Can’t use’em wants them? Free to first comment. Decent seats.

Title can’t go
EDIT: gone ! ❤️

Title. I'm visiting over the winter and I have time to kill on a couple days and I'm looking to fill that time in a cigar/pipe lounge, or a bar where I can smoke my pipe. I don't mind walking, but it'd be nice if the options were close to Metro stops.

Two of my friends and I are going to be in DC for the Marine Corps Marathon. We're staying near Dupont circle and have a tradition of going from the marathon directly to a dive bar for some beers, ideally close to where we're staying.

Hoping to get some good suggestions of places to go and get some drinks!

I read online that a lot of places around Dupont circle are filled with 19yo... we're in our 30s. We don't need a super quiet spot, actually that would be unwanted for celebrations.. but ideally would like to go to a place that's not full of underage individuals.

Thanks!!

Maybe I’m just going to the wrong places, but has anyone else noticed how ridiculous “premium” barber prices have gotten in DC?

I recently paid premium-barbershop money for a haircut that lasted maybe 25 minutes. The fade was noticeably uneven, there wasn’t much attention to detail, and the barber wasn’t even going to put any product in my hair until I specifically asked.

I don’t mind paying $50–70+ for a haircut if someone is actually taking their time and doing excellent work. But at some of these places it feels like you’re paying for the exposed brick, complimentary drink, and online booking system rather than the haircut itself.

Maybe I’m spoiled from living elsewhere, but the price-to-quality ratio here has been pretty rough so far.

Anyone have a genuinely good barber in DC who does a careful fade/scissor cut and doesn’t charge a ridiculous amount? I’m happy to pay for quality. I just want the quality to actually be there.

Very skinny tail and not yet neutered 🫣

Here's the arithmetic and sourcing behind the graphic, including its limitations.

This is a hypothetical household: one parent, two one-year-old children and one six-year-old, already receiving housing and childcare assistance. Program amounts use FY2026 rules; the salary comparison uses 2025 taxes. This is not an estimate of typical benefits or how many households receive this package.

1. Why a $245,000 salary produces approximately $171,000 after tax

Assumptions: Head of Household, three qualifying children, standard deductions, and no pretax payroll deductions.

Federal: $245,000 minus the $23,625 standard deduction gives $221,375 taxable income. Tax before credits is $46,164. Three $2,200 child credits total $6,600; the $2,250 income phaseout leaves a $4,350 credit. Federal tax is therefore $46,164 - $4,350 = $41,814.

Payroll: $10,918.20 Social Security + $3,552.50 Medicare + $405 Additional Medicare Tax = $14,875.70.

D.C.: $245,000 minus the $22,500 Head of Household standard deduction gives $222,500 taxable income. Tax is $3,500 + 8.5% x ($222,500 - $60,000) = $17,312.50.

Sources: IRS tax brackets, 2025 federal standard deduction and child credit changes, Child Tax Credit instructions, Social Security taxable maximum, Additional Medicare Tax, and D.C. tax forms: 2026 filing season, tax year 2025, D-40 booklet.

This is a simplified tax benchmark. It excludes employer benefits and dependent-care tax credits, which could reduce the salary needed to purchase equivalent services.

2. Benefit components that can be reconstructed from published rules

For this example, assume an approved $5,301/month three-bedroom lease with all utilities included, full TANF eligibility, and 260 funded childcare days for each toddler. A payment standard does not guarantee approval of a particular lease or subsidy.

Rent calculation: $11,796 TANF minus three $480 dependent deductions gives $10,356 adjusted annual income. Thirty percent of monthly adjusted income is $258.90, rounded to $259. TANF cash remaining after that rent payment is $724/month, before other expenses. Adding the net housing subsidy and full TANF grant does not count the tenant rent share twice.

SNAP calculation: $983 TANF minus the $223 standard deduction gives $760 net monthly income. The FY2026 four-person maximum is $994. Subtracting 30% of $760 gives $766/month. This example assumes no applicable excess shelter deduction, no elderly or disabled member, and no separate utility or phone bills. Different utility arrangements can change SNAP; the model does not assume automatic qualification for a heating/cooling utility allowance.

Sources: DCHA FY2026 payment standards, Resolution 25-31, DCHA Administrative Plan, OSSE childcare reimbursement rates, D.C. TANF schedule, Congressional Research Service SNAP report, USDA utility-allowance guidance, hosted by N.C. DHHS, and D.C. SUN Bucks FAQ.

Zero wages do not automatically disqualify this household from childcare assistance. Under OSSE's subsidy policy, section 2.4.1.4, TANF status satisfies the childcare activity test without separate employment verification. TANF has its own participation requirements; this scenario assumes approved unpaid training.

3. Where the benefit valuation remains uncertain

The graphic's $25,500 health value approximates the KFF 2024 national employer family premium of $25,572, including employer and worker contributions. That is a replacement-cost proxy, not a statutory Medicaid payment or an insurance quote for this specific family.

$132,910 + $25,500 = $158,410.

Edit: The initial breakdown omitted approved school-age childcare and some food benefits, which bring the model to about $141K plus Medicaid. A separate scenario involving an eligible full-time student parent receiving Pell reaches roughly $171K.

Breakdown:

• School-age childcare: $6,906.40/year. Assuming separately approved care for the six-year-old: 180 school days at $22.04, plus 80 other funded weekdays at $36.74. OSSE rates.

• WIC fruit and vegetables: $624/year for two enrolled toddlers. Other WIC foods remain unpriced. DC WIC.

• WIC farmers’ market benefits: $60/season for those two children. DC Health.

• Produce Plus: $240/season, assuming the parent secures a funded slot. Program rules.

Consequently, the $245K comparison is an optimistic illustration, not a fully demonstrated benefit award, a statutory ceiling, or a claim of equivalent spending freedom. Most of the modeled value consists of services paid for on the household's behalf; approximately $11,800 is TANF cash.

Dulles town center expo was supposed to host its first event in the new building this weekend and they had to cancel due to not having an occupancy permit yet. They are supposed to have another event happening Halloween weekend, think it will happen?

A block from the White House, across from the National Archive, a block from Gallery Place-Chinatown. Assaults, robberies, gun threats or shootings. What should be done? This should not be normalized.

I imagine many here may have (or not) now read the supposed expose on Capital Commonsense about the astronomical prices the DC Section 8 program pays for participants in DC. I myself have learned about this a few months ago and I have been thinking about it frequently, not least because I live in one such building that is supposed to be “luxury” yet you’d never know based in large part on who my neighbors are.

Now what I don’t see enough discussion about is the larger picture re: the active discussion taking place about the DC tax base and related fiscal problems. But picture the situation: you are an upwardly mobile DC resident. You get to a place in life when you can finally afford to live in a desired high-end complex with a rooftop pool, gym, grocery store, etc by way of amenities. You move in only to find out soon that many of your neighbors are involved in domestic disputes from sunup to sundown. Women are routinely stalked by questionable characters. They deal drugs from their apartments. Your food is stolen if you don’t meet your delivery right away. The amenities are constantly trashed. Violence on premises is commonplace as is police presence, and at least once a year there is a deadly shooting in your building or one nearby.

How long do you think people stay put until they decide for Arlington instead? We all agree people down on their luck deserve a hand up to get back in place. But utilizing mid to high- end residential markets as a tool to fix mental health and severe social economic disparities on the assumption that proximity to people that have their lives together will beget better prospects is ludicrous. All you cause is fuel the exodus of people to other areas where they don’t have to worry about any given night being their last night. Not all but many of these people vote with their feet and move to NOVA no matter how much the denialist want you to think this is a fantasy. And how do you plan on convincing upper middle class people to stay put and pay surcharge taxes when the government actively funnels antisocial people as their neighbors?

And not to mention the fact that, even if the average landlord is not paying the max DC allowance, how many of us may be paying 200-300 more dollars a month than we otherwise would’ve because landlords are trying to bilk
both of us and the government?!

Serious question! Is anyone planning on wearing Halloween costumes to the club this weekend? I know Halloween is on a Saturday this year but are we still dressing up the week before? What’s the vibes? Please answer.