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demarginator t1_ja854tp wrote

Just came back from a great trip in NYC. Each time I return to DC I remark how much I love how many more trees there are here, and just how much greener it is here in general. NY has some amazing parks, but we have trees everywhere.

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potatopotatoed t1_ja8f9qa wrote

It's the absence of street-punctuating bags of trash that does it for me

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AlienBeach t1_ja99voz wrote

Public tash cans in general. I know the way NYC handles trash is unique to them among American cities. But every time I travel to a different American city, especially on the west coast, I'm always annoyed at the lack of public trash cans. Portland Oregon and San Francisco are particularly bad at this. I wouldn't be shocked if their reputations for being dirty was directly tied to this. In DC/Silver Spring/Alexandria/Arlington etc, the commercial districts and major roads have public trash cans basically on every block, on both sides of the block, and on every bus stop. I always notice it when I travel to a different city and I have trash and I go to where I expect a trash can to be but nothing.

I was in Portland recently and had a candy wrapper I wanted to throw away. I was on a major commerical street, and I had to walk so many blocks to find a single public can, and even then, I had to cross the street to use it

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snarkyturtle t1_ja9y1ty wrote

Berkley, however, absolutely has the public trash can game down though. They even have different compartments for recyclables.

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Milazzo t1_ja8wyyl wrote

Also...whatever that liquid actually is that builds up in the gutters around sidewalk street crossings.

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xiefeilaga t1_jaajh41 wrote

I believe the scientific term is street juice

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Milazzo t1_jaajm4j wrote

I got some splashed on my foot once - it turned into a nasty rash within an hour. Never wore open shoes ever again in the four years I lived there.

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BigLeagueBanker69 t1_ja8a4un wrote

100%. Every time I visit NYC I gain more appreciation for DC.

I think in addition to the greenery, it's also the way that the streets are wider & buildings shorter so you feel like you're truly in the open air / outdoors. Sometimes in Manhattan the masses of cement sky-scrapers going out in every direction can make one feel really caged in.

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demarginator t1_ja8j1cj wrote

So I also like the skyscrapers in Manhattan. It's a totally different feel from here. Sorry, I wasn't trying to make my post a DC vs NY, because I love them both for how different they are yet can feel so similar. It might be the walkability of both that make me feel comfortable going between the two. My husband and I talked about how if we weren't happily settled in DC with our friends, house, and garden we would consider moving there. But (speaking of trees) we want to see the trees we planted in our yard grow into maturity.

I also think that DC is a lot better about tree planting/preservation than most suburbs in the US, where they should have room for more. Instead they have seas of strip malls and nearly empty parking lots. Again, trying to break the DC vs NY narrative I inadvertently started.

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BigLeagueBanker69 t1_ja8kg8m wrote

NO! You must pick one or the other. There is no room for nuance and/or respectful disagreements in the Reddit comments.

Reddit comments section is WAR. Come prepared to die on your hill, or evacuate the hill with your hands up immediately. This is a zero sum game friend. Every compliment to the subject means you're insulting all things other than the subject. You can't tell me you like DC without it being implicit that you HATE nyc. You want to drop a BOMB on it along with all those smelly garbage bags that make the entire city smell like urine on hot summer days.

HEY EVERYONE u/demarginator IS OUR NEW GENERAL. HE IS LEADING THE WAR CRY TO ASSERT DC'S DOMINANCE OVER OVERRATED AND SMELLY NYC. ALL ABOARD THE WAR TRAIN, LOCK AND LOAD BOYS!

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demarginator t1_ja8ls0r wrote

Hahaha! She is leading this war using the long game method: sitting peacefully on top of a tree-covered hill with cleaner air while the New Yorkers choke on their smoke.

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cubgerish t1_jac4r8c wrote

Your "nice" sentiment pretty much encapsulates it.

NYC without a doubt has more diversity and general 'stuff' on almost every block but......

DC streets don't smell like dog piss from April to October.

I love visiting NYC.... But I truly do love living here.

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hopefulbaconn t1_ja8pdga wrote

You cannot help comparing though because they are two very different cities. NYC is a one of a kind city, full of lives and characters and humanity and rats and trash bags and dirty air and bumpy smelly roads and arts and styles and lights and concrete.

I visited NYC a few days ago and I still found the city so damn exciting even though I had been there so many times before. Then I came back to DC and I realized how nice DC is in every way, and that most of the time, all I really want is ‘nice’ 🥹

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demarginator t1_jaamu3d wrote

Yeah. I think that nice is (part of) what makes DC feel like home.

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gravygrowinggreen t1_ja8tlpw wrote

That's one of the things I like better in NYC! I love seeing tall buildings rising up into the sky.

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sg8910 t1_jac7el8 wrote

very good point about the feeling of spaciousness, open feeling, its so importat for well being and stress:)

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Bithron t1_ja983e6 wrote

One of the number one reasons I enjoy DC so much is the green space. It's everywhere. I also remark on the need for more green space in other cities.

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SeattCat t1_ja990of wrote

I’m from Seattle. The first thing I noticed when I visited before moving here was that there are nice trees. I need trees and greenery.

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someotherbitch t1_jaag8xu wrote

I think DC is just prettier in general. I suspect the lack of skyscrapers plays quite a big part in the greenery being so widespread.

Coming back to DC from NYC feels almost serene. Especially if you ride the metro, you have a good 3 months of loving it after experiencing the NYC subway

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FubarFreak t1_ja9vyam wrote

Don't let NOVA hear about it, they seem to go out of their way to cut down everything in sight

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demarginator t1_ja9zsod wrote

I hope DC listens to our tree praises and tightens protections. It was hard enough when I had to deal with developers holding trees hostage or just not caring and cutting them down. Now I hear they're poisoning special and heritage trees? If the city doesn't protect our existing canopy we will become (edit: Nova).

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squuidlees t1_ja8ochb wrote

My friend from Boston said the same thing about the trees here! Didn’t even think of it, but probably since I moved from Sacramento, which also has a lot of trees lol.

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roomnoises t1_ja9zls7 wrote

> Sacramento, which also has a lot of trees lol

Not enough to keep "city of trees" on the water tower though. Still grumbling about that 6 years later

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stracted t1_jabao6s wrote

Very under appreciated aspect of the area. Was kinda sad to see the trees gone at k st and 14

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