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Re: We are all Slave now.
Before I rise in vigorous defense of my suburb in Northern Virginia, I have to admit that I love urban Washington. A clean city that has all the things on the cultural checklist. The food scene is astonishing. Crime is under reasonable control.
Now then. Two absolute disqualifying factors for me.
It is literally...not figuratively, literally...child abuse to send your children to the DC public schools. This isn't really open to discussion. The schools are wretched, with no improvement in sight.
I have a third of an acre. Because I am very close to the Potomac, I have a remarkable array of wildlife pass through; deer, turkeys, eagles. Washington has a visible surplus of the one creature which, for personal reasons relating to my time in the army in Asia, I loathe with every fiber of my being. Rats. Big ones. Some other time I can explain why this reaches a deeply psychotic level for me. It makes for a good Moth story.
As for my suburb: I live in Mt. Vernon on property once owned by George Washington. The commute is down the Potomac through a long skinny national park. I bought a used Mercedes convertible roadster because...wait for it... I love my commute. I have a seriously high pressure position. Winding down on the way home is a joy.
Our extended neighborhood includes Route 1, which is full of section 8 housing with people who got to America Tuesday. Their children attend the local high school with kids who live in riverfront mansions. There were students from 40 nations when my son went there; the school put a flag of origin in the lobby for each nation that had sent them a student. My son was a remarkable athlete. He played soccer with Africans and South Americans, basketball with African Americans, and swam with the white yuppies. One of those yuppies went to Stanford, the Austrian Olympic Team, and held a world record in the backstroke. So, yes, there was an Austrian flag.
Looking down on strip mall restaurants is a snob's mistake, at least in my neck of the woods. I can get to first generation immigrant food pretty quickly. As to sophisticated fare, I can get to Alexandria in 10 minutes. No, there are not 300 eateries. But I'll bet there are 100, and half of them are really excellent. I can be in DC a few minutes later.
Unlike people who want the convenience of the city, I simply prefer a refuge. I can, like a couple of other people on this Board, walk to a golf course. I haven't played golf since the early 60s. I have a house membership so I can use the bar and grill.
I can walk to two yacht clubs. I belong to the one that consists of a porta-potty, a dock. and a place to store a boat on a trailer. I grew up spending summers on a small island where my blue collar immigrant grandparents retired. They would set me loose with one instruction: Come back with some fish for dinner. I still love the water and I can be at the shore and on the river minutes after I get home.
To sum up: There is no "right answer" to which is better, urban or suburban. I found a spot a long time ago...we've owned the house for 36 years... that gives me the peace I sorely need at the end of the day. If you need to be within walking distance of a venue with the newest this or the hottest that, good for you. Come out and visit me on my front porch. I've got a wine cellar to die for, and my better half developed a taste for sparkling wines when we lived in Brookyln Heights. We can accommodate your refreshment needs. Que the Vivaldi.
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