Welcome! One of the main reasons I live in a city is because there is so much to do in my favorite place: outside. Maybe it seems a bit counterintuitive to move to a city to indulge in the great outdoors, but Washington DC offers green spaces in abundance.
I grew up in a Maryland suburb and enjoyed my childhood of playing in woods, rivers, and salt marshes. I moved to the “big city” for grad school and stayed.
DC is a great place for outdoor enthusiasts to grow roots. Public transportation is fairly easy to use and the city is walkable and increasingly biker-friendly. Those of us that like to cook enjoy lots of options for farmers markets during the warmer months. Festivals draw people out of their apartments and into neighborhoods. Flying kites on the mall and biking on city trails make summer evenings feel like holidays. I’ve even seen people cross-country skiing on snowy DC streets. I’m constantly amazed by the menagerie of birds, bats, and bugs in my backyard. And when you get tired of being in the city, there are hundreds of places to escape to nearby, from oceans to mountains and a monadnock in between.
This city’s beauty—both in nature and people—is not hidden too far beneath the stereotypical buttoned-up political facade. You just have to want to see it.
P.S. Follow me on Twitter @StacieLee_DC, Instagram @stacielee_dc, and Tumblr @bareinklings.