So tired of living in the DC area. So sick of it. Warning..negative VENT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:sucks to be you, life is all about choices, I bet you don't mind spending the money your husbnads business makes from being in this area.

deal with it

You are such an ass. There is no need to be bitchy. Everyone is entitled to vent, she even put a warning in the subject line. No one made you read the post.

OP, I totally agree!! I'm also from the midwest - Chicago, and would move back there in an instant if DH's job wasn't here. I'm hoping to move to Takoma Park eventually but don't know if we will since DH works in Arlington. Ugh. I hear you!

[Anonymous]

I think the homesick people should form a club - I would be proud to attend

The others can suck it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I think the homesick people should form a club - I would be proud to attend

The others can suck it!

How right you are!!!

I'm on the outskirts....Leesburg, VA. Started out in DC and eventually made our way out (DC to Falls Church, to Fairfax, to Sterling, then to Leesburg), but not far enough away. I cannot wait until the day that my husband decides that government contracting is not worth it. This area is exhausting. I regret deciding to have children here.

[Anonymous]

Not going to read all of the PPs -- sorry. OP, what you say resonates. I'm from Pittsburgh, which is very similar in outlook to the midwest. The people are nice, my friends are SHOCKED to know what I paid for my tiny house (in a nice way) and there are still some people there who will say "what in the hell is a playdate" if you can believe that, because the kids still play in the neighborhoods.

That said, I personally think a lot of my chagrin about "this area" is really growing pains. Things don't feel as relaxed and breezy here because I'm not as relaxed and breezy. As an adult, I don't have endlessly charming summers because instead of running around playing, I'm running around making sure my kids are safe. I try to do my best to relax what I can relax, on my end. The other thing is that people EVERYWHERE have changed lifestyles over the years. There is less impulsivity, people are less inclined to just pop over, and folks generally don't just come over for supper on a moment's notice. There are more cars jamming the highways in almost every urban area, so traffic is an increasing problem everywhere. (Maybe I'm just saying that because Pgh will give DC a run for its money in terms of traffic -- but that could be due to all of the bridges).

The area undeniably attracts certain types, though. And people who are not from the midwest (or Pittsburgh, the little mid-atlantic city with a big midwestern heart and a raging identity crisis) don't know what it can be like to live in a place that is truly simpler and nicer. There are positives and negatives to this city. What keeps my family here is my job and the fact that we've bought a home here that we can't easily sell. I don't think we'll be here forever, though. I can find a new job (and so can your husband if he wants to, right?).

If your vent is just to blow off steam this once and you feel better, cool. But if your life feels tense and, well, sucks, you need to make your husband understand he has to get you the heck out of dodge. That said, look closely into your own heart, because the grass is often greener and all...

[Anonymous]

I spend a lot of time in midwestern cities for work and yes the people are delightful. But man is it depressing in some of those places. So much of the business has moved south and west. Unemployment is high. Downtown areas are sort of deserted. I'm sure there are nice parts to live in but a lot of people I talk to don't see much of a future and the professionals are all focused on getting their kids into good colleges out of state so they can get out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have lived here for 22 years and d*mn I can't stand it here anymore! I'm originally from the Midwest. Land of laid back, friendly, modest folks.

I hate the traffic here and I despise the pace. I despise the commutes and the fact that I have to plan how and when I can get to or park at the grocery store.

I despise how so many think they are so important. I hate working and living in a place with so many attorneys who think they are so important and so impressive. I was a federal employee for years in an environment where managers couldn't see past the bureaucracy to allow flexibility with a small child or serious illness. It was awful. I hate the inflexibility of government positions and bureaucracy that I've had.

I hate that the houses here are so small and that you have to kill yourself working to live in what is considered a good area with good schools.. NW DC, NOrthern VA, and Montgomery County (Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Potomac, parts of Silver Spring) No one other than highly paid, multi-degreed professinals (doctors, lawyers, real estate moguls, heads of companies) can afford these parts of town. I am in the education field with several degrees, but can't afford these places.

I hate that there is not much of a friendly feel in neighborhoods here. Everyone is too busy with crazy, overscheduled agendas. The craziness isn't good for my kid and i don't want her to grow up "stressed" Yuck.

There, I've said it. I had to get it off my chest.

I am unable to move. I married a man whose business is here and he isn't going anywhere. It depresses me. I miss the Midwest.

From a frustrated MOM and former professional

I don't usually post mean replies on DCUM. I do wish you would go away - find a way to move - because you make it that much more unpleasant for all the rest of us.

- Lovin the one I'm with

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At least move to a city with a few serious GOOD breakfast joints or Greek diners and good New York Style deli. DC is seriously lacking here..the Montgomery County suburbs anyway!

what's wrong with Tastee Diner and Parkway deli?

[Anonymous]

. I cannot wait until the day that my husband decides that government contracting is not worth it.

Wow. Maybe if Eisenhower wins a third term.

[Anonymous]

What about a smaller east coast city? Like Princeton, NJ or Albany or Buffalo, NY or Hartford or Providence? Portland, ME? I don't know but maybe less contrast than DC vs Cleveland?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At least move to a city with a few serious GOOD breakfast joints or Greek diners and good New York Style deli. DC is seriously lacking here..the Montgomery County suburbs anyway!

what's wrong with Tastee Diner and Parkway deli?

They are awful! That's what is wrong with them. Yuck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

AS for parking, the further out you go, the better it gets. I love working in Leesburg and doing my shopping @ Costco and Target on the way home.

I love that Costo, too, in Leesburg (and also the Kohl's and Target, but not the Walmart). But let's be honest. That's not D.C. by any stretch. It's a 48 minute drive from the District with no traffic back-ups and it's another world. Not better, or worse, but totally different.

Put another way, the Leesburg big-box land is indistinguishable from the Overland Park, KS big-box land. Or the Arvada, Colo. big-box land, or Katy, TX outside of Houston ...

Born and raised in OP, KS. Even the folks in Leesburg aren't as friendly as the folks in OP, KS... big box or not. I know many many people that live in Leesburg and they ae very much like those that OP describes.

Okay, I'm sorry, but I was born in D.C. and grew up here. I am a first-generation American of Middle Eastern descent who very much looks Middle Eastern. My husband is from KC, MO and worked in OP, KS for a long time. I've gone back to visit with him several times, and I think maybe you're speaking of OP, KS as being friendlier from the perspective of someone who is probably a typical white, blue-eyed, blond-haired All-American. It is definitely not friendlier to people who do not fit that mold. I do not feel comfortable there, nor do I think it is friendlier by any stretch of the imagination. I was once at a bar with my husband and saw two AF-AM males given dirty looks and no service for nothing other than not being white. Say what you will about D.C., but I love how it is diverse here. And I think it is a friendly area. You get what you give around here -- just like anywhere else.

[Anonymous]

Okay, I'm sorry, but I was born in D.C. and grew up here. I am a first-generation American of Middle Eastern descent who very much looks Middle Eastern. My husband is from KC, MO and worked in OP, KS for a long time. I've gone back to visit with him several times, and I think maybe you're speaking of OP, KS as being friendlier from the perspective of someone who is probably a typical white, blue-eyed, blond-haired All-American. It is definitely not friendlier to people who do not fit that mold. I do not feel comfortable there, nor do I think it is friendlier by any stretch of the imagination. I was once at a bar with my husband and saw two AF-AM males given dirty looks and no service for nothing other than not being white. Say what you will about D.C., but I love how it is diverse here. And I think it is a friendly area. You get what you give around here -- just like anywhere else.

So agree with this! I really don't run into rude or mean people here. I normally greet strangers with a smile and say "hi" and you know what, when I do that they do it back! I know a lot of great people here in the burbs and in the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Okay, I'm sorry, but I was born in D.C. and grew up here. I am a first-generation American of Middle Eastern descent who very much looks Middle Eastern. My husband is from KC, MO and worked in OP, KS for a long time. I've gone back to visit with him several times, and I think maybe you're speaking of OP, KS as being friendlier from the perspective of someone who is probably a typical white, blue-eyed, blond-haired All-American. It is definitely not friendlier to people who do not fit that mold. I do not feel comfortable there, nor do I think it is friendlier by any stretch of the imagination. I was once at a bar with my husband and saw two AF-AM males given dirty looks and no service for nothing other than not being white. Say what you will about D.C., but I love how it is diverse here. And I think it is a friendly area. You get what you give around here -- just like anywhere else.

So agree with this! I really don't run into rude or mean people here. I normally greet strangers with a smile and say "hi" and you know what, when I do that they do it back! I know a lot of great people here in the burbs and in the city.

Agree. People are mostly nice to me everywhere in dc - except, admittedly on the roads.

[Anonymous]

And I think it is a friendly area. You get what you give around here -- just like anywhere else.

So agree with this! I really don't run into rude or mean people here. I normally greet strangers with a smile and say "hi" and you know what, when I do that they do it back! I know a lot of great people here in the burbs and in the city.

I would like to, in my Midwestern deferential way, politely disagree and then apologize for disagreeing with you

I have lived here about 15 years, and by "here" I mean the District of Columbia, trending ever upward in NW. I run into rude people every.single.day. Every day. All day. I'd say about 50% of my encounters involve the other person being rude. Twenty minutes ago it was some wanker on his iPhone letting the door slam on me at Wilson Aquatic Center. Then a woman in a nice car honked at me because she perceived that I was going to pull out and hit her (I wasn't; my car was in 'Park'). THEN another woman pedestrian glared at me and mouthed something as she crossed the street in front of me even though I had rolled to a stop a good 10 feet shy of the crosswalk. This is in a span of 15 minutes.

Oh, and when I greet strangers with a smile / hi, like when they're walking past me at my gate, they stare. They're startled. Sometimes they say "Mmm."

I think they are afraid I'm going to use my Midwestern wiles and force them to talk to me and be friends?

[Anonymous]

Twenty minutes ago it was some wanker on his iPhone letting the door slam on me at Wilson Aquatic Center

so true! Crack me up. I used to swim at Wilson before it was renovated. I totally remember folks letting the heavy door outside slam on people. That part of the city is crazy..esp. during rush hour.