Tom Bridge, 29, is co-founder of WeLoveDC.com, a new blog that pays tribute to the nation’s capital.
Do you live in D.C.?
I live across the river in Arlington. I get some constant disdain for that one, but I love it. My wife and I are actually considering moving into the District in 2009 or 2010.
What neighborhood are you in?
I live in historic Fairlington. Formerly 1940s Defense Department housing, it was turned into beautiful condos in the ’70s. I have a yard and a garden. How could I pass that up?
Why do you love D.C.?
D.C. is a crossroads. People come here for so many reasons, and the intermingling of the political, the technical, the cultural, and the historical has an amazing effect. It’s hard to describe, but you get a lot of the best of every community here, and that makes D.C. an incredible place. Great food, great people, great sights, great museums.
What’s your favorite thing about D.C.?
The people, hands down. This town has more cool, interesting and unique people than I’ve found in other cities.
Does the city get a bad rap?
JFK called D.C. a city of “Northern charm and Southern efficiency,” which I think couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve met more wonderful, warm and caring people here than in my four years in the Midwest, or my childhood in California. There’s so much here to love, and I think that gets lost a lot of the time.
Do media outlets focus too much on the city’s bad side?
The news organizations do their part to force the issue about so many problems we have in D.C. Bad schools. Crime. Mistreatment of youth. The newspapers and media are here to point that stuff out, and put pressure on the leadership of the city to combat the problems, whether we like it or not. We’re trying to counterbalance that at We Love D.C.
