I’m not even sure all these people giving hurrahs to the GOP actually live in or near the District. None of them have neighborhood flair. The top commenter has only been on Reddit for 24 days. The next commenter has a legit account but still spends an alarming amount of time defending Kanye West. He also makes right wing comments in other city subs.

I don’t think the comment section here is remotely representative of DC

Yeah thoughts and prayers…

I imagine part of the issue is the literal hell they live their lives in. Years ago I clerked for the Superior Court of Georgia and spent some time in their juvenile court system. The single biggest predicting factor for delinquency was lack of support from their caregivers and their broader community. For most, their single caregiver worked two jobs or had several other children to manage. Many didn’t even have an adult to be present in court. Most kids were poor but not all of them. Most were black but also not all of them. They were just about all kids who had pretty shitty lives. They weren’t working towards college or looking forward to the rest of their lives. They knew they were screwed already. Eventually they snap and have an aggressive outburst in class or they challenge police. I think it’s just to feel like they can be in control of just one moment of their own lives. Like they can have some kind of effect, even if it’s negative.

When their lives have so little hope and everyone in their immediate surroundings are either violent towards them or trying to take something from them it shouldn’t be a surprise when some of DC’s kids act the way they do.

Yeah, I bartend 4 nights a week and I really shouldn’t be out-earning you guys.

I did the painting, some drywall, refinishing the wood floors, repainting the cabinets. In the basement we had asbestos flooring so we just encapsulated it with an absorbent underlayment and a floating laminate floor. The contractor ripped out the drop ceiling in the basement and put up drywall, they also framed out the unfinished basement and enlarged a small window by knocking out some bricks. They moved gas lines and had to move some plumbing for a kitchenette. It was 10 year ago but I think all in it was around $25,000 for the contractor and at least another 5 for the stuff I did.

We got lucky and mostly kept the existing floors and walls. Lead paint, foundation or roof issues would’ve dramatically increased the cost. No lead paint and the hardwood was in decent shape after a good sanding.

I haven’t done exactly what you described but I did renovate a house up in Takoma ten years or so ago. We went piecemeal and it was its own challenge. I did a lot of the work myself but we hired a contractor for some of the stuff that required skill.

Contractors always take longer than they estimate. Always. You might end up paying more than the initial estimate too. Especially with a full gut job.

Older houses tend to have asbestos and lead paint so that’s fun.

I don’t regret not buying a renovated home but that also wasn’t really an option for us. If you have the money it’ll be much less of a headache.

It’ll also have an impact on your relationship if you live there through the renovation. It puts a lot of stress on two people.

Expect the unexpected. These houses are old and as they tear it open they may find some more expensive problems to solve.

Good luck!

OP doesn’t have a medical card so they can’t use medical dispensaries in Baltimore. They’re buying black market fully illegal to sell weed. DC also has black market dealers and they’re cheaper than Baltimore dealers

Wait OP is driving to Baltimore for weed? What an idiot. It’s legal in DC. Anyone over 21 can walk into a grey market dispensary and get whatever they want. It’s almost certainly better than any Baltimore trash they’re buying. People here buy fancy weed. We’ve got options

Oh well that didn’t matter. Juvenile records are sealed and then destroyed. Nothing you did as a child would have any impact on your adult job prospects. Obviously that isn’t information they advertise to minors.

Also, the kind of kids stealing cars with babies in the back aren’t the kinds of kids worried about college and job prospects. They don’t have two loving parents at home who will be shocked and appalled at their behavior. They have zero social pressure to be a decent person so they act like this. Lock up the parents or other responsible adults and ship the little idiots off to military school. Problem solved.