Sections
  • Best of Washington
  • News & Politics
    • Washingtonian Today
  • Things to Do
    • DC Welcome Guide
    • This Week
    • 100 Best Things to Do in DC
    • Neighborhood Guides
    • DC-Area Events Calender
    • Washingtonian Events
  • Food & Drink
    • 100 Very Best Restaurants
    • The Hot List
    • Brunch
    • New Restaurants
    • Restaurant Finder
  • Home & Style
    • Health
    • Parenting
  • Shopping
    • Gift Guides
  • Real Estate
    • Top Realtors
    • Listings We Love
    • Rave Worthy Rentals
  • Weddings
    • Real Weddings
    • Wedding Vendor Finder
    • Submit Your Wedding
  • Travel
    • DC Welcome Guide
    • Best Airbnbs Around DC
    • 3 Days in DC
  • Best of DC
    • Doctors
    • Apartment Rentals
    • Dentists
    • Financial Advisors
    • Industry Leaders
    • Lawyers
    • Mortgage Pros
    • Pet Care
    • Private Schools
    • Realtors
    • Wedding Vendors
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Subscription
    • Current & Past Issues
    • Features and Longreads
    • Newsletters
    • Newsstand Locations
Reader Favorites
  • 100 Very Best Restaurants
  • DC-Area Events Calendar
  • Brunch
  • Neighborhoods
  • Newsletters
  • Directories
  • Washingtonian Events
Washington’s Best
  • Apartment Rentals
  • DC Travel Guide
  • Dentists
  • Doctors
  • Financial Advisers
  • Health Experts
  • Home Improvement Experts
  • Industry Leaders
  • Lawyers
  • Mortgage Professionals
  • Pet Care
  • Private Schools
  • Real Estate Agents
  • Restaurants
  • Retirement Communities
  • Wedding Vendors
Privacy Policy |  Rss
© 2025 Washingtonian Media Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Skip to content
Washingtonian.com
  • Search
  • Subscribe
  • Menu
Washingtonian.com
  • Subscribe
Reader Favorites
  • 100 Very Best Restaurants
  • DC-Area Events Calendar
  • Brunch
  • Neighborhoods
  • Newsletters
  • Directories
  • Washingtonian Events
More
  • Subscribe
  • Manage My Subscription
  • Digital Edition
  • Shop
  • Contests
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
Sections
  • News & Politics
  • Food
  • Things to Do
  • Washingtonian Events
  • Home & Style
  • Editors’ Picks
  • Events Calendar
  • Health
  • Longreads
  • Parenting
  • Real Estate
  • Shopping
  • Travel
  • Weddings
  • Best of Washington
  • News & Politics
    • Washingtonian Today
  • Things to Do
    • DC Welcome Guide
    • This Week
    • 100 Best Things to Do in DC
    • Neighborhood Guides
    • DC-Area Events Calender
    • Washingtonian Events
  • Food & Drink
    • 100 Very Best Restaurants
    • The Hot List
    • Brunch
    • New Restaurants
    • Restaurant Finder
  • Home & Style
    • Health
    • Parenting
  • Shopping
    • Gift Guides
  • Real Estate
    • Top Realtors
    • Listings We Love
    • Rave Worthy Rentals
  • Weddings
    • Real Weddings
    • Wedding Vendor Finder
    • Submit Your Wedding
  • Travel
    • DC Welcome Guide
    • Best Airbnbs Around DC
    • 3 Days in DC
  • Best of DC
    • Doctors
    • Apartment Rentals
    • Dentists
    • Financial Advisors
    • Industry Leaders
    • Lawyers
    • Mortgage Pros
    • Pet Care
    • Private Schools
    • Realtors
    • Wedding Vendors
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Subscription
    • Current & Past Issues
    • Features and Longreads
    • Newsletters
    • Newsstand Locations
News & Politics

What’s the Single, Most Important Thing to Know Before Moving to DC?

Washingtonians have a lot of opinions.

Written by Daniella Byck
| Published on February 9, 2021
Tweet Share
Photograph by Glopphy/ iStock.

What’s the one rule you need to know before moving to DC? Vice DC correspondent Alexis Johnson posed that very question to Twitter on Monday, yielding a viral wave of responses from the city’s highly-opinionated populace. Here are some of the takes:

Stand on the correct side of the escalator—or else.

On all escalators, especially metro, you stand on the right side and walk on the left. Do not break this rule.

— Robyn Swirling (@RSwirling) February 9, 2021

https://twitter.com/arya_kidding_me/status/1358950231958839297

STAND ON THE RIGHT OF THE DAMN METRO ESCALATORS, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.
Also, the Smithsonian is both singular and plural.
Oh, and WELCOME to the District! 🙂

— Amanda Elizabeth (@AnEloquentDane) February 9, 2021

people will literally scream at you if you’re on the left side of the metro escalator and not sprinting up

— Connor Perrett (@connorperrett) February 9, 2021

Show love for DC’s Ethiopian and Salvadoran spots.

Sorry, not just one but… Malcolm X park on Sunday afternoons (when the weather gets better/maybe post pandemic); pupusas and Habesha food; the National Arboretum

But most important: people who say “no one is actually FROM DC” are not to be trusted on anything about DC

— Elahe Izadi | الهه (@ElaheIzadi) February 9, 2021

When things open back up, stand to the right and walk to the left in escalators. The Ethiopian and Salvadoran mom and pop restaurants are the crown jewels of this city.

— Shreya Singh Hernández (@shresing) February 9, 2021

https://twitter.com/EmperorADB/status/1359052245988495361

Baked and wired for cupcakes. @andpizza for, well, pizza. Ethiopian food scene is 🔥 Summer = late nights at the monuments and jazz in the gardens. As for the metro…eh, good luck?

— Zinhle (@simplyzinhle) February 9, 2021

https://twitter.com/CIVIL1AN/status/1358959995417743360

Explore the city by foot.

this isn’t so much a rule as a suggestion: get some good walking shoes and you can see so much of the city by foot! + find your nearest farmers market, it’ll bring you so much joy! (welcome to the city!! you’ll love it here ❤️)

— natalie escobar 🎷🐛 (@_NatalieEscobar) February 9, 2021

Walk everywhere and see how the neighborhoods connect. Everything is closer than it seems. Much easier to do in the summer, but it’s the only way to really get a grasp of the city!!

— Scott Nover (@ScottNover) February 9, 2021

https://twitter.com/KatiesOrr/status/1358987142471557121

1) “The toes you step on today will be connected to the butt you have to kiss tomorrow.” Perennial advice but esp true in DC 2) Walk everywhere as much as you can. On foot you’ll see all the charms and little beauty marks of the city. Also helps with stress lol

— Del. Lesley Lopez (@LesleyJLopez) February 9, 2021

Drive at your own risk.

https://twitter.com/alanrothdc/status/1358985007398871042

Do not drive to Georgetown on Friday or Saturday night (you would will not find parking). It is definitely great to go to DC’s “playground”don’t be the driver. Actually, this probably doesn’t apply during covid. & be sure to take advantage of all the museums!

— Chrissyghoran 🇺🇦 (@Chrissyghoran1) February 9, 2021

https://twitter.com/penstone/status/1358957304738181123

You will rack up at least $2,000.00 in parking tickets. Budget for it now.

— Larry Miller (@LarryMillerTV) February 9, 2021

If you have to drive, note there are three different driving cultures. VA drivers always move immediately to the left-most lane and then drive slow. MD drivers are insane. DC drivers will do anything, at any time, with no warning – except drive faster than 35mph. Even on I-95.

— Joshua Henson (@the1henson) February 9, 2021

WEIRD and SCARY lane / traffic changes on major avenues during rush hour!!!

That lane you are driving southbound on?

Suddenly there are CARS COMING AT YOU GOING NORTHBOUND!!!

Other than that, have fun in DC!!!

— mollyswordmcdonough 🌊 (@mollysmcdonough) February 9, 2021

And finally, never compare DC to that other city:

Never start a sentence, “It’s not New York, but…”

— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) February 9, 2021

More: AdviceDCTwitterWashingtonWashington DC
Join the conversation!
Share Tweet
Daniella Byck
Daniella Byck
Lifestyle Editor

Daniella Byck joined Washingtonian in 2022. She was previously with Outside Magazine and lives in Takoma.

Most Popular in News & Politics

1

Every Bus Line in DC Is Changing This Weekend. Here’s What to Know.

2

8 Takeaways From Usha Vance’s Interview With Meghan McCain

3

Yet Another Anti-Trump Statue Has Shown Up on the National Mall

4

Another Mysterious Anti-Trump Statue Has Appeared on the National Mall

5

Bans on Underage Vaping, Swastika Graffiti, Synthetic Dyes: New Virginia Laws Go Into Effect in July

Washingtonian Magazine

July Issue: The “Best Of” Issue

July Issue: The "Best Of" Issue

View Issue
Subscribe

Follow Us on Social

We'll help you live your best #DCLIFE every day

Follow Us on Social

We'll help you live your best #DCLIFE every day

Related

“Mean Mugging” at Ward 8 Candidate Forum Leads to Arrest

PHOTOS: The Most Expensive Homes Sold in Washington in June

PHOTOS: The Most Expensive Homes Sold in Washington in May

PHOTOS: The Most Expensive Homes Sold in Washington in March

More from News & Politics

Speaker Johnson’s Megabill Prayers Likely to Be Answered Before Holiday Weekend, Wrongly Deported Maryland Man Faced Abuse in El Salvador Prison, and We Found Some Yummy Nepalese Food

Pardoned J6er Will Join Ed Martin’s Justice Department Office, Trump Outlines Hypothetical Alligator Escape Plan, and We Have Fireworks Show Recommendations

The “World’s Largest Outdoor Museum” Is Coming to DC. Here’s a Preview.

A Cult Classic of Cannabis Brands Is Making Its DC Debut

The Commanders Wine and Dine DC Council Members; GOP Senator Suggests Tax Language Was “Airdropped” Into Spending Bill; and Trump Wants DOGE to Investigate Musk

100 Reasons to Love DC Right Now

How DC’s Attorney General Got So Good at Double Dutch

DC Council Ponders New Way to Expel Trayon White, the GOP’s Budget Bill Advances, and We Found You Some Tacos With Ethiopian Flair

© 2025 Washingtonian Media Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Washingtonian is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Privacy Policy and Opt-Out
 Rss
Get the best news, delivered weekly.
By signing up, you agree to our terms.
  • Subscribe
  • Manage My Subscription
  • Digital Edition
  • Shop
  • Contests
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs