Relocating to DC...what's life like?
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Anonymous
| Op, cattiness, yes lots of it. The women in this area are monsters to other women. Think about that and what you'll be exposing yourself to, especially if you are a SAHM. The things I've witnessed over the forty years I have lived here would make for an interested reality tv show. Funny thing, these people don't think there's anything wrong with them, it's always everyone else. There is a reason we always got that "look" when we would tell people we were from DC while traveling, eventually we just told them outside of DC proper, too uncomfortable to field their negative comments. |
Anonymous
We just moved from a nice apt walkable “good schools” etc and thank the good lord. Two stabbings in the last two weeks, robberies, homicides. Sorry - the schools and neighborhood are in free fall. DC is hosed. So glad we got out! |
Anonymous
Yes DC offers these thing, but so does every mid-sized city on the eastern seaboard. No one is moving to DC because of the proximity to Rehobeth or hiking in Shenandoah. There is a national park in every single state. You can bike in and around many cities. Most cities have a zoo and museums. College? Most people who live in DC don’t want to send their kids to college here. Professional sports? Again, almost any decent city is going to have professional sporting events. Not sure I’d rank DC very high when it comes to the arts and entertainment. It’s not a creative city. Seriously most people living in DC and the surrounding suburbs is here for work. It’s a company town. There are very few people living in DC who are independently wealthy or don’t work in the area. It’s also very transient. It’s very different from world class cities like NY or LA where the cities offer a lot more compared to other cities. No one dreams of moving to DC one day to live here because DC in itself is that amazing. Instead they move to DC because of the job opportunities. |
Anonymous
Where are the mommies you mention hanging out? I’ve spent time at both playgrounds in Georgetown and it is 90% nannies. Georgetown itself is mostly home to singles, older couples, retirees, etc. There are more families than in the past, but it’s hardly a neighborhood I would describe as having a lot of SAHMs. |
Anonymous
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I wouldn’t move expecting DC to impress you or offer what a city like London or HK has to offer.
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Anonymous
This is obviously overwrought. Dilute it to a third of its present concentration and it’s helpful. It would also be helped by some understanding of what’s unique about DC, for better or for worse, but a few paragraphs will always miss a few things. |
Anonymous
And compared to Milwaukee? |
Anonymous
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DC has more and better (and less expensive) museums than any other city in the US. I lived in NYC. It has nice museums. But far fewer museums per capita and none of them are really free.
DC has good parks per capita: https://www.washingtonian.com/2021/05/28/dc-officially-has-americas-best-park-system/ And yes, it's a company town. Last I heard, jobs are helpful for a city. DC has lots of those. It also has a large and growing homeless population. Housing is getting very expensive, but that's a national problem and DC isn't looking so bad now that every other area with jobs has quickly rising housing costs. DC people are very focused on their careers and jobs. This can tend to make them self-important. God bless our teachers. They get treated like crap. There are some neighborhoods where people are less pompous. There are also neighborhoods where many or even most people are not transplants but were born in this region. There tends to be a lot of overlap in these two groups of neighborhoods. The area is quite divided along party line. Tell us more about what you're like: political affiliation, hobbies, your kids, your careers, public or private school, and we can give you some idea of where you'll feel the most comfortable. As a DC native, I miss the days when the Metro was heavily used and ran very frequently. The Metro, with all its issues, is great. A huge asset of this region. |
Anonymous
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NP. I have lived in Chicago and DC (and Wisconsin, actually, but that was a while ago) -- in both cases, in the cities themselves. My kids, when I was in DC, weren't of school age yet but I still have lots of friends with kids in the DC schools now. When I lived in DC, I worked in an office downtown but now I work from home in Chicago so don't have apples to apples commute comparisons.
Friendliness of people -- I personally think that's a wash. DC people tend to be very smart, and I always really liked that at any dinner party, you'd have someone interesting to talk to. Everyone has traveled a lot, the city is racially diverse (although economically segregated and there are obviously racial implications there). I made life-long friends in DC because they're kind of "my people" -- extremely educated, a little sarcastic, "worldly." In Chicago, people are warmer and I have found that my social network is much more racially *and* economically diverse (although I live on the south side, not sure that would be the case if I lived on the north side). But that kind of "Minnesota nice" is real -- it can be hard to get truly let in, and sometimes I feel like my guard is up. My best friend here, who I really adore, didn't even know what my job was until 3 years into our relationship. Our friendship is based around our kids and shared non-political interests. I have a much longer list of friendly acquaintances and early friendships here than I did in DC, and am much more likely to run into someone at the grocery store. Similarly, cashiers at my local restaurants and libraries and the post office recognize me and are likely to joke around, although in a very casual way. That never happened to me in DC. The bad thing about DC friends is that they are almost always a flight risk. Of my best friends in DC, 75% of them have left the region. Oh, and politics is a thing worth mentioning -- DC is very liberal. So am I. So is Chicago. But politics is close to the heart of a lot of people in DC in a way it isn't anywhere else in the country, so it's a very common topic of conversation. Hustle and Bustle -- Chicago is famous for its bad traffic, but I find that it is MUCH better than DC. DC has no major in-town thoroughfares -- I remember constantly swearing while driving down Georgia because of all the damn uncoordinated traffic lights. It would be infuriating, taking 25 minutes to go .25 miles. Chicago is easier to get around, IME, and there are always "alternatives" to the major clogs on the highways. The public transportation in Chicago is vastly superior. In DC, the metro is the best bet but it has some serious issues and doesn't have great coverage of the city. Definitely nothing like London. People tend to drive places. The really noticeable thing about DC is that since so many people work 9-5 office jobs, getting something like an oil change or going to Costco on the weekend can be an absolute nightmare because EVERYONE does it on the weekend. If you're going to SAH, that will be a nonissue since you'll be able to take care of things like that when other people are working in their offices. I have nightmares about trying to get out of the Arlington Costco parking lot during rush hour in December. School competitiveness -- basically the same, from what I hear. In Chicago, there's a lottery and a testing system (not the case in DC, just a lottery for most schools). Rich people in both areas often go private, especially if the lottery fails them. Kids in both cities are pushed into extracurriculars of all sorts. Anyway, I could go on, but those are my thoughts. There's also a quick covid note -- DC people are uber cautious. That'll be new to you if you're coming from Wisconsin. |
Anonymous
OP here. Thanks so much for this. We tend to be liberal leaning, husband is from UK, young kids just learning/involved with various sports (they aren't on competitive/traveling teams), likely public schools for now as some of the elementary options seem quite good, weekend hobbies we enjoy doing are basically anything not at home...walking around the city, riding bikes, having a coffee, zoo, playground, etc.....all heavily influenced by entertaining kids. |
Anonymous
Haha thanks to both of you. Yes, HK and London will always occupy lovely memories in my mind, but at the time, I'm sure it wasn't all rosy. |
Anonymous
OP here and thanks for this. Will have to spend time walking the areas. I'm also curious if a lot of the kids in this area go to private school, especially after reading some other posts on this site? |
Anonymous
OP here and yes, after reading several posts, I can definitely feel that this type of personality exists in DC. Do you find it exists more in transplants or natives or both? Maybe it exists more in specific careers/industry? |
Anonymous
Well, then any area in NW DC should work for you. You're only limited by budget, I suppose. Cleveland Park, AU Park, Chevy Chase all seem nice, have good playgrounds and also young families. There are not as many locally owned coffee shops in DC as there once were. But you''ll find Starbucks everywhere. It's a very livable city, though you will need a car. |
Anonymous
OP here. This was an amazing post and thank you so much for taking the time to write. I love the bit about the variety of people you find in DC. It's something I loved and miss about HK. Additionally, HK was extremely transient in the expat community and most of my acquaintances there have since moved on/back home. Appreciate the info on the traffic. We lived in the Chicago North Shore area for approx. two years, so I completely understand Chicago traffic. Interesting on the no in-town thoroughfares. The part about schools and the potential "pressure cooker" environment is perhaps what concerns me the most. Our kids are young, so we don't have a long educational history, however, I would guess that they will be above avg., but perhaps not valedictorians haha. I would feel awful if school made them feel horrible about themselves, which it seems some people here have had that experience. As for COVID, I still wear masks/am vaxed, but yes...most here do not. Just my own comfort level. |