Things You Find Odd About NoVA (Arlington, Alexandria: real estate, day care, how much)

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by Caladium

My family are die hard republicans. They went out of their way to get me enrolled in Franklin D. Roosevelt because it had a good reputation. They could have cared less about the name.

Peter Stuyesant, dutch governor of new netherlands, was an antisemite who tried to prevent jews from settling in new amsterdam, till the dutch east india company forced his hand.

When I went there, Stuyvesant High was 40% Jewish.

Keep Stuy HIGH!!!!!

[roninsedge]

The big thing is, that the Civil War wasn't just about slavery, it was about social and economic differences between the North and South and State vs Federal rights as well as slavery. Nobody complains about places named after George Washington, he was a huge slave owner. Chances are that anyone who lives in the Mt. Vernon area lives on ground that was cultivated and taken care of by George Washington's slaves. Nobody ever complains about places named after Andrew Jackson or Thomas Jefferson who were huge proponents for destroying the native American population in order to be able to expand their borders. We as a people, need to move beyond these things and focus on the problems of the present instead of rallying around the problems from the past. Remember what was done wrong, but don't dwell on it.

Anyways, back to what I find odd about NoVA. Streets of the exact same name being geographically close enough to almost be connected, but are not. Braddock Road and Telegraph Road are good examples and until recently the Fairfax County Parkway. Also, blaming VA, DC or MD people as the bad drivers. The entire Metro DC area is such a transient area that the majority of the bad drivers are people who have only lived here for a short time and do not know where they are going yet.

[wsamon]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

I do think that $2000 is way too much for a 1BR.

However, sadly, even if there was Section 8 and housing authorities, isn't it still only for the near minimum wage service-industry hourly job to qualify?

Basically as a working adult, I've always assumed it was completely off-limits to anyone who got an education but still has medicore jobs, despite not having a salary high enough to afford the $2000 1BDRM rents.

If I'm right about that, then it doesn't really help out anyone who is middle-income and raising families and can't quite afford the 1bdrms (and definitely not 2BDRMS if kids). However, if you are unemployed or working service without education, you can 'play the section 8 lottery' and recieve the potential 'free pass' to live in the best and wealthiest and safest cities in America? That has never seemed right to me.

The requirements to get into section 8 / income restricted housing differs in each city. In the DC area, the income limit is actually quite high and stretches into what most areas of the country would consider a decent middle-class wage. In Alexandria City, I think that you qualify if you're a single person making $45k or less, or a family of four that makes $64k or less. So it's very possible that someone with schooling that is either just starting out or in a lower-paying career could still qualify. It's also not a free pass. It's just cheaper, subsidized housing. You still have to pay, and it's still expensive in this area relative to many other areas of the US. I really don't understand how people like janitors and bus-drivers live around here...


Odd things:
I guess I understand this to some extent, but the ridiculous intersections that we have around here. Some of them involve highways and about 10 clover leafs, and some are just regular streets (7 corners comes to mind).

How few new houses there are in certain areas despite the prosperity.

The kinds of commute times that are accepted. Again, I understand it, but it seems odd to me for a metro area of this size.

This isn't strictly NoVA, but the daily ingress / egress of people into/from DC.

The lack of entry points into a major city that is the center of most of the employment and entertainment in the area.

Having 3 major international airports (if you count BWI) within about 75 minutes of each other.

[wsamon]

Another few:

The inability of people in this area to drive in any kind of precipitation, including rain

The panic that ensues when even an inch of snowfall is predicted and how unprepared the area is for snow despite the fact that it gets several inches every single year.

Weather that will be 28 degrees one day, 60 the next, then back down to the 30s for a week, then the teens, then the mid 50s for 2 days, then back to the 30s...

How divided loyalties among sports teams and colleges are (I understand it with the transient population but it's still odd).

[Jesco White]

I think it's odd how many places in New England are named after old english towns or places. How could anyone name something after a country that tried to brutally repress and tax our colonies to death.

[Alicia Bradley]

Originally Posted by wsamon

I guess I understand this to some extent, but the ridiculous intersections that we have around here. Some of them involve highways and about 10 clover leafs, and some are just regular streets (7 corners comes to mind).

wsamon, you've been reading my mind. I found myself nodding vigorously to most of your 'odd things.' The one I quoted above is the one that irks me most (usually). As my dad put it (roughly) -

"I just can't get over ALL these people and vehicles trying to cross this region on these few little, old country roads!"

[Yankeesfan]

Originally Posted by Caladium

My family are die hard republicans. They went out of their way to get me enrolled in Franklin D. Roosevelt because it had a good reputation. They could have cared less about the name.

I don't recall Roosevelt enslaving people because of their skin color.

[Yankeesfan]

Originally Posted by JEB77

A frequently rehashed topic on this sub-forum, to be sure, and probably why so many of the newer schools in Fairfax got somewhat generic place names ("Westfield," "South County," etc) and were not named after individuals, although some of the newer elementary schools, such as Colin Powell and Coates, are named after AAs.

FCPS at some point decided that new schools would be named after women or minorities, or else something geographic. Whether the policy was official or just "understood," I don't know.

[Yankeesfan]

Originally Posted by robbobobbo

The namesake of T.C. Williams High School believed in segregated schools and fought against the 1954 court ruling that integrated the schools.

Not long ago it was debated whether to change the school's name. The student population is majority African American. The students wanted to keep the name as it is, because it has historical meaning beyond the life of the man it's named after.

I remember that debate; it was when the new building was being built. I think it was definitely in large part because the name of the school had been made famous by the movie and the inspiring story behind it. So that was appropriate and understandable. I wonder if it hadn't been for the team and the movie, if the decision would have been different.

[Yankeesfan]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

Peter Stuyesant, dutch governor of new netherlands, was an antisemite who tried to prevent jews from settling in new amsterdam, till the dutch east india company forced his hand.

When I went there, Stuyvesant High was 40% Jewish.

Keep Stuy HIGH!!!!!

That's interesting. I grew up in New York (upstate, though) and we never learned that.