Since the Lafayette Thread was Removed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why the lululemon hate? I live EOTP and wear lulu every day because it's comfortable and still looks nice and cute. I don't get the constant stereotype.

Everyday? As clothes?

Unless you are going to yoga class - you need to stop this. You don't look cute. You look lazy.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:OK, this is the schools forum, but most of the above seems like a self-justification entitled, "why I chose to be on the right side of residential segregation and don't want to be judged."

There's a premium for everything in Upper NW, from higher cost of housing to higher cost of living to limited transit, etc., that makes living there a deliberate choice.

Live with it. We all vote Dem, we just don't all live the liberal lifestyle in practice. We can all do better from the position we're in, so just try to do that.

New poster. First off, I voted for Obama but I try to avoid voting Dem in city elections, and I hope more of you will consider doing the same, especially if you care about education.

Second, I didn't see the deleted thread. But on its face your critique of OP of this thread is unfair. Everyone seems to assume that wotp real estate is universally more expensive than, and wotp people universally more affluent than, the eotp houses/people. That's not the case. For example you can spend a lot more on average in Logan Circle or Mt Pleasant right now than in parts of the Lafayette district. That was even more true in 2009-2010 when a lot of people bought houses during the recession. I don't blame people for prioritizing schools and low crime over walkability to cool bars and transit service. It is ridiculous to assume that wtop people are paying a premium to avoid diversity, if that is what you were trying to suggest.

It's really pointless. The PP is far too focused on her own self-importance to concern herself with things like facts and reality.

If he/she could come back and explain to me about my limited transit I would appreciate it. I am within a 10 minute walk of the metro, the L2, L1, H2, H3, H4, and the entire 30 line. How many more options do I need to qualify as an acceptable neighborhood? Also I am interested in this higher cost of living. Is the Giant near my house charging higher prices than the ones EOTP?

+1. Her self-righteousness and condescension, especially in conjunction with her utter cluelessness about Upper NW, are really nauseating, and do not represent most EOTP parents.

New poster here. From EOTP.. I appreciate the OP outlining the ways that we're all pretty much the same. What I find offensive are the posts claiming that only parents who buy/rent WOTP are making responsible decisions. I realize that thaese are people suffering status envy - a citywide epidemic - but there's a prevalence of posts that suggest the only "right" decisions for schooling are JKLM. Which is just impossible for the majority of parents in DC.

Yes, I take everything within these forums with a grain of salt. But the only path to equitable public schooling is a broader swath of households accepting and attending their neighborhood schools. Period. If you don't want overcrowding in your ward 3 schools, stop promoting them as the only responsible choices that parents can make.

We're pretty content with our EOTP DCPS, and I think a lot of parents are discovering the same. It's an outcome we should all want because it broadens the field of choices. We just have to get a few people to stop acting like assholes.

You are wrong. The way to equity is to level the playing field and to make all things equal. Citywide lottery. Equal distribution of quality/highly effective teachers. Neighborhood schools is school segregation 21st century style.

Actually that is the way to equally bad. There would be mass flight from the city of families with school-aged children as there was in the past.

+1. Why does anyone think the schools WOTP are good? It's not the location, facilities, or teachers. It's the students and the parents. If you mix it up and suddenly have a high percentage of students from families who are not invested in their kids' education, those schools won't be good anymore either. This idea that the teachers are the primary cause of school quality is an illusion.

+100. For proof, compare the per-pupil expenditures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Right. But the PPP (before you) was saying that it's all an economic choice and not a lifestyle one - but, in fact, you cant separate the two. For $350K you CAN buy WOTP, you just don't want to because living in a cramped apartment isn't as nice as living in a SFH when you have kids. Totally valid choice, but it is a lifestyle choice. People with bigger budgets are still making the same choice.

I was curious about this so I did a search with these parameters. Keeping in mind that we are at or near the height of the real estate season -- i.e., it doesn't get more voluminous than this -- I located ONE apartment with two bedrooms that is avail for less than $350,000 WOTP. There are about 25 one-bedroom apartments avail for less than $350,000.

So it's true, if you want to sleep together with your children in the same bedroom (which Laura Ingalls didn't even do with Ma and Pa), then in theory you "can" buy a place < $350K WOTP. Otherwise, BS

I know several professional families living with 1-2 kids in one bedroom apartments, condos or coops in desirable WOTP neighborhoods. Admittedly, some are European, and maybe that helps. Maybe Americans are just born desiring more space. So yes, people do make this choice, even if it surprises you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, this is the schools forum, but most of the above seems like a self-justification entitled, "why I chose to be on the right side of residential segregation and don't want to be judged."

There's a premium for everything in Upper NW, from higher cost of housing to higher cost of living to limited transit, etc., that makes living there a deliberate choice.

Live with it. We all vote Dem, we just don't all live the liberal lifestyle in practice. We can all do better from the position we're in, so just try to do that.

New poster. First off, I voted for Obama but I try to avoid voting Dem in city elections, and I hope more of you will consider doing the same, especially if you care about education.

Second, I didn't see the deleted thread. But on its face your critique of OP of this thread is unfair. Everyone seems to assume that wotp real estate is universally more expensive than, and wotp people universally more affluent than, the eotp houses/people. That's not the case. For example you can spend a lot more on average in Logan Circle or Mt Pleasant right now than in parts of the Lafayette district. That was even more true in 2009-2010 when a lot of people bought houses during the recession. I don't blame people for prioritizing schools and low crime over walkability to cool bars and transit service. It is ridiculous to assume that wtop people are paying a premium to avoid diversity, if that is what you were trying to suggest.

It's really pointless. The PP is far too focused on her own self-importance to concern herself with things like facts and reality.

If he/she could come back and explain to me about my limited transit I would appreciate it. I am within a 10 minute walk of the metro, the L2, L1, H2, H3, H4, and the entire 30 line. How many more options do I need to qualify as an acceptable neighborhood? Also I am interested in this higher cost of living. Is the Giant near my house charging higher prices than the ones EOTP?

+1. Her self-righteousness and condescension, especially in conjunction with her utter cluelessness about Upper NW, are really nauseating, and do not represent most EOTP parents.

New poster here. From EOTP.. I appreciate the OP outlining the ways that we're all pretty much the same. What I find offensive are the posts claiming that only parents who buy/rent WOTP are making responsible decisions. I realize that thaese are people suffering status envy - a citywide epidemic - but there's a prevalence of posts that suggest the only "right" decisions for schooling are JKLM. Which is just impossible for the majority of parents in DC.

Yes, I take everything within these forums with a grain of salt. But the only path to equitable public schooling is a broader swath of households accepting and attending their neighborhood schools. Period. If you don't want overcrowding in your ward 3 schools, stop promoting them as the only responsible choices that parents can make.

We're pretty content with our EOTP DCPS, and I think a lot of parents are discovering the same. It's an outcome we should all want because it broadens the field of choices. We just have to get a few people to stop acting like assholes.

You are wrong. The way to equity is to level the playing field and to make all things equal. Citywide lottery. Equal distribution of quality/highly effective teachers. Neighborhood schools is school segregation 21st century style.

I have thought a lot about this. I grew up in a place with a lot less poverty and many fewer African Americans. I attended neighborhood schools and think this is the ideal arrangement. It's what I want for my kids. But then I arrive in DC later in life, and all of a sudden my desire for neighborhood schools (and a low crime neighborhood) is considered regressive by some people, even borderline racist. I have thought it over, but in the end I cannot agree. Neighborhood schools are an excellent idea. They are not the problem. They are not what led us to where we are now in DC. DC has many problems, many with deep historical roots. These problems have not been addressed adequately. But dismantling worthwhile and faultless institutions like neighborhood schools is not the answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why the lululemon hate? I live EOTP and wear lulu every day because it's comfortable and still looks nice and cute. I don't get the constant stereotype.

Everyday? As clothes?

Unless you are going to yoga class - you need to stop this. You don't look cute. You look lazy.

Yup. Everyday. And yes, I look damn cute. My job is with my kids, not at an office. And they make things other than black yoga pants...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, this is the schools forum, but most of the above seems like a self-justification entitled, "why I chose to be on the right side of residential segregation and don't want to be judged."

There's a premium for everything in Upper NW, from higher cost of housing to higher cost of living to limited transit, etc., that makes living there a deliberate choice.

Live with it. We all vote Dem, we just don't all live the liberal lifestyle in practice. We can all do better from the position we're in, so just try to do that.

New poster. First off, I voted for Obama but I try to avoid voting Dem in city elections, and I hope more of you will consider doing the same, especially if you care about education.

Second, I didn't see the deleted thread. But on its face your critique of OP of this thread is unfair. Everyone seems to assume that wotp real estate is universally more expensive than, and wotp people universally more affluent than, the eotp houses/people. That's not the case. For example you can spend a lot more on average in Logan Circle or Mt Pleasant right now than in parts of the Lafayette district. That was even more true in 2009-2010 when a lot of people bought houses during the recession. I don't blame people for prioritizing schools and low crime over walkability to cool bars and transit service. It is ridiculous to assume that wtop people are paying a premium to avoid diversity, if that is what you were trying to suggest.

It's really pointless. The PP is far too focused on her own self-importance to concern herself with things like facts and reality.

If he/she could come back and explain to me about my limited transit I would appreciate it. I am within a 10 minute walk of the metro, the L2, L1, H2, H3, H4, and the entire 30 line. How many more options do I need to qualify as an acceptable neighborhood? Also I am interested in this higher cost of living. Is the Giant near my house charging higher prices than the ones EOTP?

+1. Her self-righteousness and condescension, especially in conjunction with her utter cluelessness about Upper NW, are really nauseating, and do not represent most EOTP parents.

New poster here. From EOTP.. I appreciate the OP outlining the ways that we're all pretty much the same. What I find offensive are the posts claiming that only parents who buy/rent WOTP are making responsible decisions. I realize that thaese are people suffering status envy - a citywide epidemic - but there's a prevalence of posts that suggest the only "right" decisions for schooling are JKLM. Which is just impossible for the majority of parents in DC.

Yes, I take everything within these forums with a grain of salt. But the only path to equitable public schooling is a broader swath of households accepting and attending their neighborhood schools. Period. If you don't want overcrowding in your ward 3 schools, stop promoting them as the only responsible choices that parents can make.

We're pretty content with our EOTP DCPS, and I think a lot of parents are discovering the same. It's an outcome we should all want because it broadens the field of choices. We just have to get a few people to stop acting like assholes.

You are wrong. The way to equity is to level the playing field and to make all things equal. Citywide lottery. Equal distribution of quality/highly effective teachers. Neighborhood schools is school segregation 21st century style.

Socialist utopianism.
- signed, a European liberal who has seen the effects of socialism first hand

[Anonymous]

I live WOTP and am not like OP -you are welcome to treat me like a glorified suburbanite and/or seem to be rolling in my privilege.

We bought in JKLM because I wanted my kids to go to best schools I could manage (we wouldn't be able to swing private easily for all of them but can afford a WOTP house), while not having to deal with uncertainties and commute issues of being in the lottery. I prefer the city, hence WOTP, but if we couldn't find a house in an area we wanted (or if DC didn't have schools we found acceptable), we were equally ready to move to NoVa or MoCo.

Of course I want as nice a life and education for my children as I can manage. While I hope other children have the same, they are not the first priority to me, my own children are. I am not keeping them in a worse school to prove a point.

Oh, and before children, we used to live in a hip, 'gentrifying' neighborhood, which was fun but I would never make my kids stay in a not particularly child-friendly area with bad schools if I could afford to move. I realize not everyone can afford to, but you bet I judge the hell out of you if you can afford to move to an area with better school but do not because you don't want to give up your access to fancy restaurants and cool bars and shorter commute. I grew up in poverty, going to rough urban schools - not because my parents were socially conscious liberals, but because they had no choice. Why would I inflict that on my kid when I don't have to?

Bottom line - I am quite happy to live in WOTP.

Oh, and I am not a liberal, so not all of us are.

[Anonymous]

Bottom line - I am quite happy to live in WOTP.

Oh, and I am not a liberal, so not all of us are.

apropos of seemingly nothing .... did you happen to move to Ward 3 within the last 4 years or so? say, after the recession?

I've noticed that as the entry price to my block has sped past $1 million, the number of Audi SUVs/Range Rovers and republicans has also increased. Definitely a change from 1990-2006 or so.

[Anonymous]

I can think of 8 families off the top of my head in Lafayette bounds who bought @ $350K. I can think of a dozen more who bought < or = $500K.

I can also think of a number of families who attend LEJ OOB and: bought a $700K-$2.5m homes in the last 5 years who live EOTP, or are and have been big law partners for 5+ years who live EOTP.

The OOB policy is benefiting a lot of wealthy white kids, which I'm not sure was the intent. Ironic, unfortunate, and/or unfair?

[Anonymous]

And, to be fair, I also know a handful of wealthy, white families WOTP using OOB at WOTP schools.

[Anonymous]

PP seems to dislike anyone who is OOB anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live WOTP and am not like OP -you are welcome to treat me like a glorified suburbanite and/or seem to be rolling in my privilege.

We bought in JKLM because I wanted my kids to go to best schools I could manage (we wouldn't be able to swing private easily for all of them but can afford a WOTP house), while not having to deal with uncertainties and commute issues of being in the lottery. I prefer the city, hence WOTP, but if we couldn't find a house in an area we wanted (or if DC didn't have schools we found acceptable), we were equally ready to move to NoVa or MoCo.

Of course I want as nice a life and education for my children as I can manage. While I hope other children have the same, they are not the first priority to me, my own children are. I am not keeping them in a worse school to prove a point.

Oh, and before children, we used to live in a hip, 'gentrifying' neighborhood, which was fun but I would never make my kids stay in a not particularly child-friendly area with bad schools if I could afford to move. I realize not everyone can afford to, but you bet I judge the hell out of you if you can afford to move to an area with better school but do not because you don't want to give up your access to fancy restaurants and cool bars and shorter commute. I grew up in poverty, going to rough urban schools - not because my parents were socially conscious liberals, but because they had no choice. Why would I inflict that on my kid when I don't have to?

Bottom line - I am quite happy to live in WOTP.

Oh, and I am not a liberal, so not all of us are.

<slow clap>

You've definitely done your part to represent conservative values while bringing nothing but smugness and ire to the discussion.

I was the one who posted about neighborhood schools as a way to raising quality all over and I've been in DC long enough to remember when people with your attitude and economic flexibility felt the same level of disdain for all DCPS, including JKLM. But then more and more started sending their kids, and guess what - the quality of the schools got better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live WOTP and am not like OP -you are welcome to treat me like a glorified suburbanite and/or seem to be rolling in my privilege.

We bought in JKLM because I wanted my kids to go to best schools I could manage (we wouldn't be able to swing private easily for all of them but can afford a WOTP house), while not having to deal with uncertainties and commute issues of being in the lottery. I prefer the city, hence WOTP, but if we couldn't find a house in an area we wanted (or if DC didn't have schools we found acceptable), we were equally ready to move to NoVa or MoCo.

Of course I want as nice a life and education for my children as I can manage. While I hope other children have the same, they are not the first priority to me, my own children are. I am not keeping them in a worse school to prove a point.

Oh, and before children, we used to live in a hip, 'gentrifying' neighborhood, which was fun but I would never make my kids stay in a not particularly child-friendly area with bad schools if I could afford to move. I realize not everyone can afford to, but you bet I judge the hell out of you if you can afford to move to an area with better school but do not because you don't want to give up your access to fancy restaurants and cool bars and shorter commute. I grew up in poverty, going to rough urban schools - not because my parents were socially conscious liberals, but because they had no choice. Why would I inflict that on my kid when I don't have to?

Bottom line - I am quite happy to live in WOTP.

Oh, and I am not a liberal, so not all of us are.

You might want to rethink that one. A shorter commute is as much in the kids' as in the parents' interest, both with regard to the kids' safety as well as their ability to spend time with their parents. But I'm not surprised you don't see that given that you emphasize that you are not a liberal. (Btw, I live inbounds for Janney, so I'm not the target of your ire).

[Anonymous]

the folks saying I moved away from a "non-child friendly area" and "bought the best house I could afford" to justify a WOTP move aren't making the best arguments here...Lots of houses and kids east of RCP....

[Anonymous]

But the schools are better wotp, right? Isn't that the crux of the entire argument? That the original Lafayette thread OP was considering to enroll in a wotp school?