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victoriapedia t1_j9nqre7 wrote

Nah. There are two DCs - political/political-adjacent DC and normal DC. The latter is filled with people who may work nominally government jobs, but are more (primarily) technical specialists than anything else. I will concede that the former is rapidly overtaking the latter as people are getting more and more politically involved. But it really just comes down to what your milieu is. The political/transient milieu might be changing, but I wouldn't really know.

On a broader note, I would say this city underwent a revolution during the Obama years. People began to dress better, look better (there was an article in The Economist around 10 years ago about how DC went from having nearly the fewest gyms in the country per capita to having the most or almost the most in a matter of years). If DC ever was Hollywood for the Ugly, it CERTAINLY isn't that anymore. People began to care more about sitting in good restaurants and not just drinking Folger's coffee. Bike lanes really took off at that time. I won't speculate why these people and that specific moment demanded these changes, I'm just stating that's when and who changed the city. It has been relatively stable/consistent since.

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ta112233 t1_j9om973 wrote

It’s because of all the young people Obama attracted to the city. Public service became cool, so the best and brightest flocked here and amenities to serve them (gyms, trendy restaurants, coffee shops, Soulcycle, etc.) quickly followed.

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victoriapedia t1_j9qc99j wrote

100%. What used to be the accoutrement of Wall St made its way here.

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