Why ? Why is this city so miserable? Every. Single.Day.
I have been here close to three months and there are to many annoyances to list.
I will start with the traffic.
Why ? It’s bumper to bumper and if you aren’t familiar with the area and you are not in the correct lane you will miss your turn that adds another 10-15 minutes to your drive.
The speed cameras. Why ? Why are their so MANY of them ? Yes people should obey the speed laws but is having speed cameras that click on your plate if you dare go over 25 mph necessary ?
Most of the streets in the North West of DC is 25 mph. Who actually drives 25 mph ? In DC you do unless you want a 100 or 200 ticket in the mail. I had to purchase an app that alerts me when I am approaching those speed traps. One day I was driving to planet fitness and the alerts went off the entire 35 min drive. Yup ! Those speed traps are EVERYWHERE !
I am not really sure what the signs mean rgat says “ speed radar “ because there are not actually cameras around those signs so I am not sure how you are getting fined but you better just drive that turtle pace of 25 mph unless you don’t mind going bankrupt.
The speed bumps. Is it REALLY necessary to have one million speed bumps on every street ? DC thinks so. So don’t sip that coffee while cruising around the city !
The lack of parking. I can’t tell you how annoying it is to have to parallel park at meters or circle the block 500 times praying someone will be leaving so you can snag that spot that you will have to squeeze into like a sardine.
You better be excellent at parallel parking because you will be doing ALOT of it ! Or paying 30-50.00 to park just to visit Target ! Yup ! That is correct ! There are some areas where you have to pay to park to shop at Costco or Target and other stores. I have refused to visit and shop a lot of stores just because of the hassle of parking and paying. I shouldn’t have to pay to park at Costco. I have heard from someone that your ticket can be reimbursed if you tell a cashier ? I am not sure because I decided I will not be doing any shopping for the rest of my time here other then for groceries. I just don’t have the patience for any of this.
The beyond annoying people on those stupid scooters. Those scooters are everywhere just whizzing by. One day my car was barely over the crosswalk and I got beeped at and flipped off and cursed at because the idiot had to slightly move her scooter . God forbid your car is barely touching that crosswalk as you Slam on your brakes to prevent from getting that 200.00 red light ticket . Yup. Red light cameras are everywhere and some of them turn in about 2 seconds. That does not give much time when you are very close to that light as it suddenly turns red. TICKET !! DC must be one rich city. I wonder why there are so many pot holes since I am quite sure the city collects millions from all those red light and speed cameras.
Where are the drive thrus ? If you are like me and use to being able to quickly stop at a McDonald’s or Starbucks drive thru ….. think again ! So far in the NW part of DC I have not seen ONE drive thru Starbucks . My GPS will lead me to one that says drive thru but when I get there , there never is one ! How do people get their morning coffee if there isn’t any drive thrus or places to park to run in and grab one ?
I have illegally parked quite a few times here. If you are coming to visit DC you will quickly learn where you can probable illegally park to make a mad dash into a restaurant for food ( that you hopefully pre ordered ).
The rat situation. I heard it was just about as bad as New York. Every time I come home at night I see them and hear them scatter all over the place. So get use to seeing rats if you come here !
The prices at hair salons are insane. I made the mistake of reading reviews on a particular salon that said reasonable prices. I was an idiot and didn’t ask upfront for an estimate and ended up walking out with a 500.00 cut and color. Yes the stylist did well , but I can get the exact same hair treatment for less then 200 in Ohio. So if that was suppose to be reasonable pricing , what do they consider expensive ?
Car washes. Why ? Please tell me why there are not any of those automatic drive thru car washes ? I have to drive about 45 min to an hour out just to find one. Instead they have plenty of those car washes where you get out of the car and a few people wash the interior and exterior. I don’t like that.
Going to see a doctor here in DC ? Guess where you will be parking ? Probably across the street or around the block at a meter. I could not believe that none of the doctor offices in this area had their own paved parking lots to make it easier for patients. If you are on crutches or in a wheelchair be prepared for the stressors of finding a parking spot then probably taking 20 minutes just to get to the office door.
The mounds of people who stop traffic to let their friends or family out of the car. It is beyond annoying already that it is taking me 3 hours to get home when it should take 15 minutes because I have to drive 25 mph or get a nice 200 ticket in the mail , but then to have someone in front of me stop in the middle of the lane blocking traffic to let their family member out of the car ( remember the lack of parking ) then they proceed to chit chat for 10 minutes not caring they are holding up traffic.
I would also like to add the annoyance of how close all of the cars are parked on the side streets. There are many side streets where cars are packed in like sardines on both sides of the street and they just fling their door wide open as they get out of their cars not caring if their car door just hits your car as you are trying to make your way through the tight lane !
The street cleaning times ! There are several signs on streets that tell you that you can’t park there on certain days and times so be prepared to move your car constantly or get that parking ticket. How come I notice the parking meter guy handing out tickets like it’s free water but I never once seen the city come and actually clean the street? They have no problem coming to ticket your ass but they never clean it ! Million dollar city !
I will leave this blog with a final warning. For any of you thinking DC is the place to be ! So much to do ! Exciting ! Just make sure you get a prescription for a heavy dose of Xanax and stock up on the wine , vodka , beer , or whatever it is that will calm your nerves because you will want to kick the shit out of everyone once you get here. A couple more months for me …. I don’t EVER plan on coming back .
PS
Screw you DC you piece of Shit of a city 🖕🏻
ChristinaAlexander 