Not that much more. The city is walkable and I work from home. I can walk or E-Bike pretty much anywhere I need to be.

I mostly drive to visit friends in VA or pick up specialty groceries in MD.

> The DMV was terrible for quite a few years after I moved here.

It highly depends on the service center.

The one off Rhode Island Ave?

They lied straight to my face about what documents they needed to register my out-of-state car. I literally pulled out the lady's business card the next visit and said "Is this you? I talked to you yesterday and this is what you told me I needed."

She suddenly remembered me and registered my car.

The one in Georgetown? I was in and out in 30 min. No issues.

> after Election Day 2016 the city collectively seemed like it was stuck in a deep depression

The depression was palpable that night. I volunteered to help push out live updates for legislative monitoring firm I worked at.

It was like all the air went out of the room when the "firewall" fell.

> We were never “fancy” new building people, but once you taste in unit laundry, there’s no going back.

It's not that hard to find a building that's older with in-unit laundry.

The last two apartments I've been in had them. They're in a laundry closet next to the HVAC system, which is just fine for a 1br.

I'll take 4 years of no rent increases over a shiny new building any day of the week.

I grew up relatively close to where you did over the border in MA (the Berkshires) and moved down here about 8 ish years ago.

The 2016 Blizzard was pretty poorly handled. Any snow over 3 inches everybody freaks out and forgets how to drive.

Also most people only have all-season tires so it turns into a dangerous shitshow as nobody actually has snows.

The amount of salt they use for even a light dusting of snow puts Upstate to shame. Seems like overkill for a place that will have 40 degree days right afterwards.

L'Ardente was great when I had a business dinner and it was all comped by my job. Big spender tables get great attention.

It was significantly less great a month later when I went with my GF. (to the point where they gave the drink she ordered to the table next to us and didn't bother to realize until we pointed it out about 10 min later)

Yeah, they still are with their coffee can exhausts.

Less so than Challengers/Mustangs that like to race up and down 16th street.

It's exactly that. I'd go do autocross or get coaching via an HPDE event before doing an exotic driving experience.

I recall that VIR and Summit Point both do NASA HPDE days a couple of times a year.

I've found that driving your slow car fast is ultimately more fun than driving a fast car that you've never driven before.

> Time to start leveling criminal charges and jail time for such recklessness.

Who's going to arrest and who's going to prosecute.

It sure as shit isn't going to be MPD and the US attorney's office.

MA does have temp tags, it’s just they’re only issued in limited circumstances, like you ordered a vanity or specialty plate. All the RMVs can give you a normal plate pretty much on-demand, hence why the dealers can get ahold of them prior to you driving your car away.

> Call 3-1-1 to report issues

It took me weeks of bothering 311 to get them to come poison the rat colony in the alley behind my old apartment.

It ended up doing nothing because the pre-k next door kept vast amounts of food waste unsecured.