Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
How can you possibly like such cesspool such as Washington DC Metro? Yuppies, Politicians, Greed, Boring people all wearing the same preppy clothing, super liberal, MS-13, too many illegals, too many spoiled rich kids driving BMWs, McMansions, more lame people and I can go one forever.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CHIP72
I was in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago and I don't think Pittsburgh's downtown, or at least most of its downtown excluding some areas near the Allegheny River, is all that vibrant. It looked to me that it was primarily office buildings and there were relatively few people who lived there (downtown being defined as everything west of I-579 between the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, i.e the Golden Triangle).
Full disclosure: I lived in western PA for almost 2 1/2 years and hated it, and I really dislike Pittsburgh. Having said that, when I made my recent trip to Pittsburgh, I spent some time in downtown walking and driving around, paying more attention to what was there than I did when I lived in western PA a decade ago. Though I know downtown Pittsburgh has grown significantly in population based on statistics I've seen, I think the percentage growth is largely a function of not many people living there previously (i.e. there still are relatively few people living there, but there are a lot more than before).
How can you possibly like such cesspool such as Washington DC Metro? Yuppies, Politicians, Greed, Boring people all wearing the same preppy clothing, super liberal, MS-13, too many illegals, too many spoiled rich kids driving BMWs, McMansions, more lame people and I can go one forever.
I personally think the Washington area is highly overrated and in many ways don't much care for it, but I know I'd much rather in the DC area than live in the isolated, myopic-view Pittsburgh area.
Pittsburgh is much more soulful city than the DC metro area and plus, there's way too many yuppies in the DC/NoVA/So MD area. Shortly after I moved there years ago, someone visited me and the first thing they said was how boring and characterless that area is! And with most people having clearances down there, or working in government, doesn't really create exciting people.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CHIP72
I personally think the Washington area is highly overrated and in many ways don't much care for it, but I know I'd much rather in the DC area than live in the isolated, myopic-view Pittsburgh area.
How can you possibly like such cesspool such as Washington DC Metro? Yuppies, Politicians, Greed, Boring people all wearing the same preppy clothing, super liberal, MS-13, too many illegals, too many spoiled rich kids driving BMWs, McMansions, more lame people and I can go one forever.
I like Pittsburgh, but you're making a pretty strong case through your posts that people who live there are about as provincial as they come. Why do people from Pennsylvania, outside of maybe Philly, tend to have such a huge chip on their shoulder?
I disagree with you. People in Pittsburgh are much more laid back, IMO, than people in Philly. Every time I'm in SEPA, many people out in that area put people down in Pittsburgh, calling us "hicks", etc. SEPA isn't anything great, IMO. It's very suburban, many yuppies and Philly itself, is a dirty city, though it is rich in history and has a nice park. Also, Philly sports fans are obnoxious as they come. In reference to the big pro sports, Philly hasn't hardly done anything special, especially when compared to places like Pittsburgh, Boston, NYC just to name a few.
I'm well traveled, have been to almost all of the states and about 10 countries. I'm young too, under 30. I've lived in Pittsburgh, DC, NoVA, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Central PA, etc. I hated DC/NoVA. NYC is cool, but not for me, especially long term. I'm an outdoorsy type of person. I like city life, but I'd much rather be able to fast pack to work in the morning along some beautiful trails and steep mountains than a crowded train.
On a positive note, I'm happy Philly signed Vick. I wish Pittsburgh would have snagged him up, he would have been a great special teams/Slash type of player, like Kordell was.
This might be the year of the Pittsburgh-Philly SuperBowl. Can you only imagine?
Quote:
Originally Posted by JEB77
I like Pittsburgh, but you're making a pretty strong case through your posts that people who live there are about as provincial as they come. Why do people from Pennsylvania, outside of maybe Philly, tend to have such a huge chip on their shoulder?
Pittsburgh is much more soulful city than the DC metro area and plus, there's way too many yuppies in the DC/NoVA/So MD area. Shortly after I moved there years ago, someone visited me and the first thing they said was how boring and characterless that area is! And with most people having clearances down there, or working in government, doesn't really create exciting people.
People may disagree, but I note that the the DC area is very expensive, I used to think it was because it seemed that liked living there and it is diverse, however I am not sure why many people decided to go choose shop and live there.
1.25 OR EVEN 1.5 MILLION DOES NOT BUY YOU MUCH IN DC, I MEAN HOW MUCH ARE THE BIG HOMES WITH SPACIOUS LOTS RIGHT NEXT TO THE METRO, DO THEY EXIST and if so, do they have 2-3 family homes and what are the lot sizes, does that just buy you a townhouse?
I find it to be More expensive on a value basis than nyc metro area in various basics such as proximity to transporation, multi-family housing objects such as 3 family dwellings (not to be confused with larger apartment buildings, and being in a unique area, also congestion.
Then people started about the congestion and over development, which means its less of a value, and government jobs don't seem to pay much unless you are a contractor or a special clearance, the average federal salary of 90k is not enough for most families , of course if you have 2 people you could make it but the jobs seem to be at a higher GS level which involves more work and responsibility.
ITS LIKE A SUSTAINED INFLATION, I ALSO HEARD PEOPLE WHO GO TO THE BEACH THINK NOTHING OF THE BETTER BEACHES PROBABLY BECAUSE THEY ARE USED TO GOING TO OCEAN CITY OR VIRGINIA BEACH.
You brought up some great points about that the DC metro area. I strongly agree with everything you mentioned for the following reasons:
DC is very expensive. Anyone who thinks different is kidding themselves. The killer in DC and the surrounding area is how expensive apartments and real estate is in equivalent to what average salaries and income are. While there are many people who make a lot of money in DC metro (VPs, high level government, GS13 and above, people with unique or specialty military background, specifically in intelligence, lawyers, etc. Now, lets look at all those who don't. The average starting salary for a post college student in DC is about $40-45/yr. Not bad, but not great. When I first moved there years ago, I was in that range and still able to save a lot. While in NYC, I made almost $100k through many different channels last year, and have monthly expenses of less than $1,500/mo. Let's look at rent now. Most rents for your own place, on the cheap side, will run you around 1200-1500/month. That's about the same as many parts of NYC for a nice studio or one bedroom, especially in Queens and even good parts of Brooklyn, if you get lucky. I know people who pay less than 1500 mo for studios in NYC, but they had to look hard, but do have nice places. If you live in Ballston or Bethesda, or many parts of DC, you're easily going to spend 800+ a month, plus have to share a house with 1-2 other people. So a house's rent would be over 2k/mo.
Most of the housing in DC metro is very cookie cutter, or nothing too original. it's the same stuff you'd see all over the country, but is 4x more $.
If you're willing to pay higher rent, NYC is a much better value. I say this because eventhough NYC is a lot, it's such a unique city and there's so much more to it to experience, etc than in DC. IMO, DC is full of a lot of pretentious yuppy type of folk who don't have much real world experience.
It blows my mind how so many people in DC are so boring, wearing nothing but polo shirts, Banana Republic and acting like complete nerds all of the time.
In DC, the first thing people ask you is what you do for a living and who you work for. That's what it's all about there, very pathetic if you ask me.
495 is horrible after 2pm and takes 1 hour to go a couple of miles, same with GW Parkway.
People are rude.
Too many rich Mcmansion type of kids roaming around in NoVA.
Very arrogant.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tech2enable
People may disagree, but I note that the the DC area is very expensive, I used to think it was because it seemed that liked living there and it is diverse, however I am not sure why many people decided to go choose shop and live there.
1.25 OR EVEN 1.5 MILLION DOES NOT BUY YOU MUCH IN DC, I MEAN HOW MUCH ARE THE BIG HOMES WITH SPACIOUS LOTS RIGHT NEXT TO THE METRO, DO THEY EXIST and if so, do they have 2-3 family homes and what are the lot sizes, does that just buy you a townhouse?
I find it to be More expensive on a value basis than nyc metro area in various basics such as proximity to transporation, multi-family housing objects such as 3 family dwellings (not to be confused with larger apartment buildings, and being in a unique area, also congestion.
Then people started about the congestion and over development, which means its less of a value, and government jobs don't seem to pay much unless you are a contractor or a special clearance, the average federal salary of 90k is not enough for most families , of course if you have 2 people you could make it but the jobs seem to be at a higher GS level which involves more work and responsibility.
ITS LIKE A SUSTAINED INFLATION, I ALSO HEARD PEOPLE WHO GO TO THE BEACH THINK NOTHING OF THE BETTER BEACHES PROBABLY BECAUSE THEY ARE USED TO GOING TO OCEAN CITY OR VIRGINIA BEACH.
I hear D.C has a a lot of crime, its unique in a bad way, its not a state , its a city that's not sovereign like a state with rights.
Nova,and Md feed off DC, as a result DC is not a city in its own right,
Income tax as I have found out is where you live and where you work, the problem DC does not tax non-resident income, effective its like having no state income tax, but MD and VA will tax your income, since the homes are expensive a $1 million home will have a tax bill of 8-11k. If you live in DC you pay their income tax.
Every area has its good and bad parts, but DC seems mismanaged,
There is one point that is hard to argue, geography, dc is further inland with rivers, its not on the Atlantic or the pacific, while Baltimore has ports, Baltimore has its share of issues, and the beaches are not like other beaches, judging from traffic and congestion its seems overpriced.
By the way take a look at the locality pay, its not high, the federal worker in DC only makes 10-12k more than federal workers in other parts of the country that don't have special locality pay, doing the same type of GS/step job,
the federal government does not pay more than the private sector always, although there are special jobs in the dc area that have higher GS steps, or special rate allowances.
And most salires in DC don't support the expensive housing costs. There's a ton of non profit and low level government workers in the area, plus even many government contractors don't even pay that well too non management people within the firm. One particular company in DC, a major publicly held government contractor, pays it's financial analysts about $50k a year, and these people have about 5 years experience and/or advanced degrees. Other companies, such as some of the big banking firms in Fairfax and Richmond, pay their financial analyst $55k+ to start, right out of school.
People who start on Capitol Hill earn an average of about $18k/year. Many of these people are from Ivy's, Notre Dame, etc.
Non profit people average low to mid 30's with several years of experience, in most cases.
Some of the military people I knew were making a killing, same with fitness related specialist. People with Army experience, especially Intel, got special operations type of jobs with contractors making 15-20k/month for 1 year stints in Iraq and throughout the Middle East.
But the high rent is not worth it in DC. The beaches suck and are far away since there's so much traffic, DC is boring, the people are generally boring and it's so suburban, Desperate Housewivish like.
However, Rock Creek Park & Roosevelt Island are nice.
I 270, 95, the mixing bowl, 495 are all hell.
MS 13 and other thugs are taking over Highway 1 around the North/South East end of the city.
Even MS 13 is attacking people in Fairfax.
There's a lot of illegals around Fairfax, Anandale and Falls Church, especially Falls Church.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tech2enable
I hear D.C has a a lot of crime, its unique in a bad way, its not a state , its a city that's not sovereign like a state with rights.
Nova,and Md feed off DC, as a result DC is not a city in its own right,
Income tax as I have found out is where you live and where you work, the problem DC does not tax non-resident income, effective its like having no state income tax, but MD and VA will tax your income, since the homes are expensive a $1 million home will have a tax bill of 8-11k. If you live in DC you pay their income tax.
Every area has its good and bad parts, but DC seems mismanaged,
There is one point that is hard to argue, geography, dc is further inland with rivers, its not on the Atlantic or the pacific, while Baltimore has ports, Baltimore has its share of issues, and the beaches are not like other beaches, judging from traffic and congestion its seems overpriced.
By the way take a look at the locality pay, its not high, the federal worker in DC only makes 10-12k more than federal workers in other parts of the country that don't have special locality pay, doing the same type of GS/step job,
the federal government does not pay more than the private sector always, although there are special jobs in the dc area that have higher GS steps, or special rate allowances.
1.25 OR EVEN 1.5 MILLION DOES NOT BUY YOU MUCH IN DC, I MEAN HOW MUCH ARE THE BIG HOMES WITH SPACIOUS LOTS RIGHT NEXT TO THE METRO, DO THEY EXIST and if so, do they have 2-3 family homes and what are the lot sizes, does that just buy you a townhouse?
That's a lie. I lived in a 3 room house off old Lee Hwy in Arlington that cost $800k. It wasn't a townhouse.. it was a nice older house up on a hill with a decent backyard. Surely, it's more than in other cities.. but to say that 1.25 or 1.5 mil. won't get you much in DC is ridiculous. I was minutes from Georgetown and the 2 high schools within walking distance were both top 20 in the nation. Quit exaggerating facts that you know nothing about. LOL People like you are hilarious..
Here's the neighborhood... if you want McMansions that all look the same with very little character, this isn't the area for you. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...35.01,,0,-3.48
I don't know why people hate NoVA.. It has some of the best cultural amenities within minutes. The food is absolutely unbelievable because of the diversity, there is plenty of nightlife, the schools are among the best in the nation, family orientated neighborhoods, etc.. The hate is obviously from people like the one I quoted who know NOTHING but still like to give their belittled views to C-D. You think there is crime in Arlington? LOL! Where I lived in Cleveland before relocating (to another side of town) made Arlington look like the safest city in the world. There is hardly a crime problem in ARL.
Last edited by WeSoHood; 08-19-2009 at 02:17 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
