More Appeal Needed!

I'm not a DC hater. Indeed, the main thing I hate about DC are all the DC haters. That said, this is too good to pass up:

Civic leaders say they are looking for more than just a snappy line. Tourism accounts for $5 billion in direct spending each year (and $550 million a year into the city's general fund.) The District needs a new brand, as they call it, as distinctive as that of Nike or Apple, that will get to the heart of what's appealing about the area.

Hm . . . the heart of the appeal . . . how about: "Washington, DC: I Moved Here for Work." I like it.

Comments

"DC: where you can geek out about politics all the time" would do it for me, but I suppose that's a niche taste.

Posted by Neil the Ethical Werewolf | March 26, 2007 9:25 AM

'Washington, DC: I Moved Here for Work' is accurate, but not specific enough. After all, you could say the same of Houston.

'Washington, DC: I Moved Here to Work for a Special Interest Group' would get a little closer to the particular flavour of the place.

And it would in fact cover a lot of people who aren't aware that that's what they are doing, so there'd be a nice bit of ambiguity/controversy.

Posted by otto | March 26, 2007 9:42 AM

DC, When Graft is a Lifestyle Choice.

Posted by jerry | March 26, 2007 9:52 AM

Are google and gmail not working for anyone else?

Posted by google | March 26, 2007 9:56 AM

Of course, a slogan would need to be shorter.

Washington, DC: Where your interests are ... special!

Posted by otto | March 26, 2007 10:03 AM

How about a simple "We have 550 million reasons to thank you for visiting DC!" superimposed over a parking ticket.

Posted by monkey.dave | March 26, 2007 10:05 AM

'Washington, DC: I Moved Here to Work for a Special Interest Group' would get a little closer to the particular flavour of the place.

There's lots of federal government employees, too.

Posted by John | March 26, 2007 10:05 AM

Lots of federal government employees work for the special interests too, handing out those agricultural subsidies, funding that bridge to nowhere, giving Israel and Egypt their grants, keeping out those cheap sugar imports. The federal government bureaucrat is just the tool of the PACs running the chair of the relevant congressional committees.

Posted by otto | March 26, 2007 10:12 AM

Washington: Where Big Brother is at least nice enough to pay you

Posted by right | March 26, 2007 10:20 AM

Washington, D.C.: An Hour From Baltimore

Washington, D.C.: Traffic!

Washington, D.C.: 5 Percent Lawyers

Posted by Antid Oto | March 26, 2007 10:21 AM

Washignton D.C.: Making property owners is Northern Virginia rich for Years!

Posted by Rob | March 26, 2007 10:31 AM

Washington DC: This Slogan Cost $8 Million of Your Tax Money

Posted by Midwest Product | March 26, 2007 10:31 AM

Washington, DC: You Pay for It!

Posted by Jim | March 26, 2007 10:36 AM

I like the "Taxation without Representation" license plate slogan, but "Washington, DC: Democracy is for Wimps" would also be good.

Posted by William Burns | March 26, 2007 10:43 AM

I'm not quite sure why everyone gets off on disparaging DC. Days like yesterday make you realize it's actually a rather nice place to live most of the time. Big trees, ample park space, mild weather, strong job market, a good street system lined with some pretty architecture, and relatively easy access to genuinely nice outdoors spots in Virginia, Maryland, and farther afield. The only obviously better Northeastern city (to many) is New York, and even it has its drawbacks in comparison.

Is it just because not many people are actually from here that they feel the need to to speak of DC like it's some kind of second or third-rate outpost that no one would actually live in if they didn't have to?

Posted by Alex | March 26, 2007 11:03 AM

I actually do believe that the DC area is one of the four or five best cities to live in in the U.S. I could write an extended essay on the reasons, but here's a few:
1. One of the best and most comprehensive subway systems in North America, 2. One of the best bike path networks of any city I know, 3. Several dozen excellent live music venues and many fine local music artists, 4. Tons of good restaurants - I'm a long way from trying them all, 5. A thriving theater scene with around twenty local companies and a choice of a dozen or more productions on any given night. 6. the best collection of (free!) musems and art exhibitions outside a major megapolis, 7. A good climate (ok, disagree, but I'll take the climate here over most places I've lived), 8. (finally) A baseball team!

Of course, it's easy to take cheap shots at a political city. So maybe it does need a new image. But then again - do I really want more people to move here?

Posted by Virginia Dutch | March 26, 2007 11:08 AM

Washington, D.C. - You Voted For 'Em!

Posted by Alex | March 26, 2007 11:10 AM

On a bit of a tangent... I recently overheard the following description of the housing market in the DC suburbs: "Too many lawyers chasing too few McMansions."

Posted by LaFollette Progressive | March 26, 2007 11:12 AM

DC: We like rush hour so much we do it all day.

DC: A great place to spend 4 hours driving to from Dale City.

Posted by Doug T | March 26, 2007 11:15 AM

DC: Making other cities feel good about their footbal teams since 1999.

Posted by Doug T | March 26, 2007 11:17 AM

Washington DC:Bringing back the Nationals to where they belong, last place.

Posted by Rob | March 26, 2007 11:45 AM

Many affordable golf clubs in comparison with New York!

Posted by ex-Republican | March 26, 2007 11:47 AM

DC missed a good deal when it stopped being referred to as the Federal Seat.

I suppose "DC -- Follow the Money" is too obvious, and "DC -- You can check out any time, but you can never leave' only applies to elected officials.

Posted by Davis X. Machina | March 26, 2007 11:49 AM

DC: It's OK for now.

Posted by fatinspanish | March 26, 2007 12:15 PM

I believe mayor-for-life Marion Barry coined the best motto ever for any city:

"Except for the murders, our crime rate isn’t so bad."

Posted by Njorl | March 26, 2007 1:14 PM

DC: You're already paying for the Smithsonian anyway!

Posted by Dave | March 26, 2007 1:41 PM

Washington DC:Bringing back the Nationals to where they belong, last place.

I don't think the old-time slogan can be improved upon. "Washington, DC: First in War, First in Peace, Last in the [National] League."

Posted by JP | March 26, 2007 2:09 PM

There is a difference between "Washington" and "DC." DC is where the locals live. Washington is where the politicians and the monuments are. The slogan they are looking for is for the tourists and conventioneers who visit Washington, and never see a glimpse of DC.

Posted by Bloix | March 26, 2007 2:22 PM

DC stands for Don't Come.

Ladies.

Posted by Gregorio | March 26, 2007 2:24 PM

"Museums, Monuments, and a Pretty Good Subway"

Posted by FMguru | March 26, 2007 3:47 PM

It's gotta be

Washington DC: This Slogan Cost $8 Million of Your Tax Money.

Brilliant!

Posted by Conor | March 26, 2007 4:04 PM

Washington D.C. -- Where a third of our residents can't read this slogan, a third don't care, and the rest are just passing through.

(h/t: Fark)

Posted by Mark D | March 26, 2007 4:51 PM

DC - Hip Hop and House Bills.

Posted by Keith | March 26, 2007 4:59 PM

D.C.: A City for Two

As someone who grew up in D.C., every time I go back now (I live in WV now after a successful 21 year stint in D.C.), I feel like it's sucking out a small part of my soul. The whole city has a sense of artifice about it that can be immediately sensed after being in any other place with a soul. I walk through downtown and I feel like its not real, that there was this idea to build a city with no real pace or character about it. Most of the city is filled with transients and people who have moved into the city for work, stripping it of a voice and a self; I didn't realize this until I came back from other cities and towns in the country. Everything is neat neo-classical facades and sharp angles, or decrepit working class neighborhoods(what I grew up in). It drove me up the wall. I loved my life out on Georgia Ave. (6200 Blk. None of that gentrified Petworth shit.) and points East, but Georgia's not the D.C. everyone will, or wants to, experience. I agree with the person above who said Washington and D.C. are two different things.

Posted by Ace | March 26, 2007 5:31 PM

Washington D.C. -- Where a third of our residents can't read this slogan, a third don't care, and the rest are just passing through.

I blame: 1) the underfunding/ mismanagement of District schools and maybe, if it's applicable, gross abject poverty 2) the CIA's Operation: Crack the Capital 3) the potomac.

Posted by Gregorio | March 26, 2007 5:56 PM

Washington DC: the first stop for all your wasted tax money.

Lots of good points here tho -- in one sense, DC is the best major city on the east coast to live in, OK weather, great museums, lots of nearby outdoor opportunities.

In another sense, Ace is right and there's a strange soul-lessness about the place. It has a weird effect, you really can feel it sucking at you. On the other hand, the sense of power and money and influence is omnipresent too. I often think when walking by the Capitol Dome at night...one out of every seven dollars in the world's wealthiest economy is allocated in this building. Feel the buzz.

Of course, there's no contradiction between power, money, and influence and soul-lessness. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Posted by MQ | March 26, 2007 6:39 PM

"Lots of good points here tho -- in one sense, DC is the best major city on the east coast to live in, OK weather, great museums, lots of nearby outdoor opportunities.

In another sense, Ace is right and there's a strange soul-lessness about the place. It has a weird effect, you really can feel it sucking at you."

Might I suggest Baltimore as an alternative? Same weather, same outdoor opportunities, and still convenient to the DC museums if you're so inclined (with a few of its own to add.) Plus it's not soulless wasteland. And the traffic's very manageable. Better football, too.

Posted by Doug T | March 26, 2007 6:58 PM

Can one explain it to me: as DC gets 5G$/year tourist revenue, it badly needs a new brand. The idea being that something has to be done with this excessive popularity among the tourists?

On the other hand, someone extolled good climate in DC, so perhaps one can make a slogan out of it:

DC: better climate than Khartoum.

I recall visiting DC with two kids, and getting from Air & Space to Natural History was nearly enough to give you a heat stroke. Needless to say, I understand that DC is a great place to visit, but for OUTDOOR OPPORTUNITIES?

I can give you a realistic slogan for DC: Great place to visit during holidays! You can't believe what kind of bargains you can find there when the lobbyists are not in town!

Posted by piotr | March 27, 2007 1:03 AM

I actually love DC. But this is too much fun. I love several of those already suggested, particularly:

• Washington, DC: I Moved Here for Work'
  
• Washington, DC: Where your interests are ... special!
  
• Washington DC: This Slogan Cost $8 Million of Your Tax Money
  
• DC: We like rush hour so much we do it all day.[1]
  

And I'll propose my own:

• DC: If You Were a Democrat, You'd Be Home By Now. (for the overpasses to Northern Virginia)
  
• Washington is for Wonks (a take on 'Virginia is for lovers')
  
• DC: Come for a job, stay for the great election night parties. (for the alumni magazines)
  

[1]Although frankly I think this belongs to the Maryland and VA suburbs more than us.

Posted by Matilde | March 27, 2007 12:09 PM

Here's a good one:

"DC: Where superficial is the new you!"

Posted by Gwen | March 30, 2007 7:00 PM

D.C. "Where no new is good news"
D.C. " Don't Count on us Katrina victims"
D.C. " Where the only the strong survive"
D.C. " Where the Military put the Weak after serving there the u.s.a. War

Posted by Katie | April 26, 2007 12:30 AM