pretty close to our 'hood on a daily basis. We rarely go more than a couple miles from our house for anything.

So, that was my long response - I DON'T think the suburbs suck, but I also don't think the city sucks. Do what works for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, I miss restaurants but now that its warm we end up using the grill and having people over for dinner or vice versa, let the kids play in the yards/pools which is actually much better than dropping 100+ on a restaurant dinner anyway.

+1

[Anonymous]

I'm not an exurbanite (although some of you might think so), nor a booster, but is it really that surprising for people to stand up for their own neighborhoods? Especially when they are consistently crapped on by the urbanites/close-in suburbanites? (See for example: parts of this thread.)

I'll admit the boosterism/tearing down on either side is not my favorite part of reading here. But it happens frequently enough, some people must love it.

[Anonymous]

12:42 - I'm with you. Having moved many times, I'll take the down to earth people in the "exurbs" vs. the f*cked up close in people any day! The latter needs to reel it in and stop being ingrates - its tiresome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I fucking hate the posters that are blathering on about Pimmit Hills, the Mosaic District and Dunn Loring in almost every thread, but I disagree with your characterization of those as exurbs. Those are classic suburbs; exurbs are further out (think Loudoun County, or Clarksburg in MD.)

And PP is totally right - I love the posts from the people who can't hack the stress of living in say, Annandale.

Exurb is anywhere more than 1km from the District line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I fucking hate the posters that are blathering on about Pimmit Hills, the Mosaic District and Dunn Loring in almost every thread, but I disagree with your characterization of those as exurbs. Those are classic suburbs; exurbs are further out (think Loudoun County, or Clarksburg in MD.)

And PP is totally right - I love the posts from the people who can't hack the stress of living in say, Annandale.

I don't understand why people knock down other's who are proud of their neighborhoods. Just cause their house are 500k vs 900k doesn't mean they can't be proud of them.

I don't really care either way but come on.