I first came to DC as a child on one of my family’s vacations. We were lucky enough to have family here and thus a place to stay and all I remember is walking for what seemed like forever along streets lined with monuments and statues, foreign flags and a sense of majesty. I loved it immediately and we returned many times.

When my lovely wife and I had the opportunity to move here a couple years ago we jumped at the chance. We figured that the DC area was the perfect balance between not too cold (my requirement after living in the frigid north for eight years) and cosmopolitan and progressive (her requirement after living in my southern homeland before we moved north).

DC seemed like a negotiated agreement when we first got here but I quickly fell back in love with it for different reasons than previously. There is a sense of energy and excitement here that I have not felt elsewhere. Maybe it’s because of the constant influx of young, idealistic people to the area for their internships or first jobs. Maybe it’s just that national news is local news here. Maybe it’s the politics. Maybe it’s the tons and tons of free culture available. It’s all good, whatever it comes from.

Despite the sense of this being a very international, cosmopolitan area, I also find many of the people here approachable. It’s not like Boston, where I often found myself looking down to the cold street. Here you can say good morning to people, as I did back home, and hold the door and get a thank-you. You can get to know people in ways that you can’t up north.

I love DC. Nothing could please me more than calling this place my home.