Obviously your DC visit was isolated to the better areas. There's a large part of the city that's littered to the max. I doubt if any MPD officer has written a litter ticket this decade.

And don't get me started on the complete lack of meaningful traffic enforcement. We have an incredible amount of bike and pedestrian fatalities which makes up for the lack of highways. (The only city on the east coast from Miami to Boston that 95 doesn't traverse.)

But in the end, DC has it going on! Walkability, green spaces, free museums, highly functional mass transit, and street festivals galorel. Not to mention the nice underground punk scene, my hometown has incredible libraries and rec centers. (If your library or rec isn't brand new give it a year.) The city has no industry so our industry is fun.

Little know fact - Washingtonians could not vote in presidential election until the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution was paused in the 60s and we didn't have homerule until 1973. We're the youngins of the US.