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January Banter Thread


H2O

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I grew up in this area and went through a couple years period of going out in dc. The city has some nice spots but the attitudes, traffic, and cost of living really taint things for me.

Possible I just got the worst of it being connected to policy wonks and journalists but a majority of the people around here just seem ridiculously self centered and entitled. I used to think I was both and now I feel pretty humble.  Besides people like Matt and Randy who I met here most of my good friends have come and gone.. a lot of people can only do a handful of years here before it gets to them seems to be the general story.  It could be a city thing too.. I was a country dude prior.. but the non poor segment of the DC area is pretty obviously among the worst if you look at metrics that might create those types of personalities (over-education, wealth, etc). 

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I'll agree it has its share of A-types and spoiled hipsters, but then I think you might not be hanging with the right crowd.

Definitely possible. I've considered doing something entirely new in my next job to see if maybe I just need to change my main associations. The city itself is sweet.. I love not having big buildings and not worrying how to get around etc.. the weather isn't the worst either, lots of sun, plenty of intrigue, not enough storms.. ;)  I've increasingly wanted to move somewhere else the past yr or two, but my girlfriend loves it here and I 'made' her move here to begin with.. so I may be stuck. NYC is the only obvious alternative she is agreeable to but I kind of want to poke myself in the eye with a stick rather than move there.

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Definitely possible. I've considered doing something entirely new in my next job to see if maybe I just need to change my main associations. The city itself is sweet.. I love not having big buildings and not worrying how to get around etc.. the weather isn't the worst either, lots of sun, plenty of intrigue, not enough storms.. ;)  I've increasingly wanted to move somewhere else the past yr or two, but my girlfriend loves it here and I 'made' her move here to begin with.. so I may be stuck. NYC is the only obvious alternative she is agreeable to but I kind of want to poke myself in the eye with a stick rather than move there

 

I'd go crazy if I had to hang out regularly in the NY sub-forum.  Reason enough never to move back to NJ/NYC.

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Yup, I was watching his news conference and it reminded me more of an SNL skit.

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I grew up in this area and went through a couple years period of going out in dc. The city has some nice spots but the attitudes, traffic, and cost of living really taint things for me.

I also grew up in this area and only went away for school before moving back for my entire career so far. Compared to the Boston area and the SF area, I prefer DC. I love SF as a city, but for the time being, I still appreciate very specific aspects of DC: 1) It's got a small city feel given the lack of skyscrapers and so many neighborhoods only 1-block off major roads; 2) It's a richly international city....World Bank, etc.; 3) It's got vibrant immigrant communities in the city and outside the city; 3) Yes, people self-segregate in DC by race and class, but it's actually less severe here, in my personal experience, than the other bigger cities I've been to; 4) We are always a few years behind the latest eye-roll-inducing trend to sweep across the other major US cities; 5) Four real seasons.

 

The circle of friends I have-- none of us work in one of the typically 'insufferable' DC fields. We go out in the city and really don't have to experience being annoyed by the DC stereotype crowd, even when sharing the same restaurant or bar. I guess we just ignore them and find commonality with everyone else at the place. 

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Possible I just got the worst of it being connected to policy wonks and journalists but a majority of the people around here just seem ridiculously self centered and entitled. I used to think I was both and now I feel pretty humble. Besides people like Matt and Randy who I met here most of my good friends have come and gone.. a lot of people can only do a handful of years here before it gets to them seems to be the general story. It could be a city thing too.. I was a country dude prior.. but the non poor segment of the DC area is pretty obviously among the worst if you look at metrics that might create those types of personalities (over-education, wealth, etc).

There's a lot of diversity and a lot of options but mostly it's a vibe thing for me. There's just something about it that doesn't click with me. I don't hate the city but im not in bed with it either. It's there and I like to visit but I also like it when I get home. I'm probably more of a sf or denver kinda guy.

The revolving door of friends thing is kinda common from what i hear. I've gone through similar. The key is to do your own thing and let the right people come along.

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I also grew up in this area and only went away for school before moving back for my entire career so far. Compared to the Boston area and the SF area, I prefer DC. I love SF as a city, but for the time being, I still appreciate very specific aspects of DC: 1) It's got a small city feel given the lack of skyscrapers and so many neighborhoods only 1-block off major roads; 2) It's a richly international city....World Bank, etc.; 3) It's got vibrant immigrant communities in the city and outside the city; 3) Yes, people self-segregate in DC by race and class, but it's actually less severe here, in my personal experience, than the other bigger cities I've been to; 4) We are always a few years behind the latest eye-roll-inducing trend to sweep across the other major US cities; 5) Four real seasons.

The circle of friends I have-- none of us work in one of the typically 'insufferable' DC fields. We go out in the city and really don't have to experience being annoyed by the DC stereotype crowd, even when sharing the same restaurant or bar. I guess we just ignore them and find commonality with everyone else at the place.

Yea that's a good approach re the bar scene. not everyone here acts uptight. There are decent people here. I think it's just the crowds and costs that get to me more than anything. My concern is that it's getting worse, not better. Even though moco and the burbs lack that international social flavor, I kinda like not being right in the middle of things. I also don't have a real reason to live in dc. My offices are in md and va. I work in IT.

I only visited sf once but I thought it was kinda cool. Two of my friends moved there after living here for a while. And in denver you have the Rockies. We do have seasons though which I do love here.

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Meh, I grew up in Baltimore and lived there, well, let's just say many many years.  All of my close relatives lived either in the city or neaby burbs.  Yet, I never felt like I was home or in love with the city over those many years....compare that to moving here...within a couple of months of moving here I was ready to adopt the area (Westminster) as my new hometown.   21 years later I still feel about the same for Westminster...it helps having a sister in Mt. Airy and another sis in Hampstead now....the snow ain't bad either..... I appreciate Baltimore for the Ravens and Orioles (somewhat) but I have not stepped foot in the city nor even driven within the city limits for nearly 8 years (and I don't really live THAT far away).   I guess I was always a small town country guy at heart who was trapped in the big, snowless (ha ha) city (truly though, Balto isn't too bad for snow where I lived in NE part).

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Why did I fall for the idea of snow when I knew the pattern sucked....why...and the guy who started the thread made a point to say the pattern was not good for a snowstorm. Yet I waited patiently for every pbp from Yoda who did a great job meanwhile the ship was taking on water and I stayed on like the Titanic orchestra and now the ship is sinking and I am looking for a lifeboat. Never again...I look at the monster storm on the GFS next Sunday and I say no...no way

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Philly is a dump. 

 

Indeed it is.  

 

And I can say that, having lived on both the eastern and western sides of the city.  There is a persistant coating of slime and sludge on the streets that even the strongest of downpours cannot ease.

 

Do have respect for the passion of their sports fans.  DC sports fans tend to be flat or fair-weather.  Although it's getting better as the Nats have become a quality team.

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DC is a nice city lookswise, but most everything else sucks about it. 

 

Certainly some things that could be better, but I think the DC metro area (not just the city) is one of the best/greatest places to live not only in the US, but in the world.  Not counting fantasy and paradise locales like various islands, etc.

 

Having been to most US states and many major cities, I have a long list of spots that are worse than the DC area.

 

And having been to many countries, including various unfriendly and violent locales, I always appreciate what we have here in the DC metro area.

 

It's not perfect, but I think it's among the best, if not the best, metro areas to live in.  It's all relative.

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Definitely possible. I've considered doing something entirely new in my next job to see if maybe I just need to change my main associations. The city itself is sweet.. I love not having big buildings and not worrying how to get around etc.. the weather isn't the worst either, lots of sun, plenty of intrigue, not enough storms.. ;)  I've increasingly wanted to move somewhere else the past yr or two, but my girlfriend loves it here and I 'made' her move here to begin with.. so I may be stuck. NYC is the only obvious alternative she is agreeable to but I kind of want to poke myself in the eye with a stick rather than move there.

 

Move to Denver or Seattle and become a budtender.

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I lived in Atlanta for several years (grad school and beyond) in the mid-90s to 2001.  Overall, I found it to be a nice place to live though the traffic sucked.  You couldn't get anywhere without a car very easily, and for most of the time I was there, I did not have a vehicle.  The Marta (their version of the Metro) was OK, but only if you were going north-south or east-west.  The buses...well, as unreliable as any other major city if things got bad.  The weather was nice, even if summers got kind of hot, though in some ways I found it less oppressive than here.  Since they don't really get snow (though ice is a decent threat), I never worried or cared much about that.  They sort of had 3-1/2 seasons with a long spring, summer, long fall, and some winter cold snaps with occasional flakes here and there.  At least the trees lost their leaves in the fall.  It's definitely not a tourist-y town, but if you lived there, definitely a lot to do if you knew where to look.  I lived in the Midtown area (for those familiar with the city), not far from Piedmont Park.  Great area, and the people were pretty nice for the most part.

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Certainly some things that could be better, but I think the DC metro area (not just the city) is one of the best/greatest places to live not only in the US, but in the world.  Not counting fantasy and paradise locales like various islands, etc.

 

Having been to most US states and many major cities, I have a long list of spots that are worse than the DC area.

 

And having been to many countries, including various unfriendly and violent locales, I always appreciate what we have here in the DC metro area.

 

It's not perfect, but I think it's among the best, if not the best, metro areas to live in.  It's all relative.

 

Overall the positives of living here far outweigh the negatives. My issues are more with the people.. but maybe I just don't like people lol. I think it would be fairly difficult to move to most cities in the US after this one given the rapid transit (even though we complain about it all the time) and layout (it's like a botanical garden). If I was single I'd have already moved to Denver ha. I don't think I could live in the heart of the Plains.. maybe Dallas.. so that's a natural spot for wanting to storm chase if nothing else. Plus there's a bunch of tech and aerospace and weather and stuff there too. Considered Chicago but fairly confident I'd only make it one winter there.

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