Advice for young couple considering a move to the DC area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree. Some class bias showing here. I know plenty of young people working at mall stores and restaurants and the like, perfectly happy. They probably won't want to do it forever but there is nothing wrong with being an Uber driver or a temp or a waiter for a few years.

Agree but there are many cities where doing those things will be much closer to a living wage. And let's be realistic - waiters and uber drivers don't typically end up in high paying jobs down the line. DC being what it is, breaking out of those jobs would be doubly hard. This is a place people with masters degrees from top universities come to work for slave wages at non profits and fight tooth and nail to get those jobs. It's a place where people take unpaid internships just for the experience. There's very very little upward mobility in DC in my experience. Having lived in many cities, I think DC as fantastic, but it's not a place to move sans job and with a bucket of hope. For that, try Dallas, chicago, Austin.

[Anonymous]

I'd have them look at the Carolina's. Much lower COL, and more jobs suited to their backgrounds. And a good number of transplants from the Northeast as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think the negative advice is accurate. It depends what he wants. If he thinks he is going to move to DC and walk into a a high-paying, prestigious job at a lobbying firm or on the Hill, then yeah, he's unrealistic. But though DCUMers may tend to forget this, the DC metro area is also full of people who - gasp - work as waiters, roofers, retail sales people, check-in clerks at hotels, temps, administrative assistants in offices, etc.

If he is just looking at this stage of his life for a simple "job" - not a career, just something that will pay bills for a couple of years while he decides if he wants to go back to school - then this is a perfectly good place to move. Even if he and his wife both get minimum wage jobs, they would bring in, together, about $60k/year, which works if they don't mind living in a studio in a less fashionable neighborhood. Trust me, whole families in this city manage to get by on much less.

Maybe he should consider signing up with a temp agency to get his feet in the water?

Is it true that two minimum wage jobs would bring in about $60k/year? That sounds high to me.

It is high. The highest minimum wage in the area is DC. Currently at $11.50, but scheduled to increase to $12.50 in July. It'll increase a bit each year until 2020, when it reaches $15. But yeah, at $12.50, that's $52k.

[Anonymous]

I think at the end of the day, he won't move to DC. Nobody in their rational mind would make a bold move by moving into another city without actually securing a job. He'd eventually find out that it'd be impossible. Best of luck to him!

[Anonymous]

If not from NY or LA or SF, he should not move here. Actually scrub that, nobody but NY city people or people born here like it here. He should not move here chasing dreams. He should find a job in a low COLA town and move there.

[Anonymous]

I don't think that DCUM is the right place to be asking these questions. It's more middle-aged, type A personalities (myself somewhat included). I moved here in my mid-twenties and it can be a pretty cool city for that age group. I know several people in the service industry that are doing fine for themselves.

[Anonymous]

Sure. 15$/hour x 40 hours/week x 50 weeks = 30k. Two times 30 = 60.

People move because... they don't want to live in Nowheresville.... they have family.... they like the area. Seriously, if you think finding jobs in DC is hard, try rural New England.

There is a reason much of rural America is turning into Methland.

[Anonymous]

This is a good move if he's in a city with a higher COL. Yes those cities do exist in the US - as much as DCUM wants to scream that DC is the most expensive place ever.

[Anonymous]

Can he bartend or wait tables? I honestly think he will make more money doing that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a good move if he's in a city with a higher COL. Yes those cities do exist in the US - as much as DCUM wants to scream that DC is the most expensive place ever.

FYI, OP said the brother lives in rural CT, which is cheap but no job opportunities. Moving into DC would mean expensive (one of the most in the nation) with not a lot of job opportunities.

[Anonymous]

You people are nuts! He can stay with his sister while looking for a job. Lots of people do that kind of thing. Honestly - the medium household income in, say, West Hyattsville MD, on the metro, is about $55000. Median! So half of household makes less. I don't think they are all miserable.

[Anonymous]

He might want to sign up with some temp agencies. That might give him a sense of what kind of options he might have.

[Anonymous]

Not everyone in DC works in politics. Not everyone has a "top degree" or ever worked on the Hill. There are multiple industries other than politics. Is your brother interested in travel/tourism? That is a HUGE industry here (albeit, because of government). There is also a huge technology sector. Decent financial services presence as well. Largest association presence in the country (or maybe second largest behind Chicago, one of the two).

Also, not everyone in the DC area lives in the city. DH and I both work in NoVa, not in politics, live in Western Fairfax County. Raise our kids and live our lives, just like we would anywhere else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a good move if he's in a city with a higher COL. Yes those cities do exist in the US - as much as DCUM wants to scream that DC is the most expensive place ever.

FYI, OP said the brother lives in rural CT, which is cheap but no job opportunities. Moving into DC would mean expensive (one of the most in the nation) with not a lot of job opportunities.

Seriously? You think that there arent a lot of job opportunities in DC? There are TONS of job opportunities here. Yes, it is very expensive, but this area has so, so, so, so many jobs. Maybe little brother isnt qualified to do whatever kind of specialized awesome highly qualified job you have, but that's not all that pays the bills.

[Anonymous]

No OP. It doesn't sound like his work experience or education prepared him for DC. Try a smaller city as others have said