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It's nice being around well-educated, cultured, intelligent people who know a bit about the world, who are well-travelled, white-collar, and intellectuals.
It's nice being around wealth and status. If you've ever lived in a poor working class town, you know how people can be cheap--and that's not a good attitude to have in life. Wealth makes life much more pleasant, cordial, and enjoyable.
The nightlife is good. It actually rivals that of Europe, since a lot of famous DJs come to DC.
I like the fact that there are lots of singles and they're very eager to flirt and meet people, AND you know exactly where to meet them. If you've ever been to NYC, there's no "central hub" to singles interacting with each other; if you don't know where you're going, you're screwed. Whereas, in DC there are several designated party areas, which makes life simple.
If you consider yourself an intellectual, I doubt there's anywhere else in the country that's as good as DC--other than perhaps NYC. People tend to congregate in geographic areas that make sense for them. That's why you have the fashion/glamor industry in LA, the wonks and intellectuals in DC, the business/industry stuff in Seattle and Houston, and old-school literary and philosophical traditions in New England.
The "wealth" that you talk about is one of the things I dislike most about DC/VA/MD metro. People here are too consumed with what job you have, where you live, etc. I've found many here to be cold, soulless, & boring. But the spring/summer season in the DMV cancels out the negatives for now
I like Capitol Hill and Georgetown in autumn when the orange leaves are falling... it complements all the brick very nicely.
Another profound thing about DC is that if you live anywhere relatively central or high in elevation, chances are your roof has an amazing view. Even if its obscured by something, you can still see a pretty impressive distance and if you live near the hill between Columbia Heights and U street you can see forrrrever. I love it so much. Gotta thank the height restriction for that one.
Build a high-rise in Tenleytown the height of one of the radio towers, and then live in the penthouse apartment. If I recall correctly, that area is the highest in elevation in DC, which is why there are so many radio towers around there.
The "wealth" that you talk about is one of the things I dislike most about DC/VA/MD metro. People here are too consumed with what job you have, where you live, etc. I've found many here to be cold, soulless, & boring. But the spring/summer season in the DMV cancels out the negatives for now
I don't like materialistic people either, but DC doesn't have that, it simply has people with disposable income. True shallow materialism you're much more likely to find on the West Coast, for instance.
I doubt that the wonky, slightly geeky mindset that prevails in this area has anything to do with materialism. Being obsessed with careers is a different matter, maybe it has to do with power, but power is a little different, it's not superficial stuff.
I just want to point out that even if the materialism charge were true, I would prefer that to people who count every penny and who are always "flat ass broke."
1. PAINTED ROWHOUSES!!!
2. Alex Ovechkin
3. Charcoal chicken either in MD or VA or DC!
4. DC United tailgates at RFK!
5. few hours from beaches in DELMARVA region, or go hit mountains in the west in VA or WV!
6. LET TEDDY WIN!!!
7. being a short ways from just about everything MD or VA
8. Good restaurants, good bartenders who actually know how to make cocktails.
9. Wine tours in VA (eh... could be better quality but I like heading out just for a drive)
10. Cherry trees
11. U street
12. low property tax bill
13. Saying Snyder sucks ad infinatum
14. suburban ethnic eats
15. Rock Creek Park (bike, motorcycle, hiking) it's all good.
16. Free stuff in abundance (museums, shows at Kennedy Centre etc..)
17. Great universities, and also good mix of youth from other great colleges from aways who shake it up
18. Politics and Prose
19. Sports on the mall (although they have curtailed this a bit as the last time I played softball they kicked us out)
20. There's too much stuff to do
It's nice being around well-educated, cultured, intelligent people who know a bit about the world, who are well-travelled, white-collar, and intellectuals.
It's nice being around wealth and status. If you've ever lived in a poor working class town, you know how people can be cheap--and that's not a good attitude to have in life. Wealth makes life much more pleasant, cordial, and enjoyable.
The nightlife is good. It actually rivals that of Europe, since a lot of famous DJs come to DC.
I like the fact that there are lots of singles and they're very eager to flirt and meet people, AND you know exactly where to meet them. If you've ever been to NYC, there's no "central hub" to singles interacting with each other; if you don't know where you're going, you're screwed. Whereas, in DC there are several designated party areas, which makes life simple.
If you consider yourself an intellectual, I doubt there's anywhere else in the country that's as good as DC--other than perhaps NYC. People tend to congregate in geographic areas that make sense for them. That's why you have the fashion/glamor industry in LA, the wonks and intellectuals in DC, the business/industry stuff in Seattle and Houston, and old-school literary and philosophical traditions in New England.
As a nearly life-long resident, here are the things I love:
1) It's a gorgeous city. There is the natural beauty of Rock Creek Park, the manicured attractiveness of formal gardens, and the architectural beauty evident in homes, monuments, and office buildings. I love that we have tree boxes and that houses are set back from the sidewalk enough to allow for front gardens. The DC streetscape, even in some run-down areas, is quite appealing.
2) I never run out of things to do here. And, no, you don't have to be crazy wealthy to participate in the myriad happenings around town. I am never, never bored. In fact, the challenge for me is to resign myself to not being able to make it to the wonderful events about town every day of the year.
3) As much as I love DC, I also need to reconnect with nature every once in a while. Within the city, it's so easy to rent a kayak and paddle around the Potomac Gorge. I can also easily drive out to Carderock if I have a jones to go rock climbing or pop into Great Falls National Park to take a hike. If those options don't cut it, Shenandoah National Park is about two hours away, and beaches are similarly close. (And on the way out to the mountains, it's always fun to stop by a few wineries.) Few metropolitan areas in this country have both mountains and beaches within an easy drive.
In addition to the many things already mentioned, the fact that the seat of the federal government is in D.C. makes it an especially appealing place. In general, you can't go wrong living in a national capital area. The most famous museums, memorials and the largest library in the nation are added pluses.
The most famous museums, memorials and the largest library in the world are added pluses.
Fixed that for you.
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