Not ask job applicants about previous criminal convictions.I know more than a few people - well-paid government employees, mostly - who live in the district by choice. The traffic's horrible, the parking situation's a mess, the police department is subpar, the public schools are among the nation's worst, there's a lot of crime, and even in some of the nicest neighborhoods you can't throw an empty bottle of Night Train without hitting a bum. Plus, the place is full of professional grievance-mongers whose main goals seem to be making the town increasingly unlivable and business-unfriendly. Yeah, I know what you're thinking: But, Paco! What about all the cultural amenities? The museums? The restaurants? The monuments? Well, you can live in a place like Northern Virginia, or even Maryland, that provides a more civilized lifestyle than D.C., and you're no more than a half hour from Washington on the Metro if you positively have to visit the Smithsonian yet again. I think having a Washington address must be a prestige thing for some folks - and now that I think of it, everybody I know who does live in D.C. is a liberal Democrat, without exception. Maybe, as liberals, they're simply drawn to the center of government power.
Make "ongoing contributions to a fund managed by a council of community stakeholders" that will provide incentives and support to local small businesses.
Abide by a "code of conduct with regard to its employees' freedom to choose a voice on the job without interference" (whatever the hell that means).
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Why anybody would want to live in Washington, D.C. beats me
Wal-Mart plans to open several stores in the District over the next couple of years, and local "community activists" (read "home-grown socialists") have a few demands (H/T: Overlawyered). Here are some of my favorites:
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Like Aristophanes' Athenian elders, your liberal Dem DC residents linger around the halls of state to make sure they get first crack at the triobiloi, the unerserved largess handed out when the government is in session, by being the first on the scene.
ReplyDeleteAnd like Aristophenes' elders, their attempts at statecraft are, um, progressively more insular, reactionary and out of touch.
Actually, having an address in the Capital is likely the motivation, Paco.
ReplyDeleteWhen I lived in Chicago, lo these many years ago, I witnessed one of the first area code changes in the country. Now they're almost routine, of course, but back then, a very new and frightening thing.
One guy I heard about was outraged. He had a business in one of the suburbs, and advertised himself as a Chicago business. He was able to do so because the area code on his phone number was for the Chicago area. When they split that area up, he got a new area code, and hence was no longer in Chicago, as far as one could tell over a phone call. Having a Chicago-based business back then was a matter of prestige. Considerable prestige. (Now? I dunno.)
Remember, this was well before the INTERNET. Long distance business was done exclusively by phone. So he could run his little facade quite cheaply. Not so after the exchange. Certainly he was drawn to the power that Chicago had. Still has, for that matter.
I can't say if the guy was a liberal, but it's a fair bet that he was.
Walmart, Costco, Tesco, Metro, Carrefour - all of the major global retailers - have had city center / urban stores OUTSIDE of the US for decades.
ReplyDeleteThe format is based on the now essentially defunct urban department store pattern - multi-storied shopping with underground parking. They fit right in and the people benefit from the huge selection and reasonable prices.
Viewed from the outside, US urban retail regulations are byzantine, opaque, often contradictory, overly politicized, antiquated and corrupt.
City dwellers pay the price.
The traffic's horrible, the parking situation's a mess, the police department is subpar, the public schools are among the nation's worst, there's a lot of crime, and even in some of the nicest neighborhoods you can't throw an empty bottle of Night Train without hitting a bum.
ReplyDeleteSo... nothing's changed since the early 70s then.
Sounds like the Downtown East Side Residents Association. the progressive movement of Vancouver.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Sounds like the Downtown East Side Residents Association. the progressive movement of Vancouver. Cheers
ReplyDelete