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My girlfriend worked for a 'beltway bandit' in Rockville Maryland for a while after college, exactly in the midst of the office parks described in this article.

by macNchz 11y ago

My girlfriend worked for a 'beltway bandit' in Rockville Maryland for a while after college, exactly in the midst of the office parks described in this article. Everything about the environment of metro-DC suburban Maryland was absolutely repellent to me. Miles and miles of office parks, housing developments and strip malls, over and over and over. I couldn't stand the idea of having a daily routine of sitting in 8 lanes of traffic, finding a spot in a sea of parked cars and spending the day in a faceless office building, surrounded by other faceless office buildings yet entirely isolated in a corporate campus. I definitely see the appeal of suburbs for certain lifestyles, but I think that a suburban home with a commute into an urban office would be very preferable to working in an office park. The only redeeming feature of my girlfriend's office park workplace was that she, as a very junior employee, had a private office to herself. I've dealt with the frustration of a number of loud open offices at NYC tech companies, but I'd never give up a downtown office space explicitly for a private space in a giant soulless office building in the suburbs.

rayiner 11y ago
> exactly in the midst of the office parks described in this article. Everything about the environment of metro-DC suburban Maryland was absolutely repellent to me. Miles and miles of office parks, housing developments and strip malls, over and over and over. What boggles my mind is that the people here have money and choose to live this way.
- rhino369 11y ago
  Because the parts of DC that you can safely, raise a family in are either: 1) Really expensive 2) Essentially suburban anyway. Most of NW is suburban. 3) both 1 & 2 Another cause is that until 10 years ago most of the city was considered to be too unsafe. Gentrification has gone into overdrive and has greatly expanded the area middle class and UMC people will live. But even then a lot of that area is still pretty crazy in terms of cultural stuff. And it isn't as safe as people claim. There has been a recently uptick in violence. People getting murdered on the metro. A home invasion that led to a family getting massacred. A guy got shot in a luxury high rise in NOMA.
  - matthewmcg 11y ago
    Safety is relative. Consider that by living in a walkable area avoiding driving, you may be reducing your risk of being one of the ~40 automobile-related deaths a year in the DC region. (Source: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6128a2.htm http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6128a2.htm) Also, by including walking in your commute, you are reducing your risk of death from obesity and diabetes, among other factors. (Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2736383/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2736383/)
    - harryh 11y ago
      I wonder if anyone has ever attempted to do the math to rationally compare these sort of offsetting risks?
    - rhino369 11y ago
      You don't have to just worry about murder. You have to worry about rapes, muggings, and property crime. Nobody wants to live in a place where you have to "watch out" or stay inside at night. Luckily DC has some pretty urban suburbs like Arlington and Alexandia. They are more urban than most of the district. I don't have to worry about my car getting broken into and I can take the blueline to work. I'd prefer to live in Georgetown or DuPont but that stuff is insanely priced. What NOVA and Maryland need are more and better commuter rails to DC. The VRE is awful.
    - enjo 11y ago
      Some quick googling for supporting studies: http://www.virginia.edu/topnews/releases2002/lucy-april-30-2002.html http://www.virginia.edu/topnews/releases2002/lucy-april-30-2...
chucknelson 11y ago
I'd argue that the "faceless office building" portion isn't really an issue. They're nice enough on the inside, and when you're deep in work you probably don't notice too often. The worst part is probably the typical lack of anything around those office parks except for...more office parks. At least if you're downtown or in some more commercial-heavy area, there are places to go and eat! :)
- robotresearcher 11y ago
  > there are places to go and eat! And visit the dentist, buy a shirt, get a gift for a kid's birthday party: all the things that are hard to do on a weekday if you are stranded out of town.
  - cakeface 11y ago
    And go to the cobbler. I didn't even realize cobblers still existed until I worked in downtown Boston. Yes, you can still get your shoes fixed! And it's cheap and easy and you can do it on your lunch break.
Yhippa 11y ago
I've been all over the US for consulting work and this scene is everywhere you go.
rhino369 11y ago
The problem in Maryland is that the urban office spaces in DC are essentially just big ass office parks. Just a bunch of ugly ass 12 story, monstrosities. I guess you get better lunch options. But personally I'd rather live in a cool place and commute to some boring ass office park. That said--the cool areas in DC are pretty small and expensive. The average worker can't afford that with a family.
- s73v3r 11y ago
  I want both. I want to live and work in a cool place. Especially if it means I don't have to commute.
Domenic_S 11y ago
FWIW, a LOT of San Jose is exactly like this. We call it "Suburbia on Steroids".
knowaveragejoe 11y ago
> Everything about the environment of metro-DC suburban Maryland was absolutely repellent to me. Miles and miles of office parks, housing developments and strip malls, over and over and over. I feel like you didn't actually explore much of the region, then... there are some fantastic natural areas here.

by macNchz 11y ago

rayiner 11y ago

> exactly in the midst of the office parks described in this article. Everything about the environment of metro-DC suburban Maryland was absolutely repellent to me. Miles and miles of office parks, housing developments and strip malls, over and over and over. What boggles my mind is that the people here have money and choose to live this way.

rhino369 11y ago
Because the parts of DC that you can safely, raise a family in are either: 1) Really expensive 2) Essentially suburban anyway. Most of NW is suburban. 3) both 1 & 2 Another cause is that until 10 years ago most of the city was considered to be too unsafe. Gentrification has gone into overdrive and has greatly expanded the area middle class and UMC people will live. But even then a lot of that area is still pretty crazy in terms of cultural stuff. And it isn't as safe as people claim. There has been a recently uptick in violence. People getting murdered on the metro. A home invasion that led to a family getting massacred. A guy got shot in a luxury high rise in NOMA.
- matthewmcg 11y ago
  Safety is relative. Consider that by living in a walkable area avoiding driving, you may be reducing your risk of being one of the ~40 automobile-related deaths a year in the DC region. (Source: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6128a2.htm http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6128a2.htm) Also, by including walking in your commute, you are reducing your risk of death from obesity and diabetes, among other factors. (Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2736383/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2736383/)
  - harryh 11y ago
    I wonder if anyone has ever attempted to do the math to rationally compare these sort of offsetting risks?
  - rhino369 11y ago
    You don't have to just worry about murder. You have to worry about rapes, muggings, and property crime. Nobody wants to live in a place where you have to "watch out" or stay inside at night. Luckily DC has some pretty urban suburbs like Arlington and Alexandia. They are more urban than most of the district. I don't have to worry about my car getting broken into and I can take the blueline to work. I'd prefer to live in Georgetown or DuPont but that stuff is insanely priced. What NOVA and Maryland need are more and better commuter rails to DC. The VRE is awful.
  - enjo 11y ago
    Some quick googling for supporting studies: http://www.virginia.edu/topnews/releases2002/lucy-april-30-2002.html http://www.virginia.edu/topnews/releases2002/lucy-april-30-2...

chucknelson 11y ago

I'd argue that the "faceless office building" portion isn't really an issue. They're nice enough on the inside, and when you're deep in work you probably don't notice too often. The worst part is probably the typical lack of anything around those office parks except for...more office parks. At least if you're downtown or in some more commercial-heavy area, there are places to go and eat! :)

robotresearcher 11y ago
> there are places to go and eat! And visit the dentist, buy a shirt, get a gift for a kid's birthday party: all the things that are hard to do on a weekday if you are stranded out of town.
- cakeface 11y ago
  And go to the cobbler. I didn't even realize cobblers still existed until I worked in downtown Boston. Yes, you can still get your shoes fixed! And it's cheap and easy and you can do it on your lunch break.

Yhippa 11y ago

I've been all over the US for consulting work and this scene is everywhere you go.

rhino369 11y ago

The problem in Maryland is that the urban office spaces in DC are essentially just big ass office parks. Just a bunch of ugly ass 12 story, monstrosities. I guess you get better lunch options. But personally I'd rather live in a cool place and commute to some boring ass office park. That said--the cool areas in DC are pretty small and expensive. The average worker can't afford that with a family.

s73v3r 11y ago
I want both. I want to live and work in a cool place. Especially if it means I don't have to commute.

Domenic_S 11y ago

FWIW, a LOT of San Jose is exactly like this. We call it "Suburbia on Steroids".

knowaveragejoe 11y ago

> Everything about the environment of metro-DC suburban Maryland was absolutely repellent to me. Miles and miles of office parks, housing developments and strip malls, over and over and over. I feel like you didn't actually explore much of the region, then... there are some fantastic natural areas here.