Pros and Cons of D.C. (Washington: home, neighborhoods, community college)

[DistrictSonic]

The one thing the OP also needs to consider is living in the suburbs vs living in the city. Some concerns of people who live in the suburbs, are not concerns of those who live in the city. Some the the concerns of the city really do not impact the suburbs to the same degree.

From living in DC itself these are the pros and cons.

PRO:
Lots to do
Great Jazz and Classical. Also good for punk, rock, experimental, etc. (Not great for: EDM, Blues, Country)
Great food scene that keeps improving (it was only okay when I moved here)
Very Walkable without being overbearing (NYC and Chicago are overbearing, to noisey/crowded)
Great Museums (world class)
The Bus System! - Nobody ever says this but it's really good. Especially the North/South buses.
The job market for professional workers - it's fantastic.
The weather - 4 seasons, but a shorter/milder winter. I actually like the summers here.
Proximity to NYC, Philly, beaches, and mountains
Great theater.
In terms of high culture the city is great all around in fact.
Very LGBT friendly in much of the city west of the river and many of the surrounding suburbs.

Okay:
The metro rail system. It has gone downhill since I moved here. At the same time it is far better than most other US cities.
It's a high COL city. But I have yet to find a low COL city worth living in, especially one as walkable/transit friendly as DC.

Cons:
Spring Allergies - if you have them, they will be awful
Crime - It's far lower than it used to be in the murder capital days, but it's still too high. Gentrification has improved this aspect of the city considerably, but there is still a ways to go.
This is not a good city if you like large EDM club music. Blues and country music is also very weak here. Again if you like Jazz, Classical, Rock, Punk, World Music (African especially), etc the city will seem great. So how you see the music here will depend heavily on your taste.
Comedy - really it's not that great here.
If you are not college educated I would highly recommend against moving here. This is a city best suited for the well educated. It will be a very difficult city if you lack a college education. The job market is heavily oriented to highly skilled workers in both the private and public sector.

[LakeLifePA]

Originally Posted by stateofnature

"Really? I'm much more apt to get stabbed and incur medical costs riding on the Metro."

Completely false. Driving is much much more dangerous than the Metro. An absolutely miniscule number of people get injured on the Metro. Your statistical chance of getting into a car accident is much higher.

OK, that might have been a jape at a ridiculous cookie cutter argument by DS.

[DistrictSonic]

Originally Posted by Robert20170

First of all, I was speaking of my situation, which is the only one I feel qualified. I realize you speak for everyone.

(1ab) I'm going to own a car and pay insurance regardless if I take the Metro or not, so you started off on the calculations for me incorrectly. (2) I park for free at work, and would have to pay to park at a Metro station. (3) I park in a parking garage at work, so I doubt parking tickets are forthcoming. (4ab) Really? I'm much more apt to get stabbed and incur medical costs riding on the Metro. (5) Again, I'm going to own a car regardless. (6) You know nothing of my situation, so no I don't trust you. (7) This one you got right.

Another reason I don't take the Metro. My 45 minute commute via automobile (one hour on a bad day) would take nearly an hour and 15 minutes via Metro, because I have to transfer from the Silver line to the Blue. Also, factor in another 15 minutes to get to the Metro station. Along with being a pricey option for me, it's more time consuming.

I'm not against public transportation and when I lived in San Francisco used BART exclusively, and it was a joy even from an hour away. The Metro, not so much. Again, unconvinced of DistrictSonic's points, Metro is a nice option but only as a backup plan.

Actually you are highly unlikely to get stabbed on the metro, violent crime on the metro does not happen much. You are far more likely to have an accident. Violent crime generally is more likely to happen to people who are also poor and engaged in criminal activity. It's exceptionally rare for people who are not. On the flip side, auto accidents are exceptionally common for those who drive, and the more vehicle miles traveled the more likely they will have an accident.

Again, you are proving once again you are from the far flung suburbs, but you are also over-exaggerating the chance of violent crime happening to one on the metro. I did say in the more far flung suburbs the calculations change considerably. But this is also the benefit of living and working closer to the core. The cost reductions on transportation are significant. Also when I say tickets, I am not saying parking tickets, I am saying tickets in general, as in moving violations. Also one consideration with parking, you are just considering work, I am considering parking in general, for everything. You are also likely going to have to drive to more things in general, where I am just walking in many cases, or maybe spending a couple of dollars for a bus.

In terms of my argument, it's not cookie cutter, it's pretty well informed.

With regards to the metro being time consuming outside the core, that I would agree on. But from living in the city the calculations change considerably.

[OutOfPlaceInDC]

Cons: Complete judicial indifference to the youths that cause 98% of the crime in the city. For example, that young guy who was stabbed to death on July 4th aboard the metro near NoMa? The kid that stabbed him had been released 24 hours prior after initially being charged with felony assault on a police officer, which the DA dropped to a misdemeanor battery charge.

The police basically operate on a catch and release program that rarely ever issues harsh punishments, so the dangerous elements feel invincible.

Nothing makes a city feel more cultured when a roving pack of fifty stolen dirtbikes, ATVs and motorcycles are doing wheelies down major streets full of pedestrians and the police simply don't do anything (because, by law, they're not allowed to).

[LakeLifePA]

How about instead of debating everyone's pros and cons as misinformation, we go back to the topic at hand in which the OP asked for pros and cons of "living in the area". Most of us live in the suburbs and yes, the pros and cons will be different for us. There is no right or wrong people.

[halfamazing]

Originally Posted by UserName14289

This is an overly broad and subjective question. I could list one thing as a pro and it would be a con to someone else. How about you move there and find out?

The OP is asking of personal experiences. From those that the OP most sides with in terms of various points a poster may bring up, the OP will follow through with other questions. This is what CD for- to get a feel for it.

If you can't articulate your own experiences for fear of tarnishing your beloved city, then why even bother posting in this section or giving advice?

[halfamazing]

I am telling you, this is not by accident. I am sitting back and watching. You ask any question, and it's the same flow chart readers that will be chewing at the bit to give advice without even relating to the indvidual asking the questions. Any given social question, follow the line and they will follow across the board. If somebody asks, what are the pros and cons, list the freaking pros and cons. "what do you mean by pros, it can vary for everyone". YO, freaking list YOUR pros and cons and let the OP make his/her decision. It's the same people all the time that I say that have an inability to relate to people without a flow chart to assist them.

You know I hate this so why even do it? Stop making things so freaking complicated.

[Plokivos]

Originally Posted by Robert20170

Pros: Distinct four seasons with (to me) mostly mild weather, so many free activities, short drive to countryside (I love living in Northern VA which is even closer yet), three airports within the commuting area, great restaurants, fantastic salaries, good opportunities for federal workers.

In between: Metro is good to have as an option but pricey compared to driving

Cons: Traffic, traffic, traffic, did I say traffic?, everything is crowded (I've taken to going to the movies in the mornings), housing is expensive in the area.

I cannot agree more. You nailed it. Let me add some more.

Pros: There are truly beautiful little corners in DMV.

- The Beach Drive during the spring and fall
- Gravely Point
- Georgetown rowing team during the summer time
- Beach valley ball played on that tiny patch of sand
- Theodore Roosevelt Island
- Midnight drive through Crystal City or Reston
- Chinatown new years festival
- Cherry Blossom festival
- Just randomly talking to stranger's at 3 in the morning on weekends
- Amazing little hole in the wall restaurants that's simply unforgettable
- Cops don't bother you that much
- Relatively good salary
- Plenty of jobs
- Low cost of meat

Cons:

- Too cold in the winter
- Government shutdowns (out of work)
- Can't really find a good friend. It's just a long line of networking and one night stands.
- Gas stations all suck here. I want QT
- Every car service business within 10 miles of DC are crooks
- Rent is too damn high
- High end restaurants are not in the same class as other big cities
- There is no one significant food that represents DC (and don't say Ben's Chili Bowl, because they're horrible)
- Too many tourists, and not the cool one's like the one you get in NYC.

And worst of all. The traffic. I lived in various cities (Atlanta, NYC, etc.), and I think the traffic is the worst in DC than any other big cities in the East Coast.

But DC is a lot more beautiful as a city than most cities (District). DC always reminds me of that river between Harvard and MIT (before the construction), and that feeling you get entering Princeton. I don't know why, but it has that old world romance about it.

[LunaticVillage]

Pros:

- Decent upscale shopping. Tyson's Corner, Georgetown.

- Varied weather with all four seasons. Winter and summer vary from year to year. Some winters it's 60 degrees all winter, other winters are brutal where it never peeps above freezing for weeks and drops down into negative digit windchill territory at night like last winter. Some summers are relatively mild where it's a hair above 80 all summer and other summers it's hot and humid as somebody's mouth for weeks.

- Mature people. DC is not completely overrun by immature douches like NYC and SF which have huge neighborhoods completely overrun with hipsters who refuse to grow up and get a job and live in their own little world where their idealized 90's childhoods never ended. DC is not overrun by 40 year olds dressing like emo band rock stars like L.A., SoHo-esque fashion victims dressed as "street goths" or whatever is unpractically trendy in NYC at the moment or try-hard hypebeast community college students wearing Nikes made in China valued at $1000+ but still not having a car. DC doesn't have a huge douchey immature subculture like guidos in the NYC Tri-State area or trustafarians in the Bay Area. People in DC are adults and act like it.

- Museums. All of the museums on the national mall are free.

- Good pay, job security and plenty of jobs for people who are connected enough to get them.

- Interesting unique local culture in the black population. Black DC traditionally had it's own local musical genre Go-Go which was a live call-and-response subgenre of funk. I can't say I'm a Go-Go head by any stretch, but I have heard good Go-Go before. Black DC natives dress different than any other big city. DC-born national rap-star Wale has brought many facets of DC's vibrant local style to the masses.

Cons:

- You can see everything there is to see in DC in a single weekend.

- Uptight, elitist, stuck-up antisocial, unstylish, uninteresting robotic people who live to work. There is an obsession with being a "professional" in DC, as they like to call it. These people wear at least business casual at all times. When they are not wearing business causal, they are usually either extremely unstylish and frumpy wearing their old college hoodie, sweats and cheap worn-out running shoes or wear unpractical sometimes downright goofy Brooks Brothers/Ralph Lauren looks. Think black guys dressed like Fonzworth Bentley and white guys who look like Patrick Bateman wearing the goofiest things from Ralph Lauren like salmon pants and pastel colored blazers with loafers with no socks. Plenty of overgrown fratboys wearing dirty white baseball caps and Vineyard Vines and Sperry topsiders as well. Boring transplants from the Midwest making DC more boring and sterile. Generally unattractive to average looking people without the draw dropping beauty and sexiness of cities like NYC, LA and Miami.

- Extreme social stratification. Black vs. white, rich vs. poor, uneducated vs. educated, immigrant vs. non-immigrant, native vs. non-native, white collar vs. no-collar. People generally do not talk to people outside of their given social strata in DC. Blacks and whites do not intermingle at all. Even black people who make good money in DC do their best to avoid white people socially. Whites in DC are generally upper middle class to wealthy. They assume everyone else is poor, unrefined and unworthy of attention and only pretty much only accept token minorities if they are educated, upper middle class and completely whitewashed. Black people from DC refuse to associate with anyone isn't black and born and raised in DC or PG County their entire lives. Anyone who isn't black and from DC or PG County is labelled as a "bama".

- Ugly people who think they're celebrities. DC is called "Hollywood for ugly people" for a reason. DC is weird because people have the hugest egos simply because they have a steady job with an upper middle class salary and a college education. Women who are average looking to downright ugly develop huge egos while living in DC because of the extreme lack of beautiful people in the District compared to other big cities. DC's dating scene is dismal because of the sky high standards of frumpy average people.

- Alcoholic culture. DC ranked as the ninth drunkest big city in America in 2013 not far behind infamous drinking towns like Milwaukee (a beer town with an MLB called the Brewers) and Boston (an Irish college town).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...5c6_story.html

Many DC professionals work all day only to spend hundreds of dollars a week eating and drinking at bars, clubs and lounges around DC literally every night of the week. Popular DC districts like U Street, H Street, Adam's Morgan and even Georgetown all revolve around bars and drinking. The infamous ubiquitous Jumbo Slice of Adam's Morgan is really something you're supposed to eat after a long night of drinking so you won't be hungover the next day. DC people don't smoke weed like Californians because weed is something they grew out of after the graduated college and became bougiefied. Ironically, many DC people never outgrew their binge drinking from their college days. After all, people who went to college are statistically more likely to drink regularly, binge drink and be alcoholic. And DC has one of the highest concentrations of college grads anywhere in America. There are DUI enforcement signs plastered all over the beltway for a reason. Spoiled upper middle class kids who grow up in the DC area grow up in a strange super-alcoholic culture where they are full-blown alcoholics by the time they are 15 years old. It is no coincidence that DC is home to one of the highest concentrations of AA, and young people AA, of anywhere in America.

- People from Maryland/Virginia suburbs who say they're "from DC" even though they've never lived in the District, proper, a day in their lives. These same people talk about Baltimore and it's suburbs like it's some place 3,000 miles away and saying "that's far", despite the fact that it's a 30-40 minute drive in light traffic.

- Traffic. Any hour can be rush hour on the beltway. People who drive like they are the only car on the road.

- High COL with nothing to justify it. Other high COL areas have a reason to be so expensive. NYC is exciting, it's the fashion capital of the world, there are literally endless options for food and entertainment, the streets are paved with beautiful women, it's extremely diverse, relative safe etc. etc. San Francisco never gets too hot or too cold even in the summer and the winter, it has some of the world's most beautiful scenery, it's generally safer than DC as a whole and most similarly sized cities, great food and has some of the best weed on the planet. DC, well, just has more high paying jobs, but nothing else to actually warrant a higher COL.

[Wolfdog17]

Originally Posted by Plokivos

I cannot agree more. You nailed it. Let me add some more.

Pros: There are truly beautiful little corners in DMV.

- The Beach Drive during the spring and fall
- Gravely Point
- Georgetown rowing team during the summer time
- Beach valley ball played on that tiny patch of sand
- Theodore Roosevelt Island
- Midnight drive through Crystal City or Reston
- Chinatown new years festival
- Cherry Blossom festival
- Just randomly talking to stranger's at 3 in the morning on weekends
- Amazing little hole in the wall restaurants that's simply unforgettable
- Cops don't bother you that much
- Relatively good salary
- Plenty of jobs
- Low cost of meat

Cons:

- Too cold in the winter
- Government shutdowns (out of work)
- Can't really find a good friend. It's just a long line of networking and one night stands.
- Gas stations all suck here. I want QT
- Every car service business within 10 miles of DC are crooks
- Rent is too damn high
- High end restaurants are not in the same class as other big cities
- There is no one significant food that represents DC (and don't say Ben's Chili Bowl, because they're horrible)
- Too many tourists, and not the cool one's like the one you get in NYC.

And worst of all. The traffic. I lived in various cities (Atlanta, NYC, etc.), and I think the traffic is the worst in DC than any other big cities in the East Coast.

But DC is a lot more beautiful as a city than most cities (District). DC always reminds me of that river between Harvard and MIT (before the construction), and that feeling you get entering Princeton. I don't know why, but it has that old world romance about it.

Ive heard alot of people mention D.C has a very unfriendly city. Why do you think this is?
And what do you mean that Gas stations suck? High gas prices?