Reply to People who moved from DC to Arlington / suburbs in general -- did things improve for you?

Forum Index » Real Estate

Reply to "People who moved from DC to Arlington / suburbs in general -- did things improve for you?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

I used to live in Chicago and was pretty smug about being able to deal with the cold. Now having been gone a decade, I realize it’s just nice for things to be nice. Easy, pleasant, convenient. It’s great. [/quote]

I'm the PP who doesn't appreciate the desire for things to be easy.  I also used to live in the upper Midwest.  Sure, dealing the any kind of extreme weather can be a source of personal pride, and yes I find it nice not to deal with such extremes anymore. The difference is that the weather isn't a social phenomenon; whether you live in Chicago or DC, you don't bear responsibility for each cold snap. And, although global warming is a function of human choices, it doesn't directly depend on where you live, except to the extent that you can locate in a place that reduces your carbon emissions (i.e. the city).  You're not abdicating any responsibility by moving to a more comfortable climate.

Also, not to make this about me, but the people who are speculating that I live in a suburban part of DC and am therefore being hypocritical are mostly wrong.  I live in a rowhouse within the L'Enfant City.  There are probably 20,000 people per square mile in my neighborhood, which is much more than the city average, but still quite a bit less than in our densest neighborhoods.  I'm not one to argue that we should all be trying to live in high-rise condos, or that every city should look like Midtown Manhattan.  I get that there are trade-offs in all of life's choices, and that not everyone can afford this particular lifestyle.  But I find it really disappointing when people who *can* afford this lifestyle (which in DCUM-land is a lot of people) decide that they would rather that things be easy than that they use their position of fortune to contribute to the social good.  And I do believe that things like sending your children to urban public schools with others who have less than them, working to deter crime in the community rather than fleeing it, and remaining connected to the artistic and cultural communities of the city are important parts of that contribution to the social good.  I'm not perfect, nor is anyone, but it's very sad to see that so few people consider these trade-offs.

In short, people should expect more of themselves.[/quote]

It's rare for people to be willing to burn their offspring on the altar of social good.  I mean, keep fighting a good fight.  I'm just going to do what's best for my children, and leave the worry about social good to people in charge of these things. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics