Anybody here actually like D.C.?
I honestly don't understand how you can "not" like DC relative to the grand scheme of cities. Temperate climate, tons do... and lots of it is free, more reasonable prices than San Fran/NYC/etc., lots and lots of green everywhere, not cramped feeling, etc. The only legitimate negative with DC relative to other big cities is the transportation.
With that being said... your hater's guide to DC:
They call DC the capital of the free world... which really makes you want to take a closer look at fascism. The economy is great in DC and businesses have been flocking here in recent years because it's "recession proof", which is really just a euphemism for "suckling at the teet of big Government which never stops printing money."
All transportation in DC sucks. Driving is hell. Not only is there your worse-than-normal big city congestion but you will learn to fear blue diplomat plates more than Gary Gray fears the fade pass. The thing about diplomats is that not only are they universally bad drivers, but they are also generally immune to the rules of the road. So it's a perfect storm of incompetence and don't-give-a-fuck piloting a $200k car.
The public transportation isn't NYC subway bad... but it's bad. Not only do the routes make little to no sense, but breakdowns and track maintenance are a daily occurrence... as is broken air conditioning during the brutal summers. Take however much time the trip planner says it will take for you to get from point A to point B and triple it.
Think about how much you hate career politicians. Now think about how much politics in general annoy you. And finally think about what scum you consider lobbyists to be. That's your general DC socialite wrapped into one person. The sense of entitlement among some people is absurd, and only trumped by the rude and cutthroat nature of others. Most decent people who work in or around DC don't live there and commute in from the suburbs. Those that
DO live in DC have to deal with one of the most corrupt (sup, Chicago) and horribly run cities in the country. The most famous DC public servant is Mayor Marion Barry. Barry makes Rob Ford look like a Boy Scout. Arrested for crack in 1990 he went to federal prison... only to run for mayor again upon his release and, of course, win handily. Marion Barry still serves as a DC councilman to this day.
Best of all? DC, legally, is still owned by Congress... yet its residents have no representation senators or congressmen with legitimate voting rights. How poetic.
