Hi Mark,
Here are two tribes relating to belly dance in the DC area.
tribaldc.tribe.net/
tribes.tribe.net/dcareabellydance
Best of luck with your move,
Samira

Also check out this tribe: tribes.tribe.net/dc10in1

This summer, you should check out Artomatic: artomatic.org/

and the Capital Fringe Festival: www.capfringe.org/

The thing that surprised me about DC is how liberal the district is, and the number of artists and musicians here. I was expecting politicos and lobbyists, but they mostly all live in Virginia. (You'll find many district folks have a distinct aversion to crossing the line into VA.) Many of the folks that live in DC proper came here trying to change the world or some such (there is a large SF contingent here), and tend to have a more creative bent than say, your average republican.

What should you know?

Summers can be extremely muggy. With mosquitos. Lots.

Live in the district if you can; the commutes are not as bad as the SF bay area, but not pleasant. If you work outside the district then you have a counter-commute. Living near Rock Creek Parkway is a wonderful thing. Many places have a real neighborhood feel, and you can walk to almost everything you need, but still have nice tree-lined streets.

I personally avoid Georgetown at all costs. It is an upscale shopping mecca, and usually packed with yuppies and ex-frat boys. U St./14th NW is great, and Dupont is a great area, but sort of post-gentrification and rapidly going upscale. Adams Morgan has many wonderful spots (some of my favorites in DC), but it turns into an out-of-towner party mall on summer weekends complete with drunken fist-fights and immense crowds. Columbia Heights is up and coming, and I live in nearby Mt. Pleasant and love it. There are many other cool neighborhoods, these are just the ones I know well.

Public transportation here is great. Live near a metro. If you have a car, parking is no problem in some areas, impossible in others; check it out in advance. The district itself doesn't have bad traffic at all (by CA standards). DC has sort of a European feel to much of it; it took me a while to figure out why, but because there's a height restriction on buildings (think Washington monument) the population density is relatively low.

Outside the area: Baltimore, despite its downtown face-lift, remains a funky, seedy town with tremendous character. AVAM (the American Visionary Art Museum) there is a must-see. If you need to go to Philly or New York, trains are plentiful and cheaper/faster than flying. The AFI has a theater in Silver Spring MD (just over the line) with great film programs: www.afi.com/silver/new/

That's what I can think of off the top of my head. Welcome, and hope to see you at a happy hour this summer!

- Lorne


P.S. - Shamelss self-promotion: The DC Burner Choir will be performing "Craigslist: The Musical" at Artomatic June 6th:

www.craigslistthemusical.com/

Not to hijack the post or anything, but I'm heading into DC too and was wondering how the fire spinning/juggling scene is. Thanks!