Anyone move from Chicago to DMV and regret it?

[Anonymous]

Hi, we’re thinking of moving from Chicago to Arlington to be close to family and good schools.
But I wanted to see if anyone has done the move from Chicago to the DMV area and regret it?

[Anonymous]

We did it 14 years ago and haven't looked back.

[Anonymous]

I moved from Chicago about 15 years ago, but to the South first, then west coast. Don't regret it at all. I like visiting, but would never want to live there again. Seems like no matter where you go, you can alway find former Chicagoans, tons of people are constantly leaving. Good news is they are bringing their food with them so you can find Chicago pizza, hot dogs, Italian beef, or whatever you miss from back home in your new home.

[Anonymous]

I mean not exactly regret but we didn’t want to do it. We had to for job reasons (only place we could both align our careers). In hindsight I miss the lower property cost but don’t miss the snow.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Totally regret it. It’s so so different from Chicago. Chicago is so much friendlier and less of a gross competitive rat race.

If you have family here it might feel different, but think carefully about the move.

Food? Neighborhoods? Lake? Friendliness? Chicago wins for all of them.

Sorry, OP. I moved here 18 years ago for a job for my spouse and still regret it

[Anonymous]

I moved here 20 years ago. For the first few years I tried desperately to figure out how to move back. Eventually I found my groove here and now I couldn't imagine moving back. There are so many things I miss about Chicago but this is home now for sure.

[Anonymous]

I'm a former Chicagoan in DC. There are pros and cons to DC as compared to Chicago. DC is infinitely more uptight, but lots of people who move to DC are smart and motivated and want to make the world a better place. Being around that kind of energy is my favorite part.

[Anonymous]

Not directly, but moved from Chicago to the south to DC. Don't regret it one bit. The lower housing prices in Chicago are attractive but then you'd have to live in Chicago.

[Anonymous]

I moved from Chicago to New England. Weather is equally bad. I miss the low housing cost and wide aisles and easy/abundant parking at supermarkets. I do NOT miss CPS and the crazy high school admission situation in Chicago.

[Anonymous]

I was raised in Chicago, went to college in California, and then my adult life has always orbited DC. My mother still lives in Chicago, as do my mother's side of the family, so I go back, usually at Christmas time. I've always said Chicago is the best city in the world for three months out of the year. I do think that Chicago is a healthier environment for kids and families in terms of the people and mindset, since it's less type A with the exception of the North Shore and the Gold Coast. The Type A-ness of parents in the North Shore and the Gold Coast are just like here. Summers in the Midwest (particularly on lakes in Minnesota and northern Wisconsin) are criminally underrated by those who are not from the Midwest, and DC doesn't have anything similar to a Michigan/Wisconsin (some say the Eastern Shore or Ocean City/Rehoboth, but no). On the other hand, Chicago can be brutally cold and gray from October to Mother's Day, and some people cannot deal with it. For singles in their 20s and early 30s, it's on average a Big 10 school but just continued - it's less artsy than New York or intellectual than DC. That can be a good thing or a bad thing. Once you have kids, the differences kind of iron themselves out it seems.

In the same vein, Chicago is probably more conservative than DC socially, but on the same level politically. I vote reliably Democratic but I'm much more of a Clinton or a Biden Democrat than a Bernie Democrat. I see a similar phenomenon in Chicagoans I know where they are on average more in line with the Bidens of the world than the Bernies.

My impression is that DCPS and charters are on average better than CPS, but my college experience was that my suburban public high school prepared me far better than suburban public high schools in the DMV (MV?) prepared my classmates.

Also Chicago in terms of area is much bigger than DC. All of the District of Columbia can be fit into the Chicagoan North Side (Chicago River to Howard Ave, North Fork to the Lake), and that's something people quickly forget. Chicago's roads with the Kennedy, Edens, Eisenhower, Stevenson, Dan Ryan, and Bishop Ford are much better for getting around than DC's highway system. It takes me the same amount of time to get from 16th Street Heights to Downtown as it does to get me from Elmhurst (similar in feel to 16th Street Heights) to the Loop, although Elmhurst is 18 miles away from the Loop whereas 16th Street Heights is 5 miles away from Metro Center.

If you can deal with the grayness for eight months out of the year, I would gravitate to Chicago, but I cannot, so I'm here!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a former Chicagoan in DC. There are pros and cons to DC as compared to Chicago. DC is infinitely more uptight, but lots of people who move to DC are smart and motivated and want to make the world a better place. Being around that kind of energy is my favorite part.

It's the dynamic energy that comes from DMV grifters.

[Anonymous]

People from Chicago are so nice. I’m from DC, and everyone I’ve met from Chicago is just so incredibly kind and caring. People from this area and NY are just not nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People from Chicago are so nice. I’m from DC, and everyone I’ve met from Chicago is just so incredibly kind and caring. People from this area and NY are just not nice.

that's a broad generalization. There are pros and cons to each place. On balance, in my view, Chicago wins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was raised in Chicago, went to college in California, and then my adult life has always orbited DC. My mother still lives in Chicago, as do my mother's side of the family, so I go back, usually at Christmas time. I've always said Chicago is the best city in the world for three months out of the year. I do think that Chicago is a healthier environment for kids and families in terms of the people and mindset, since it's less type A with the exception of the North Shore and the Gold Coast. The Type A-ness of parents in the North Shore and the Gold Coast are just like here. Summers in the Midwest (particularly on lakes in Minnesota and northern Wisconsin) are criminally underrated by those who are not from the Midwest, and DC doesn't have anything similar to a Michigan/Wisconsin (some say the Eastern Shore or Ocean City/Rehoboth, but no). On the other hand, Chicago can be brutally cold and gray from October to Mother's Day, and some people cannot deal with it. For singles in their 20s and early 30s, it's on average a Big 10 school but just continued - it's less artsy than New York or intellectual than DC. That can be a good thing or a bad thing. Once you have kids, the differences kind of iron themselves out it seems.

In the same vein, Chicago is probably more conservative than DC socially, but on the same level politically. I vote reliably Democratic but I'm much more of a Clinton or a Biden Democrat than a Bernie Democrat. I see a similar phenomenon in Chicagoans I know where they are on average more in line with the Bidens of the world than the Bernies.

My impression is that DCPS and charters are on average better than CPS, but my college experience was that my suburban public high school prepared me far better than suburban public high schools in the DMV (MV?) prepared my classmates.

Also Chicago in terms of area is much bigger than DC. All of the District of Columbia can be fit into the Chicagoan North Side (Chicago River to Howard Ave, North Fork to the Lake), and that's something people quickly forget. Chicago's roads with the Kennedy, Edens, Eisenhower, Stevenson, Dan Ryan, and Bishop Ford are much better for getting around than DC's highway system. It takes me the same amount of time to get from 16th Street Heights to Downtown as it does to get me from Elmhurst (similar in feel to 16th Street Heights) to the Loop, although Elmhurst is 18 miles away from the Loop whereas 16th Street Heights is 5 miles away from Metro Center.

If you can deal with the grayness for eight months out of the year, I would gravitate to Chicago, but I cannot, so I'm here!

+1 to all this.

Another Chicagoan stuck in DC.

[Anonymous]

I haven't even lived in Chicago and visited from the DMV once a few years ago pre-pandemic. There was a coffee shop across from our hotel, and the barista would say some version of, "Welcome back! Great to see you again, what can I get for you this morning?" I was just so stunned, in a good way. Nobody in NOVA was ever that nice in the ten years I lived there, certainly nobody ever said "welcome back". Everyone was just so nice. It was hard to come back to the DMV!