>There is no thread of our possible history that is colored 'good' for the next couple of years that starts off with deploying the NG in Washington, D.C.
What if it helps clean up the homeless encampments and crime like Gavin Newsom did in San Francisco when Xi visited recently? That would be good!
D.C. is a dump and has been my entire life. There's been a drop in homicides since the peak in 2023, but last year was still 15% higher than in 2019: https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2025/01/02/homicid.... In 2023, the homicide rate in D.C. was 39 per 100k people. This is only a little better than the civilian death rate in Iraq when it peaked in 2014 during ISIS (that was around 50 per 100k).
This is not a "guns" issue, it's a policing issue. Idaho has among the most guns of any state in the union, and Boise is as safe as a western European city, with 1/30th the homicide rate of D.C. Even several large U.S. cities, like Austin, El Paso, and Virginia Beach, have homicide rates 1/10th or less of D.C.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_b....
D.C. is a rich city surrounded by wealthy suburbs. There's no reason for it to be as unsafe as decaying post-industrial cities like Philadelphia or Baltimore.
A big part of the reason why DC has these problems is because they do not control much of their own budgeting due to the nature of how the federal government manages the territory.
Calling it a "dump" is interesting, especially compared to some other cities that have much larger populations, budget, and representation. I've been in the DMV for nearly twenty years and much prefer living here than other metro areas because it is simply a lot cleaner and safer. Baltimore and Philadelphia are both cities that are much worse than living in DC proper.
Many cities have to deal with multiple levels of government, e.g. a state and county government. And DC has a massive budget. DC’s actual 2024 expenditures were $18.7 billion. Austin is $6 billion and Travis County is another $2 billion. San Diego’s budget is about $9 billion.
Philadelphia and Baltimore have a median income half that of DC. They’re among the poorest large cities in the country, while DC is one of the richest.
DC’s problem is that it’s run by people that are somehow dumber than Congress. A literal crackhead was mayor in the 1990s. I think Mayor Bowser is actually doing an excellent job,[1] but she’s the first good mayor the city has had in my lifetime, and everyone around her sucks.
[1] My theory is that Bowser secretly doesn’t hate Trump that much. She’s not a Resistance type, and always says something like “well I don’t agree but we’ll do our best.” https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5446868-dc-crime-tr... (“I’m going to work every day to make sure it’s not a complete disaster. Let me put it that way.”).
Do you live in DC or travel there frequently? It's very much not a dump. There are great museums, great parks, a vibrant food and nightlife scene, and many beautiful neighborhoods. There is a lot of poverty (not very visible to tourists), and there is some homelessness (which is visible), but it remains a great city to visit and to live in.
What if it helps clean up the homeless encampments and crime like Gavin Newsom did in San Francisco when Xi visited recently? That would be good!
D.C. is a dump and has been my entire life. There's been a drop in homicides since the peak in 2023, but last year was still 15% higher than in 2019: https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2025/01/02/homicid.... In 2023, the homicide rate in D.C. was 39 per 100k people. This is only a little better than the civilian death rate in Iraq when it peaked in 2014 during ISIS (that was around 50 per 100k).
This is not a "guns" issue, it's a policing issue. Idaho has among the most guns of any state in the union, and Boise is as safe as a western European city, with 1/30th the homicide rate of D.C. Even several large U.S. cities, like Austin, El Paso, and Virginia Beach, have homicide rates 1/10th or less of D.C.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_b....
D.C. is a rich city surrounded by wealthy suburbs. There's no reason for it to be as unsafe as decaying post-industrial cities like Philadelphia or Baltimore.