Any other families finally had enough of DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I love the curriculum my elementary kids are getting on topics of race and Us history. I’m not sure where / what you’re getting “critical race theory” but that sounds like a Tucker Carlson talking point.

The problem is, race and history is not just a topic in DCPS. It’s the ENTIRE curriculum. It’s exhausting.

I get it! It’s very exhausting having the dubious “achievements “ of one particular ethnic/racial group woven throughout the ENTIRE curriculum— ignoring the accomplishments of other groups and of individuals who did not get the respect and attention that they deserved. Fortunately I was lucky enough to have teachers who were able to bring in a wider variety of materials and perspectives —so that we could go beyond the narrowly focused and often obviously biased Euro-centric textbooks. I’m delighted to learn that things are improving.

Exactly. Variety is good. But that’s not what’s happening in DC. It’s monolithic. We are teaching AA kids that the system is rigged and we are teaching white kids that they are all inherently racist. Meanwhile the Asian kids in NOVA and Montgomery County are getting an actual education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I love the curriculum my elementary kids are getting on topics of race and Us history. I’m not sure where / what you’re getting “critical race theory” but that sounds like a Tucker Carlson talking point.

The problem is, race and history is not just a topic in DCPS. It’s the ENTIRE curriculum. It’s exhausting.

I get it! It’s very exhausting having the dubious “achievements “ of one particular ethnic/racial group woven throughout the ENTIRE curriculum— ignoring the accomplishments of other groups and of individuals who did not get the respect and attention that they deserved. Fortunately I was lucky enough to have teachers who were able to bring in a wider variety of materials and perspectives —so that we could go beyond the narrowly focused and often obviously biased Euro-centric textbooks. I’m delighted to learn that things are improving.

Exactly. Variety is good. But that’s not what’s happening in DC. It’s monolithic. We are teaching AA kids that the system is rigged and we are teaching white kids that they are all inherently racist. Meanwhile the Asian kids in NOVA and Montgomery County are getting an actual education.

+1. My DD is 8, and I’m planning to tell her that some of what she is being taught is plain wrong. I don’t want her thinking she doesn’t have an equal shot at success just because she is a minority or female. What a terrible message to impart to a young child. The system will never be perfect but I don’t want her to think it’s so rigged that perhaps there’s no point in trying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff should change the name of this website to Hysterical DC Urban Moms Who Should Be Clutching Their Pearls in the Suburbs.

DCUM: Where we take pride in our crime rates!

Right? The “if you don’t like crime, then you belong in the suburbs” mentality is so trite and played out.

The premise of this thread is literally "any other families finally had enough of DC?". It's hardly a stretch to infer that some of you would be happier in the suburbs. Was that not OP's point? DP.

Deciding where to live a complex, multifaceted, and interesting topic. Empty “if you don’t like crime, move to the suburbs” comments are just goofy and don’t contribute anything meaningful. I suspect they’re mostly made by naive city dwellers without children and people who just generally have low standards in life.

This, maybe? I was born in DC (not the Upper Caucasia part) and I sometimes wonder if these posters really hear what they’re saying. I get that they’re trying to be cool urbanites showing off their street cred, but taking any issue with crime rates=take to the Beltway?

Alrighty.

[Anonymous]

This thread is disgusting. Lots of dog whistling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For years I used to drive to DC to play league tennis at several different locations. Now, I’m honestly too scared to even drive into some of those areas. I cannot imagine living there and raising a family. OP needs to drive out to the suburbs and see the difference in lifestyle. Not perfect, but a completely different world. Your family’s safety should be top priority, IMO.

DCUM is just so disappointing these days. Like seriously we have to wade around in this sort of BS all of the time. So tiring. I wish you all would go off to Fairfax Underground or something.

Quick! Make a hyperbolic, fatalistic comment about Fairfax underground because you’re out of the loop and didn’t hear that crime has shot up 31% in DC in the last year. I’m from SE and even in concerned. You seem to have no idea about the moves to ease sentencing laws and increase slap on the wrist criminal policy from our brave Uber liberal city council, coupled with the pandemic related joblessness and other factors that contribute to the situation. Sure. Though keep taking confidently out of your azz and we’ll be over in reality land. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is disgusting. Lots of dog whistling.

I love when people drop into threads to render judgment and feel superior but yet fail to contribute anything of substance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is disgusting. Lots of dog whistling.

Sometimes statistics are uncomfortable, but important to air in public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well the population is now officially shrinking, per the census.

Actually the population is up 14.6% since the last census.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well the population is now officially shrinking, per the census.

Actually the population is up 14.6% since the last census.

It shrank from the prior year estimate and I would be happy to wager that DC growth over the next decade will be easily surpassed by suburban growth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well the population is now officially shrinking, per the census.

Actually the population is up 14.6% since the last census.

It shrank from the prior year estimate and I would be happy to wager that DC growth over the next decade will be easily surpassed by suburban growth.

I can't believe how stupid some people are. Last year's number was an ESTIMATE. This year's was the actual count. Translation: the estimate was off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well the population is now officially shrinking, per the census.

Actually the population is up 14.6% since the last census.

It shrank from the prior year estimate and I would be happy to wager that DC growth over the next decade will be easily surpassed by suburban growth.

I can't believe how stupid some people are. Last year's number was an ESTIMATE. This year's was the actual count. Translation: the estimate was off.

You seem angry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well the population is now officially shrinking, per the census.

Actually the population is up 14.6% since the last census.

It shrank from the prior year estimate and I would be happy to wager that DC growth over the next decade will be easily surpassed by suburban growth.

I can't believe how stupid some people are. Last year's number was an ESTIMATE. This year's was the actual count. Translation: the estimate was off.

You personally believe that YoY volatility w.r.t. population growth is impossible? Fascinating. I am sure that you have evidence to support this theory?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff should change the name of this website to Hysterical DC Urban Moms Who Should Be Clutching Their Pearls in the Suburbs.

DCUM: Where we take pride in our crime rates!

Right? The “if you don’t like crime, then you belong in the suburbs” mentality is so trite and played out.

The premise of this thread is literally "any other families finally had enough of DC?". It's hardly a stretch to infer that some of you would be happier in the suburbs. Was that not OP's point? DP.

Deciding where to live a complex, multifaceted, and interesting topic. Empty “if you don’t like crime, move to the suburbs” comments are just goofy and don’t contribute anything meaningful. I suspect they’re mostly made by naive city dwellers without children and people who just generally have low standards in life.

This, maybe? I was born in DC (not the Upper Caucasia part) and I sometimes wonder if these posters really hear what they’re saying. I get that they’re trying to be cool urbanites showing off their street cred, but taking any issue with crime rates=take to the Beltway?

Alrighty.

But this post is literally about people who are fed up with DC and considering moving to the suburbs. If you want to have a conversation to discuss the problems with the crime rate among people who are invested in the city and planning to stay, that's a different topic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well the population is now officially shrinking, per the census.

Actually the population is up 14.6% since the last census.

It shrank from the prior year estimate and I would be happy to wager that DC growth over the next decade will be easily surpassed by suburban growth.

The count was completed in April. You really think the city’s population shrank by April? Weeks after schools closed, with nothing else open anywhere in the region, and before any of the protests that people seem to think somehow caused crime waves and/or before most of the homicides being cited here as a reason to leave?

[Anonymous]

If my child still needed public school, I would probably leave. That's a HUGE statement for me to make. I'm a militant urbanist. But I do think numerous public safety and quality of life issues, coupled with a just incomprehensible ideological shift in the city government, are becoming problems. If it will not be possible for middle-income families to set their kids up in schools that will help their kids reach their full potential instead of artificially depressing the pace of instruction for them, then that's a serious line crossed. Thank goodness my kids have gotten through DCPS already.