NOVA is the most unfriendly avoiding place I've ever lived

[saganista]

I bet you and anyone else still paying any attention realize how easy it would be for me to toy with and torment you for hours over this. But at least for now, I've got more important things to do. I'm cleaning the A/C filters...

[JD984]

Originally Posted by saganista

Or not so well documented. In addition to an official Vienna/Oakton residence, I have a townhouse near 7th and East Capitol Streets and have had since 2005. It is directly along the route most likely taken by the author of this piece on her way from H Street to Eastern Market. After the part about how many dogs and strollers there are (and joggers and cyclists), her observations could not possibly be more at odds with my own experiences. Eye contact is the rule. People all but unfailingly respond to being greeted and are just as apt to be the ones greeting you. Except on days of truly inclement weather, the walk to any neighborhood market can be expected to take longer than what the simple logistics might require because both going and coming, you are quite likely either to stop or be stopped for brief or longer talk with a neighbor or other passerby. I do not AT ALL recognize my second neighborhood in the odd words this author has written.

You can add your anecdotes to the mix, but it doesn't negate the fact that others may have had - and reported - quite different experiences. I think the number of people who, over the life of this thread, have reported that DC/NoVa is one of the less friendly areas where they have lived is, at this point, well documented.

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Originally Posted by saganista

I bet you and anyone else still paying any attention realize how easy it would be for me to toy with and torment you for hours over this. But at least for now, I've got more important things to do. I'm cleaning the A/C filters...

Yes, you go ahead and call your mommy to take you back home.

In all seriousness, I knew you were going to make a weak excuse and scamper away once you were cornered like a rat (or confronted with reality, which you could not deny). You know, it wouldn't kill you to admit graciously that someone else is right and you are wrong once in a while. We can't all be right all the time. Not even you.

By the way, maybe children think that tormenting other people is a "cool" thing to do, but among adults (or moral adults anyway), betraying such a predilection is not exactly something of which one should be proud.

[AmyinNOVA]

Before I say anything I apologize that I didn't read all 40 pages of the posts... so, if I reiterate something... oh well.

I do agree that NoVa could seem a little cold but I have lived in Europe (not just visited, actually lived) and I don't think NoVa comes close to the rudeness and coldness of European life. I lived in Denmark and the people are very friendly (to people they know). To strangers, they are perfectly indifferent. In grocery stores people will bump you with their carts instead of asking you to move or reach across your face to grab something off a shelf instead of saying excuse me. I got to the point where I hated going shopping because people were so downright rude. I know when I go to the store in Fairfax people do smile and say hello to you and of course say excuse me (and so do I).

Now, I also used to commute to DC every day on the metro from Fairfax and you know I hated it. So, yea people are probably not in the friendliest of moods when they are sitting on a metro train with no air conditioning in the middle of July in their 1 hour commute. Also, I have found if I'm friendly to people on the metro etc... they are pretty scary! Not saying everyone on the metro is mental but there are some creepy people out there. One dude I was polite with and started talking to kept squeezing in closer to me asking me to put his phone number in my cell phone. Another woman I talked to one day started giving me a lecture on God and religion... which in itself is not bad but I don't really feel like having to be lectured by a stranger on a train.

So, looking down...keeping quiet and not making eye contact was pretty much my routine. I'm sure there are tons of friendly people doing the exact same thing I was.

But, if you go through my neighborhood or take a walk down the street people are smiling and looking at you and seem very outgoing. I think its all situational... in my evil sweaty nasty commute I will be resolute and stoic...in my free time when I'm relaxed I will be outgoing and friendly.

[Cardiff Kook]

Originally Posted by FCNova

If you're referring to me I'm not taking anything personal. NOVA isn't for everyone. But you're not calling NOVA out for what it is. You're just stating that you couldn't cut it here and should probably move somewhere else.

i've been cutting it here all my life and still live here so I don't know wtf you are talking about buddy

[FCNova]

Originally Posted by GMUAlum08

i've been cutting it here all my life and still live here so I don't know wtf you are talking about buddy

Maybe our definitions of cutting it are different. For me it's not just surviving but being happy. The way you're gushing about San Diego and saying how all your friends here are miserable and don't enjoy themselves outside of work and there's lots of unfriendly people and you're exposing the area for what it is, it doesn't sound like you are. You should really look into moving to San Diego it sounds like.

[Fern435]

Originally Posted by saganista

I bet you and anyone else still paying any attention realize how easy it would be for me to toy with and torment you for hours over this. But at least for now, I've got more important things to do. I'm cleaning the A/C filters...

Okay....

This forum is intended for people to exchange information, observations/experiences, and opinions. If only the NoVA cheerleaders are permitted to post--even on this thread about perceived hostility of NoVA--that merely provides more proof that NoVA/DC culture only permits sycophantic comments.

In my own experience as a military spouse, NoVA/DC has the most competitive, me-first mindset, the worst customer service, and a real lack of graciousness in its culture. We moved to NoVA at the height of the housing bubble, so it seemed to set the entire tone for our experience there. It was always a rare treat to encounter a genuinely thoughtful person.

[FindingZen]

I don't know if it's the sudden heat wave with the start of summer or what but the revival of this rant thread has consisted primarily of personal attacks. Short of deleting posts and such, it may just be time to end the thread.