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Wow! The Kaplan Higher Education Post uncovered a shocking development! More 20-somethings have been settling in the city in the past decade. Shocking, I tell you!
And because of the growing 20-something population, DC is changing its reputation from a workaholic nerve center into a more fun, laid-back environment. What better example for the new, party-down DC than a 28 year old lobbyist and a 29 year old wannabee Big Law attorney.
So the aspiring intellectual property lawyer and the insurance industry lobbyist may be "hip" for going to nightclubs and living in a sweet condo near Logan Circle but they chose DC to work their behinds off.
The bottom line is that young professionals in our Nation's Capital have a "Live to Work" attitude. They are high-achievers who strive for promotions, power, and a PHAT paycheck. Nothing more...nothing less.
Bartenders are hip. Tattoo artists are hip. Musicians are hip. Non-Starbucks coffee shop servers are hip. Hell, even bike couriers are hip (the few remaining in the email age). They are "hip" because their priorities and values in life run counter to the dominate mentality of DC culture.
Insurance industry lobbyists and K Street intellectual property attorneys? Not so much. Working 60+ hours a week with a suit and tie does not make you "fun" or "hip". Especially when you are in the business of defending Fortune 500 corporations against labor rights, consumer rights, medical patient rights, environmental reform and against a host of government regulations that would safeguard the health, welfare and sanity of the entire American population.
Fun people tend not to devote a better part of their leisure time in their 20s and 30s working for The Man. Fun people don't have burning ambition to achieve power and status. Fun people don't judge you by your resume and your college alma mater.
My conclusion: 20-something professionals of 2011 are same as 20-something professionals who were here in 2001, 1991, 1981 and so on. All work and little play makes DC a much more boring place compared to other large US cities. Just ask a New Yorker.
"You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your f-ing khakis. You're the all-singing, all dancing crap of the world."
I can certainly admit that lobbyist and lawyer aren't "cool" occupations. Those are the most stereotypical DC jobs out there. The City Paper rebuttal was cute.
I think that in the long term it is great news for the District. Although the continued lost of children might not be the best indicator for its future.
Wow! The Kaplan Higher Education Post uncovered a shocking development! More 20-somethings have been settling in the city in the past decade. Shocking, I tell you!
And because of the growing 20-something population, DC is changing its reputation from a workaholic nerve center into a more fun, laid-back environment. What better example for the new, party-down DC than a 28 year old lobbyist and a 29 year old wannabee Big Law attorney.
So the aspiring intellectual property lawyer and the insurance industry lobbyist may be "hip" for going to nightclubs and living in a sweet condo near Logan Circle but they chose DC to work their behinds off.
The bottom line is that young professionals in our Nation's Capital have a "Live to Work" attitude. They are high-achievers who strive for promotions, power, and a PHAT paycheck. Nothing more...nothing less.
Bartenders are hip. Tattoo artists are hip. Musicians are hip. Non-Starbucks coffee shop servers are hip. Hell, even bike couriers are hip (the few remaining in the email age). They are "hip" because their priorities and values in life run counter to the dominate mentality of DC culture.
Insurance industry lobbyists and K Street intellectual property attorneys? Not so much. Working 60+ hours a week with a suit and tie does not make you "fun" or "hip". Especially when you are in the business of defending Fortune 500 corporations against labor rights, consumer rights, medical patient rights, environmental reform and against a host of government regulations that would safeguard the health, welfare and sanity of the entire American population.
Fun people tend not to devote a better part of their leisure time in their 20s and 30s working for The Man. Fun people don't have burning ambition to achieve power and status. Fun people don't judge you by your resume and your college alma mater.
My conclusion: 20-something professionals of 2011 are same as 20-something professionals who were here in 2001, 1991, 1981 and so on. All work and little play makes DC a much more boring place compared to other large US cities. Just ask a New Yorker.
I like a lot of the things that I guess this has brought, but I also fear that DC's will become more and more like LA or NY. We already had that awful "Real Housewives of D.C.," it's only a matter of time before Snooki and her entourage invade our streets.
I think Coldbliss is referring to people like a less-violent Patrick Bateman. Yeah they party every thursday-saturday night as ahales said, but they're also narcissistic *******s.
So now getting an education and working hard is ... bad?
I get confused because in most of your threads you advocate using vast sums of tax dollars (paid primarily by poor people because you don't want anyone else living in our city) to help people get an education and work hard to improve their lives. Why is it bad if some people can get there without relying on government handouts?
Please also clarify why people choosing to live and raise families (yes, there are many doing it) in our nation's capital -after decades of exodus - is inherently bad.
Also, with this surge of population has come significantly more music, theater, and cultural venues. There need to be non-lawyers and non-lobbyists to run and perform in those venues, so please clarify your claim that DC is fundamentally no different than it was in the 80s.
So now getting an education and working hard is ... bad?
I get confused because in most of your threads you advocate using vast sums of tax dollars (paid primarily by poor people because you don't want anyone else living in our city) to help people get an education and work hard to improve their lives. Why is it bad if some people can get there without relying on government handouts?
Please also clarify why people choosing to live and raise families (yes, there are many doing it) in our nation's capital -after decades of exodus - is inherently bad.
Also, with this surge of population has come significantly more music, theater, and cultural venues. There need to be non-lawyers and non-lobbyists to run and perform in those venues, so please clarify your claim that DC is fundamentally no different than it was in the 80s.
Thank you.
Pardon me while I play devil's advocate. Actually the article was saying that at the end of the day its mostly young singles and empty nesters that are moving into the city. People are still exiting the city once the kiddies are school aged. School enrollment is still declining. Perhaps the new families that people are seeing are white and therefore stand out more but at the end of the day the families that are fleeing the city outnumber the ones that are staying.
I do agree that working hard isn't a bad thing. While I may not reside in the city limits I'm in the city several nights a week and I know I don't fall into the work to live category. Life is too short for that.
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