Any other families finally had enough of DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:30 years ago was 1991, when there were 482 homicides in DC.

Last year (2020), there were 198 homicides.

How much did DC houses cost back in 1991?

How is that relevant?

I think it's relevant when a house next to an open air drug market costs $900k. Why pay that to live where shots are fired at a minimum of 4x year?
It's a bit different if you paid 60k for it back in 1991.

So you'd be ok with living next to an "open air drug market" if your housing costs were low, but not if your housing costs were high? Really?

DP. This isn’t an unusual perspective whatsoever. Sometimes people are willing to accept buying in a more dangerous neighborhood in exchange for getting a larger or nicer house. It’s all about trade offs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love all the people concerned about “safety” who are moving to suburbs where they spend far more time driving their kids around in cars, an actual risk to health and safety.

Gun violence has surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of death in the US so you're at greater risk of getting shot in this country than in a car accident. And relative to the rest of the country - and particularly the DC 'burbs - crime in the district is through the roof. I will never understand why people stay in DC with higher crime, worse public education, more expensive housing, less green space, no representation, more congestion, pollution and trash.

Move, OP. You'll be glad that you did.

They are both serious issues, but by moving to the suburbs we would have to drive more. No one is forcing my kids to play around with drugs/gangs. So the risk is lower for us in the city.

I have plenty of access to green space here, my kids are thriving in public schools, and to get lower home prices I’d have to move to the exurbs or close to it.

I do wish people would litter less, and the lack of representation is messed up so I agree with those parts of what you said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been here since 2001 and am very happy. DC represents a great mix of affordability and amenities, compared to other cities like NY and SF. If you aren't in a gang, your life is unlikely to be affected by crime.

If you’ve lived here since 2001 and have never experienced crime, you should buy a lottery ticket. I don’t know anyone in a gang, but many people I know in DC have been victims of crimes (even if minor crimes such as car break ins, street harassment, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Meh. Have lived here 51 years. I used to have to drive to Falls Church for big box shopping and Bethesda for restaurants. Anything east of Dupont circle was filthy and run down (until you got into the residential areas of NE and SE).

DC is now loaded with shopping, restaurants, music (the Wharf!!), farmer's markets, sports venues and revitalized commercial strips. I never would have imagined I could walk to a baseball game from my office or eat out and catch a hockey game on 7th st. NW. Yes, the pandemic has hurt us, but DC has absolutely flourished over the past decade.

[Anonymous]

The only thing that's keeping me here is that I can get a public Montessori education for my young children. Of course, if schools don't fully open in the fall, I will happily decamp to the suburbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love all the people concerned about “safety” who are moving to suburbs where they spend far more time driving their kids around in cars, an actual risk to health and safety.

Gun violence has surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of death in the US so you're at greater risk of getting shot in this country than in a car accident. And relative to the rest of the country - and particularly the DC 'burbs - crime in the district is through the roof. I will never understand why people stay in DC with higher crime, worse public education, more expensive housing, less green space, no representation, more congestion, pollution and trash.

Move, OP. You'll be glad that you did.

They are both serious issues, but by moving to the suburbs we would have to drive more. No one is forcing my kids to play around with drugs/gangs. So the risk is lower for us in the city.

I have plenty of access to green space here, my kids are thriving in public schools, and to get lower home prices I’d have to move to the exurbs or close to it.

I do wish people would litter less, and the lack of representation is messed up so I agree with those parts of what you said.

I feel like I need to add one more thing. This notion that I’m not at risk for gun violence isn’t the full picture. I really care about my neighbors and their kids. An opportunity to mentor and help out even one child to reduce their risk of getting involved in drugs and gangs is really important to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been here since 2001 and am very happy. DC represents a great mix of affordability and amenities, compared to other cities like NY and SF. If you aren't in a gang, your life is unlikely to be affected by crime.

If you’ve lived here since 2001 and have never experienced crime, you should buy a lottery ticket. I don’t know anyone in a gang, but many people I know in DC have been victims of crimes (even if minor crimes such as car break ins, street harassment, etc.).

I don't know what to tell you. DH and I have both been here for 20 years and never had an issue. We've lived in Georgetown, Dupont Circle, Logan Circle, Columbia Heights, and CCDC. I don't count street harassment as a crime, though I can't recall any specific instances of that either. That happens everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been here since 2001 and am very happy. DC represents a great mix of affordability and amenities, compared to other cities like NY and SF. If you aren't in a gang, your life is unlikely to be affected by crime.

If you’ve lived here since 2001 and have never experienced crime, you should buy a lottery ticket. I don’t know anyone in a gang, but many people I know in DC have been victims of crimes (even if minor crimes such as car break ins, street harassment, etc.).

I don't know what to tell you. DH and I have both been here for 20 years and never had an issue. We've lived in Georgetown, Dupont Circle, Logan Circle, Columbia Heights, and CCDC. I don't count street harassment as a crime, though I can't recall any specific instances of that either. That happens everywhere.

Street harassment absolutely can be a crime. (No one likes getting yelled at by a cursing mentally ill person while walking down the street with their small child, for example.) All crime happens everywhere, right? It’s just some cities have more of it than others. And crime in DC is on the rise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been here since 2001 and am very happy. DC represents a great mix of affordability and amenities, compared to other cities like NY and SF. If you aren't in a gang, your life is unlikely to be affected by crime.

If you’ve lived here since 2001 and have never experienced crime, you should buy a lottery ticket. I don’t know anyone in a gang, but many people I know in DC have been victims of crimes (even if minor crimes such as car break ins, street harassment, etc.).

I don't know what to tell you. DH and I have both been here for 20 years and never had an issue. We've lived in Georgetown, Dupont Circle, Logan Circle, Columbia Heights, and CCDC. I don't count street harassment as a crime, though I can't recall any specific instances of that either. That happens everywhere.

Street harassment absolutely can be a crime. (No one likes getting yelled at by a cursing mentally ill person while walking down the street with their small child, for example.) All crime happens everywhere, right? It’s just some cities have more of it than others. And crime in DC is on the rise.

If you're afraid of the crime, which is lower than it was when I got here 20 years ago, I think city living is simply not for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Been here 18 years.

For me it has been:
- The disaster of the vaccine rollout. Really revealing in terms of city government incompetence.
- The failure to fully reopen schools.
- Crime. Gun violence just blocks away from our home in broad daylight.
- Proximity of Jan. 6th events to our home, the fencing off of the Capitol, the militarization of the city related to political unrest.
- The nonsensical pandemic restrictions. Schools closed, but indoor dining open pre-vaccines. Outdoor mask mandate long after it was clear unnecessary. Mayor issuing and taking back new guidance this weekend. No metrics for when restrictions will be dropped. Mayor refusing to answer reporter questions on.

It's all just so exhausting. Add on top of it, how hard it is to buy a home, get into daycare, buy in a good school district.

I love the city and have really put down roots here through early career to building a family, but at some point it's just not worth it.

+100 on the bolded. We left DC for Florida and have never been happier. Mock all you want. Didn't think I was unhappy in DC until I finally left.
Good quality daycare at reasonable price and weather alone have improved our quality of life 100x over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Been here 18 years.

For me it has been:
- The disaster of the vaccine rollout. Really revealing in terms of city government incompetence.
- The failure to fully reopen schools.
- Crime. Gun violence just blocks away from our home in broad daylight.
- Proximity of Jan. 6th events to our home, the fencing off of the Capitol, the militarization of the city related to political unrest.
- The nonsensical pandemic restrictions. Schools closed, but indoor dining open pre-vaccines. Outdoor mask mandate long after it was clear unnecessary. Mayor issuing and taking back new guidance this weekend. No metrics for when restrictions will be dropped. Mayor refusing to answer reporter questions on.

It's all just so exhausting. Add on top of it, how hard it is to buy a home, get into daycare, buy in a good school district.

I love the city and have really put down roots here through early career to building a family, but at some point it's just not worth it.

+100 on the bolded. We left DC for Florida and have never been happier. Mock all you want. Didn't think I was unhappy in DC until I finally left.
Good quality daycare at reasonable price and weather alone have improved our quality of life 100x over.

Aren't there any anonymous internet message boards in Florida?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I graduated years ago and never looked back. I even threw away the special badge you get for living "in the District"

The people who have a weird sense of superiority about living in DC are precious. "I would never go to Arlington! I'd have to drive in! There's no culture there!" they say from their newly built condo by the waterfront. Gimme a break!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love all the people concerned about “safety” who are moving to suburbs where they spend far more time driving their kids around in cars, an actual risk to health and safety.

When 2 neighbors got held up at gunpoint (1 in broad daylight), I decided a bit more time in the car was a risk I was willing to take. Not to mention the home break ins, etc. in a supposedly "good" neghborhod.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love all the people concerned about “safety” who are moving to suburbs where they spend far more time driving their kids around in cars, an actual risk to health and safety.

When 2 neighbors got held up at gunpoint (1 in broad daylight), I decided a bit more time in the car was a risk I was willing to take. Not to mention the home break ins, etc. in a supposedly "good" neghborhod.

Well my coworker was killed in a car crash. Others have been injured. I decided a handful of shootings in the neighborhood was a risk I was willing to take.

The cool thing about freedom is that we all get to make those judgements & decisions on our own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Been here 18 years.

For me it has been:
- The disaster of the vaccine rollout. Really revealing in terms of city government incompetence.
- The failure to fully reopen schools.
- Crime. Gun violence just blocks away from our home in broad daylight.
- Proximity of Jan. 6th events to our home, the fencing off of the Capitol, the militarization of the city related to political unrest.
- The nonsensical pandemic restrictions. Schools closed, but indoor dining open pre-vaccines. Outdoor mask mandate long after it was clear unnecessary. Mayor issuing and taking back new guidance this weekend. No metrics for when restrictions will be dropped. Mayor refusing to answer reporter questions on.

It's all just so exhausting. Add on top of it, how hard it is to buy a home, get into daycare, buy in a good school district.

I love the city and have really put down roots here through early career to building a family, but at some point it's just not worth it.

I've come to expect incompetence from the local DC government and am genuinely surprised if they don't completely mess up something. Bowser has made a mockery of the mayorship. I'm with you on everything that's bold.

Anthony Williams did yeomans work improving the quality of life. Fenty was actually well intentioned and tried, but ineffective. That was the pinnacle. Gray and Bowser have destroyed all of that hard work, competence and credibility that were so hard won. It's a real shame. I honestly do not believe that there has been a more cynical mayor governing DC than Bowser. DC better enact term limits on the mayor or else...

100% agree with what you and 23:21 said. Gray was the beginning of things worsening, but Bowser really took it to the next level. I find the lack of opposition to her shocking (and it's certainly not because she's doing a good job)!

+1. I would add the critical race theory that is being taught by DCPS. They are poisoning the minds of our kids. It’s gone way too far.