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Photo of the Day: November 9, 2009
Following in the fine form of fellow New Yorker Jennifer 8. Lee, former D.C. resident and Gawker editor Alex Pareene took some time out of his busy schedule of posting items about Peggy Noonan's supposed penchant for cheap vodka to remind Washingtonians that we'll "never be cool." To wit:
DC isn't cool. It's boring. The hip and cool new DC residents brought to town to work for the Obama administration? Uh, they're "hip" and "cool" in a really, really relative sense. Like, cooler than 50-year-old Heritage Foundation senior research fellows.Who possibly could argue with such solid rock solid generalizations? Well, let's check out his arguments, just for kicks. It wouldn't be a fair and accurate examination if one didn't. According to Pareene, here's the incredibly pressing issues with the District that have lead him to such a conclusion:
- There's only 591,833 residents of D.C. proper. This figure is the genesis for our boring ways.
- Washington used to be the home to bands like Bad Brains and Minor Threat; without these two outfits -- who formed almost thirty years ago -- D.C. music is not up to snuff.
- "There's no "creative class" of monied young jerks showing up in DC with the express purpose of wasting their funds making indie dance music, starting literary journals, or even buying researching jobs at Vanity Fair."
- And most importantly, people can still purchase cocaine here.
Oh, and for the sprinkles on top, you Marylanders and northern Virginians "live in the least cool places in America."
Certainly, some of these claims could never, say, be flipped around to criticize any other major metropolis in this country. No, of course not. (I'm still trying to wrap my head around the negativity found in D.C.'s lack of people wasting money making indie dance music.) To be fair, unlike Lee, Pareene did lay off commenting on our beloved Metro, so kudos, I guess. (Shockingly, the Gawker commentariat lacked such restraint; but I'd be upset too if I had to stand on platforms that leak water and sit on trains that smell like stale urine and Fritos, so I'm willing to cut them some slack.)
In a way, it's cute: a transplanted New Yorker -- at even the slightest sign of losing cool points -- feels the need to dump on Washington, from whence he came, so much like a quarterback who acts rashly when the outsider lures their dream girl away from them in so many cliched high school dramas. For future reference: if you're going to take broad swipes in the ever-so-tiresome D.C./New York tiff out of some sort of perceived jealousy (over what again? banking?), cogent arguments should likely be your utmost concern.
Or not. It's certainly makes for a more laughable read on our end without them.
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You know the best way to show your disdain for these lame ass DC sucks stories is not to link to them. I very stupidly clicked on the link to the story, which drives up their hit count and provides continuing justification for writing these lame ass stories. Seriously, why do we care what someone who's dumb enough to pays $2K/month for a 300 sq ft studio in Brooklyn thinks? NYC is a great city; great food, cool bars, interesting art & music scenes but I have no desire to live there. When you're happy with your own lot in life, whack ass ad hominems on people who make different decisions than you do lose their appeal. I guess the hiptards at Gawker missed the lesson about real cool is not giving a fuck what other people think.
I grew up in Chicago, live in Alexandria now, and try to visit NY a few times a year. All are great cities and are very different from one another.
I don't understand all the obnoxious rants and comparisons why one city is superior to another. It's about as interesting as someone arguing why a lemon is better than a lime. Who the crap cares.
He also said DC's momma's so fat, she irons her clothes in the driveway.
thank you, hillrat, nice and to the point.
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around the negativity found in D.C.'s lack of people wasting money making indie dance music."
It's a tongue-in-cheek example he used, but the sentiment behind it has plenty of validity. The common denominator in nearly every band interview I've conducted in the past 2+ years in D.C. is the lack of a widespread musical community with any kind of cohesiveness. 10, 12 years ago that wasn't necessarily the case. Another common complaint I hear is the fact that the current economics and culture of this city make it more difficult for the musically inclined than it once was. Not that that's unique to D.C. as a city these days, but its a reality that has forced bands farther out of the city even as more people move into the city. Rehearsal space is harder to find than it once was. The group house culture of Mt. Pleasant that fostered countless bands in all those basement practice spaces in the 80s and 90s has steadily dwindled in prevalence. All these factors pile onto one another.
I love this town, otherwise I wouldn't have spent as long as I have here with no intention of going elsewhere, and I know I probably sound like the crotchety old bastard crying into my beer about how it's not the same as it was back in the day. But it would be disingenuous of me to try to pretend that it's as attractive a city for musicians as it once was.
You could probably say the same exact thing for just about any big American city, no? Sounds like that argument could be made about NY, or Chicago, or San Francisco, etc.
Oh, whatever. I was just up there last weekend, and the second I was standing on the subway platform watching rats fight over the trash while I wondered how long it was until the next train came, I couldn't WAIT to get back to DC.
I can't think of anything more uncool than having to brag about how cool you are and how cool your town is. That's like bragging about having sex with Paris Hilton, except you had to spray your junk down with Tilex. Now, I'm not saying riding the bus in NYC will give you hepatitis C, but at least DC's Taco Bells have their rat problem relatively under control. The exception being Taco Bell's new Big Spicy 1/2 Pound Chimiratchanga®.
I have always said we should own it. Keep DC boring
@Ian
There's a lot of truth in what you say, but there's still cool shit going down in DC. Fight Club being the best example; last time I went it was $10 at the door for food, beverages, live music, and a kick ass place to skate, I doubt you'll find anything like that in Manhattan these days. The DIY ethos is still going strong in DC.
Oh, absolutely. And apologies if I made it sound like a wasteland around here. It's not. You can make things grow here, but I don't think the land is as fertile as it once was. Admitting to that is a necessary step in the process of fixing it and coming up with solutions to the problem. Like Fight Club.
No apology necessary, your love of DC is clear and your unsentimental analysis was right on point.
You can make things grow here, but I don't think the land is as fertile as it once was.
True, true. But as I learned out in Fargo, land that lies fallow for a season or two can come back just as vibrant and strong as it ever was. Let's hope that's the case here in DC.
The first rule of Fight Club is...
consider the source: peggy noonan(!) enough said...
Why do we care what these people say? I love DC, I don't really care for NYC. They're welcome to dislike it here, we don't want them. I'm not going to bash New York, but my experiences there have never been that great.
Edit: To be honest, I just read the actual post, and it sounds pretty unserious throughout. The indie music comment as well--he's making fun of NY while making fun of DC.
I love DC.
Granted, I am not a native and came from a very boring middle-sized city in the south which shall remain nameless. DC has a very friendly atmosphere and is big enough to have many cultural advantages to choose from.
NYC is fine to visit, but my God I couldn't handle living there. Too intense, too pressure-filled, and too much hustle and bustle.
They're just trying to compensate for the fact that New York destroyed the economy and DC is trying to bail it out (generalization again...maybe).
Bashing D.C. is like some sort of "cool" parlor game for others, espeically those far superior folks from NYC.
But here's my thought on it, if you dislike it so much, then why even give it any attention? Are you threatened by it? Do you secretly like, but have to bash it so others won't find out?
Seriously, it's like some sort of "bad" 80s teen movie where the popular kids pick on the geek, instead of just ignoring them because they are actually threatened by them.
Eh, to each his own. If he doesn't like D.C., that's his prerogative. Whining about it isn't going to help either that image or the general blog.
Truth is, DC does kind of suck. A lot of us are working to fix that, and I have notice a great trend towards non-suckage, so kudos.
Oh wait.. I mean.. UP IN ARMS! A BLOGGER HAS INSULTED OUR CITY! GRAB THE SPEARS! ARM THE CANNONS! DC IS GOING TO WAR!
OK. I'll bite. A couple of things:
1) DC does really kind of suck. It's filled with crime. Public services are awful. Rents are far higher than in virtually all other US cities (that *includes* NYC, which has lots of $1100 1-brs in safe, fun neighborhoods near the subway in Upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs). Nightlife is pathetic for a city of this size and affluence. Restaurants are overpriced and generally mediocre. The diversity and quality of shopping and entertainment options is surprisingly low given the city's size. Most people are either just passing through and refuse to take any ownership or interest in the city. The ones who do live here for real are very insular and extremely unfriendly. There's a lot of simmering racial hatred here, on both sides. In general, the only people who like DC are either: a) from here, b) lawyers, or c) 20-somethings from flyover land who don't know any better. Recent college grads from West Virginia *love* DC and think it's extremely cosmopolitan.
2) People - understand something. Virtually NO ONE in NYC ever stops to think about DC, unless they have to come here on a business trip. Then their only thoughts are what hotel to stay in and how quickly they can get back on the train or plane to go home. In this regard, NYers' feelings toward DC are exactly the same as their feelings to all other US cities, with the sole exception of San Francisco. NYers like SF a lot. The rest of the country, not so much. So while you're all stewing about what some NY writer posted on a blog, the NY writer has forgotten all about whatever he posted and is thinking about more important things, like how to get back home to Greenpoint from Hell's Kitchen, since both the C/E and the L are under weekend construction, his boyfriend is out at some overpriced Chinese place on the UWS with friends from work, and he doesn't want to spend the money for a cab.
Dude, you're a known DC hater, why are you even still here?
Last time I checked "Upper Manhattan" was basically code for the Bronx, but I don't spend much time thinking about NYC so I'm not sure.
Eric Ziebold just won the James Beard award for best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic Region in 2008 and Cathal Armstrong was named one of the best new chefs of 2006. Both of those cats bring talent to this town that eventually spreads to other restaurants in the area. And not for nothing, but restaurants in NYC are nothing if not overpriced.
I guess you're right that DC doesn't have as many boutiques as NYC where you can buy $80 t-shirts and $300 jeans, but I count that as a plus.
The theater scene in DC is vibrant and thriving. There are enough professional theaters and productions in DC that they have their own awards show, the Helen Hayes Awards.
Seriously, if DC sucks so bad, why are you here?
"Seriously, if DC sucks so bad, why are you here?"
Hear, hear. I could care less about what some NYC blowhard thinks about our city, but the people I have no tolerance for are the ones who are living here and bitching ceaselessly about it. The obvious questions to ask those who claim to hate living here are what have you done to improve the city, and are you taking advantage of everything this city has to offer?
Frequently, the answers to those questions are "nothing" and "no." DC ain't New York, and there's no reason to apologize for that. For many of us who are here, in fact, that is a positive.
I'm not going to agree or disagree with Alex Pareene's opinion. It would be a pointless exercise. Is New York superior to D.C. and every other American city? Der. Just by writing that post made him, or a personification of New York, seem like the richest, most beautiful and most academically successful kid in class loudly and publicly belittling one of the average kids for being his inferior. The abuser just comes off as the more pathetic than his target.
I will say this though, that whole bit about MD and VA suburbs being the " least cool places in America" does show hard he was trying and how weak of an argument he had. New York suburbs, D.C. suburbs, Phoenix suburbs, all American suburbs are all equally homogeneous and uncool. With all the thousands of examples he could have presented to portray D.C. as uncool, and THAT was the best he could come up with? Lame-O.
Alex Pareene has weak rhymes and doesn't deserve to live in New York. Obviously, he belongs back in D.C. It just seems like D.C. is a town more fitting for his talents.
Ugh this argument again.
Yeah, DC isn't cool, but most of use still have jobs.
Howsabout that beyotches? hah
wait, is it just me, are or we all arguing about the impotent musings of a hemophiliac who couldn't cut it here?
oh, yeah, it's gold. google that little slut. I want to be a pro in that field and have my first result be dated 2006. Viva NYC!
Really I don't think either city can talk much smack these days. NYC is home to the Wall Street doucebags who thought it was a smart idea to lend out, invest or borrow 15-20 times more capital than they actually had on hand, meanwhile handing out $1 million bonuses like cheap cigars after taking a few hundred billion from the federal government. Then again, DC is where all the idiots are who gave them the money to begin with. It's a draw. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go shopping for a $10,000 commode for my office. Because it's "hip."
I don't see what all the fuss is about. I read the article and took it as tongue-in-cheek indictment of both DC and NYC--filled with the kind of people who worry about their city being cooler than some other city. As a native New Yorker who has lived in DC for the past 12 years, I like DC better. It's smaller, yes, and doesn't have all the attractions of NY, but it's a more manageable city living experience for me. So, everyone, just get over yourselves. Pick a place where you are happy to live, own the decision, and get on with it.
You can't get Ledo pizza in NYC.
Christ, not the fu**ing pizza argument again. Don't get them started. Almost as bad as as the Chicago/NY hotdog argument. Besides, the last thing we need now is a battle between Famous Original Ledos and Original Famous Ledos.
there actually is a creative class in DC. we're just too busy working and creating to have time for silly posturing, since we can't buy jobs at vanity fair.
I recall SOMEONE from SOMEWHERE ELSE said SOMETHING bad about DC. Now where was it? Oh, yeah. Here on dcist.
Best advice my father ever gave: (1) Everything stinks and (2) Never take advice from a misanthrope.
What, this guy?
Yeah.
DC will always have young Republican staffers that tell you "I've never done this before, then cry after the gay sex and call you 'Daddy' whilst curling up in the fetal position."
Beat that, NYC.
Oh, and hubris. No, wait. They've got that too.
DC will always have young Republican staffers that tell you "I've never done this before," then cry after the gay sex and call you 'Daddy' whilst curling up in the fetal position.
Dude, you're wrong. Hilarious, but wrong.
Hey, Springfield Washington! Are you suffering from the heartbreak of...Monster Gawker-itis? Then take a tip from Mr. Paul Anka!
To stop those monsters Gawkers, one-two-three,
Here's a fresh new way that's trouble-free.
It's got Paul Anka's guarantee
(Guarantee void in Tennessee.)
Just don't look. Just don't look.
(It sounds a lot better coming from Paul Anka)
Bah. There were strike tags that were displayed properly in the preview. Oh well.
I love DC. NYC is a fun place to visit and SF is totally overrated!
Gawker has one point, in which that the policy wonks that come into town with an administration are definitely *not* cool. Regardless of administration and political orientation.
What they'll never get, though, is that these carpetbaggers are not even close to what DC is all about.
I don't know if DC needs to be cool but IMHO it's really conservative & it seems like the longer my 'creative class' friends live here, the more conservative they get.
The post is making fun of NYC too.. And he's not a New Yorker.
Speaking of Minor Threat and alleged DC conservative values, there's a really interesting take on the underlying dynamics of the DC punk scene of that era from "Bruce Hellington" of 9353, in the recent DC issue of "Stop Smiling."
The disdain you get from New Yorkers has absolutely nothing to do with the merits of DC. It's the fact that they've been painfully dragged out of their self-contained Manhattan universe. They loathe every other place in the country with the exception of certain cities that have qualities that remind them of their own NY bubble. DC to them would just be another flyover territory, if the Federal government didn't happen to be here. And because it is, they are forced to put up with our "backwardness" more frequently than other places, hence the seeming focus on DC's negative qualities over other parts of the country. There's no arguing with someone who thinks the entire universe exists within a few square miles, and is genuinely mystified about why anyone would choose to live anywhere else.
Whatever.
I remember that little arrogant shit discussing masturbation jokes while smoking outside the Raven.
Life's too short to be bothered by the comments of some turd who spent a hot minute in Washington trying to make a mark (a.k.a. furthering his career).
I think it is important to point out that only a wet-dog-turd like Pareene would even bother comparing a city of 600K residents to a city of 8 Million- no one who lives here, or there, gives a fuck. We can live in either city, and visit whenever we want- it's not a fucking high school football rivalry or some sad 80's movie shit for gods sake.
Unless his entire post was meant to be sarcastic (if it was, than god does he suck at it)-- it is ridiculous. Comparing cities in general is retarded, comparing NYC to DC is like comparing a giant red delicious apple to a very tiny perfectly tinted and flavored blueberry with the most important and brilliant people in the world stuffed inside enjoying all the benefits of big city and small town life combined- I'm kidding, come on! Apples and Berry's.
If Pareene actually spoke for a single New Yorker (which he doesn't) then my only response would be that DC is the only city worthy of comparison to a city 16 times it's size. So fuck off. If you have lived here for a few years and don't like it, it is probably because no one here likes you- your neighbors hated you Pareene.
Pareene is going to get a monster wedgie the next time he comes to town, and maybe stuffed in a locker.
I will agree on one point, "Maryland and Virginian suburbs are the least cool places in America." Aside from the fact that anyone over 18 who still uses the word "cool" in a non-ironic sense is suffering from severe arrested development. No other city in the country has to deal with two giant regions full of people too afraid to live in town, disdain it in fact, and then proceed to claim it's cultural life as if it was their own. DC suburbanites are the assholes known for calling themselves "Washingtonians" even if they live 40 minutes from DC, and only venture into the city for work- or once a year for a night out in Georgetown.
Every time I go out of town on a trip, I'm always running into people from place like Front Royal or Hagerstown or some jerkwater DC suburb and whenever I ask where they're from, they inevitably say, "Oh, I'm from DC!" And I'm like, no, you're from some jerwater DC suburb. At least I have the decency to say, "Well, I was born in DC, but I got tired of being treated like a third-class leper with a wallet attached who's too stupid to have voting representation or a gun, so I moved to a quaint little bedroom community called Mordor."
Mordor is an honorable part of Petworth.
Hagerstown is not a suburb of D.C. Hell, it's not even an exurb of D.C. Frederick is an exurb of D.C. (and the 2nd largest city in Maryland).
The MoCo suburbs of D.C. (along the I-270 corridor) include Bethesda, Rockville, Gaithersburg, and Germantown, in that order. Germantown is the furthest-out suburb of D.C. on the I-270 corridor.
Frederick and Hagerstown were never suburbs. Both were around long before commuter communities encroached upon their environs. Today, a lot of businesses that were in the near-in suburbs (for example, Rockville), have moved out to Frederick for the cheaper rents, etc. So much so that Frederick now has suburbs of it's own (for example, Urbana). As far as I know, Hagerstown has no suburbs (really there's not much there). Although it is a good place to stop for breakfast on the way to Ski Whitetail.
Again, Hagerstown = not suburb of D.C.
So, it's okay for people from Hagerstown to say, "We're from DC?"
"No other city in the country has to deal with two giant regions full of people too afraid to live in town, disdain it in fact, and then proceed to claim it's cultural life as if it was their own."
I went to college with this extremely dumb / annoying / any blonde joke you can think of girl in Philly, and we both got jobs in Bethesda at the same place down here. I was not about to live in some lame suburb at the ripe old age of 24, so of course I chose to live in downtown DC. She chose Gaithersburg (I enjoy calling it Gag-ersburg, even though I've never seen it; apologies in advance if I offend you - I only hate it because of her) and proceeded to berate me for living in the District because I was going to have an awful commute, hate all of the people, and pay out the ass for a studio. I enjoy talking to her now, because not only do I have a short, reverse commute which is shorter than hers, actually like all of my neighbors, and well, of course I pay out the ass for rent but I'd rather do that than live in some shitty apartment complex (oooh but look it has a pool AND a gym! And how often do you use those?). When people from college ask her where she lives, she always says DC. I really enjoy being around when she says that, because I always come back with "You live in GAITHERSBURG, MARYLAND". She shuts up after that. And then people ask me how I like the city, because, well I live here.
I really like it down here, and I've stopped trying to compare it to Philly, because they are just too different. I love Philly and want to move back there eventually, just because of it's downright grittiness (3 murders a day? Sure, I'll live there!), but I am really enjoying everything the district has to offer. Great restaurants - you can find awesome places that aren't chains; there is always something to do and it's usually free (I've been to the Smithsonian like 4 times and I've only lived here 7 months); and there is always the fun pastime of making fun of tourists (I got asked for directions the first day I moved in and was able to direct them where to go - seriously people, the city's not that hard to navigate).
It's the sad, inarguable truth. Every other time I am on a flight into DCA, someone inevitably starts a conversation, and at some point tells me they live in Washington. Sometimes just to be a dick I ask them about the city, just to hear them start a story like this: "well... actually, it is really dangerous, I live in the part of Washington called Annandale, you know, it's just safer." Sometimes I just flat out ask them what neighborhood they live in, and I have actually heard "the Fairfax Neighborhood." I end up telling them I was born in DC, moved around, and live there now. And tell them it's strange that they lie to people from out of town. Then they awkwardly go back to shuffling their cell phone to call for a ride out to the hinter country. I just don't get it.
It's odd. And sort of like if every person who lived in Jersey called themselves a New Yorker. Or every person in Ohio called themselves a Cleve-lander (or whatever the hell people from Cleveland call themselves.
It wouldn't bother me so much if they didn't tend to disdain the city itself and go nuts at the idea of paying taxes to us. That and the fact that I know they are the ones at the convention in Vegas telling everyone how they live in DC and the city is just a pit of thieves and people with dark tans. They are usually the ones spreading all of the bad images of the city out there- well them the Mayor for Life, and that guy who keeps stealing my bikes and shitting in my alley.
I think it's human nature to want all the benefits but none of the responsibilities of a relationship, residential, married, or otherwise. They want the cachet of a big-name town without, y'know, actually having to put up with the b.s. Kinda like how certain people in the ghetto want the cops to arrest the bad guys, yet refuse to cooperate with the cops by giving testimony. Or not wanting to do the dishes or sleep in the wet spot.
That makes sense, except most people don't realize that most of the feared downsides to living in the city are generally overstated. It's like a wet spot that has grown crusty and dry. Except for the high cost of housing, and the "free" schools. I mean unless you are ok with your kid thinking that 4 + 4 = fuck you, then the schools are no good (I speak from having been edumacated in one for a while). But I spent one and half painful years in the DC suburbs, and found that most of the irritations of the city were worse out there. Traffic, petty crime, shitty DMV workers, stupid kids, no better. Just more lawn to mow and nowhere to walk. If someone prefers it, great, but then I wish they would own it in all it's apparently cache-free glory. Or at least pay us a tax every time they say Washington.
People just want to seem "cool" and urban without dealing with city-life. Harumph! I've found that people who live outside of Philly can get away with saying they live *in* Philly because the borders include a lot of the suburbs - I never found it to be a big deal. Except when people from West Chester, PA say they are from Philly. Look it up on a map - it's not even close.
Personally, I don't really care that we have no representation. Sure, we're paying federal taxes, but we still get most of the social programs out of it. I had representation in Philly, and did I feel like it helped me at all? Not one bit. I wrote and wrote and wrote to my representatives, and all I got back were standard copy/paste letters. I moved here knowing there was no representation, and I'll suffer for it. Anddd I just realized how off-topic I am.
Anyway, I enjoy all of DCist's readers' comments - you guys make my day more enjoyable :)
Here is the problem,90% of my conservation when meeting someone new (usually out west) goes like this:
Q. "Where are you from?"
A. "Alexandria"
Q. "Where is that?"
A. "Near DC"
Q. **still puzzled**
A. (Fuck it) I am from DC.
Q. Ohh!!! Ever see the President?
Sometime it just easier to say DC, even though 8 out of 10 couldn’t find it on a map.
Why does the puzzlement over geography seem to affect DC Suburbanites so much?!
I don't think people from Clearview California are in so much pain about it. So what if someone doesn't know where Alexandria is, people don't know where any smaller cities are. I don't think a person from Clearview CA. goes- "fuck it, I'm from LA." What's so hard about saying "Its in Virginia, you know the god damned state- so where are you from?"
As for seeing the President, always reply "yes, all people in Alexandria get to eat one dinner with him a year, because we're sort of close, you know..."
I blame the National Geographic Society. If their mandate is to educate people and expand knowledge of the WTF goes where on the Tobler hyperelliptical projection, they've really screwed up. Maybe if they spent more time on outreach and less time peddling convertible cargo pants we would have a whole generation of kids who don't know WTF happens when you get to the edge of a map, can't explain or even understand what a glacier is, and actually think that the government is out to help them. I've pinpointed the moment National Geographic started going downhill: when kids stopped using pictures of nude New Guinea tribeswomen as whackoff fodder. And yet these clowns still have tax exempt status! Bring back the nekkid pitchers or start paying taxes or GTFO.
National Geographic should have gone all pop-up book format years ago. That is where they fucked up. What is the use of page after page of dinosaurs and amazon parrots if they don't pop-up when you open the magazine. That and nude native ladies from the island of Manhattan, and the plains of Spain. Pop-up. I say pop-up!
on behalf of all the employees of the national geographic society, whom i have been designated to speak for, i say the following:
bah!
So how many pairs of convertible cargo pants did they have to give you for that ringing endorsement? You've got at least two dcists who think NGS needs more pop-up dinosaur porn and foldouts featuring parrot snuff and panda shaving how-tos.
You're outnumbered, Aragorn. You need more men.
well, i don't feel like writing a long diatribe here, but i feel like i can finally comment on the whole DC v. NYC flame war that always seems to be simmering a little bit under the surface.
i finally went up to NYC this weekend. first time since i was 11 years old (20 years ago) when my family went to see the rockettes christmas show. suffice it to say that i barely remember that, and i certainly don't remember much of anything about NYC other than it was a hell of a lot bigger than the little town in the poconos i lived in.
i've been hearing people try to argue which of these two cities is better for whatever reason for the 5+ years i've lived here since grad school. it's pointless—we all know that. comparing a city of 8 million with all its possibilities to a city of 600K is stupid. i really like stmove's analogy (apples and blueberries). each has its own features that makes it worthwhile, but trying to do a head-to-head is folly.
i really liked what i saw up there (granted, that consisted of catching a cab at penn station, staying at a hotel in times square, walking from there up to harlem, and taking the subway out to brooklyn (where i have to say, mike grass lives next to one hell of a nice bar), so i didn't see a lot. give a few more trips to make a solid opinion.
we're lucky to be able to, with little effort, explore DC, baltimore, philly, new york, and even boston, if you want to go a little further afield. enjoy the riches, people.
I'll never understand these feuds. I love D.C. (and I seriously miss living there now that I've relocated to the Alexandria Neighborhood.) New York is awesome. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle — all great cities. But they're so different that it's impossible to say one is better than the other. They have different strengths and weaknesses. For example, I can find better Mexican food at a car wash in Los Angeles than in all of D.C. But that doesn't make D.C. inferior. Unlike LA, D.C. has decent public transportation.
I say live in all of them if you have the chance.
Boy, the MD and VA suburbs of DC suck alright.
I don't know if it's the fact that Montgomery County has 6 of the best 100 high schools in the nation; or the fact that in the 2000 census, Bethesda was the most highly educated city over 50k residents; or that the Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Germantown area was rated as being the area in the country in which residents feel the most safe and secure; or the fact that Bethesda has been rated as the best city in the country for single women to live in; or the numerous other accolades won by localities in the MD and VA suburbs of DC.
Or the fact that loads of power brokers, celebrities, corporate bigwigs and high rollers choose to make the close-in MD and VA suburbs their home.
I guess being the best makes one suck.
or that the Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Germantown area was rated as being the area in the country in which residents feel the most safe and secure;
Well, it's nice that they feel that way, except that crime in Montgomery County went up 7.7 percent last year. But hey, thanks for playing "Country Mouse vs. City Mouse."
Percentages alone are meaningless. For example, so far in 2009, the murder rate in D.C. is 12.5% higher than in 2008. Everyone Panic! And I'm pretty sure that 2008 crime numbers for D.C. were an increase over 2007 numbers as well.
Also remember that MoCo includes places like Silver Spring and Wheaton, where a lot of the recent crime has been taking place.
Whom-m-m the fuck ranks these places? And what Montgomery county MILF is giving the "analysts" handjobs in order to increase her property values?
What is with all the city/county comparison? And ranking? Do people seriously look at a book of this shit when they move? I thought people live where they are happy, with friends and family, and cheap drinks? What the hell am I missing? (success, a golden retriever running through an expansive lawn, a Panera bread, a place to park my range rover, a plethora of depressed suburban parents with which to have affairs with, I get it).
You're right the MD suburbs are great, if you want all the things that aging parents who love peace and quiet want. Which is great. But the burbs suck on every other count. And if you don't get that you are far too mature for this thread, you should get back to work and look at your investments again, they just plummeted while you read this!
Wow, what wonderful generalizations!. I guess we suburbanites are all depressed parents who drive Range Rovers and have golden retrievers. I'm 31, have no kids, and drive an 11-year old VW. Guess I don't live in the burbs.
And I guess only old people enjoy peace and quiet. Personally, I enjoy seeing deer, red foxes, raccoons, possums, woodpeckers, red-tailed hawks, and numerous varieties of birds in my backyard on a regular basis. And I enjoy being able to escape the madness of the city at the end of the day.
You obviously don't have kids. There are plenty of people out there who consider the quality of the schools in an area before they move there. And let's face it: the counties around D.C. has some of the best public schools in the country, whereas the public schools in the District are some of the worst in the country.
Also, no county in this area has a monopoly on pretentious arseholes. You don't have to look to hard to find someone who feels that they have the right to tell others how to live, and who feel that anyone who chooses to live a different lifestyle is somehow mentally deficient.
Although, I do have to laugh a bit at recent transplants to the city who have a holier-than-thou attitude and feel that only they know D.C.
Yes, you're describing the attributes of what are undeniably some of the nation's best bedroom communities.
is it to make yourselves feel better after getting slammed by someone trying to make new yorkers think he's one of them that you go on the warpath against suburbanites? you need to validate your decision to live in dc by attacking others' decision to live somewhere else?
i have never ran into someone while traveling that claimed to be from dc when they were actually from the suburbs. most people say they are from northern virginia, or the maryland suburbs of dc. and if someone doesn't know what that means, we follow up with something like 5 miles southwest of dc.
you are all a bunch of 'pareenies' in your need to find someone you can say isn't as cool as you because they don't actually live in dc. your rants here are as wrong and as pointless as his.
I don't think it's slamming, and nothing to do with "cool". Just a uniquely local observation which has nothing to do with city-vs-city bullshit. It is a well known local observation, if you have never met these other "Washingtonians" than lucky you. If for example you live in NoVa: Imagine if you ran into people all the time who said they were from your NoVa neighborhood, but when you asked them what they think of the new restaurant that opened in the neighborhood plaza, they said, oh actually I live in MD. It would be weird right?
I'm just in love with the term "pareenie." It's like what happens to your weenie when you come in from a cold swim.
dc isn't cool. thats just a fact. who really cares?
Yeah. DC isn't cool. But you know what is cool? Sewage powered jetpacks are cool.
I hear Dayton OH is way-y-y cool. Spread it around.
(paid for by the Dayton Business Improvement District, Hipster Visibility Branch (DBID-HVB))
Whatever, at least we have a bikeshare program that isn't ironic . If you are attracted to NYC because you are hip or creative, it is because you can't cut it on your own and need to be around lots of other hip, creative people to belong to something. I give oodles of credit to someone trying to make a place cool rather than just joining the party.
BSSB, that is just the stupidest comment ever.
People are attracted to NYC for "hip" or creative reasons because that's where the JOBS are in those fields. It's not like you can just find a music or fashion job, or an art gallery to rep you, in Wichita or Alaska.
I've heard lots of criticisms (many valid) of NYC. But I've never heard anyone say people moved TO NYC because they couldn't hack it in DC.
You sound like someone who grew up in Frederick.
"I've heard lots of criticisms (many valid) of NYC. But I've never heard anyone say people moved TO NYC because they couldn't hack it in DC."
It's true that jobs for the artistic community are more plentiful in NYC than elsewhere. But that also implies that no one has ever *made it* from elsewhere, which is a load of bollocks. So, it's somewhat ironic that you claim you've never heard of anyone moving to NY because they couldn't hack it elsewhere, whilst in the previous sentence providing a justification for doing exactly that.
And you sound like someone who likes CAPS LOCK. The number of people who just "go" vastly outnumber the people who are actually doing cool things. The number of people who are there on someone elses dime (read: parents, investment banker boyfriend) is staggering. Having moved from NYC three years ago (fully employed architect barely able to afford a studio in Bklyn), I can attest to the bullshit (as many can). not that there isn't quality, but it is just a scene now, (limited) job prospects aside. Maybe the economy will filter out a lot of the riffraff, but seeing how the city seems to be kicking out the affluent, educated, creative class in NYC like myself (good video), I doubt it.
Also, bikeshare comment stands. ridiculous.
Well if you like chaos, rude people and a stressful life of low quality and lack of humanity, as the one of such a monster city like NYC -which is great to visit only- then you will always look down at lovely, quiet and human scaled DC.
DC is perfect cool to me: it feels like a smaller town but it has everything of a big city, it has the best museums -free- and the best urban train system, its diverse, contrasting, its easy to get around and if you get to know its people and culture, you will see this city is great.
Of course DC needs to improve in many fields, but I'm used to live here and I like it... when I'm away I really miss it. DC is way cool.
SomeoneStoleMyScreenNameJason - Thanks for spreading the rumor that West Virginia is producing college graduates who seek cosmopolitan lives. My kin and I appreciate you dispelling the previously held belief that we all crave holler dwelling crank fed insular lives.
Yeah! We're not sensive about the subject at all! primergrey had it right all along.
i'm just impressed that this thread is still drawing this much attention two days down the line!
I imagine, like myself, many of today's commenters did not have to work yesterday, so they're catching up on all their DCist gossiping/arguing today.
What I hate about DC the MOST is its proximity to NYC, which allows for easy access by all the lame-tard New Yorkers who come for the weekend to dirty our pretty streets. We need to be more removed like Chicago or Miami, who don't give two shits about what people in Park Slope are thinking.
Of course, then we wouldn't be able to visit NYC so easily either, but I think we still win in the end.
The city streets of DC get enough dirty laundry without anyone visiting from NYC or any other place for that matter. I see some merits with DC, but it's not the utopia of cities and it has far less venues and media clout for the everyday citizen. Can we say the AIGA suck here? Yes!
Don't get on my tail about why I live here. It's a matter of economics and family.
What's Gawker? And, furthermore, who cares what these lame-o's think? Leave the insults to us locals, we're better at it.
'jus sayin'.