Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s noticeable watching the neighbors all get in their cars and drive away at 7:30am. The neighborhood finally has less dog walkers all day long. There are some benefits.

Love all these people who are home all day looking at their windows and seething over... what exactly? Walking their dogs while on a conference call?

They are the bitter Trumpers who hate everyone.

+1 they will be bitter and miserable even when everyone is back in the office.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s noticeable watching the neighbors all get in their cars and drive away at 7:30am. The neighborhood finally has less dog walkers all day long. There are some benefits.

+1 It feels more normal like before Covid. Work relationships are building again.

My work relationships were just fine WFH. I don’t really want to have 10 pointless conversations every day that interrupt my work flow.

+1 I am working less, thanks to these “work relationships”.

Agree traffic is worse now. I was telecommute for 9 years in non-fed position but was RIF’d in 2021. I have been commuting to DC for 3 years. DH and I are flexing schedules to miss most traffic by starting out at 0630 and 0900.
He now stops by a gym mid way thru commute to get out of the worst of the gridlock.

Anonymous wrote:My commuter bus prepandemic was around 70 min, more on a bad day. During the pandemic, it was less than an hour. Now, I’m switching to the Marc and metro now bc my commute home is now routinely 90-120 min. The surface streets in DC are gridlocked. Between the Marc and the metro, I’m home in 60 min.

Hmm, Marc is not a bad thought. I could get on at Rockville Station and get off at Union. How crowded is it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s noticeable watching the neighbors all get in their cars and drive away at 7:30am. The neighborhood finally has less dog walkers all day long. There are some benefits.

Love all these people who are home all day looking at their windows and seething over... what exactly? Walking their dogs while on a conference call?

They are the bitter Trumpers who hate everyone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you drive to the metro and take that in? If it’s taking you two hours anyway wouldn’t you rather read or sleep during that time?

+1
DH has an 80 minute commute each way whether by metro or by car, and he would much rather get exercise walking to/from metro and zone out on the metro itself.

This is my DH as well. Very much prefers the train.

I hate being around all those people so prefer to be in my own car even if stuck in traffic.

This. Pre-Covid, being around people on the train didn't bother me. However, Metro now feels like a giant petri dish of swirling germs and diseased riders. Being in my car for a frustrating commute is the lesser of two evils.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a SAHW and I don't have any issues.

Oh yes you do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you drive to the metro and take that in? If it’s taking you two hours anyway wouldn’t you rather read or sleep during that time?

+1
DH has an 80 minute commute each way whether by metro or by car, and he would much rather get exercise walking to/from metro and zone out on the metro itself.

Who can zone out on metro? Between the feral teens, mentally unstable hobos and aggressive panhandlers, I am on full alert.

There’s medication for that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s noticeable watching the neighbors all get in their cars and drive away at 7:30am. The neighborhood finally has less dog walkers all day long. There are some benefits.

+1 It feels more normal like before Covid. Work relationships are building again.

My work relationships were just fine WFH. I don’t really want to have 10 pointless conversations every day that interrupt my work flow.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The restaurants, coffee shops, and flower vendors are starting to flourish again. There are some great things happening, too. I guess you have to take the good with the bad.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/44-restaurant-owners-washington-dc-fear-may-have-close-2025

44% of restaurant owners in Washington, DC fear they may have to close in 2025

https://wjla.com/news/local/survey-shows-dc-restaurants-struggling-to-stay-open-with-wage-hikes-federal-layoffs-historic-pressure-metropolitan-washington-casual-dining-full-service-food-costs-tipped-wage-increases-servers-tips-taxes-tax-tariff-employment

A new survey from the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) reveals that more than two-thirds of casual dining restaurants will likely close this year.

The survey cited escalating food costs, federal layoffs, and tipped wage increases as some of the reasons for the expected closures.

The RTO is happening now so it will help some of these restaurants out then.

Not really. everyone in my office brings lunch for fast 20 minute breaks and nobody is going out for expensive dinners. RTO takes up our time and money for that. To the extent I do buy anything downtown, it’s just replacing what I would buy in my own neighborhood (often exactly the same franchise just in a different location.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you drive to the metro and take that in? If it’s taking you two hours anyway wouldn’t you rather read or sleep during that time?

+1
DH has an 80 minute commute each way whether by metro or by car, and he would much rather get exercise walking to/from metro and zone out on the metro itself.

Who can zone out on metro? Between the feral teens, mentally unstable hobos and aggressive panhandlers, I am on full alert.

I have been getting an afternoon nap in on metro for at least 20 years now. It is rare I have anything but fed looking commuters at my time of day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you drive to the metro and take that in? If it’s taking you two hours anyway wouldn’t you rather read or sleep during that time?

+1
DH has an 80 minute commute each way whether by metro or by car, and he would much rather get exercise walking to/from metro and zone out on the metro itself.

Who can zone out on metro? Between the feral teens, mentally unstable hobos and aggressive panhandlers, I am on full alert.

Anonymous wrote:It’s noticeable watching the neighbors all get in their cars and drive away at 7:30am. The neighborhood finally has less dog walkers all day long. There are some benefits.

+1 It feels more normal like before Covid. Work relationships are building again.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The restaurants, coffee shops, and flower vendors are starting to flourish again. There are some great things happening, too. I guess you have to take the good with the bad.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/44-restaurant-owners-washington-dc-fear-may-have-close-2025

44% of restaurant owners in Washington, DC fear they may have to close in 2025

https://wjla.com/news/local/survey-shows-dc-restaurants-struggling-to-stay-open-with-wage-hikes-federal-layoffs-historic-pressure-metropolitan-washington-casual-dining-full-service-food-costs-tipped-wage-increases-servers-tips-taxes-tax-tariff-employment

A new survey from the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) reveals that more than two-thirds of casual dining restaurants will likely close this year.

The survey cited escalating food costs, federal layoffs, and tipped wage increases as some of the reasons for the expected closures.

The RTO is happening now so it will help some of these restaurants out then.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1000. Take metro if you don’t like the traffic.

Crime has been terrible on metro and they are only now taking steps to curb it.

https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2025/03/28/metro-ban-sex-crimes-assault-repeat-offenders

On top of the fact that metros and stations stink of weed all the time now.

Yeah... no. The DC metro is fine.

Crime on Metro is down. With so many commuters now it feels safer than ever. That said; I could do without the crowding. I miss routinely getting a seat.

Per capita it is down, but the aggregate is still higher than in the before times.

And that's still fine.

Daily metro rider here. I agree that I feel safe and I don't care about fare jumpers and they don't care about me. But it does smell like weed all the time. Lower platform in L'Enfant Plaza is the worst.