McMegan's right that DC is poorly suited to raising kids. The best park in my area, Meridian Hill Park, has been closed for over a year, and has no infrastructure (playground, swings, strict prohibition on intravenous drug use) that would make it a nice place for kids. There are very few public pools. The city is incredibly unsafe. But this all flows from the decrepitude and collapse of the DC public school system. Since parents don't want their children in those schools, they move to the suburbs. And when they do, they deprive DC of the political constituency that would apply pressure for a child-friendly city. It's a vicious cycle, and it won't stop until the schools improve.
