Friday, February 11, 2005

What's wrong with D.C.?

Here's a question that has been bugging me as of late: why does the District of Columbia have an unemployment rate of 9% when the entire D.C. area -- D.C., Northern Virginia, Southern Maryland and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia -- has an unemployment rate of 2.9%? Are there aspects of the District that make its residents less desirable / able to find employment, or are there aspects of the District that make it more hospitable than its surrounding areas to those unable to find work?

As I said, I really don't have an answer to this question, but I do have a few ideas. So, over the next month or so I hope to take a look at various aspects of the District to see what exactly about the District causes such a dichotomy.