Living in Washington, DC

י"ב טבת, תשס"ז

Many of you who actually come here from time to time (are there any of you left?) do so in an attempt to find out what I'm up to -- how my life is, what I'm doing these days, etc. If that's been your goal, I haven't been too helpful. For some reason it's been hard for me to get into the "swing" of writing on a regular basis again. There was a short while when I kept having ideas for amusing current posts, but that was when my brain was backlogged with Israel material I wanted to record and none of them were worthwhile enough to withstand a delay of a couple of months.

I do, however, have a somewhat generic list of likes and dislikes of this new city of residence of mine which I'll share in an attempt to get a little closer to the right subject matter. Mind, these are not about the more intimate aspects of my experience here, nor are they specific to the Jewish community (although some of them do relate to my personal needs as a shabbat- & kashrut-observant individual). Many of them relate to -- surprise, surprise! -- transportation. They are not comprehensive and I may add new points as the come to mind. But without further ado:

Things I like about DC

• There are trees -- and particularly grass -- in locations other than parks. That is, unless you identify any area within a city which has grass and trees as a park. Despite being from Manhattan, I choose not to, because I prefer to think that there is indeed space within an ordinary metropolitan setting for green things that grow, and I point to them here as proof. (There's nothing like circular reasoning, huh?)
• I like the general feel of the city. This is not something you're going to get a photo of, and it's not even something I can fully explain, but I think it's similar to the result of a successful recipe. There's a blend of "Northern" and "Southern" here that results in just the right speed. People are relaxed and laid back, but not too much so (which might not be saying much, coming from a New Yorker, but that's who's running this blog). There's a mix of urban and suburban characteristics (varying by neighborhood, of course, but all within the city) that makes neither density nor sprawl overwhelming.
• All entrances to the Metro (what the subway here is called) have escalators. Most or all have elevators as well, but the point is that the mode is not reserved for the convenience of only those who can walk up & down a gazillion stairs, nor are the possible routes limited for those who can't. Of course, in addition to the relative newness for the system, its sheer depth below ground may have something to do with the mechanized egress:

• While we're on the subject of the Metro, the electronic boards that give advanced traveler info are great. These list the next several trains that are on their way, identified by their line color and final stop, and specify how many minutes until they are due to arrive. Granted, these "minutes" are sometimes counted by a slightly, er, flexible number of seconds...but even so, I find it's helpful in lowering stress levels just to have an estimate.
  
• Along the same lines, nearly all the signal lights at crosswalks have countdown timers to let pedestrians know exactly how long they have to get across the street before the light changes. In addition to this primary purpose, which obviously helps prevent people being stranded in the middle of a wide intersection against the light, it also informs traffic waiting to travel in the perpendicular direction when they will have the right-of-way. This allows often-necessary downtime for drivers and cyclists to read directions, take a drink, find something in a bag, etc. without being nervous that they will be slow to respond to the change to green. I've also found, as a pedestrian, that encountering a timer near the end of its cycle in the direction perpendicular to that I am traveling will convince me to wait for my own walk signal, soon to come, rather than crossing against the light.
• Overall, there is relatively little incline on the streets here, and drivers seem fairly aware of the potential presence of cyclists. That may be a fair comparison only to New York...but regardless, I've been enjoying biking as a means of transportation (that is, until my bike was stolen, but that's a whole 'nother issue...)
  

Things I Don't Like About DC

• There seems to be a particularly high rate -- and if not, at least a particularly high visibility -- of homelessness here. Granted, my only strong point of comparison is New York, but it seems to me (partially based on the sharp decline of homelessness there in the 90s) that there should be some way for the city's government to give these people the assistance they need. Certainly, non-profit organizations with this specific goal abound, and I donate to select ones when I can, but I do believe that when the covered entryway to the local library becomes a fully-booked night dormitory...something has gone horribly wrong with the public welfare system.
• The sparsity of locations to buy packaged retail food in this city is remarkable. Supermarkets are few and far between, and the very few small grocery stores do not come close to filling the gap. Fresh produce is available with varying consistency, quality and variety at only some of these outlets, or at farmers' markets that only take place at certain places on certain days in certain seasons. This is inconvenient for general shopping needs, but nearly as annoying is the resultant void if I ever neglect to make lunch to bring to work. Wherever I worked in NY, if I didn't have time to put anything together or forgot to grab something from home, I would simply run downstairs to the little grocery on the corner, or the supermarket down the block, or even the fruit stand across the street, and get something to tide me over. It was never a problem. Here, in that situation, about the only place within reach that sells anything resembling real food that isn't prepared and very-not-kosher is CVS pharmacy!
• I like that the weather here in the winter is a bit warmer and milder (although honestly, I'm not really sure whether it's location or just the way things are this year)...but the summer is awful. I moved here in August and so only had to endure about a month of super-duper-horrendous humidity, but it was enough to make me rather dread the coming of June.
• It's against the rules to eat or drink in the Metro. What's up with that? I understand that they're trying to keep the place clean, and to their credit, it is. But frankly, I'm not sure so much of the dirt in the NYC subway is food-related, and even if it is...why not just make littering illegal? They don't seem to have much difficulty enforcing the no food/drink (although I can't imagine why), so why do they think the same obedience wouldn't hold for something so much more reasonable? Meanwhile, I have to surreptitiously sneak bites of a granola bar from my bag...
• The streets here seem designed expressly to taunt people who are, uh, directionally challenged. (I don't know anyone like that, do you?) I mean, the quadrant system can be learned, and it makes some degree of sense. Even the diagonal state-named avenues randomly criss-crossing the lettered and numbered streets can be gotten used to. But the absolute, ultimate affront to sanity and reason are the two-way streets that become one-way, the one-way streets that suddenly become one-way in the other direction, and the streets that simply cease to exist and then begin again several blocks later. Toss in a few "no left turns" and it's enough to drive a person mad! (And remember, I discovered most of this while on a bicycle, where every left turn is already a challenge and every extra block is on my own steam...)