Man I couldn’t hate this post more if I tried. “I contributed to the housing shortage by converting housing units into hotels” AND “When traveling to a new city, judge them by the presence of boring national chains”.

^This

I would not recommend this area to anyone that’s just moving to DC. If you’ve lived here for a while, it is much more of an informed choice. That said, there is a reason it is less expensive and you get more space for your money there. I would definitely visit, walk and look around, and talk to people that live in any prospective neighborhood I’m moving to.

you say you don't give a fuck, but it clearly bothers you

personally i'd recommend taking it all in stride, and understand that the shit people say on reddit has very little contact with real life. everyone on reddit is trying to show off that one gender studies class they took 7 years ago, but people in real life are just trying to get by

100%!

Echoing what others have said here. 16th street heights proper is a great neighborhood between 16th street on the West, and Georgia Ave on the East. Most say it is between Walter Reed to the North and Spring Road to the South. To give more information we’d need to know the cross street/hundred block of Georgia Ave.

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The good news is that there's a large cohort of other people aging in tandem with you, and the people who would only match with you because you were 23 aren't the best long-term prospects anyway.

as a man I think her best option is to pretend to be really sick: cough, sneeze, put a box of tissues on the seat next to her, etc

this will dissuade many creeps, but possibly not the well-vaccinated ones, or the ones who are indifferent to most diseases. for these types, she can take out her phone and start talking loudly about her flight back from africa to escape the recent ebola outbreak

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I’ve found the standouts come to your regular stack the next day or two so look out for them there!

don’t let your kid on metro or the bus alone. i’m a grown man and get weirded out by the people (men and women) on public transit. i see kids all the time on metro that just look confused and scared

I agree with seeking out middle aged women, sitting in the aisle, ignoring, speaking up loudly, when needed, etc. Always employ those strategies first.

That said, a lot of people (guys, younger women) just don’t want to involve themselves and I’ve found a few phrases to deflect/be helpful - only after all other strategies have failed.

If complementing your smile/eyes: “thank you that’s so sweet, sir (use the most formal polite address you can - you want them to live up to it) that made my day, sir. My mom also loves it”.

Guys who do this want to see if you’ll engage with what they think is an above board complement - flatter their ego by responding, by using Sir they get that you are not going to engage and by bringing your mother into it you are signaling that there is zero chance this approach will work. If you don’t engage they get mad because they tried what they thought was a respectful approach.

If complementing another body part or saying something sexual in English: do not engage. RBF and fight your way out if needed. No exceptions.

If saying something sexual in another language with their friends around: learn how to say “do you speak to your mother/sister/daughter with that same mouth” in a variety of languages and then shake your head. Get up and change seats to get further away - leave as soon as safe. When I lived in Italy this was definitely incredibly effective.

real talk bro, you might not wanna call them hoes as part of your argument defending men

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I think this may be it honestly. I used to get a ton of matches and get less this year no major differences in my appearance either but I’m no longer 23 :(

Not really sure how this is relevant to the discussion at hand (ways for women to stay safe and get help on public transit).

Good luck with…everything. I think you have some, uh, personal stuff to work on.

There are seats near the doors that dont have seats in front of them so its easy to get up and go. Remind her she can always get off at a stop to change cars. And get her a defensive key chain if she can have something like that at school.

I lived in Trinidad at 1326 FL Ave for about a year and it wasn’t a safe area. My car was broken into twice, heard frequent gun shots in the neighborhood, obvious drug activity, threatened several times for being “in the wrong neighborhood” probably because I was wearing a suit coming home from work. I moved to Arlington, VA last year and couldn’t be happier, strongly advise against that part of DC.

I've lived in 16th Street Heights for a decade and would definitely walk all day and night, but that said it is a city. The area around Georgia/Kennedy can be a bit sketchy, though. Around Georgia/Upshur is lively and filled with stores. As you move west to 14/15/16 streets it's tree-lined residential.

As for metro, the nearest is probably Georgia Ave / Petworth. It's a 15 minute walk to Upshur, 30 minute to Kennedy. You might also try the buses. The 70/79 run between those intersections, the metro, and downtown all day long. It's somewhat rowdy around school getting out and at night, but otherwise a frequent city bus. The 52/54/59 on 14th Street is less rowdy and to a different part of downtown.

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