It’s that time again: When we DC nerds begin to speculate where the incoming members of Congress will hang out and live.
Yes, we realize this is perhaps some grade-A, adult-who-never-moved-beyond-their-Model UN-days behavior to speculate where future lawmakers will spend time, but this is as close as we get to having actual celebrities, okay? Cut us some slack.
So here’s a list of our totally unscientific, completely speculative guesses as to where some of Congress’s new members will reside. And, of course, if you spy them out and about, make sure to alert DC’s version of DeuxMoi—Playbook.
What will be the funniest and/or least surprising place Fetterman will be spotted in DC?
My vote is Showtime. Seems like a lock.
— jason shevrin (@jasonshevrin) November 9, 2022
John Fetterman
The incoming Democratic senator from Pennsylvania has typically eschewed standard politician moves: As lieutenant governor, he and his family declined to move into the mansion reserved for his position in Harrisburg, living instead in their Braddock home. And you’ll often find him in cargo shorts and Dickie shirts instead of a suit and tie. This could mean he’d veer away from the standard Capitol Hill residence of your usual DC political type. (And, no, he can’t fit into the basement of Capitol Hill Books.)
Of course, it’s likely Fetterman will continue to make Braddock his full-time home, as it’s only a four-hour drive from DC. But where will he hang out in the area? This is a little difficult—there are plenty of places we could see him settling in: H Street or Bloomingdale, for instance.
But we could also see Fetterman spending time in Mount Pleasant: The neighborhood’s funky, laid-back vibe seems to mirror Fetterman’s ethos. The politician is apparently a fan of grunge rock and metal, so he could hang out at Mount Desert Island Ice Cream, which is owned by employees of the local punk label Dischord Records. He also reportedly enjoys walks in nature, and could check out the nearby paths along Rock Creek Park. And if Fetterman decides to get more tattoos, it’d be an easy walk to many of the ink parlors in nearby Adams Morgan.
One thing’s for sure, though: Wherever he ends up, his home will have to have tall ceilings. Fetterman stands at six feet, eight inches.
Maxwell Frost
The incoming House of Representatives member from Florida is Congress’s first Gen Z politician. Which brings us to an important question: Will Frost undergo the standard rite-of-passage for 20-somethings moving to the District, aka living in a group house in Columbia Heights?
Hear us out. If Frost moved to Columbia Heights, the music lover and drummer could walk to shows at the 9:30 Club, and he would be in close proximity to bars like Wonderland Ballroom and Red Derby, where many a 25-year-old DC resident has ended an evening at 2 AM. Plus, it’s unlikely he’ll bring the yellow Kia Soul in which he used to drive for Uber, so living by the Columbia Heights Metro would be a plus. (No need to become one of those politicians who rides in an SUV everywhere.)
And, sure, while he saw The 1975 at the Anthem, we just can’t imagine him living in the Wharf, aka one of the supposed HQs for young Republicans (along with Mission Navy Yard, of course).
J.D. Vance
The incoming Ohio senator and Hillbilly Elegy author currently lives in a $1.4 million, 5,000-square-foot Victorian Gothic-style home in Cincinnati, according to the New York Times.
The house is also apparently located in a liberal-leaning neighborhood called East Walnut Hills, according to Slate, which describes it as “adorned with Pride flags” and filled with coffee shops selling “nut-free granola out of consideration for allergies” that advertises “its organic ingredients are delivered in electric vehicles.” All this to say—not exactly the kind of setting you’d expect to find someone who’s become a spokesperson for Trump’s far-right rhetoric.
So perhaps he’d feel more comfortable in McLean. It has the luxurious, high square-footage McMansions that Vance has grown used to, but the politics might be more aligned with his own—after all, 55 percent of McLean’s precinct voted for Trump in the 2020 election.
Mimi Montgomery joined Washingtonian in 2018. She’s written for The Washington Post, Garden & Gun, Outside Magazine, Washington City Paper, DCist, and PoPVille. Originally from North Carolina, she now lives in Del Ray.
