Knock some sense into me DCUM! Considering moving back to NYC.

[Anonymous]

GO!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$250k there is equal to about $100k here. I would probably feel poor unless we were making $500k. That wouldn't even get a great apartment with having to pay for private school and all of the activities, nanny and eating out every meal.

Our friends who earn 500k in nyc act like they are paupers. We earn 500k in dc and live like kings.

[Anonymous]

Are you considering Brooklyn? If so, I'd say yes. It is much different than a few years ago and feels surprising comfortable, hip, and city.

[Anonymous]

saw an awesome job in battery park for $80,000 that i could probably get if offered. could live in brooklyn. think this is do able with a child?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I am biased (live in NYC for 20+ before being dragged to the south) but I think that unless you are trying to squeeze into a Manhattan apartment (below 90th street) NYC is just a livable at DC.

I grew up in a large and lovely apartment above 90th st! But not quite Harlem yet. Why the hate?

NP, but I didnt see any hate in PPs post, in fact I interpreted it to mean that above 90th is included in the "just as livable as DC" distinction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in NYC for 8 years and hate everything about it. Disgustingly dirty, crowded, mean people, not enough space or air - you literally could not pay me enough to move there.

You really think the people in NYC are on the whole meaner than people here? I'm from the West Coast and am a little surprised at how mean DC can be. I thought NYC might be better in that respect.

Oh sweet west coastie, I almost laughed out loud. I'm from NY and live in DC and my friends from back home who also moved and I joke about what passes for mean in other places, like DC, and how it's totally amateur hour compared to NY.

[Anonymous]

BTW -- the Tenleytown library is awesome, the Palisades library is sweet and so is the CC library, so maybe skip MLK next time?

[Anonymous]

We moved back to NYC and love it. Public elementary. We're doing private school for middle school, which is the time when schools really seem to go downhill, and we have one kid aiming for Bronx Science and another for LaGuardia. Both have a very good chance for each of their goals.

We too have one set of grandparents in DC. We see them about once a month. For long weekends we often send the kids by themselves to visit. They Skype 2-4 times a week. Their relationship has stayed strong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:saw an awesome job in battery park for $80,000 that i could probably get if offered. could live in brooklyn. think this is do able with a child?

Is this a joke? Rent in battery park or Tribeca will run you 50k a year and that is a one bedroom! So no you can't afford it unless you are okay with a long commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in NYC for 8 years and hate everything about it. Disgustingly dirty, crowded, mean people, not enough space or air - you literally could not pay me enough to move there.

You really think the people in NYC are on the whole meaner than people here? I'm from the West Coast and am a little surprised at how mean DC can be. I thought NYC might be better in that respect.

Oh sweet west coastie, I almost laughed out loud. I'm from NY and live in DC and my friends from back home who also moved and I joke about what passes for mean in other places, like DC, and how it's totally amateur hour compared to NY.

I lived in NYC for 11 years after growing up in the supposedly friendly and hospitable South. Found the people in NYC to be much nicer and real. The South was a bunch of fake niceties and talk behind your back. In NYC, you don't smile at every person that walks by but the people are actually quite nice and very helpful if you get to talking with them.

This area is nasty though. No fake niceness and no real niceness either. Just a bunch of grumpy, griping, self-centered workaholics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We moved back to NYC and love it. Public elementary. We're doing private school for middle school, which is the time when schools really seem to go downhill, and we have one kid aiming for Bronx Science and another for LaGuardia. Both have a very good chance for each of their goals.

We too have one set of grandparents in DC. We see them about once a month. For long weekends we often send the kids by themselves to visit. They Skype 2-4 times a week. Their relationship has stayed strong.

OP checking back in. Thanks to everyone who chimed in, especially the above poster. While we're a few years behind you, it's cool to hear your kids make the visit 1x month. Hope they get into their schools of choice!

Again, thanks for the food for thought everyone!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in NYC for 8 years and hate everything about it. Disgustingly dirty, crowded, mean people, not enough space or air - you literally could not pay me enough to move there.

You really think the people in NYC are on the whole meaner than people here? I'm from the West Coast and am a little surprised at how mean DC can be. I thought NYC might be better in that respect.

Oh sweet west coastie, I almost laughed out loud. I'm from NY and live in DC and my friends from back home who also moved and I joke about what passes for mean in other places, like DC, and how it's totally amateur hour compared to NY.

I lived in NYC for 11 years after growing up in the supposedly friendly and hospitable South. Found the people in NYC to be much nicer and real. The South was a bunch of fake niceties and talk behind your back. In NYC, you don't smile at every person that walks by but the people are actually quite nice and very helpful if you get to talking with them.

This area is nasty though. No fake niceness and no real niceness either. Just a bunch of grumpy, griping, self-centered workaholics.

I spent a couple of years in NYC and agree with this poster, especially about people being helpful. I'm originally from DC and think people have gotten meaner here in the last 15 years.

[Anonymous]

I lived in NYC for nearly a decade and totally agree that people are much, much nicer there than in DC. I can't believe how rude people are here. When I try to explain the difference to people, they roll their eyes. Here, you are judged for everything, including the shirt on your back. There no one cares. At all.
Move back to NYC if you can live a comparable lifestyle. It's worth it so your kids don't get used to the entitled pricks in the elite hoods of the DMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BTW -- the Tenleytown library is awesome, the Palisades library is sweet and so is the CC library, so maybe skip MLK next time?

Also SW and NE, which was just remodeled. Don't forget story time in the LOC children's room

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in NYC for 8 years and hate everything about it. Disgustingly dirty, crowded, mean people, not enough space or air - you literally could not pay me enough to move there.

You really think the people in NYC are on the whole meaner than people here? I'm from the West Coast and am a little surprised at how mean DC can be. I thought NYC might be better in that respect.

Oh sweet west coastie, I almost laughed out loud. I'm from NY and live in DC and my friends from back home who also moved and I joke about what passes for mean in other places, like DC, and how it's totally amateur hour compared to NY.

I don't know about this. I grew up in DC. I lived in NYC , above 90th street, for several years. And, I lived in Florida for many years. I found the southerners the meanest. They would give you a fake, limp, polite smile while doing the ugliest things. They would smile in your face and stick you in the back. In NYC the people were nicer. They were more direct, which I prefered. If they did not like you, you knew it. No fake ness. I think because the people are moving fast in NYC, it appears that they are mean because they don't stop and chit chat, especially during the winter. But it's an appearance and not a reality.

I will never forget a funny moment on the elevator in Macy's, when a group of strangers began laughing and joking with each other when DH lit the place up with his flatulence. The NYC meanness people always reference was no where to be found.