If you don't like DC, what prevents you from leaving?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:^I mean, if you are sooooooo excited to live in DC, far be it for me to rain on your parade. The museums are great, absolutely. But the shittier and shittier with every passing year public transit makes it a hassle to get to, let alone the traffic

It's mainly the culture. There is such a dearth of creative culture in DC. Of course, it's a government center, so it's going to attract the wonk types, not the creatives, but still... for a large city the dearth of creativity on such a level is kind of remarkable.

Also the people. Again with the lack of creativity- it tends to attract many small minded rule follower types, whether liberal or conservative. It doesnt have the vibrancy of great world cities like New York, LA, San Francisco, even Seattle.

I think you'd be disappointed how uncreative NY and LA are. They are extremely expensive cities and many of the creative types are living off of their parents or trust funds. It's just truly not that creative. There are Starbucks and whole foods all over both of those cities.

The presence of Starbucks and Whole foods does not invalidate creativity. I have lived in LA, it is absolutely, shockingly, creative.

NY's creative class is being slowly run out by rising rents but they still have a large number of (albeit already successful) creative types and artists.

But yeah- anyone who has lived in LA would know why it deserves the title "creative capital of the world"

DC is a political town. To expect it to be heavily influenced by the arts is unfair.

I don't think anyone expects it to be that way- but they also dont have to like it or act "enchanted" with it as some others might be. Look, the only person to blame for making DC the way it is is whoever decided to move the capital to Washington DC. It's a politics city, that's a given. But plenty of people hate the homogeneity and sameness that that has caused. And prefer other cities that dont have that particular and unique climate.

Well, you don't have to act enchanted. But, moving to a political town and expecting to find an abundance of arts is a bit weird.

Thank goodness that I never did then!

You never did what?

What you mentioned.

Got it. Where are you living now?

I live in LA

Good for you! LA is not my cup of tea but if you're happy, that's great.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:^I mean, if you are sooooooo excited to live in DC, far be it for me to rain on your parade. The museums are great, absolutely. But the shittier and shittier with every passing year public transit makes it a hassle to get to, let alone the traffic

It's mainly the culture. There is such a dearth of creative culture in DC. Of course, it's a government center, so it's going to attract the wonk types, not the creatives, but still... for a large city the dearth of creativity on such a level is kind of remarkable.

Also the people. Again with the lack of creativity- it tends to attract many small minded rule follower types, whether liberal or conservative. It doesnt have the vibrancy of great world cities like New York, LA, San Francisco, even Seattle.

I think you'd be disappointed how uncreative NY and LA are. They are extremely expensive cities and many of the creative types are living off of their parents or trust funds. It's just truly not that creative. There are Starbucks and whole foods all over both of those cities.

The presence of Starbucks and Whole foods does not invalidate creativity. I have lived in LA, it is absolutely, shockingly, creative.

NY's creative class is being slowly run out by rising rents but they still have a large number of (albeit already successful) creative types and artists.

But yeah- anyone who has lived in LA would know why it deserves the title "creative capital of the world"

DC is a political town. To expect it to be heavily influenced by the arts is unfair.

I don't think anyone expects it to be that way- but they also dont have to like it or act "enchanted" with it as some others might be. Look, the only person to blame for making DC the way it is is whoever decided to move the capital to Washington DC. It's a politics city, that's a given. But plenty of people hate the homogeneity and sameness that that has caused. And prefer other cities that dont have that particular and unique climate.

Well, you don't have to act enchanted. But, moving to a political town and expecting to find an abundance of arts is a bit weird.

Thank goodness that I never did then!

You never did what?

What you mentioned.

Got it. Where are you living now?

I live in LA

Good for you! LA is not my cup of tea but if you're happy, that's great.

It's wonderful

[Anonymous]

I came to DC because my husband was transferred there for work and it seemed like the better alternative to divorce. He works for the govt and his job is one of a kind, so there was no alternative for him unless he wanted to completely start over. We were able to leave after 7 years, but I can't break my DCUM addiction. I have tried!

My problem with DC was the traffic, rude people (result of traffic, I think), high cost of living, and long work hours. Our life was just tougher there.

[Anonymous]

I'll answer for DH. He doesn't hate it but constantly talks about how he wants to leave the 2nd we retire. He doesn't like the traffic or the winter. He wants to stay now because of work and admits our children have so many more opportunities than where we grew up. We are both from small towns with nothing around and no jobs.

We have been here for 16 years and I love it. During those years we have enjoyed different things about the area. Now we live in the VA burbs, the area we made fun of when we first moved here. Neither of us work in DC anymore.

[Anonymous]

Wow I'm tired. The second, not 2nd

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I came to DC because my husband was transferred there for work and it seemed like the better alternative to divorce. He works for the govt and his job is one of a kind, so there was no alternative for him unless he wanted to completely start over. We were able to leave after 7 years, but I can't break my DCUM addiction. I have tried!

My problem with DC was the traffic, rude people (result of traffic, I think), high cost of living, and long work hours. Our life was just tougher there.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^I mean, if you are sooooooo excited to live in DC, far be it for me to rain on your parade. The museums are great, absolutely. But the shittier and shittier with every passing year public transit makes it a hassle to get to, let alone the traffic

It's mainly the culture. There is such a dearth of creative culture in DC. Of course, it's a government center, so it's going to attract the wonk types, not the creatives, but still... for a large city the dearth of creativity on such a level is kind of remarkable.

Also the people. Again with the lack of creativity- it tends to attract many small minded rule follower types, whether liberal or conservative. It doesnt have the vibrancy of great world cities like New York, LA, San Francisco, even Seattle.

I think you'd be disappointed how uncreative NY and LA are. They are extremely expensive cities and many of the creative types are living off of their parents or trust funds. It's just truly not that creative. There are Starbucks and whole foods all over both of those cities.

Exactly. I don't think these people realize that the perfect place they left behind isn't anymore, if it ever was. My mother yearned for the city we moved away from for two decades. When they finally moved back, she discovered that either the city had changed, or she had, because it was not what she remembered.

FWIW, I know lots of creative people in DC -- noted sculptors, actors, etc. (and I'm a boring lawyer). Just because you don't know them, it doesn't mean they're not there. Maybe you're just not looking in the right place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I came to DC because my husband was transferred there for work and it seemed like the better alternative to divorce. He works for the govt and his job is one of a kind, so there was no alternative for him unless he wanted to completely start over. We were able to leave after 7 years, but I can't break my DCUM addiction. I have tried!

My problem with DC was the traffic, rude people (result of traffic, I think), high cost of living, and long work hours. Our life was just tougher there.

I love it but we make plenty of money so it doesn't seem expensive. We also live close to our jobs and never fight traffic. We also have a great work/life balance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I came to DC because my husband was transferred there for work and it seemed like the better alternative to divorce. He works for the govt and his job is one of a kind, so there was no alternative for him unless he wanted to completely start over. We were able to leave after 7 years, but I can't break my DCUM addiction. I have tried!

My problem with DC was the traffic, rude people (result of traffic, I think), high cost of living, and long work hours. Our life was just tougher there.

I love it but we make plenty of money so it doesn't seem expensive. We also live close to our jobs and never fight traffic. We also have a great work/life balance.

Regardless of how much you make, it sucks living in an area where you pay so much for so little, in terms of both quality of life and the general area.

There's a reason the rick dont "summer" "winter" or spend any season in DC!

[Anonymous]

^*rich

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I came to DC because my husband was transferred there for work and it seemed like the better alternative to divorce. He works for the govt and his job is one of a kind, so there was no alternative for him unless he wanted to completely start over. We were able to leave after 7 years, but I can't break my DCUM addiction. I have tried!

My problem with DC was the traffic, rude people (result of traffic, I think), high cost of living, and long work hours. Our life was just tougher there.

I love it but we make plenty of money so it doesn't seem expensive. We also live close to our jobs and never fight traffic. We also have a great work/life balance.

Regardless of how much you make, it sucks living in an area where you pay so much for so little, in terms of both quality of life and the general area.

There's a reason the rick dont "summer" "winter" or spend any season in DC!

We lived in a much more expensive city previously so this doesn't seem to be the case for us. We have a great quality of life and have a lot of fun here in DC with our friends and family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I came to DC because my husband was transferred there for work and it seemed like the better alternative to divorce. He works for the govt and his job is one of a kind, so there was no alternative for him unless he wanted to completely start over. We were able to leave after 7 years, but I can't break my DCUM addiction. I have tried!

My problem with DC was the traffic, rude people (result of traffic, I think), high cost of living, and long work hours. Our life was just tougher there.

I love it but we make plenty of money so it doesn't seem expensive. We also live close to our jobs and never fight traffic. We also have a great work/life balance.

Regardless of how much you make, it sucks living in an area where you pay so much for so little, in terms of both quality of life and the general area.

There's a reason the rick dont "summer" "winter" or spend any season in DC!

We lived in a much more expensive city previously so this doesn't seem to be the case for us. We have a great quality of life and have a lot of fun here in DC with our friends and family.

I'm glad it's a good fit for you. As I pointed out though, you might be in the minority. There's a reason the top high earners dont live in DC unless they have business or government contracts here. But you like it, good for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I came to DC because my husband was transferred there for work and it seemed like the better alternative to divorce. He works for the govt and his job is one of a kind, so there was no alternative for him unless he wanted to completely start over. We were able to leave after 7 years, but I can't break my DCUM addiction. I have tried!

My problem with DC was the traffic, rude people (result of traffic, I think), high cost of living, and long work hours. Our life was just tougher there.

I love it but we make plenty of money so it doesn't seem expensive. We also live close to our jobs and never fight traffic. We also have a great work/life balance.

Regardless of how much you make, it sucks living in an area where you pay so much for so little, in terms of both quality of life and the general area.

There's a reason the rick dont "summer" "winter" or spend any season in DC!

We lived in a much more expensive city previously so this doesn't seem to be the case for us. We have a great quality of life and have a lot of fun here in DC with our friends and family.

I'm glad it's a good fit for you. As I pointed out though, you might be in the minority. There's a reason the top high earners dont live in DC unless they have business or government contracts here. But you like it, good for you.

This isn't true.

[Anonymous]

I started the thread about wanting to go back to New England. My stubborn husband will not leave at all. He's softening now. He's the type that grows roots and panics if he's somewhere else for a long period of time. He won't even stay at our Cape house for more than two weeks at this point (and he works out of the house).

My guess is that we will be spending a lot of time apart after the kids are gone. The only way I would not go back there is if my kids have kids and are located elsewhere, then I will want to be close by to help. What he decides to do will be his decision. I've lived over 20 years here and I'm ready for a change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I don't live in DC anymore. Thank God. But I still reserve the right to snark on it, because it genuinely is a shitty place.

If you don't like it, don't open threads complaining about DC.

No, it isn't. Where are you from that is such a great place to live?