Why I don’t hate DC
Jumping in, as I’m wont to do, to someone else’s argument…
I saw on DCblogs that “Girl from the South”, wrote about leaving DC, a place which just wasn’t ever really home to her.
lacochran and I see it a different way: we love it here.
Sure, there’s room to snark (See, for example: http://washwords.wordpress.com/snarkvlark/)
but, on the whole, DC is definitely my home now.
Among the things that STILL make me smile:
- How walkable the city is
- The fact that my MOM took the S2 bus from Silver Spring into the big city for fun and that I take it from home to work further downtown or up to the burbs myself.
- the sheer beauty of the architechture, monuments, layout
- the green space
- Seeing kids, tourists, young couples (yes, I know I love to snark but not to the nice ones) getting off maps in tow at the Mall, remembering how I did that with my parents.
- how smalltown it is – you can walk down a street and not be wall-to-wall in people and buildings like in new york
- the lack of skyscrapers – it so changes how the city FEELS
- the tulips at the Omni Shoreham at Woodley in the spring
- the way being on the Hill still reminds me of being 18, interning like so many zillions of others do, the friends I made, the drinks I had at the Dubliner, that youthful exhuberance and sincerely wanting to do well in the world that dies so fast, but lingers longer here
- discovering new things everyday – (what? there’s a tulip library? what? there’s a fishmarket? Cowgirl creamery?)
- the emergence and re-definition and NOT redefining permanence of some of the best we have to offer (yep, ben’s chili bowl!)
- the fighting spirit, the way people talk about politics like other cities talk about sports, the cockiness, and then, in quieter moments, the “putting aside of partisan politics” when it really matters. (yes, I was moved by “god bless america” on 9/11 but I mean the smaller kindnesses and bendings people make to each other here all the time.
- the amazingly talented, inspiring, contentious, controversial, funny, arrogant, angry, delusional, fun, grating people and “what they do” (as in “whaddya do?” the all-important dcism). yes, i laugh. but with us. not at us.
What about you? love dc? hate it?
Tell me about it or comment below.
Meg said,
Wrote on April 16, 2008 @ 7:17 am
I think the fact that we moved away for a situation that looked perfect “on paper,” only to find that DC has become HOME, and relocating BACK here a short 6 months later, is comment enough to how we feel about living here. What were we thinking, up and moving away like that? We slap our foreheads almost daily!
Frank L said,
Wrote on April 16, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
Now that DC has baseball, I’m bigger fan of staying here. Really though, I could go to Chicago, San Fran and a host of other, warmer, friendlier places than this.
Not bad though. I’d have to say “good enough.”
Frank L said,
Wrote on April 16, 2008 @ 12:08 pm
note-I didn’t mean to lump Chicago and San Fran in the “Warmer” part of that. Just pointing out that there are great cities that are warmer than here.
Some guy named "me" said,
Wrote on April 16, 2008 @ 3:11 pm
I like that national news becomes part of the traffic report: “Don’t take Massachusetts Avenue today, the Pope is in town!”
lacochran said,
Wrote on May 9, 2008 @ 9:25 am
I’m a little late to the party but great post! I certainly agree with your sentiments but I wanted to add that I particularly like your turn of phrases in:
“the way being on the Hill still reminds me of being 18, interning like so many zillions of others do, the friends I made, the drinks I had at the Dubliner, that youthful exhuberance and sincerely wanting to do well in the world that dies so fast, but lingers longer here”
and
“the fighting spirit, the way people talk about politics like other cities talk about sports, the cockiness, and then, in quieter moments, the “putting aside of partisan politics” when it really matters. (yes, I was moved by “god bless america” on 9/11 but I mean the smaller kindnesses and bendings people make to each other here all the time.”
washwords said,
Wrote on May 9, 2008 @ 9:36 am
thank you so much lachrochan! I so appreciate that! Tell your friends about me (especially at dc blogs noted ;). Thank you so much, really, a comment on my blog makes my day, a compliment on my writing makes my month! 😉
washy
Anonymous said,
Wrote on June 28, 2008 @ 9:45 pm
I live out in the ‘burbs of Maryland, but I work in the District and I love the city. I drove a service truck repairing HVAC for residential and commercial customers all over the city.
Whether uptown or downtown, soulfood or sushi- DC has so much to offer, and I wouldn’t want to (work) any other place!