Boston, NYC, DC - Best place to raise kids?

[Anonymous]

Does NYC in this game have to equal Manhattan? I'd pick Brooklyn, hands down.

[Anonymous]

Haha NYC bc it would mean I had SO much more $$ if I could afford to live there to my standards

[Anonymous]

If $ no object, then I would absolutely go with none of the above.

[Anonymous]

I’ve lived in all three (although only nyc and dc with kids). Dc with kids hands down. If you can afford close in suburbs or NW. so much greenery and interesting free things to do. Lots of interesting people. Can drive your kids around. NYC is clearly amazing but hard with kids and the grind can get you down. Boston is just… ugh. When I lived there I felt like since I wasn’t from there and hadn’t gone to school there I was a total outsider.

[Anonymous]

NYC, Upper West Side, Low 90s and down, near Central Park. Central Park is the best backyard.

But agreed, you need plenty of money to do it, especially with kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If money was no object, I think raising kids in NYC would be amazing. There’s just so much at your fingertips there, and I love being able to walk all over.

I’ve lived in all three, and raised two kids in ny through middle school. We lived in tribeca and some parts of living there were great, but we are so happy we made the move before the kids started high school. Now we live in a small resort town in the mountains. So many of my kids’ friends in ny have been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, three just got expelled for theft, and I have heard enough stories of drugs and vaping to make your hair stand on end.

[Anonymous]

I am from NY and went to school in Boston. I hate to admit it but DC suburbs is a pretty good place to raise kids. I, the mom, miss NYC. I love NYC.

[Anonymous]

The problem with all three of these places is that the more money you have, the easier it is to raise kids there, and also the more insane and bad-for-kids the culture becomes. People don't always even engage in the behaviors intentionally, there's just this fear of being left behind and it's so toxic. It is sad to me when we see friends we selected specifically because they are down-to-earth and reasonable engage in the competitive, cut throat behaviors with regards to school (public or private, the well of families at both can be nuts), kid's activities, travel and conspicuous consumption.

Some kids do fine in it anyway, but some kids are more sensitive to some of the competitiveness and ostentatious behavior you see in these places. My oldest is this way, and we are actually moving from the DC are back to the midwest city near where my spouse grew up, because I think it will be a better environment for DD and she is less likely to absorb some of the worst behavior we see there. We also know the city well and that helps us be extra careful about where live and send our kids to school. I know we'll still run into a lot of the same behaviors, but it's not as amplified as it is here, and the expectations are not as dramatically high, especially for stuff like college outcomes.

I have never raised kids in NYC or Boston, but I'm guessing it's similar. You need a lot of money to raise kids in these places with choices and not to be financially stressed all the time (and just to access good schools), but then having a lot of money and being around people with a lot of money creates new problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If money was no object, I think raising kids in NYC would be amazing. There’s just so much at your fingertips there, and I love being able to walk all over.

I’ve lived in all three, and raised two kids in ny through middle school. We lived in tribeca and some parts of living there were great, but we are so happy we made the move before the kids started high school. Now we live in a small resort town in the mountains. So many of my kids’ friends in ny have been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, three just got expelled for theft, and I have heard enough stories of drugs and vaping to make your hair stand on end.

I just posted that I am from NY and love and miss NYC. I do think NYC has too many distractions and opportunities to derail for teens. I used to party and go clubbing in high school. These were giant clubs with thousands of people full of drugs. I survived and turned out ok.

We have a peaceful life in the dc suburbs now where I drive my kids to sports and friends’ houses. While I often think dc is lame, at least my kids are safe and doing well.

[Anonymous]

Boston, hands down. DC is too insecure and materialistic. NYC would be great except too many people (for me) like Trump. Braggarts with nothing to back it up. Boston is great.

I've lived in all three cities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived in all three (although only nyc and dc with kids). Dc with kids hands down. If you can afford close in suburbs or NW. so much greenery and interesting free things to do. Lots of interesting people. Can drive your kids around. NYC is clearly amazing but hard with kids and the grind can get you down. Boston is just… ugh. When I lived there I felt like since I wasn’t from there and hadn’t gone to school there I was a total outsider.

Agree with this, 100%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boston is yuck. As pp not d, NYC if money is not an issue. DC with kids is meh again unless you have gobs of money

Considering you can barely string together a coherent sentence, I don't think your take matters.

Ooh sick burn

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boston, hands down. DC is too insecure and materialistic. NYC would be great except too many people (for me) like Trump. Braggarts with nothing to back it up. Boston is great.

I've lived in all three cities.

Boston sucks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boston and western suburbs are where I grew up. Public schools excellent especially in expensive towns where property taxes are high. No worries about religious fanatics interfering in schools. Plenty of activities and family fun. Ocean, skiing both have an easy drive.

Sadly NYC is not in good shape. The mayor isn’t doing a good job. The rat problem is gross. Until the garbage situation is fixed it’s not going to get any better. Who thought it would be a good idea putting plastic bags on the sidewalk fully of rotting food overnight until the garbage trucks get there. Oligarchs, Chinese billionaires and their children are living in the high end buildings. Without your own billion it would be hard to live as well as you’d want to.

DC - boring

That's been the way it's been done in NYC for decades. Not Adams' fault

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boston, hands down. DC is too insecure and materialistic. NYC would be great except too many people (for me) like Trump. Braggarts with nothing to back it up. Boston is great.

I've lived in all three cities.

DH is from Boston. I’m from NYC. Now we live in DC. DC seems like it is a good mix of everything.

Boston is all about where you went to school. NYC is money and looks. DC is a city full of smart, not that rich, not that good looking people.