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Why do you keep trying to compare a far our suburb to Washington, DC(a large city)? You don't get the urban, city amenities in a suburb. That's why it's a suburb. The close in suburbs like Arlington and Alexandria are one of a kind. DC has some of the most urban suburbs in the country. However, you still can't expect a suburb to operate like a big city.
You also sound like you know nothing about DC. NW is NOT the only good part of DC. There also isn't a high crime rate at all. The city is on pace for less than 100 murders this year. For a city of 600,000 with a daytime population of over 1.5 million, that's not bad at all.
My recommendation is to either move to a city, if that's what you want, or stay in your suburb and stop complaining that it's suburban.
Thank you, I agree. I usually take his high-maintenance, whiny posts with a grain of salt because I can tell he doesn't know much about DC. While there are some shaky areas around the District, there are many great neighborhoods in and outside of NW.
To RestonRunner/ScranBarre: If you moved to Reston of all places, just what in hell did you expect? That is a master-planned community built in the 1960's - an era in which people were trying to get away from all things urban as possible. Besides Columbia, MD and the Levittowns of PA/NJ/NY, Reston is arguably the epitome of Mid-20th Century, East-Coast suburbia.
Try and find a roommate in Ballston or Clarendon in Arlington or somewhere withing the District, and reverse-commute to Tyson's Corner. When I first moved to Atlanta, I moved in with someone I didn't know until I could do better. We communicated over the phone before hand and I met my roommate personally to give him the deposit check. We clicked well, and even though we didn't leave as friends, we were cool and respectful.
More than likely, if you're moving into a property where the owner lives, the last thing they want is a psycho living under the same roof, so it is a mutually beneficial relationship. If they're a property owner in the vicinity that is renting, they're not going to want to rent to a bunch of rowdy people who may be irresponsible, damaging property and not paying the rent. Take a leap of faith and take some risks. The DC area is a challenging area if you come with the expectations that it is Anytown, USA.
I pick Harris County; I like the DC area and I got family there, but I can't stand them.
The DC area is big enough that you can avoid them, How about when my Grandma passed away a few months back, I ran into one of my cousins from Maryland that I hadn't seen since 1993? I've been up there multiple times in the last 17 years, and managed to not even see him, LOL.
Why do you keep trying to compare a far our suburb to Washington, DC(a large city)? You don't get the urban, city amenities in a suburb. That's why it's a suburb. The close in suburbs like Arlington and Alexandria are one of a kind. DC has some of the most urban suburbs in the country. However, you still can't expect a suburb to operate like a big city.
You also sound like you know nothing about DC. NW is NOT the only good part of DC. There also isn't a high crime rate at all. The city is on pace for less than 100 murders this year. For a city of 600,000 with a daytime population of over 1.5 million, that's not bad at all.
My recommendation is to either move to a city, if that's what you want, or stay in your suburb and stop complaining that it's suburban.
Fairfax County now has well over one million people and will soon be twice the size of the District. In essence, Fairfax County is shifting to become the dominant economic powerhouse in the metropolitan area---not DC. Why, then, settle for a lifestyle of cul-de-sacs, chain restaurants, and soccer moms when we can strive to be a place one would be proud to call home? The purpose of this thread was to compare FAIRFAX COUNTY to Houston---not DC to Houston---which is why I've been griping about Fairfax County. I actually LOVE the District. I just think Fairfax County is the worst slop of post-WW II suburban whale vomit one could imagine.
"Stop complaining your suburb is suburban?" If only it were that easy, but it doesn't sit well with me to settle for paying 60% of my income to live in such sterile mediocrity amidst people who have no clue about proper long-range urban planning. We should be shifting AWAY from catering to the automobile---not rushing to embrace it (as Fairfax County continues to do). If you think traffic in the area is terrible now, then just wait until hundreds of thousands MORE commuters are clogging our roadways trying to get to employment centers in or near the District from the growing exurban frontier.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChocolateCity2001
Fairfax County for me. I actually lived their for a majority of my life, and moved to Loudoun County back in 2002. I like Fairfax County because of it's endless amenities, it's close access to DC, and it's endless supply of world class neighborhoods to live in. I plan on moving back to Fairfax (city) in the next year hopefully.
Oh, and LOL @ the person that said that NW Washington is the only good part of DC, and that DC is still primarily ghetto. Obviously this person isn't fit to live and work in this area, and they should spend as much of their energy trying to find a way OUT of DC then staying here and slamming DC. I never got why people come on here all the time to rip the area that they live in currently. If you can't make the adjustment of living in an area like this, then just get the hell out of here. No one wants or needs you here with this attitude, and it's obvious that you aren't built to live in a successful, wonderful location such as this. I'm sure "Scranton" can't wait to have you back.
What a typical "Type A" response from a Fairfax County "homer." I'm not displeased with Fairfax County because, to paraphrase from your last two sentences, I'm "not good enough" to make it here professionally and am "not cut out." I'm actually a very intelligent person with a lot to offer society. I'm miserable here because Fairfax County is the poster child of all things wrong with long-range American urban planning in the wake of WWII and should not be revered or revered as anything else. Why does Fairfax County have traffic jams on the weekends if it is so spectacular? Why did you put my hometown in quotation marks? Is that intended to be sarcasm? I'm "not fit to work in this area" just because I happen to dislike Fairfax County? Wow. You'd fit right in with the friendly individuals on the NoVA sub-forum for sure! You can all have your "sunshine and puppies" parties together! Why tolerate differences in opinions in others when you can just say "gittt the hell out" and settle for mediocrity, right?
When did I say "DC is primarily ghetto?" Show me. NW DC is a very large portion of the city that includes everything from Petworth to the Mall to Kalorama to Adams-Morgan to Columbia Heights to Georgetown. SW DC is also a very safe yet much smaller part of the city. If SE DC is such a marvelous place in which to reside, then why is it that the vast majority of homicides committed in the District occur here? Why is it a breeding ground for 'hood trash who gun down a crowd of innocent bystanders because he thinks one of them may have "disrespected" him by stealing his bracelet? I've driven through much of SE DC at night, so don't try to tell me it's such an alluring and charming area. I applaud the city's continued efforts to try to revitalize and gentrify large swaths of NE DC, but how can so many of you honestly defend SE DC with a straight face when it is such a small overall area of the city that contains the vast majority of its violent crime? Like it or not SE DC hasn't been ceded yet to Prince George's County, so it IS still an embarrassment that the city has to contend with.
Quote:
Originally Posted by grindin
Thank you, I agree. I usually take his high-maintenance, whiny posts with a grain of salt because I can tell he doesn't know much about DC. While there are some shaky areas around the District, there are many great neighborhoods in and outside of NW.
To RestonRunner/ScranBarre: If you moved to Reston of all places, just what in hell did you expect? That is a master-planned community built in the 1960's - an era in which people were trying to get away from all things urban as possible. Besides Columbia, MD and the Levittowns of PA/NJ/NY, Reston is arguably the epitome of Mid-20th Century, East-Coast suburbia.
Try and find a roommate in Ballston or Clarendon in Arlington or somewhere withing the District, and reverse-commute to Tyson's Corner. When I first moved to Atlanta, I moved in with someone I didn't know until I could do better. We communicated over the phone before hand and I met my roommate personally to give him the deposit check. We clicked well, and even though we didn't leave as friends, we were cool and respectful.
More than likely, if you're moving into a property where the owner lives, the last thing they want is a psycho living under the same roof, so it is a mutually beneficial relationship. If they're a property owner in the vicinity that is renting, they're not going to want to rent to a bunch of rowdy people who may be irresponsible, damaging property and not paying the rent. Take a leap of faith and take some risks. The DC area is a challenging area if you come with the expectations that it is Anytown, USA.
"I usually take his high-maintenance whiny posts with a grain of salt because I can tell he doesn't know much about DC..."
Amazing how everyone in this thread can gang up on me, yet if I were to say something similar to this on the NoVA sub-forum against someone else in my defense a certain moderator would slam me with an infraction for "not playing well with others."
When I moved to Reston I believed the bull about it being a walkable and "progressive" community. I took the bait hook, line, and sinker and only now realize how untrue it really was. I moved here because I didn't want what I presumed would be a hellish commute from DC to Herndon, and it wasn't until after I had already settled here that I was relocated closer to the District for work. Now I get the worst of both worlds---live in sterile suburbia and work in sterile suburbia---when if I had known this beforehand at least I would have been able to live somewhere that doesn't feel like Candyland.
Fairfax County now has well over one million people and will soon be twice the size of the District. In essence, Fairfax County is shifting to become the dominant economic powerhouse in the metropolitan area---not DC. Why, then, settle for a lifestyle of cul-de-sacs, chain restaurants, and soccer moms when we can strive to be a place one would be proud to call home? The purpose of this thread was to compare FAIRFAX COUNTY to Houston---not DC to Houston---which is why I've been griping about Fairfax County. I actually LOVE the District. I just think Fairfax County is the worst slop of post-WW II suburban whale vomit one could imagine.
"Stop complaining your suburb is suburban?" If only it were that easy, but it doesn't sit well with me to settle for paying 60% of my income to live in such sterile mediocrity amidst people who have no clue about proper long-range urban planning. We should be shifting AWAY from catering to the automobile---not rushing to embrace it (as Fairfax County continues to do). If you think traffic in the area is terrible now, then just wait until hundreds of thousands MORE commuters are clogging our roadways trying to get to employment centers in or near the District from the growing exurban frontier.
What a typical "Type A" response from a Fairfax County "homer." I'm not displeased with Fairfax County because, to paraphrase from your last two sentences, I'm "not good enough" to make it here professionally and am "not cut out." I'm actually a very intelligent person with a lot to offer society. I'm miserable here because Fairfax County is the poster child of all things wrong with long-range American urban planning in the wake of WWII and should not be revered or revered as anything else. Why does Fairfax County have traffic jams on the weekends if it is so spectacular? Why did you put my hometown in quotation marks? Is that intended to be sarcasm? I'm "not fit to work in this area" just because I happen to dislike Fairfax County? Wow. You'd fit right in with the friendly individuals on the NoVA sub-forum for sure! You can all have your "sunshine and puppies" parties together! Why tolerate differences in opinions in others when you can just say "gittt the hell out" and settle for mediocrity, right?
When did I say "DC is primarily ghetto?" Show me. NW DC is a very large portion of the city that includes everything from Petworth to the Mall to Kalorama to Adams-Morgan to Columbia Heights to Georgetown. SW DC is also a very safe yet much smaller part of the city. If SE DC is such a marvelous place in which to reside, then why is it that the vast majority of homicides committed in the District occur here? Why is it a breeding ground for 'hood trash who gun down a crowd of innocent bystanders because he thinks one of them may have "disrespected" him by stealing his bracelet? I've driven through much of SE DC at night, so don't try to tell me it's such an alluring and charming area. I applaud the city's continued efforts to try to revitalize and gentrify large swaths of NE DC, but how can so many of you honestly defend SE DC with a straight face when it is such a small overall area of the city that contains the vast majority of its violent crime? Like it or not SE DC hasn't been ceded yet to Prince George's County, so it IS still an embarrassment that the city has to contend with.
"I usually take his high-maintenance whiny posts with a grain of salt because I can tell he doesn't know much about DC..."
Amazing how everyone in this thread can gang up on me, yet if I were to say something similar to this on the NoVA sub-forum against someone else in my defense a certain moderator would slam me with an infraction for "not playing well with others."
When I moved to Reston I believed the bull about it being a walkable and "progressive" community. I took the bait hook, line, and sinker and only now realize how untrue it really was. I moved here because I didn't want what I presumed would be a hellish commute from DC to Herndon, and it wasn't until after I had already settled here that I was relocated closer to the District for work. Now I get the worst of both worlds---live in sterile suburbia and work in sterile suburbia---when if I had known this beforehand at least I would have been able to live somewhere that doesn't feel like Candyland.
Once again, if you hate it here so much, why not go back to where you came from? It's a legitimate question to ask since you seem to dislike this area so much. And really, what would you expect if you continually slam an area on a message board occupied by members of the area you are slamming? Do you really expect the board members to take what you say lightly? If you are so educated, then this really shouldn't be so surprising and unexpected. YOU made the choice of living in Reston, and YOU made the choice of living in an area that isn't surrounded with public transportation options like Arlington, DC, or Bethesda. These are areas that you have expressed desire in moving to for the past year, so why don't you just move there? I'm sure that you could find a roomate to split the cost if the apartments there are out of you price range.
Amazing how everyone in this thread can gang up on me, yet if I were to say something similar to this on the NoVA sub-forum against someone else in my defense a certain moderator would slam me with an infraction for "not playing well with others."
When I moved to Reston I believed the bull about it being a walkable and "progressive" community. I took the bait hook, line, and sinker and only now realize how untrue it really was. I moved here because I didn't want what I presumed would be a hellish commute from DC to Herndon, and it wasn't until after I had already settled here that I was relocated closer to the District for work. Now I get the worst of both worlds---live in sterile suburbia and work in sterile suburbia---when if I had known this beforehand at least I would have been able to live somewhere that doesn't feel like Candyland.
First, let's chill with the martyrdom, shall we? You're not the only one who's had an infraction (Lord knows I've had a few), and you won't be the last.
Anyhow, Fairfax and most of Northern VA is the epitome of suburbia in the DC area. I don't even live in DC and I knew that. If this was 20 years ago, I'd be inclined to be a bit more understanding, but in this day and age of Google, Bing, satellite maps, Streetview, even asking a few questions on this site, contacting local realtors, etc., I'm thinking people should have a better general idea of what they're getting into. Are these methods perfect? No, but they can help.
We can pontificate endlessly about cookie-cutter development and cul-de-sacs all we want to on here, but it's all for nothing. It's a lifestyle that people are accustomed to and seem to want and demand. Whether if it's "right" or "wrong" is of little importance to me. It's no secret that Northern VA has the lion's share of the DC area's growth, so there must be factors that make it desireable to the people willing to move there and pay a lot of money to do so. It's not for everyone (it certainly wouldn't be my first choice if I were to move to DC) so maybe it's best to count the days until your lease is up, so you can move to a more desirable location that would be a better fit your personality and lifestyle.
If you think the sprawl is bad in NOVA, come on down here to parts of metro Atlanta or Florida or Texas, and you'd probably have a massive coronary.
Now, I'm going to try and sleep while I "enjoy" one of the "benefits" of high-density living - my upstairs neighbors seem to want to figure out just how squeaky their mattress can get as they make a beast with two backs. So I must turn up my headphones and bid farewell.
The DC area is big enough that you can avoid them, How about when my Grandma passed away a few months back, I ran into one of my cousins from Maryland that I hadn't seen since 1993? I've been up there multiple times in the last 17 years, and managed to not even see him, LOL.
I bet I could, but they aren't the only reason why I prefer Houston over DC. I like the people, atmosphere and diverse landscape better in Houston. I also hate the whole neighborhood "crews" AKA gangs there; grown ass men walking around claiming blocks and hoods. Ridiculous.
I bet I could, but they aren't the only reason why I prefer Houston over DC. I like the people, atmosphere and diverse landscape better in Houston. I also hate the whole neighborhood "crews" AKA gangs there; grown ass men walking around claiming blocks and hoods. Ridiculous.
Interesting. Please elaborate more on the diverse landscape of Houston. Do you mean physical landscape? Like hills, mountains, rivers, bays, oceans, desserts, plains, tundra, etc...??
What do you mean by gangs??..claiming blocks and hoods? I'm confused by this as well as your comment about Houston's diverse landscape.
Interesting. Please elaborate more on the diverse landscape of Houston. Do you mean physical landscape? Like hills, mountains, rivers, bays, oceans, desserts, plains, tundra, etc...??
What do you mean by gangs??..claiming blocks and hoods? I'm confused by this as well as your comment about Houston's diverse landscape.
Houston has: beaches, bays, swamps/wetlands, flat and "rolling" prairies, dense pine forests, and hills (which make that part of the metro look like a less hilly version of Atlanta). The bayous also make for some interesting landscape, especially around Uptown Houston/Memorial Park. No mountains or deserts this way.
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How about when my Grandma passed away a few months back, I ran into one of my cousins from Maryland that I hadn't seen since 1993? I've been up there multiple times in the last 17 years, and managed to not even see him, LOL.
Why tolerate differences in opinions in others when you can just say "gittt the hell out" and settle for mediocrity, right? 
I've driven through much of SE DC at night, so don't try to tell me it's such an alluring and charming area. I applaud the city's continued efforts to try to revitalize and gentrify large swaths of NE DC, but how can so many of you honestly defend SE DC with a straight face when it is such a small overall area of the city that contains the vast majority of its violent crime? Like it or not SE DC hasn't been ceded yet to Prince George's County, so it IS still an embarrassment that the city has to contend with.
