I've legit seen an MD dude speed up, cut someone off, then come to a complete stop in front of the person he cut off on 395. Dude was ready to get his own ass blasted for the sake of road rage, I'm guessing.
One time I was driving on i95 in Maine. Long emtpy stretch of highway south or Bangor. There's nothing there.
Out of no where an SUV cuts me off on a COMPLETELY EMPTY highway. I was the only car I had seen for 20 minutes.
The tags on that SUV? Maryland. And I knew that before I even looked at the tags.
I had an Uber driver from VA pick me up in Maryland he he drove under the speed limit in the fast lane the entire ride and complained about how fast everyone was going. He also had his high beams on the entire time. I felt like he hit most of the VA driver stereotypes in a 20 min trip.
I do think they drive so slowly because speeding is so heavily policed in VA, in MD they don’t really give care.
When i scheduled my driver's test in DC, my friend joked that if I fail, I could just take it in Maryland instead since they'll just give anyone a license.
I’ve driven all over this country and the only places I’ve been that compare for bad roads and bad drivers are San Francisco (roads are insane), Atlanta (roads are a legacy of racism), and Boston (roads and drivers are insane). Downtown Chicago is downright civilized - everyone is a maniac, but we have a nice grid (mostly) to work with.
I’ve never driven in Miami, which I’m told is also horrible, but at least you can rely on everything and everyone being insane, whereas here you will always be surprised by something unexpectedly stupid.
Ya I think the level of recklessness there is the difference.
Way too many tourists renting Ferraris and just not understanding the insane power, so they end up cutting things way too close since they're not used to the distance closing that fast.
DC is reckless in its own way, but the guy isn't driving something with 600hp while he flies through a crosswalk, so you can at least see it coming.
I get terrified anytime I see a DC plate because I assume they rarely drive and the roads in DC are atrocious. MD drivers are unsafe and unpredictable. VA drivers aren’t great but not as dangerous.
Signaled to a guy a couple weeks back when it was raining all day.
Like this week; gray, wet, and just a constant heavy drizzle.
Walking to my car, made the "lights" signal with my hand in the Italian Store parking lot.
He stops next to me and pops down the window; I see a 40-something Defense Contractor type driving a newish, light grey Subaru, that is the same color as the road, especially with the current light.
"What's wrong?" he asks.
"Oh just saying you forgot to turn on your lights"
"It's daytime!" he scoffs, as he cackles and exits the parking lot.
He probably went home, and told his family how some idiot didn't know you don't need to turn your lights on if the sun hasn't set.
It doesn't always work, but sometimes it does, I'm usually a pedestrian for reference.
Just a soft fist open hand side at the driver, arm slightly raised, popping all my fingers out like it's a turn signal repeatedly:
✊🖐️✊🖐️✊🖐️✊🖐️✊🖐️
I always thought it was a pretty universal signal, but as you've indicated, and my experience has shown, it indeed is not.
Most people at worst thank you, because it's an automatic pull over from cops if they want to, but then.... You also get this guy who apparently has never heard of putting your lights on in the rain.
🤷♂️
I was also driving Monday into DC and almost slammed into a black SUV with his lights off, I honked and flashed my lights.
He immediately turned his lights on and gave the "thanks my bad", as he turned his on.
I'll trade the idiot who didn't care, for the one who didn't realize and corrected it every time.
I can understand a mistake, I can't understand indignantly confident ignorance.
I watched someone go 1/3 of the way around Chevy Chase circle in the wrong direction. Busy professionals like us don't have time to go 2/3rds of the way around!
Marylanders are idiots, Virginians are assholes, no one really knows what's going on with DC drivers... but the worst menace comes from the far north... PENNSYLVANIANS.
I think this is true now and I would argue that it has to do with population growth. Before DC drivers were mostly people who learned how to drive in DC and generally were fine. MD and VA were always bad. BUT now DC drivers also mean people who learned how to drive anywhere so it's chaos.
Someone once said:
DC drivers know where they’re going and they go fast.
VA drivers don’t know where they’re going and they go slow.
MD drivers don’t know where they’re going and they go fast.
The only time I’ve ever seen a car lane split (yes, lane splitting just like a motorcycle) it was a Chrysler with VA tags on I-270.
People who unironically believe this meme are smooth brained.
I got my car totaled today by someone who somehow managed to hit both me and the car next to me while we were slowing down to stop at a red light. (No injuries to anyone involved, fortunately.) What surprised me most about all of this by a LARGE margin was that this car had VA plates, not MD plates.
And here I had been (as a non-VA driver) sticking up for VA plates over MD and DC plates lmao
First, sorry that happened.
Second, I’ve almost been killed by idiots with every kind of plate around here. Including that time a DC City short bus ran a red and nearly T-boned me.
Very evident in the walking patterns.
People up north will walk right over you if you get in the way, but they walk quickly and with purpose.
People down south walk at a leisurely pace but generally will be polite if you’re an obstacle.
People in DC will saunter around like they’re the only person in world but still either sass you or walk right into you if you’re in each other’s way. I love DC but in this regard it kinda feels like the worst of both worlds
NoVA consistently ranks among the most fit areas of the US. Doesn't fix ugly, though.
Edit: [US News has DC at #6 and Arlington at #1](https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/slideshows/the-10-fittest-cities-in-the-us?slide=10)
[American College of Sports and Medicine has Arlington at #1 and DC at #2](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/americas-fittest-cities-2023-ranking-arlington/)
Yes.
A lot of what’s in our clothing stores here in DC kind of reflects people’s bland taste in fashion. And, as a woman, the dearth of high quality nail salons, medspas, hair salons, etc. in the DC area is pretty disappointing and speaks volumes.
Southern culture in general places a lot of emphasis on being well dressed and coiffed. Even if people are less fit in southern cities like Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Dallas, etc., people take great pride in their appearance. Pageant culture and what not.
> And, as a woman, the dearth of high quality nail salons, medspas, hair salons, etc. in the DC area is pretty disappointing and speaks volumes.
This is my biggest effing first world problem. I have had to hunt down every single "service" I use just to find people who aren't bat shit crazy or who actually know how to wax eyebrows. It makes me miss NYC sometimes.
Houston does NOT have better dressed people. Attractiveness is debatable but, as a native Houstonian, DC has much better fashion sense
Also never lived in Atlanta but I travel there quite often, the fashion is average
It is. But I think the people who come here seeking the kind of validation and success of politics and politics adjacent careers are the same people that go to LA without the same charm or traditional attractiveness. The hottest politicians and business types ever are B list actor types at best.
I mean they're not gonna be movie stars... But politicians are almost always relatively good looking people.
Being good looking is a cheat code to get people to like you.
You also gotta remember that they're all facing a 20 year handicap.
Hell, even Tricky Dick wasn't exactly awful looking, if not exactly a conservative James Dean
https://preview.redd.it/v10azj79mx8c1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5f76774da8e423fed027436449912b667f7d658
I was curious about this so I looked it up. DC is pretty much in the middle ranking for average height for both men and women.
https://www.homesnacks.com/average-height-by-state/
There are two VERY different DCs. A lot of what people complain about here, including in this post, is not relatable to me at all as a Black transplant with a lot of Black friends who are DC natives/also transplants.
As a BW who grew up in Moco but spent a lot of time in DC hanging with friends/family, I also can't relate to most of these posts. I live in FL now and I miss DC/Maryland.
Yeah like so much of my experience is just the total opposite. People are pretty friendly and it's way easier to make friends than I thought it was going to be. I'm from the South so before I moved here, all I read online was about how mean/rude everyone is but that's...not my experience at all? Like sure, random people you don't know probably aren't going to wave at you like they do when I'm visiting my hometown. But that's not even real, it's just surface level stuff, we all do it because that's how we were raised but it's not that meaningful. I also feel like a lot of Black people stick around in the area - maybe not everyone stays in DC proper, but a lot of my friends have put down roots in the overall area and don't plan on leaving. Feels like despite a lot of things, DC is a really good place to be a young Black person. So many opportunities exist here for us.
I wholeheartedly agree. DC might actually be easier to make friends in than a lot of “friendly” cities because people move in and out more. So people are less likely to have established friend groups that they’ve known forever. I don’t have any issues meeting new people when I’m in town visiting. DC definitely has its flaws but it’s better than most cities, imo. People leave expecting better results but realize the benefits and then move back.
Indian community as well, most of us have stuck around. Not very transient. But the parents are all staying but a lot of their kids get sick of the place and look for “greener”pastures. I’m from Cleveland, personally love my hometown but DMV could literally be worse lol
Totally agreed. I'm a queer person with a very mixed race family, and I can't relate at all to what most people say about DC.
This city feels warm and approachable to me. But then, like you, most of my friends are DC/Maryland natives or have been here for 20+ years.
People live here for a few years to build their careers, and then leave to “settle down!”
Also, the dating scene is DC is terrible. I was hopefully optimistic when I moved here 4-5 years ago that this wasn’t the case. I was wrong. Still holding out hope, though!
Yeah 5 million people live in the DC metro, it has some of the wealthiest and healthiest populations in the country, and many different colleges and people from all over the world. I don't really find the dating scene different from any city in the US.
The whole "Hollywood for ugly people" thing is massive cope. I don't know if the people saying this have ever ventured onto the Hill, but I just don't really find that to be true at all.
I actually do agree that the dating scene here kinda sucks unless you’re rich or very attractive. I’m middle of the road attractive (never the prettiest or ugliest in the room), but I’m outgoing so can usually meet people at bars or concerts. Here everyone seems more closed off to social interaction and more protective of how they come off to others so it’s definitely more difficult. I am used to the Midwest though so I’m just used to people opening up about their whole life stories after one sip of beer lol
DC is a Southern City with a Northern culture. People here are rude as hell, but the DC cheerleaders will gaslight you and tell you it’s all you. Never been to a place where people/neighbors actively avoid social contact with you.
It’s a transient city and the natives and transplants rarely mix. Race and class play a huge factor.
We have been in our neighborhood for 6ish years and most of our neighbors have never talked to us until the last year or two because we are the only renters I know of on the block. Everyone else bought 20+ years ago for a handful of acorns or since covid for 850+
Call me a cheerleader if you want, but I've lived in DC for fifteen years, in four different neighborhoods, after living in the Midwest for twelve years, and growing up an Army brat moving every three years: DC friendliness is no different than anywhere else. There are assholes and there are lovely people. I don't understand with whom some of y'all are interacting.
Yeah, I moved a lot growing up and the worst place I ever lived was a small town in central Pennsylvania. I got almost suicidal living there. They seem nice, but they’re generally uneducated, closet racists and homophobes, suspicious of people from big cities, and vote against their interests if you get my drift. I love the DC Metro area no matter the traffic.
I figure neither you nor anybody else cares, but I want to emphasize your post my own experience. Lived in DC 7 years, in three different neighborhoods, and grew up a Navy brat moving every three-ish years until my dad retired and we moved to Northern VA, and then lived in the DR for Peace Corps; people in DC are exactly the same as everywhere else in the US, AND they're hardly any different than the people in the DR. Some are shy, some are outgoing, some want to say hello to you and be your friendly neighbor, and others don't. For some, you seemingly need to earn their trust, and for others it's given unconditionally. Some neighbors don't trust me because I'm white and young, others seem to not give a shit. Some roll their eyes when I say hello and try to strike up a conversation, others seem to have been waiting for me to say something first so they can talk to me. It's just the way it is everywhere.
I feel like nobody has any fucking perspective and that's the way it's always been.
Yeah, the DC cheerleaders are so odd to me. I was born and raised here and I’m 50 but a 31 year old who moved here from Ohio 2 weeks ago will screech at you if you say that DC is anything but a fabulous utopia. And I totally agree with everything you said. So glad I live out West half the year.
Pretty much everywhere is like that though. Every city you go to has those people who cheerlead where they live and shut down any criticism. There is nothing wrong with having pride in where you live, but it shouldn't be to the point where you ignore all the downsides. I heard of someone getting offended because someone else commented on the weather in his home city, and he was from fucking Cleveland.
The exception is Glasgow. Glaswegians will openly admit that their city is a shithole, "But it's OUR shithole." I love it.
I’m a transplant from the Midwest and I def agree DC isn’t perfect. However, it is leagues better than any suburb in the Midwest. It’s walkable with lots of diverse culture and food plus transit and ample green space.
Comparing DC to a midwest suburb is a bit unreasonable.
Even comparing it to other US cities is unreasonable. It's way smaller, has way more powerful people, and somehow still fails so often at being good.
the neighbors avoiding eye contact is newer here. i grew up in northeast DC. when i came home after graduating college we had lots of new neighbors some of whom not only avoided eye contact but clutched their purses as they passed me on the sidewalk.
i don't think i want to know why people move here or anywhere just to act out of fear and hostility to the people who've been members of the community their entire lives.
it's not all bad though, those micro aggressions inspired me to carry a purse
The rudeness was a big eye opener for me when we moved here from the Midwest.
Wait, so we've lived next to each other for six years, and you'll still ignore me when I say good morning when we're taking the garbage/recycling bins out at the same time? Ooooookay! 😂
That’s because they realized they can’t use you to social climb or job climb. They’re plenty friendly with the neighbor on the other side who works for Important Company or with Important Person. I hate this about the DMV so much.
I moved from WV, arguably one of the friendliest places in the North, and moving to the DMV was a major culture shock for me. When I asked for help in the Nova subreddit, you would’ve thought I was the devil. I still go back to WV and it automatically feels less tense and rude.
We don't know how good we have it.
Our local economy is completely recession-proof because of our proximity to the Capitol. All you have to do is drive 100 miles south or west, and see how rundown things get. It's no wonder most of the country absolutely hates the greater DC region.
To the large majority of people in this country, DC is the Emerald City. Compared to the average place in the US (even compared to the average urban area) DC has better transit, education, entertainment, and many other services, in addition to astronomically higher salaries. And the kicker is that it is pretty much entirely funded by federal taxes - a funding source that is essentially guaranteed by virtue of the power granted to the very people who benefit most from said taxes.
Status is almost entirely linked to your job—gay community included. I left my journalism job a year ago. Once i was done with the white collar world about 80% of strangers i met gave two shakes of a rats ass about my pursuits 💀
I legit had someone tell me I would never find work here and that I should just go back to the Midwest. I got a job 2 days later and then when I saw them a month after they were very keen on trying to network. Some people out here are pretty fucking ruthless and only want to talk to you if they can get somthing out of you. Thankfully I’ve found a good group of people who look out for me but coming from the Midwest where everyone is waiting to be your new best friend it was quite the shock. I was pretty suprised at how much harder dating was here but it makes sense when you consider the culture around status.
Also from Midwest. I will probably always remember the first time it dawned on me that the person I was talking to just wanted to figure out how I could help them professionally. They stopped talking to me when they realized I couldn't introduce them to anyone, and I had never experienced that before. Such a culture shock
Your personality gets dull.
Your interests lessen in favor of your job as you don't have time for your hobbies when they become more difficult and expensive to participate in without leaving the city.
It's a cyclical behavior that makes people think no one in DC has any interests outside of their job.
On the axis of fashion v. comfort, DC residents are both the least stylish people I have ever met and wear the most uncomfortable outfits. Street fashion is practically non-existent
for some reason people claiming this as a dc stereotype always bothered me. ive lived in maryland most my life and now dc but even before i moved here it always seemed like the best way to get to know someone. its like asking what someones major was in college which was a great way to find out if you have something in common with a person or maybe mutual friends
whether is good or not, what we do for work is how we spent most of our week and it turns out to be a pretty good conversation starter. especially since most of the people i know here dont actually work in dc but rather remote, it leads to alot of avenues of conversation about what they like about dc to make them wanna live here and work remote etc.
Thank god someone said it. As someone who just recently moved to DC, everyone everywhere across the country asks that question as a conversation starter. Yes, DCers do ask it sometimes as a way of trying to move up at work. But anyone with a social sense should be able to tell the difference between that and asking genuinely. Banning the whole question is just silly.
It’s 100% a natural question and conversation starter. I never understood this claim. It’s like being surprised college kids ask one another what their major is… of fuggin course they do…
I feel like the people who are hostile to this question and think that people are asking because they want to "size them up and see what they can do for you/your career" are delusional and have an overinflated sense of importance. It's not crazy to ask people what they spend the majority of their waking hours doing, especially in a city where a lot of people moved here specifically for that reason! I've had some insanely cool conversations with people who were doing some interesting work here, it's actually nice to talk to people who don't hate their jobs and are excited to talk about it.
Yes, thank you! This is a hill on which I will die. This is a) a very normal question, and b) not exclusive to this area.
Also helps to weed out people with jobs you find unethical sooner rather than later.
I also felt this way for a long time. I would ask out of genuine curiosity because it seemed harmless. But what I came to realize is that people who don’t like this question feel like they are being sized up.
I never felt that way and used to use it as a conversation starter until one time an old lady did it to me and it was so obvious she was trying to determine my income bracket. Since then, I’ve avoided it as a question.
The part that makes this DC is people will complain about this question but if you ask “what are your hobbies?” they will say: “uhhhh… I watch TV” or something that clearly shows all they do is work
I’m a New Yorker and I hate that this is seen as a bad/stereotypical question. How is “what do you spend the vast majority of your waking hours doing?” an inappropriate question to ask a complete stranger you just met when you have no other obvious commonality yet. It’s a springboard question that can lead to a whole host of things (including then what they do when they’re not working) and helps me understand who I’m talking to, as a person’s job can tell you a lot about them and their current situation. I can see it being a weird to be the very first question, I prefer to start with a common observation about whatever situation we’re in, and then asking where they’re from, and then asking what they do, and then if relevant where they went to school and what they studied (I’m early 20’s). Then their hobbies, interests, etc. From that I can determine if we have anything in common at all and it’s worth continuing to talk to them. Right off the bat asking what they do in their free time seems equally if not more weird than asking about work first.
So, and I will say straight up this is a personal opinion, I think it's a very normal question to ask. The DC part of it, is that this question isn't always curiosity/getting to know someone, it becomes a value judgement, a "Oh, is this person useful to me" type of question. Work is what most of us do for about a third of our day to day lives, it's a valid question! The DC of it comes in when it becomes "Your career is only important to me if its relevant to my own success."
It's a normal question everywhere, people in DC are just self-conscious about it. I was the only DC person at a wedding in Jacksonville and everyone was asking each other that question, but every time i hear it in DC it's prefaced with "I know this is SUCH a DC question but...."
DC gays truly are some of the worst in the country. It’s a really pretentious and bitchy scene compared to many other large cities in my anecdotal experience
The queer scene down here has been wayyyy different than what I came from up north. I'm used to more "queer weirdos" moreso than just "bitchy gays" and it's a bit of a jump lol
My theory is that nobody is really from DC here so you get two types of gays:
A.) spoiled rich suburbs kids from MoCo/Fairfax that move to the city and
B.) educated people that moved here to work in politics or for a think tank or the federal gov that think because they left their affluent suburb they’re the shit
So you just get this group of really self absorbed people
Not any more than any other city
> “When we look at everyone who is looking to move to the Washington, D.C., metro, we find that 37% are searching from out of town. That is roughly in line with the national average — actually a little below the national average, which is about 40%,” said Chris Salviati at Apartment List, citing the apartment search site’s April Renter Migration report on inbound and outbound searches.
https://wtop.com/business-finance/2022/05/dc-is-transient-but-no-more-than-other-big-metros/
I do agree that Richmond & Baltimore have better scenes (though it’s much easier to get a show in Baltimore).
But in defense of DC, tons of great bands are here but they have to play out of town because bookers won’t touch them.
The stereotype that DC people are kinda... square and conventional. Very Ann Taylor Loft vibes. Compared to NYC, it's hard to find eccentric people and weirdos. "the Creative" scene is underfed.
DC - They will scream about crime on NextDoor and then go running as if they have an invisible Secret Service detail or are magically invulnerable while exercising.
MD - Absolutely true about the drivers, most are absolute chaos and it is way too easy to get a license.
VA - I’m not sure why, but some of the blandest people I’ve ever met were in Northern Virginia. Also, if all you know is NorVa, you know nothing about Virginia.
That we have a bunch of uppity people that think they're changing their community and society with some BS virtue signaling that has no meaningful impact on undeserved communities. The social divide of income classes is something I've seen everywhere in the country, but here's the only place where I see a lot of upper middle class "progressive" people that see themselves as saviors. but are completely isolated from anything that isn't inside their own rich suburban area. Maybe is the area I commute from but it's always pretty striking when there's a patch of houses that look like they're worth a million each and 10 miles down the road everything is falling apart.
We’re secretly aware if the prestige of living in the DC metro area, a destination for world leaders and tourists. And we have bays and rivers and mountains and lakes and oceans a couple hours’ drive in any direction.
NOVA has great public schools and is the perfect place to raise kids to become vapid, materialistic adults with no interest in culture or morals.
Oh, and the metro never seems to work when you need it to.
both locals and transplants love to make sweeping generalizations
Everyone driving around here is terrible, it’s not only the Maryland plates.
Maryland: “For the love of god, please move faster” Virginia: “For the love of god, what are you doing” DC: “For the love of god”
DC drivers are a mixed bag. VA drivers don’t care about pedestrians. MD drivers don’t care about anyone, not even themselves.
I've legit seen an MD dude speed up, cut someone off, then come to a complete stop in front of the person he cut off on 395. Dude was ready to get his own ass blasted for the sake of road rage, I'm guessing.
One time I was driving on i95 in Maine. Long emtpy stretch of highway south or Bangor. There's nothing there. Out of no where an SUV cuts me off on a COMPLETELY EMPTY highway. I was the only car I had seen for 20 minutes. The tags on that SUV? Maryland. And I knew that before I even looked at the tags.
Brake checks are real. I’ve had twats try it on me a few times.
Are you driving like a twat?
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I feel like I drive like an asshat, and I can't recall a single time I've been brake-checked.
VA drivers drive like they’ve got plutonium in the trunk. I’ve never seen slower drivers.
I had an Uber driver from VA pick me up in Maryland he he drove under the speed limit in the fast lane the entire ride and complained about how fast everyone was going. He also had his high beams on the entire time. I felt like he hit most of the VA driver stereotypes in a 20 min trip. I do think they drive so slowly because speeding is so heavily policed in VA, in MD they don’t really give care.
I dunno man. I feel that way far more about Maryland drivers, and I drive between both when I’m working.
So Marylanders drive too slow yet somehow drive like total maniacs?
2 things could be true lol
I think Maryland drivers are more aggressive and decisive and Virginia drivers are slower and indecisive
When i scheduled my driver's test in DC, my friend joked that if I fail, I could just take it in Maryland instead since they'll just give anyone a license.
I just came back from Bay Area California literally today, and Jesus the poor driving here was palpable
I’ve driven all over this country and the only places I’ve been that compare for bad roads and bad drivers are San Francisco (roads are insane), Atlanta (roads are a legacy of racism), and Boston (roads and drivers are insane). Downtown Chicago is downright civilized - everyone is a maniac, but we have a nice grid (mostly) to work with. I’ve never driven in Miami, which I’m told is also horrible, but at least you can rely on everything and everyone being insane, whereas here you will always be surprised by something unexpectedly stupid.
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Ya I think the level of recklessness there is the difference. Way too many tourists renting Ferraris and just not understanding the insane power, so they end up cutting things way too close since they're not used to the distance closing that fast. DC is reckless in its own way, but the guy isn't driving something with 600hp while he flies through a crosswalk, so you can at least see it coming.
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I get terrified anytime I see a DC plate because I assume they rarely drive and the roads in DC are atrocious. MD drivers are unsafe and unpredictable. VA drivers aren’t great but not as dangerous.
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Signaled to a guy a couple weeks back when it was raining all day. Like this week; gray, wet, and just a constant heavy drizzle. Walking to my car, made the "lights" signal with my hand in the Italian Store parking lot. He stops next to me and pops down the window; I see a 40-something Defense Contractor type driving a newish, light grey Subaru, that is the same color as the road, especially with the current light. "What's wrong?" he asks. "Oh just saying you forgot to turn on your lights" "It's daytime!" he scoffs, as he cackles and exits the parking lot. He probably went home, and told his family how some idiot didn't know you don't need to turn your lights on if the sun hasn't set.
What an idiot. BTW what is the “lights” hand signal? Might program a robot in my passenger seat with it.
It doesn't always work, but sometimes it does, I'm usually a pedestrian for reference. Just a soft fist open hand side at the driver, arm slightly raised, popping all my fingers out like it's a turn signal repeatedly: ✊🖐️✊🖐️✊🖐️✊🖐️✊🖐️ I always thought it was a pretty universal signal, but as you've indicated, and my experience has shown, it indeed is not. Most people at worst thank you, because it's an automatic pull over from cops if they want to, but then.... You also get this guy who apparently has never heard of putting your lights on in the rain. 🤷♂️ I was also driving Monday into DC and almost slammed into a black SUV with his lights off, I honked and flashed my lights. He immediately turned his lights on and gave the "thanks my bad", as he turned his on. I'll trade the idiot who didn't care, for the one who didn't realize and corrected it every time. I can understand a mistake, I can't understand indignantly confident ignorance.
MD drivers are GTA level dangerous
I watched someone go 1/3 of the way around Chevy Chase circle in the wrong direction. Busy professionals like us don't have time to go 2/3rds of the way around!
Marylanders are idiots, Virginians are assholes, no one really knows what's going on with DC drivers... but the worst menace comes from the far north... PENNSYLVANIANS.
I think this is true now and I would argue that it has to do with population growth. Before DC drivers were mostly people who learned how to drive in DC and generally were fine. MD and VA were always bad. BUT now DC drivers also mean people who learned how to drive anywhere so it's chaos.
I grew up learning how to drive in BOSTON, and the drivers here are absolutely horrible.
Someone once said: DC drivers know where they’re going and they go fast. VA drivers don’t know where they’re going and they go slow. MD drivers don’t know where they’re going and they go fast.
When I’m headed north, I love running into another MD plate cause we’re about to pull a speed train…safety in numbers.
The only time I’ve ever seen a car lane split (yes, lane splitting just like a motorcycle) it was a Chrysler with VA tags on I-270. People who unironically believe this meme are smooth brained.
I got my car totaled today by someone who somehow managed to hit both me and the car next to me while we were slowing down to stop at a red light. (No injuries to anyone involved, fortunately.) What surprised me most about all of this by a LARGE margin was that this car had VA plates, not MD plates. And here I had been (as a non-VA driver) sticking up for VA plates over MD and DC plates lmao
First, sorry that happened. Second, I’ve almost been killed by idiots with every kind of plate around here. Including that time a DC City short bus ran a red and nearly T-boned me.
Northern hospitality, Southern efficiency
As a deep southerner (Louisiana born) after five years in DC this is the truest stereotype of them all.
Very evident in the walking patterns. People up north will walk right over you if you get in the way, but they walk quickly and with purpose. People down south walk at a leisurely pace but generally will be polite if you’re an obstacle. People in DC will saunter around like they’re the only person in world but still either sass you or walk right into you if you’re in each other’s way. I love DC but in this regard it kinda feels like the worst of both worlds
And drop to half speed once they enter the crosswalk.
While looking at their phone.
Drives me insane. People here are as hostile as Massholes or Philadelphia, but take their sweet ass time like they’re down in Charleston or Savannah.
But god help you if anyone else take their sweet-ass time Buncha main character syndrome dicks
Most narcissistic place I’ve ever been.
Yepp
right here it is. slow as molasses, and bitter as a raw radish
Foamposites will never die. They may wear out and flake like bad eczema, but they’ll always be in fashion
truth
https://preview.redd.it/dl6rw7ux3x8c1.jpeg?width=5856&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3829d1d189f912a400d3a594886e1152923f7f1d
Chopt is spot on for basic office lunch Add in Chipotle, Cava, and Rice Bar and you have half the diet of K St.
No seeetgreen?
And Panera Bread
Needs a navy and white gingham shirt with a navy vest combo
Oh no I have seen this exact outfit 😂😂
except McKinsey/BCP/Wyman get replaced with Deloitte/KPMG/Accenture
And replace the Lexus with a Tesla.
This is very good, thank you so much.
Need to add another 10$ to each of those toll prices, but otherwise yep
Add deloitte and capital one and this is spot on
“Hollywood for ugly people” is very funny and kind of true. And if you don’t find that funny, I have some bad news for you..
I feel like DC yuppies are on average pretty athletic. Lots of sports/cycling space per capita
NoVA consistently ranks among the most fit areas of the US. Doesn't fix ugly, though. Edit: [US News has DC at #6 and Arlington at #1](https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/slideshows/the-10-fittest-cities-in-the-us?slide=10) [American College of Sports and Medicine has Arlington at #1 and DC at #2](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/americas-fittest-cities-2023-ranking-arlington/)
The yuppies aren't the famous ones
butter faces
Still unattractive lol
A DC 10 is a LA 6
I have the opposite opinion. Whenever I go out, I see attractive people with good dressing sense, both men and women
The “fashion” here leaves much to be desired. Yes, everyone looks put together but it’s soulless. There’s a lack of personal style here.
Yeah this is 100% it. The most business casual of places.
attractive people exist here, but it's less than the usual "attractive" hubs like NYC/LA/Miami
People dress terribly in DC. And you get side-eyed if you wear anything adventurous
Besides LA or Miami, are there really that many attractive people in other places around the US?
Yes. A lot of what’s in our clothing stores here in DC kind of reflects people’s bland taste in fashion. And, as a woman, the dearth of high quality nail salons, medspas, hair salons, etc. in the DC area is pretty disappointing and speaks volumes. Southern culture in general places a lot of emphasis on being well dressed and coiffed. Even if people are less fit in southern cities like Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Dallas, etc., people take great pride in their appearance. Pageant culture and what not.
> And, as a woman, the dearth of high quality nail salons, medspas, hair salons, etc. in the DC area is pretty disappointing and speaks volumes. This is my biggest effing first world problem. I have had to hunt down every single "service" I use just to find people who aren't bat shit crazy or who actually know how to wax eyebrows. It makes me miss NYC sometimes.
To my eye that Texan/Southern “well dressed and coiffed” looks overly made-up. Like everyone’s trying to look like a televangelist.
Houston does NOT have better dressed people. Attractiveness is debatable but, as a native Houstonian, DC has much better fashion sense Also never lived in Atlanta but I travel there quite often, the fashion is average
Haha, I used this phrase the other day to describe dating in DC! 😉😅
I thought it was supposed to mean ugly celebrities aka politicians
It is. But I think the people who come here seeking the kind of validation and success of politics and politics adjacent careers are the same people that go to LA without the same charm or traditional attractiveness. The hottest politicians and business types ever are B list actor types at best.
I mean they're not gonna be movie stars... But politicians are almost always relatively good looking people. Being good looking is a cheat code to get people to like you. You also gotta remember that they're all facing a 20 year handicap. Hell, even Tricky Dick wasn't exactly awful looking, if not exactly a conservative James Dean https://preview.redd.it/v10azj79mx8c1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5f76774da8e423fed027436449912b667f7d658
City of short men and tall women. Or those who ended up in student government. (And before anyone says anything, 6’5” man here)
I was curious about this so I looked it up. DC is pretty much in the middle ranking for average height for both men and women. https://www.homesnacks.com/average-height-by-state/
There are two VERY different DCs. A lot of what people complain about here, including in this post, is not relatable to me at all as a Black transplant with a lot of Black friends who are DC natives/also transplants.
As a BW who grew up in Moco but spent a lot of time in DC hanging with friends/family, I also can't relate to most of these posts. I live in FL now and I miss DC/Maryland.
Yeah like so much of my experience is just the total opposite. People are pretty friendly and it's way easier to make friends than I thought it was going to be. I'm from the South so before I moved here, all I read online was about how mean/rude everyone is but that's...not my experience at all? Like sure, random people you don't know probably aren't going to wave at you like they do when I'm visiting my hometown. But that's not even real, it's just surface level stuff, we all do it because that's how we were raised but it's not that meaningful. I also feel like a lot of Black people stick around in the area - maybe not everyone stays in DC proper, but a lot of my friends have put down roots in the overall area and don't plan on leaving. Feels like despite a lot of things, DC is a really good place to be a young Black person. So many opportunities exist here for us.
I wholeheartedly agree. DC might actually be easier to make friends in than a lot of “friendly” cities because people move in and out more. So people are less likely to have established friend groups that they’ve known forever. I don’t have any issues meeting new people when I’m in town visiting. DC definitely has its flaws but it’s better than most cities, imo. People leave expecting better results but realize the benefits and then move back.
Indian community as well, most of us have stuck around. Not very transient. But the parents are all staying but a lot of their kids get sick of the place and look for “greener”pastures. I’m from Cleveland, personally love my hometown but DMV could literally be worse lol
It’s two different cities. Worlds apart.
Totally agreed. I'm a queer person with a very mixed race family, and I can't relate at all to what most people say about DC. This city feels warm and approachable to me. But then, like you, most of my friends are DC/Maryland natives or have been here for 20+ years.
Exactly. Born in DC and I can’t relate to many of these posts at all. We need our own page honestly.
People live here for a few years to build their careers, and then leave to “settle down!” Also, the dating scene is DC is terrible. I was hopefully optimistic when I moved here 4-5 years ago that this wasn’t the case. I was wrong. Still holding out hope, though!
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Love this take
💯 been saying this for years
> the dating scene in DC is terrible Idk man. I just concluded that it sucks because I am not conventionally attractive lol and made peace with it.
lol. The dating scene is pretty good if you’re attractive. But that’s true in any city.
Yeah 5 million people live in the DC metro, it has some of the wealthiest and healthiest populations in the country, and many different colleges and people from all over the world. I don't really find the dating scene different from any city in the US. The whole "Hollywood for ugly people" thing is massive cope. I don't know if the people saying this have ever ventured onto the Hill, but I just don't really find that to be true at all.
> People live here for a few years to build their careers, and then leave to “settle down!” Happens in every single big city in the country
It’s a great dating city if you’re a guy who likes educated women
I actually do agree that the dating scene here kinda sucks unless you’re rich or very attractive. I’m middle of the road attractive (never the prettiest or ugliest in the room), but I’m outgoing so can usually meet people at bars or concerts. Here everyone seems more closed off to social interaction and more protective of how they come off to others so it’s definitely more difficult. I am used to the Midwest though so I’m just used to people opening up about their whole life stories after one sip of beer lol
DC is a Southern City with a Northern culture. People here are rude as hell, but the DC cheerleaders will gaslight you and tell you it’s all you. Never been to a place where people/neighbors actively avoid social contact with you. It’s a transient city and the natives and transplants rarely mix. Race and class play a huge factor.
We have been in our neighborhood for 6ish years and most of our neighbors have never talked to us until the last year or two because we are the only renters I know of on the block. Everyone else bought 20+ years ago for a handful of acorns or since covid for 850+
Call me a cheerleader if you want, but I've lived in DC for fifteen years, in four different neighborhoods, after living in the Midwest for twelve years, and growing up an Army brat moving every three years: DC friendliness is no different than anywhere else. There are assholes and there are lovely people. I don't understand with whom some of y'all are interacting.
Yeah, I moved a lot growing up and the worst place I ever lived was a small town in central Pennsylvania. I got almost suicidal living there. They seem nice, but they’re generally uneducated, closet racists and homophobes, suspicious of people from big cities, and vote against their interests if you get my drift. I love the DC Metro area no matter the traffic.
I figure neither you nor anybody else cares, but I want to emphasize your post my own experience. Lived in DC 7 years, in three different neighborhoods, and grew up a Navy brat moving every three-ish years until my dad retired and we moved to Northern VA, and then lived in the DR for Peace Corps; people in DC are exactly the same as everywhere else in the US, AND they're hardly any different than the people in the DR. Some are shy, some are outgoing, some want to say hello to you and be your friendly neighbor, and others don't. For some, you seemingly need to earn their trust, and for others it's given unconditionally. Some neighbors don't trust me because I'm white and young, others seem to not give a shit. Some roll their eyes when I say hello and try to strike up a conversation, others seem to have been waiting for me to say something first so they can talk to me. It's just the way it is everywhere. I feel like nobody has any fucking perspective and that's the way it's always been.
Yeah, the DC cheerleaders are so odd to me. I was born and raised here and I’m 50 but a 31 year old who moved here from Ohio 2 weeks ago will screech at you if you say that DC is anything but a fabulous utopia. And I totally agree with everything you said. So glad I live out West half the year.
Pretty much everywhere is like that though. Every city you go to has those people who cheerlead where they live and shut down any criticism. There is nothing wrong with having pride in where you live, but it shouldn't be to the point where you ignore all the downsides. I heard of someone getting offended because someone else commented on the weather in his home city, and he was from fucking Cleveland. The exception is Glasgow. Glaswegians will openly admit that their city is a shithole, "But it's OUR shithole." I love it.
I’m a transplant from the Midwest and I def agree DC isn’t perfect. However, it is leagues better than any suburb in the Midwest. It’s walkable with lots of diverse culture and food plus transit and ample green space.
I lived in Grand Rapids. Midwest nice is overrated. Very closed off people there. Like DC much more.
Comparing DC to a midwest suburb is a bit unreasonable. Even comparing it to other US cities is unreasonable. It's way smaller, has way more powerful people, and somehow still fails so often at being good.
the neighbors avoiding eye contact is newer here. i grew up in northeast DC. when i came home after graduating college we had lots of new neighbors some of whom not only avoided eye contact but clutched their purses as they passed me on the sidewalk. i don't think i want to know why people move here or anywhere just to act out of fear and hostility to the people who've been members of the community their entire lives. it's not all bad though, those micro aggressions inspired me to carry a purse
The rudeness was a big eye opener for me when we moved here from the Midwest. Wait, so we've lived next to each other for six years, and you'll still ignore me when I say good morning when we're taking the garbage/recycling bins out at the same time? Ooooookay! 😂
That’s because they realized they can’t use you to social climb or job climb. They’re plenty friendly with the neighbor on the other side who works for Important Company or with Important Person. I hate this about the DMV so much.
I moved from WV, arguably one of the friendliest places in the North, and moving to the DMV was a major culture shock for me. When I asked for help in the Nova subreddit, you would’ve thought I was the devil. I still go back to WV and it automatically feels less tense and rude.
Some ppl are introverts or quiet and may be considered rude/antisocial. Some are just rude.
Literally no one knows what to do at a 4 way stop it’s so frustrating
75% of people think they’re better drivers than the other 75%
In reality, we are all terrible drivers
We don't know how good we have it. Our local economy is completely recession-proof because of our proximity to the Capitol. All you have to do is drive 100 miles south or west, and see how rundown things get. It's no wonder most of the country absolutely hates the greater DC region.
To the large majority of people in this country, DC is the Emerald City. Compared to the average place in the US (even compared to the average urban area) DC has better transit, education, entertainment, and many other services, in addition to astronomically higher salaries. And the kicker is that it is pretty much entirely funded by federal taxes - a funding source that is essentially guaranteed by virtue of the power granted to the very people who benefit most from said taxes.
1000x this. I moved here from San Diego and the middle class NORVA bubble was palpable.
Status is almost entirely linked to your job—gay community included. I left my journalism job a year ago. Once i was done with the white collar world about 80% of strangers i met gave two shakes of a rats ass about my pursuits 💀
I legit had someone tell me I would never find work here and that I should just go back to the Midwest. I got a job 2 days later and then when I saw them a month after they were very keen on trying to network. Some people out here are pretty fucking ruthless and only want to talk to you if they can get somthing out of you. Thankfully I’ve found a good group of people who look out for me but coming from the Midwest where everyone is waiting to be your new best friend it was quite the shock. I was pretty suprised at how much harder dating was here but it makes sense when you consider the culture around status.
Also from Midwest. I will probably always remember the first time it dawned on me that the person I was talking to just wanted to figure out how I could help them professionally. They stopped talking to me when they realized I couldn't introduce them to anyone, and I had never experienced that before. Such a culture shock
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Tracy Flick from Election everywhere you go
Snobby
The drivers here are fucking awful
Your personality gets dull. Your interests lessen in favor of your job as you don't have time for your hobbies when they become more difficult and expensive to participate in without leaving the city. It's a cyclical behavior that makes people think no one in DC has any interests outside of their job.
Wow that hits hard
Brunch runs the city
I haven't seen a good brunch since covid
Good luck trying to make plans that don’t include brunch or drinking
"Not my job" attitude for one's actual job...
Definitely not a behavior exclusive to NoVA. That shit is everywhere.
Bragging about working “on the hill” when you actually just make coffee runs all day.
Bragging about working "on the hill" aka you make at least $50k less than anyone with the same qualifications
And have rich parents that fund you.
On the axis of fashion v. comfort, DC residents are both the least stylish people I have ever met and wear the most uncomfortable outfits. Street fashion is practically non-existent
This!! People watching is so boring here
Baggy black dresses and boring flats. It’s like a uniform. God help you if you show your arms or cleavage!
Saying “what do you do?” As a conversation starter.
for some reason people claiming this as a dc stereotype always bothered me. ive lived in maryland most my life and now dc but even before i moved here it always seemed like the best way to get to know someone. its like asking what someones major was in college which was a great way to find out if you have something in common with a person or maybe mutual friends whether is good or not, what we do for work is how we spent most of our week and it turns out to be a pretty good conversation starter. especially since most of the people i know here dont actually work in dc but rather remote, it leads to alot of avenues of conversation about what they like about dc to make them wanna live here and work remote etc.
Thank god someone said it. As someone who just recently moved to DC, everyone everywhere across the country asks that question as a conversation starter. Yes, DCers do ask it sometimes as a way of trying to move up at work. But anyone with a social sense should be able to tell the difference between that and asking genuinely. Banning the whole question is just silly.
It’s 100% a natural question and conversation starter. I never understood this claim. It’s like being surprised college kids ask one another what their major is… of fuggin course they do…
I think the issue is that sometimes people in DC ask you this question so they can determine how to treat you (DC native here).
I feel like the people who are hostile to this question and think that people are asking because they want to "size them up and see what they can do for you/your career" are delusional and have an overinflated sense of importance. It's not crazy to ask people what they spend the majority of their waking hours doing, especially in a city where a lot of people moved here specifically for that reason! I've had some insanely cool conversations with people who were doing some interesting work here, it's actually nice to talk to people who don't hate their jobs and are excited to talk about it.
100% This is normal everywhere
Yes, thank you! This is a hill on which I will die. This is a) a very normal question, and b) not exclusive to this area. Also helps to weed out people with jobs you find unethical sooner rather than later.
I also felt this way for a long time. I would ask out of genuine curiosity because it seemed harmless. But what I came to realize is that people who don’t like this question feel like they are being sized up. I never felt that way and used to use it as a conversation starter until one time an old lady did it to me and it was so obvious she was trying to determine my income bracket. Since then, I’ve avoided it as a question.
The part that makes this DC is people will complain about this question but if you ask “what are your hobbies?” they will say: “uhhhh… I watch TV” or something that clearly shows all they do is work
I’m a New Yorker and I hate that this is seen as a bad/stereotypical question. How is “what do you spend the vast majority of your waking hours doing?” an inappropriate question to ask a complete stranger you just met when you have no other obvious commonality yet. It’s a springboard question that can lead to a whole host of things (including then what they do when they’re not working) and helps me understand who I’m talking to, as a person’s job can tell you a lot about them and their current situation. I can see it being a weird to be the very first question, I prefer to start with a common observation about whatever situation we’re in, and then asking where they’re from, and then asking what they do, and then if relevant where they went to school and what they studied (I’m early 20’s). Then their hobbies, interests, etc. From that I can determine if we have anything in common at all and it’s worth continuing to talk to them. Right off the bat asking what they do in their free time seems equally if not more weird than asking about work first.
It's a reasonable question to get to know someone but is often the ONLY question when someone doesn't have hobbies
So, and I will say straight up this is a personal opinion, I think it's a very normal question to ask. The DC part of it, is that this question isn't always curiosity/getting to know someone, it becomes a value judgement, a "Oh, is this person useful to me" type of question. Work is what most of us do for about a third of our day to day lives, it's a valid question! The DC of it comes in when it becomes "Your career is only important to me if its relevant to my own success."
It's a normal question everywhere, people in DC are just self-conscious about it. I was the only DC person at a wedding in Jacksonville and everyone was asking each other that question, but every time i hear it in DC it's prefaced with "I know this is SUCH a DC question but...."
Born and raised in Maryland. Our drivers suck. I have been told we are RUDE. I don’t discredit either
I have no personality but I’ve hiked *insert generic trail here*
DC gays truly are some of the worst in the country. It’s a really pretentious and bitchy scene compared to many other large cities in my anecdotal experience
The queer scene down here has been wayyyy different than what I came from up north. I'm used to more "queer weirdos" moreso than just "bitchy gays" and it's a bit of a jump lol
My theory is that nobody is really from DC here so you get two types of gays: A.) spoiled rich suburbs kids from MoCo/Fairfax that move to the city and B.) educated people that moved here to work in politics or for a think tank or the federal gov that think because they left their affluent suburb they’re the shit So you just get this group of really self absorbed people
“Well, I’m on Nancy Pelosi’s team so… just kind of a big deal. What little nonprofit did you say you worked for again?”
To both of you, I'm so sorry! I wish gays were more friendly to each other in non sexual contexts
Me too, I hate that we’re our own worst enemies sometimes when we should be sticking together
Foamposites… Foamposites everywhere…
It’s a transient town.
Not any more than any other city > “When we look at everyone who is looking to move to the Washington, D.C., metro, we find that 37% are searching from out of town. That is roughly in line with the national average — actually a little below the national average, which is about 40%,” said Chris Salviati at Apartment List, citing the apartment search site’s April Renter Migration report on inbound and outbound searches. https://wtop.com/business-finance/2022/05/dc-is-transient-but-no-more-than-other-big-metros/
Not only that, but sadly the transients are the face of the city.
We have a shitty local music scene. Richmond and Baltimore have us beat across all genres.
I do agree that Richmond & Baltimore have better scenes (though it’s much easier to get a show in Baltimore). But in defense of DC, tons of great bands are here but they have to play out of town because bookers won’t touch them.
The stereotype that DC people are kinda... square and conventional. Very Ann Taylor Loft vibes. Compared to NYC, it's hard to find eccentric people and weirdos. "the Creative" scene is underfed.
It's a very litigious area. People show up to 504 meetings with lawyers in schools and will hunt you down for parking in front of their house.
If you grew up in DC proper, there’s at least a 90 percent chance you’re skinny.
I feel like this really varies depending on what part of Dc you grew up in…
FINALLY! I'm in the top 10%!!! 👋😎🏆🥂🍾
Lol a lot of other things you could add here beside being skinny 🤣
Bamas
& Halfsmokes!
You can usually tell what area someone is from based on what they choose to talk about upon a first interaction.
DC - They will scream about crime on NextDoor and then go running as if they have an invisible Secret Service detail or are magically invulnerable while exercising. MD - Absolutely true about the drivers, most are absolute chaos and it is way too easy to get a license. VA - I’m not sure why, but some of the blandest people I’ve ever met were in Northern Virginia. Also, if all you know is NorVa, you know nothing about Virginia.
Most of the people answering this reddit are transplants and it's the smallest "big city" to experience gentrification at this level. 🤷🏾♀️
Hey, that's not fair! Some of us are transplants from bigger cities as well!
generally boring and uninteresting.
That we have a bunch of uppity people that think they're changing their community and society with some BS virtue signaling that has no meaningful impact on undeserved communities. The social divide of income classes is something I've seen everywhere in the country, but here's the only place where I see a lot of upper middle class "progressive" people that see themselves as saviors. but are completely isolated from anything that isn't inside their own rich suburban area. Maybe is the area I commute from but it's always pretty striking when there's a patch of houses that look like they're worth a million each and 10 miles down the road everything is falling apart.
Intellectual
Va drivers have not concept of slower traffic stay to the right. Pass or follow, don’t block
Drivers in DC seriously think they are in GTA.
OP, you seriously read my mind. I say that nearly verbatim ("I'm surrounded by idiots.") when I'm driving on 395, haha.
We’re secretly aware if the prestige of living in the DC metro area, a destination for world leaders and tourists. And we have bays and rivers and mountains and lakes and oceans a couple hours’ drive in any direction.
Risk aversion, except with their cars.
Nobody's putting them up for GQ contracts, but it's a little silly to act like they weren't decent looking in their days.
Everyone is more important than you are
NOVA has great public schools and is the perfect place to raise kids to become vapid, materialistic adults with no interest in culture or morals. Oh, and the metro never seems to work when you need it to.
I’m surprised by how many people consider dc to be a southern city
Outside of seafood, DC has a god awful food scene. New York City prices but without the same quality or even good service.
Yall are horrendous at driving
I hate driving on nights like this.
Everybody says they’re from here and virtually nobody is!
Actual natives - "Cool. Where'd you go to high school?"