Tired of the DC thing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
You need to MOVE, move to a different state, small town---you know, where you can buy 5 bedroom homes for at the MOST, $78,000--yes, 78,000.....plus land to go with it.....NO REGRETS AT ALL !!!!! Only a 15 minute commute.

To a job in what field, and with what salary?

And schools?? That so what traps us here, low COL generally means and school quality.

People worry too much about this. I grew up in rural part of the Midwest. My bff from college (we went to a top national school) came from the best public schools in NJ. I graduated with a higher GPA than her (and yes, we both took college seriously). To a large degree, it is what you put into it. Was I a bit behind freshmen year, sure. Did I end up graduating in the top 5% of the business school, yes.

Your kid is not doomed for failure if they don't have the best schools ever.

+1. Was just discussing this with a good friend. Between the four of us (including our SOs), two of us went to the BEST magnet schools in the country and good private colleges. Two of us went to totally normal middle America "good" public schools, then went to good state colleges. We all got into and went to good grad schools and have all done equally well in our careers (we're all lawyers, so "success" is pretty easily definable). It literally doesn't matter where any of us went to HS so long as it was pretty good. In fact, my friend who went to a top magnet school found it so oppressive and stressful that 20 years later she still trembles when she talks about it. She would waaaayy rather give her kid the other path, to the extent that all roads get to the same place.

But if you embrace this attitude, you can live in a lower cost of living town in this area, like in PG County, and not have to deal with the financial stress of a million dollar house, and still have your good job in DC. Just sayin'

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^I'm in the exact same boat, looking for a rainy city too! So funny. I really liked the area around Seattle, but the people are not very friendly there either. That's why I'm considering the areas in Tennessee, same area as you. I've never been to Asheville and haven't explored the east coast as much, even though I was raised in DC. But I definitely intend to. My dream would be to be in a place deep in a forest, but close to where I could drive to get a morning latte. Not gonna, happen, I know... but I can dream, right?

We are like the same age too (I'm late 20s) and I am thinking of a place long term, to maybe raise kids or where I could live long term. It is strange- you still want a place with other young people so you can socialize but then you're trying to plan far into the future...

Pittsburgh is VERY rainy (gets as much rain as Seattle) and very lush and pretty in the summer to boot. It's pretty temperate. And there are lots of woodsy areas within commuting distance of the city. But it's pretty dreary 9 months of the year; I personally had a hard time taking it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^I'm in the exact same boat, looking for a rainy city too! So funny. I really liked the area around Seattle, but the people are not very friendly there either. That's why I'm considering the areas in Tennessee, same area as you. I've never been to Asheville and haven't explored the east coast as much, even though I was raised in DC. But I definitely intend to. My dream would be to be in a place deep in a forest, but close to where I could drive to get a morning latte. Not gonna, happen, I know... but I can dream, right?

We are like the same age too (I'm late 20s) and I am thinking of a place long term, to maybe raise kids or where I could live long term. It is strange- you still want a place with other young people so you can socialize but then you're trying to plan far into the future...

Pittsburgh is VERY rainy (gets as much rain as Seattle) and very lush and pretty in the summer to boot. It's pretty temperate. And there are lots of woodsy areas within commuting distance of the city. But it's pretty dreary 9 months of the year; I personally had a hard time taking it.

Thanks very much for the tip! I really loved Philadelphia when I visited, so I think I would like Pennsylvania people (I know some people find Pennsylvanians to be "surly", or that is what I've heard). I will have to add Pittsburgh to my list of places to see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^I'm in the exact same boat, looking for a rainy city too! So funny. I really liked the area around Seattle, but the people are not very friendly there either. That's why I'm considering the areas in Tennessee, same area as you. I've never been to Asheville and haven't explored the east coast as much, even though I was raised in DC. But I definitely intend to. My dream would be to be in a place deep in a forest, but close to where I could drive to get a morning latte. Not gonna, happen, I know... but I can dream, right?

We are like the same age too (I'm late 20s) and I am thinking of a place long term, to maybe raise kids or where I could live long term. It is strange- you still want a place with other young people so you can socialize but then you're trying to plan far into the future...

Life is strange that way. Forest works just as well for me though I'm not so much an outdoors woman as someone who likes the idea of beautiful nature out on my doorstep and the main town not far off on foot. People laugh when I say I want to be able to walk from my home to a coffee shop or a fast casual place for a light lunch but its important to me. I don't think I'm asking for the moon - just not a small town with 'Jane's Diner' or the Sea Shack as the only place to eat.

Anonymous wrote: Pittsburgh is VERY rainy (gets as much rain as Seattle) and very lush and pretty in the summer to boot. It's pretty temperate. And there are lots of woodsy areas within commuting distance of the city. But it's pretty dreary 9 months of the year; I personally had a hard time taking it.

Chiming in here - I've been to Pittsburgh. It and Philadelphia are like night-and-day to the rest of PA but Pittsburgh itself is very...stunted. You really get a coal-country vibe there, I don't know how to explain it. I went to visit by friend in a postdoc program at Carnegie Mellon and pretty much vowed not to go back. It's not my kind of city and if you're driving to get there, going through the rest of PA is like being in a Children of the Corn flick. Isolated communities and lots of endless cultivated crops.

[Anonymous]

We did it and couldn't be happier with our decision to move to Mount Pleasant SC, 5 miles from downtown Charleston. Been here for 3 years and never looked back. Our quality of life has greatly improved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^I'm in the exact same boat, looking for a rainy city too! So funny. I really liked the area around Seattle, but the people are not very friendly there either. That's why I'm considering the areas in Tennessee, same area as you. I've never been to Asheville and haven't explored the east coast as much, even though I was raised in DC. But I definitely intend to. My dream would be to be in a place deep in a forest, but close to where I could drive to get a morning latte. Not gonna, happen, I know... but I can dream, right?

We are like the same age too (I'm late 20s) and I am thinking of a place long term, to maybe raise kids or where I could live long term. It is strange- you still want a place with other young people so you can socialize but then you're trying to plan far into the future...

Life is strange that way. Forest works just as well for me though I'm not so much an outdoors woman as someone who likes the idea of beautiful nature out on my doorstep and the main town not far off on foot. People laugh when I say I want to be able to walk from my home to a coffee shop or a fast casual place for a light lunch but its important to me. I don't think I'm asking for the moon - just not a small town with 'Jane's Diner' or the Sea Shack as the only place to eat.

Anonymous wrote: Pittsburgh is VERY rainy (gets as much rain as Seattle) and very lush and pretty in the summer to boot. It's pretty temperate. And there are lots of woodsy areas within commuting distance of the city. But it's pretty dreary 9 months of the year; I personally had a hard time taking it.

Chiming in here - I've been to Pittsburgh. It and Philadelphia are like night-and-day to the rest of PA but Pittsburgh itself is very...stunted. You really get a coal-country vibe there, I don't know how to explain it. I went to visit by friend in a postdoc program at Carnegie Mellon and pretty much vowed not to go back. It's not my kind of city and if you're driving to get there, going through the rest of PA is like being in a Children of the Corn flick. Isolated communities and lots of endless cultivated crops.

I don't think visiting a friend at Carnegie Mellon makes you a Pittsburgh expert. It has lots of nice neighborhoods-- I certainly wouldn't write it off!

[Anonymous]

Here to plug Sacramento, CA. It has the best of a lot of worlds --- proximity to SF, Lake Tahoe, Napa (1.5-2hrs to each location). The weather is great (right now in my neighborhood the leaves are falling all around, fall!). Good jobs (it's the state's capitol, afterall) and so ridiculously affordable compared to living in a major city.

We have a walkable midtown with amazing restaurants (considered the home of farm to fork cuisine) and amazing wines (proximity to Napa/Sonoma and Amador County is just a 30 min drive).

We just got a new sports stadium and Mondavi for cultural venue. Also, a lot of SF events are a drive away---

My kid has been raised going to great museums in Berkeley (1.5hrs away) and SF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here to plug Sacramento, CA. It has the best of a lot of worlds --- proximity to SF, Lake Tahoe, Napa (1.5-2hrs to each location). The weather is great (right now in my neighborhood the leaves are falling all around, fall!). Good jobs (it's the state's capitol, afterall) and so ridiculously affordable compared to living in a major city.

We have a walkable midtown with amazing restaurants (considered the home of farm to fork cuisine) and amazing wines (proximity to Napa/Sonoma and Amador County is just a 30 min drive).

We just got a new sports stadium and Mondavi for cultural venue. Also, a lot of SF events are a drive away---

My kid has been raised going to great museums in Berkeley (1.5hrs away) and SF.

Tell me more about Sacramento, please. We are thinking of it as a retirement location in about 10 years. It seems to check most of the boxes of what we are looking for (mild winters, urban enough but not too urban, diverse, proximity to outdoor activities). Have you also lived in DC? How do the people compare?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here to plug Sacramento, CA. It has the best of a lot of worlds --- proximity to SF, Lake Tahoe, Napa (1.5-2hrs to each location). The weather is great (right now in my neighborhood the leaves are falling all around, fall!). Good jobs (it's the state's capitol, afterall) and so ridiculously affordable compared to living in a major city.

We have a walkable midtown with amazing restaurants (considered the home of farm to fork cuisine) and amazing wines (proximity to Napa/Sonoma and Amador County is just a 30 min drive).

We just got a new sports stadium and Mondavi for cultural venue. Also, a lot of SF events are a drive away---

My kid has been raised going to great museums in Berkeley (1.5hrs away) and SF.

Tell me more about Sacramento, please. We are thinking of it as a retirement location in about 10 years. It seems to check most of the boxes of what we are looking for (mild winters, urban enough but not too urban, diverse, proximity to outdoor activities). Have you also lived in DC? How do the people compare?

High taxes in the entire state of California. That is something to consider when deciding your retirement income.