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Well, to address the taxi question first, that problem has been solved. Taxis in DC now use meters, just like NYC. That really simplified things.
DC has four quadrants, with SE being the least desirable -- more crime there. Most of what people think of as DC is actually just NW, along with small areas of NE, SE and SW around Capitol Hill, which are all quite safe.
NE is largely residential, mostly middle-class black neighborhoods, and SW is a very small sector along the waterfront.
Were you to visit, I would strongly discourage staying at hotels in Virginia. Although the way you did it, with a hotel shuttle from Pentagon City, etc. was probably a pretty good way to go.
But for other folks, although on a map I know it must look appealing -- sure, just quick drive up 95 and you're in DC. -- Not so. Especially if you choose to drive. I personally hate metro, so I'm the last person to ask about getting around town that way! It's so expensive and overcrowded, bah!
To get to DC from Virginia, you will need to cross a bridge and there are only so many. Thus the traffic problems. A safer bet -- probably just as affordable? -- would be to stay in Silver Spring, MD, which is safe, cosmopolitan and right at the DC line. There's a metro stop there, too, in case you don't want to drive.
To tell the truth, I have worked in downtown DC around the White House for umpteen years now, but have never taken the tour. It's also been many years since I've set foot in any of the Smithsonian museums, but I would recommend them since they are FREE!
If I could just impart one thing about downtown DC it would be that it's an immaculate, pristine city (your federal dollars at work!). Far from the sleepy, unsophisticated, quasi-southern city it was in the '60s when civil unrest and riots did so much damage, it is now a mecca for smart, educated young people from all over. Their influence can be seen in everything from the sky-rocketing housing costs, to the hyper-cool (and expensive) restaurants, bars and clubs. I'm talking about people in their mid-twenties making $65,000+, straight out of school.
It's a different reality from that in which I grew up, but I do like the fact that it now truly lives up to being what a capital city should be. I think our country deserves that.
Also, if visiting, I would recommend checking out Old town Alexandria, VA, which is quite picturesque. I believe it was supposed to have been a part of DC at some point. I'm not that clear on the hows and whys, but the reason DC isn't a true diamond shape as L'Enfant designed it (it now stops at the Potomac) is that Virginia reneged on the deal to cede its share of the land. Due to that, to this day, the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia belongs to Maryland.
Not too far away from DC is Maryland's state capital of Annapolis, also home to the USNA. It's a beautiful little city, which also offers a sense of Chesapeake Bay life, its beautiful scenery (rolling hills that meet up with The Bay), and GREAT local food.
Baltimore is also just up the road, and I am a big fan of Charm City. It's not on par with DC in terms of safety and it is far less neat and tidy, but I just love the people there. Whereas DC is mostly inhabited by people who've transitioned here from somewhere else, Baltimore has so many rich traditions, going back generations. Also, again, GREAT food, and a lot more affordable than DC.
ETA:
DC might be a nice place to visit, but it gets old living here with all the traffic and the high cost of living. What good is it to be around great stuff if it's too difficult or too expensive to avail oneself of what the area has to offer?
Well, I'll try this again.
The DFW metroplex cab's have had meters for years. Why did it take DC that long to change?
Ann Rule wrote "The End Of A Dream" about Scott Spurlock that was from Reston Va., and that it was to of been a planned progressive free thinking community. His father a pastor and his mother we're very open to drugs and sex, and lived a life of nudity and brought the kids up around nudist. He was known as the Hollywood Bandit when he robbed several banks in Seattle in the nineties. I thought of him when one of the Boston bombers hid in a camper and was shot. Scott did holed up in a camper in a backyard after a dye pack exploded after a robbery and the police tracked him to it, and the police unloaded upon it. It's a good read. Where is Reston in relation to north south east and west of DC?
We did rent a suv for our 2006 trip to visit friends up in Baltimore and down in Richmond. DH has no trouble driving in traffic and tends to end up in undesirable sections of cities. Of course this is the man that drove my brand new valentine into Mexico legally, and drove back on a railroad trestle/bridge into the US illegally.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit hadn't reached us yet at that time, so the metro pricing from the machine was confusing. The young people were rude. Throwing themselves into seats and never standing up for the elderly, infirmed or pregnant women. Other than that it was on time. The hardest part was getting off the metro after a long day of walking and the escalator at Pentagon City was out, and you had to climb the steps up to street level to catch the hotel shuttle.
I know what you mean about living in a place all your life and never seeing the sights. I've never been to the JFK Memorial or the Sixth Floor at the Book Depository. There are some unpleasant memories of that part of my life. My father didn't make easy on us because of his views and actions. He was on the front page news after Adlia Stevenson speech the month before JFK was killed. I had to get off the bus and walk pass my fellow student the next morning. I don't think I raised my head at all in school from that point on. I always finished my work, and would read to take me to other places.
DC was clean, but there were many sidewalk hawkers selling t shirts and geegaw and were quite aggressive. It was a city I always wanted to visit, but again when I did there is a memory of my father being arrested during a march in front of the White house in the sixties.
Kids coming out of college making big bucks. I made $1.60 an hour at my first job. I think I brought home forty bucks a week. Milk and bread were under a dollar. Our first apartment was $165.00 a month, but it was a two bedroom with two full baths, living room, dining room and kitchen with dishwasher.. For some reason dh and I have always had more room than we really needed. We've had people move from up north and they are surprised about how much house/apartment they get down here. How much do you have to make to pay those high prices up there?
We did venture into Old Town Alexandria and had lunch at a place known for the largest cupcake?
Trivia factoid about Gerogetown for those that don't know - The Exorcist was filmed in several placed in Gerogetown. The Key Bridge; Georgetown University; Dahlgren Chapel; the 75 steps at Prospect and 36th streets that lead down to M Street in Georgetown; the house near the top of the steps on Prospect Street; a bridge over the C&O Canal. The cardinal's office in the film is actually the office of the president of Georgetown University. I had a friend that lived in an apartment close by the steps.