The other Washington

[Daniel Fiddler]

God was sitting back after six days looking back at his creation talking to Gabriel.

"Look Gabriel.  This is Earth, and it's a great place of balance.  There is a hot continent, and a cold continent.  There is a dry desert and a wet rainforest."

"What is this place?"   Gabriel asked.

"Oh, that is Washington state, the most glorious place on earth, there are beautiful mountains and streams and forests.  The people there are the friendly and intelligent and will be known all over the world as ambassadors of peace!"

"Balance, God!  What about balance?"

God smirked.  "There is another Washington, and just you wait until you see the fucking morons I placed there!"

[thspfc]

Mods?

[SkyPesos]

From the 3di bracket challenge thread: 

Never been to Denver, but St Louis is kind of like if they took Kansas City and dropped it on the floor, Columbus didn't really impress me much, and DC has too many [insert political party you don't like] senators in it.

[Daniel Fiddler]

Honestly this was not to bash any one political party, this is just one of my favorite jokes of all time.  I do not have a political party affiliation, I am an independent, a centrist.  I am anti-corruption.

[SkyPesos]

Is there people out there that actually call Washington DC as just "Washington" verbally? I heard it exclusively called just "DC" when shortened.

[Evan_Th]

Is there people out there that actually call Washington DC as just "Washington" verbally? I heard it exclusively called just "DC" when shortened.

I make a point of using nineteenth-century style and calling it "Washington City."

[Bruce]

Is there people out there that actually call Washington DC as just "Washington" verbally? I heard it exclusively called just "DC" when shortened.

In the media especially. Think of all the wasted airtime and print space if we had to use "DC".

[Alps]

Mods?

It's allowable as long as it doesn't get partisan

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Is there people out there that actually call Washington DC as just "Washington" verbally? I heard it exclusively called just "DC" when shortened.

In the media especially. Think of all the wasted airtime and print space if we had to use "DC".

At least in the eastern 2/3 of the country, "Washington" is a city and "Washington state" is that other thing.

It's like if you generically say "New York" with no other context, you are assumed to mean the city.

[US 89]

At least in my experience in Utah, plain "Washington"  with no context generally refers to the state. The city is "Washington DC"  or just "DC" , unless the context is obviously political.

[Rothman]

Is there people out there that actually call Washington DC as just "Washington" verbally? I heard it exclusively called just "DC" when shortened.

In the media especially. Think of all the wasted airtime and print space if we had to use "DC".

At least in the eastern 2/3 of the country, "Washington" is a city and "Washington state" is that other thing.

It's like if you generically say "New York" with no other context, you are assumed to mean the city.

Nah.  A lot of people in the East refer to Washington as simply "DC."

[1995hoo]

Is there people out there that actually call Washington DC as just "Washington" verbally? I heard it exclusively called just "DC" when shortened.

One of the weathermen on the DC-area NBC affiliate (Amelia Draper is her name) always says "Washington." Just about everyone else around here says "DC" or "the District." However, references to that place out west invariably refer to "Washington state." This sometimes confuses people not from here because they think of a university that competes in the Pac-12 when they hear "Washington State."

[Henry]

Is there people out there that actually call Washington DC as just "Washington" verbally? I heard it exclusively called just "DC" when shortened.

In the media especially. Think of all the wasted airtime and print space if we had to use "DC".

At least in the eastern 2/3 of the country, "Washington" is a city and "Washington state" is that other thing.

It's like if you generically say "New York" with no other context, you are assumed to mean the city.

Nah.  A lot of people in the East refer to Washington as simply "DC."

So west of the Rockies would be where people stop calling the state where Seattle is located "the other Washington"?

"New York" is even harder to distinguish, because in addition to being the largest city in America, it's also a pretty large state in the Northeast. Which may be why the toll road that goes north from Yonkers to Albany and then bends west to serve places like Syracuse and Buffalo is called the NY State Thruway. If you put Upstate or a specific city name before "New York", you mean the state; otherwise, you'd be referring to the city.

[SSOWorld]

according to the official record, the City of Washington doesn't exist.

It's the District of Columbia.

[thspfc]

according to the official record, the City of Washington doesn't exit.

So it enters?

[SSOWorld]

according to the official record, the City of Washington doesn't exist.

So it enters?

fixed

[Henry]

according to the official record, the City of Washington doesn't exist.

It's the District of Columbia.

By your logic, DC isn't really a city, but a federal district disguised as one.

[bwana39]

Is there people out there that actually call Washington DC as just "Washington" verbally? I heard it exclusively called just "DC" when shortened.

The folks here pretty much just call it Washington. So does Jackson Browne
https://youtu.be/VxXiitZAjiY

[Takumi]

according to the official record, the City of Washington doesn't exist.

It's the District of Columbia.

By your logic, DC isn't really a city, but a federal district disguised as one.

It works for Arlington, which is a county disguised as a city.

[Bruce]

according to the official record, the City of Washington doesn't exist.

It's the District of Columbia.

By your logic, DC isn't really a city, but a federal district disguised as one.

It works for Arlington, which is a county disguised as a city.

If Arlington were still part of DC, then it would be easy to confuse with Arlington, Washington.

[SP Cook]

Civics time.

Actually, it is more correct to say that the city of Washington no longer exists as a separate legal entity.

DC has been governed under four separate systems over the years.

The DC Organic Act of 1801 established a District government that did what states do; two counties, Washington (the part that was Maryland) and Alexandria (the part that was Virginia, later returned), which did what counties do; and three cities, Washington, Alexandria, and Georgetown, which did what town do.

The DC Organic Act of 1871 abolished the counties and the towns, and governed the District as if it was a territory.  This is when Washington ceased to exist as a different thing from the District.  The District then began, and still does, doing things that states, counties, and cities do in the rest of the country.

This did not work well, so the act was amended in 1874, replacing the "territorial governor"  with a "board of commissioners"  and changing most of the other names of jobs from state/territory sounding names to city sounding names.  Congress appointed all the officials.

In 1974 the act was amended again, establishing a city council and a mayor, working on an elected basis.