‘Gallaudet Chapel Hall’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

Reader Meredith Peruzzi, a lifelong area resident and a current Gallaudet student, approached We Love DC eager to share her perspective on the city. Here she explains why she loves DC…

I always thought that people who weren’t native to a place didn’t really identify with it – that if you asked somebody where they were from, they’d name their hometown.  I grew up in the DC area, so whenever someone asked where I was from, I’d always say “here” – this has always been my home, and I can’t consider myself “from” anywhere else.  I’m a Washingtonian because I’ve always been one.

So I assumed that DC was “my city” and that people who moved here didn’t necessarily feel that they were Washingtonians.  Until I started reading We Love DC, and realized that even transplants love this town and feel a connection to it.  People who like to move from city to city may not identify with DC, but anyone who makes their home here is a Washingtonian.

So DC is my city, but it’s also your city, our city, and everyone’s city.  Tourists flock to DC every spring and summer because they want to see where their tax dollars are going, where their senators and representatives live, and all the famous monuments and buildings that grace their money and their history books.  Across the nation, civic pride is personal – the Statue of Liberty belongs to New Yorkers, and the Golden Gate Bridge belongs to San Franciscans.  But the Washington Monument and the White House belong to all Americans, and I love that they come to experience DC because America means something to them.  It’s not so much “welcome to my home” as it is “welcome home.” Continue reading →