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We Have Always Lived in the City
May. 12th, 2015 07:12 amLast Friday I drove up to Canadia for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. It was amazing. I got to meet some cool people, catch up with people I only know over the internet, and hang out with old friends. Since I enjoy being in Toronto over the summer, I had scheduled myself to be there until Monday; but, after a crazy bout of drinking on Saturday night, I decided to pick up and spend Sunday night in New York. I got a fantastic deal on Hotwire ($50 for a room in the Hilton Times Square), so I drove down to go bar hopping with some friends I haven't seen in almost a year, which is always fun.
On Monday, I bought some eye drops and sunglasses and then went out with a bunch of realtors to look at properties in Philadelphia. They were all garbage. That whole city is garbage. It is made of garbage, its infrastructure is garbage, and it is literally covered in garbage.
It really surprised me, as I was talking with friends and strangers in Toronto and New York, that people were jealous that I live in DC. And it wasn't the condescending fake jealousy that city people express when they talk to country people, but real, honest-to-god, looking at apartments on Zillow and spending nights there through Airbnb jealousy. Like, people had spun elaborate fantasies about what subway lines they would live along and what they would do on weekends. Sometimes in the evenings I sit and chill out outside the Starbucks right across the street from the main entrance of the National Zoo, and I overhear people having the same sorts of "I wish I lived here" conversations with each other. And you know what, I get it. DC is nice.
The point of all this is that DC is growing on me. My current apartment is way too damn expensive, and in any case I already canceled the lease, but I'm having second thoughts about moving back to Philadelphia. It seems like all the cool kids are moving to Takoma Park, so...?
My own fantasy is to live in New York, but it's never going to happen. I've spent time in Manhattan and Brooklyn subletting and housesitting, and my experience of being in the city is like being in love. I don't eat or sleep; all I do is write and party. And that's fine, if you're in your twenties, but I think at this point in my life I would probably write or party myself to death after a few months.
Also I wish airships were real, because I hate driving.
On Monday, I bought some eye drops and sunglasses and then went out with a bunch of realtors to look at properties in Philadelphia. They were all garbage. That whole city is garbage. It is made of garbage, its infrastructure is garbage, and it is literally covered in garbage.
It really surprised me, as I was talking with friends and strangers in Toronto and New York, that people were jealous that I live in DC. And it wasn't the condescending fake jealousy that city people express when they talk to country people, but real, honest-to-god, looking at apartments on Zillow and spending nights there through Airbnb jealousy. Like, people had spun elaborate fantasies about what subway lines they would live along and what they would do on weekends. Sometimes in the evenings I sit and chill out outside the Starbucks right across the street from the main entrance of the National Zoo, and I overhear people having the same sorts of "I wish I lived here" conversations with each other. And you know what, I get it. DC is nice.
The point of all this is that DC is growing on me. My current apartment is way too damn expensive, and in any case I already canceled the lease, but I'm having second thoughts about moving back to Philadelphia. It seems like all the cool kids are moving to Takoma Park, so...?
My own fantasy is to live in New York, but it's never going to happen. I've spent time in Manhattan and Brooklyn subletting and housesitting, and my experience of being in the city is like being in love. I don't eat or sleep; all I do is write and party. And that's fine, if you're in your twenties, but I think at this point in my life I would probably write or party myself to death after a few months.
Also I wish airships were real, because I hate driving.
