One of the great love affairs of my life has been with Washington, D.C. It has nothing to do with idealism about democracy or love of history or patriotic fervor; I've been known to exhibit those things, but none of them are the reasons I moved here and they're not the reasons I stay here. I love this city for its own sake.
I love the lack of pollution. I love the free concerts in Farragut Square Park. I love half smokes and chicken wings with mambo sauce. I love go-go music, cherry blossoms, Ben's Chili Bowl, and the Washington Post (which, according to NYU's Jay Rosen, has recently eclipsed NYT as America's greatest newspaper). I love rowhouses with actual front lawns. I love having a blossoming avant-garde art and music scene, an independent filmmaking scene, one of the most respected independent record labels in the country, and the fourth largest theater scene — albeit first in quirkiness — in America. I love that we have a mayor and city council that frequently butt heads with the way Congress thinks that DC should be run. I DON'T love our lack of voting representation in Congress, but I do love the way it galvanizes our citizens.
I love being able to get an 850-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment, with parquet floors and two balconies that offer a panoramic view of a beautiful city, for less than $1000 a month.
So it hurts me a little bit when people like DCist, who are supposed to be touting how great my town is, say things like "We may not have as cool a city" in reference to New York. It's a matter of taste, of course, but I personally like DC better than NY. That's why I live here, not there.
Living in and loving a city does not mean that you have to constantly compare it to the Big Apple and try to emulate it in every way. The District, believe it or not, has a special character all its own, and I think those of us who live here should work to develop that character. We don't need to constantly encourage each other to harness the character of other places.
I have been to New York and I had fun, but I didn't leave thinking, "Wow! I've GOT to move here!" Or even, "Wow! I've GOT to come back and visit again as soon as possible!" I left thinking, "Jesus. That place is filthy and crumbling, it smells terrible, and it's a fucking 7-million-way rat race. What is everyone so thrilled about?"
Article comments
1 - zingzing
michael. you spent 4 paragraphs on dc and 6 on nyc vs. dc. both places have their high points... but the point you miss, or maybe you don't, is that the "7 million person rat race" is exactly what people who love nyc love about nyc. it's something that some people want: they want to be, or feel as if they are, in the middle of something truly huge.
it doesn't get any bigger in america than nyc. so many people, so much culture, so much of anything you want (some of which you won't find anywhere else), all around you, almost feeling you up. in nyc, you can't get away from anything, until you're almost numb to it... then if you want it, you reach out and grab some. i'm sure it's annoying at times.
but look at the poverty, the crime, the class gap, the fucking price of beer(!) found in dc. it's as bad, if not worse, than a majority of the country, including nyc.
i think the main problem you, and every other dc dweller with this inferiority complex, have with nyc is that dc is really like it's distant cousin. don't deny it. dc, even though it is much smaller, is just as urban as nyc. you have choices of what to do every night of the week, but instead of 80, it's 8. that's still overwhelming. who needs 80 choices? you pay $6 for a beer, they pay $8. you don't drink liquor at bars because you can't afford it. same with new yorkers.
living in dc, and dc itself, is a less hectic, confused version of living in nyc. some people thrive on total chaos. they should live in nyc. some people like their chaos tempered with just a bit of familiarity. dc is for you.
i like where i'm at right now... i wish we had better public transport... but i think nyc is a better spot for me next, rather than dc. i want too much rather than just enough.
2 - Michael J. West
You’re right, people in NYC do love the rat race. I recognize that. I just don’t understand it. Funny thing is, the people I know who were actually born and raised in Manhattan, can’t wait to get the fuck out.
But other than that, I think you missed the point. I wasn’t trying to say "I don't understand why people live in NYC," as much as I was saying "I don't understand why people assume that if you live in DC, it's because you wish you could live in NYC." Or, if you wish, "I don't understand why we always have to compare ourselves to NYC." If you want to live there, fine. Live there. But don't assume that EVERYONE wants to live there. If you want to live in DC, accept it on its own terms.
3 - Stone
Interesting article.
When I first moved to DC, I loved it. I love New York too, but don't even want to THINK about putting up with the "rat race."
When I got here in 2002, I was telling people here about my love for the city, the culture, and the people. Most everyone's response was: "you'll learn to hate it." I never figured that out until now.
Yes, DC has just as much varitey and urbanness as NYC. And yes, I would never even try to live in NYC or even Chicago, Boston, or Philly for that matter. But the thing that chases people away from this city is the PEOPLE
The government RUINS this town. People are basically placed in a box, creating rules and regulations with no way to express their creativity. Groupthink is prevelant here and people are ususally overworked and underpaid. And unfortunately, there is no competition, no upward movement. There is no drive or determination.
This culture brings out the worst in people. And this is why, since I moved here in '02, I've gone to over 30 going away parties. There is a point where you just can't take it any more, ya know?
So I'm leaving DC soon as well. I've hit that ceiling in this town and there is no where else to go.
It's sad, but DC IS A WONDERFUL CITY. It's the culture that's ruining this town.
4 - zingzing
i dont think people think that people living in dc wish they lived in nyc... that's just people in dc thinking that people think that people living in dc wish they lived in nyc. it's the inferiority complex biting its own ass.
i think people recognize the merits of dc. i certainly do, and i never lived there. and plenty of people born and raised in nyc love the place still. the people you know who were born and raised there probably don't live there anymore... so of course, they wanted to get out. or they wouldn't have gotten out.
if you don't love the place you live, you wouldn't live there anymore. so love dc. because i love visiting dc. i love you michael. kiss kiss.
5 - Michael J. West
I'm sure that's true if you work in the government, Stone. And government is the largest employer, to be sure.
But it's not the only place to work. I, for one, am about to leave a communications firm and start a new job at an association. The government doesn't have much to do with those things at all, and I don't feel constrained in creativity. Nor do I have problems with the people I've met...but I have a tendency to search off the beaten path.
I've lived here since 2001, and I sometimes have to remind myself that the government is even here. People who work in gov't. probably don't believe it's possible to live that way here, but I'm living proof.
I don't know what you do, Stone, but it seems pretty clear that you are a government employee. Have you considered staying in town but getting into a different line of work?
6 - JR
I'm a little confused; is the problem in the people, the government, or the culture?
7 - Michael J. West
See, JR, that's what makes me suspicious that Stone is/was a federal employee: he sees people, government, and culture as one and the same.
8 - Stone
>Stone, but it seems pretty clear that you are a government employee.
Yep, I'm a government employee in the IT industry. But you wouldn't know it. Now, I'm copying information from one page into another.....and I have to do this over 1000 times. And we have a 500 page manual of "standards" that we have to follow. I know several different programming languages and my brain is definately underutalized. But the pay and benefits are good!
I know several people who are in the same situation I'm in.
I've had a hard time trying to find a job in this town that has nothing to do with the government. Most every IT company has some affilation with the Feds.
>is the problem in the people, the government, or the culture?
Well....the governement creates the culture which in turn makes the people miserable :)
9 - Baronius
Washington is comparable to Boston. Same size, same commuting problems, same government corruption top-to-bottom. Similarly overeducated. Both towns think of themselves as equals, even rivals, of NYC. Both are, in reality, like that little dog in the cartoon who's really excited to be hanging out with the bulldog.
10 - Michael J. West
Both towns think of themselves as equals, even rivals, of NYC.
Jesus H. Christ, is anybody actually READING this post before they comment on it? I DO NOT THINK OF DC AS AN EQUAL OR RIVAL OF NYC AND I AM SICK TO DEATH OF THE COMPARISON BENG MADE AT ALL.
I thought I'd pretty much said that in the first place.
11 - Baronius
Michael, I didn't mean to goad you. It seems to me that you're saying DC and NYC are different and there's no need to compare them, but also that DC compares well to NYC (or anywhere). For my taste, NYC is in a league of its own, but as you said, this is a love affair, and everyone's true love is the most beautiful.
I agree that Washingtonians, from my exposure, seem fixated on proving the value of their city. I don't see any need for a city to pretend to be something it's not, and the cities I like best have a character all their own. Mississippi riverboat gambling doesn't try to be Las Vegas; Atlantic City tried to be Las Vegas. The Mighty Mississip, hurricanes excluded, is hands-down better than Atlantic City.
12 - Baronius
And Joe Gibbs is a great coach and a wonderful human being. I don't know if that has anything to do with the topic, but Gibbs is a monument to goodness and greatness that everyone should see when in Washington.
13 - Michael J. West
Thanks, Baronius. I guess I'm a little sensitive. :-)
I think part of the reason that everyone here feels the need to prove our city's value, as you all-too-correctly put it, is that tourists and others so often see DC as either (1) a huge marble museum, or (2) a giant administrative office complex. We just want people to recognize that we're so much more--that there are reasons besides government jobs and the National Air and Space Museum that people might love DC.
Which, maybe, was what I was trying to get across in my post. Even if I was a little oblique about it.
14 - matty
As a New Yorker going to school in DC, i see the advantages and disadvantages of both cities. The two places complement each other very well. Sometimes you want that close packed "rat race" of New York. Others, the more relaxed, almost suburban nature of DC is what you need. Sometimes you want to walk down Park Ave thinking "i wonder what celebrity i'll see today." Other times you want to walk down by the mall thinking "i wonder what politician i'll see today." The comparisons or whatever you want to call them can go on forever. I truly love both cities. However, the bond I feel with New Yorks is something that could never be matched. Its a magical feeling that only New Yorkers could understand.
15 - Michael J. West
Perhaps so, but it certainly sounds like the magical bond I feel with Washington DC. This city makes me not want to travel to other places.
16 - missbrittbritt87
i *heart* you for writing this, and i dont even know you...and I *heart* DC too, even though i live in the county...i've traveled to different cities and countries in my 20 years...but nothing makes my face light up, like when i fly over the nation's capital and say "thats my home"
17 - will
couldn't have said it better myself. DC does not get enough respect and with all the gentrification going on, we are starting to lose our local culture. still, I have always and will always love Washington, DC.