People who moved from DC to Arlington / suburbs in general -- did things improve for you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We gave NoVa a shot and hated every second of it: all the driving on absurdly congested roads, the nosy neighbors, the horror-show parents at our kids' (highly regarded) school, the fact that the restaurant options are either chains or dingy strip-mall ethnic eateries.

Moved back to DC the second we could and couldn't be happier.

How did you manage to “give a shot” to a place you hated “every second” of living in? Did you do literally no due diligence whatsoever?

I much prefer the suburbs to DC, but there are things I like about DC. Saying I lived there and hated every second would make me either a liar, or a moron.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We gave NoVa a shot and hated every second of it: all the driving on absurdly congested roads, the nosy neighbors, the horror-show parents at our kids' (highly regarded) school, the fact that the restaurant options are either chains or dingy strip-mall ethnic eateries.

Moved back to DC the second we could and couldn't be happier.

I want to note that I live in NOVA, central Fairfax County (have lived in Arlington/Old Town/Baltimore as well), and what you describe is not my experience.

As far as the "dingy strip-mall ethnic eateries," this gives me good insight into the type of person you are, so I honestly don't believe you went into experiment you describe, if you did at all, expecting anything else than failure.

[Anonymous]

I never had issues with crime in DC and we use a private school but still moved to the suburbs and are very happy out here. Life is easy and designed for families.

[Anonymous]

We moved to N. Arlington and found a great neighborhood with a lot of kids so ours have formed strong friendships over the years. We can walk to the neighborhood pool, older kids babysit for us. It's pretty great. We get a lot for our money in terms of taxes, I have been very happy with our move.

We mostly eat at home, but Arlington restaurants are 3-star, at best. We go to DC or Old Town for date night dinners.

[Anonymous]

Moved from Arlington to PG, best decision ever. Thought I’d miss dining options the most, found even better non-chain places to eat here. We have a huge yard and live in walkable neighborhood with beautiful trails. We moved from VA because the shiny exterior of Arlington started to crack, you can see that now with covid. All of the shops and restaurants are closed, and unfortunately that’s what we were going to pay for. The post amazon hysteria made it clear that the housing prices weren’t worth their actual value to us. Our priorities just didn’t match with what we were going to pay for in VA. Our mortgage is 1k less for a 5k sqft home than it would’ve been for a 1200 sqft townhouse with a $500/mo hoa fee. Commute is longer, but worth it... especially since we both telework now.

[Anonymous]

DC to Rockville. Longer commute, but larger yard and garden for kids. Better schools. Less crime. Lower taxes.

[Anonymous]

We lived in an affluent part of DC for several years, but even there it seemed we could never feel completely safe. My wife had a couple of scary incidents where sketchy guys were following her on her walks (once with baby stroller!) and she had to either start running or one time she actually ran into a starbucks to get away. That was the last straw and we have had no problems in NoVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Moved from Arlington to PG, best decision ever. Thought I’d miss dining options the most, found even better non-chain places to eat here. We have a huge yard and live in walkable neighborhood with beautiful trails. We moved from VA because the shiny exterior of Arlington started to crack, you can see that now with covid. All of the shops and restaurants are closed, and unfortunately that’s what we were going to pay for. The post amazon hysteria made it clear that the housing prices weren’t worth their actual value to us. Our priorities just didn’t match with what we were going to pay for in VA. Our mortgage is 1k less for a 5k sqft home than it would’ve been for a 1200 sqft townhouse with a $500/mo hoa fee. Commute is longer, but worth it... especially since we both telework now.

Arlington is the one place I lived in the DC area that I couldn’t wait to leave. It is sterile and bland. At the time I thought it would be the best of both worlds - close to work but safe - but it is so boring and bereft of charm. DC may not be the greatest city in the world but moving there from Arlington felt like moving to Paris.

[Anonymous]

Moved from DC to 22043 and couldn't be happier. Large house, short commute, great schools, nice lot, playset, trampoline, four parks, library and groceries an easy walk away. Tons of extracurriculars close by. Life is made easy for families here.

[Anonymous]

Op, you've got to move further out than Arlington for your life to improve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moved from Arlington to PG, best decision ever. Thought I’d miss dining options the most, found even better non-chain places to eat here. We have a huge yard and live in walkable neighborhood with beautiful trails. We moved from VA because the shiny exterior of Arlington started to crack, you can see that now with covid. All of the shops and restaurants are closed, and unfortunately that’s what we were going to pay for. The post amazon hysteria made it clear that the housing prices weren’t worth their actual value to us. Our priorities just didn’t match with what we were going to pay for in VA. Our mortgage is 1k less for a 5k sqft home than it would’ve been for a 1200 sqft townhouse with a $500/mo hoa fee. Commute is longer, but worth it... especially since we both telework now.

Arlington is the one place I lived in the DC area that I couldn’t wait to leave. It is sterile and bland. At the time I thought it would be the best of both worlds - close to work but safe - but it is so boring and bereft of charm. DC may not be the greatest city in the world but moving there from Arlington felt like moving to Paris.

Completely agree with this. I have lived in DC in NW and NE in various neighborhoods and at various points of my life. We now happily live in DTSS. We were happy to discover how much we love it here.

[Anonymous]

Am I the only person who doesn't actually *want* things to be so much "easier"? It feels so complacent. There is so much work to be done in our world. Yeah, the schools still need improvement and there's still too much crime. Those are societal problems for which we all bear responsibility; me moving away doesn't make them any less my problem, and it probably even contributes to making them worse.

Plus, if I moved to the suburbs I would feel so much more disconnected from the cultural institutions and communities that make living in a major metro area worthwhile in the first place. I want to be a contributor to society, not an idle consumer, and I'm fortunate enough to be able to live a modest middle class lifestyle in a city that gives me great opportunities to make some small difference in the world. Why would I ever give that up?

Threads like this always leave me more convinced that I belong in the city.


One of the ways that I can tell that I'm meant to stay in the city is the way that people refer to things as being so much "easier" in the suburbs. To be honest, I don't think I want things to be "easy" in the way that people describe. It sounds so much like complacence.

Living a

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only person who doesn't actually *want* things to be so much "easier"? It feels so complacent. There is so much work to be done in our world. Yeah, the schools still need improvement and there's still too much crime. Those are societal problems for which we all bear responsibility; me moving away doesn't make them any less my problem, and it probably even contributes to making them worse.

Plus, if I moved to the suburbs I would feel so much more disconnected from the cultural institutions and communities that make living in a major metro area worthwhile in the first place. I want to be a contributor to society, not an idle consumer, and I'm fortunate enough to be able to live a modest middle class lifestyle in a city that gives me great opportunities to make some small difference in the world. Why would I ever give that up?

Threads like this always leave me more convinced that I belong in the city.


One of the ways that I can tell that I'm meant to stay in the city is the way that people refer to things as being so much "easier" in the suburbs. To be honest, I don't think I want things to be "easy" in the way that people describe. It sounds so much like complacence.

Living a

I want things to be easier because it allows me to focus on the important things in life, like family, friends and career. I don't want to be frustrated by the lack of parking spaces, pot smoke wafting onto my porch or piss puddles in the alley.

[Anonymous]

Moved from 20010 to 20016 and I feel like I live in the suburbs. Plenty of street parking besides garage and I have not felt unsafe.
Really depends where you lived and where you move. I live at my sister's in a townhouse in Alexandria back in a day and parking was horrible. There are so many dumpy places in Falls Church, Annandale and Fairfax. It's more about neighborhood vs neighborhood, nor urban vs suburban.
I have DC services figured out. Never been sent back from anywhere because I don't have paperwork. Make sure you come early and have 3 copies ready and all gets done. Schools? I believe top DCPS schools are really good. I don't compare them to suburban schools but to the ones back at home. Schools first and then house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only person who doesn't actually *want* things to be so much "easier"? It feels so complacent. There is so much work to be done in our world. Yeah, the schools still need improvement and there's still too much crime. Those are societal problems for which we all bear responsibility; me moving away doesn't make them any less my problem, and it probably even contributes to making them worse.

Plus, if I moved to the suburbs I would feel so much more disconnected from the cultural institutions and communities that make living in a major metro area worthwhile in the first place. I want to be a contributor to society, not an idle consumer, and I'm fortunate enough to be able to live a modest middle class lifestyle in a city that gives me great opportunities to make some small difference in the world. Why would I ever give that up?

Threads like this always leave me more convinced that I belong in the city.


One of the ways that I can tell that I'm meant to stay in the city is the way that people refer to things as being so much "easier" in the suburbs. To be honest, I don't think I want things to be "easy" in the way that people describe. It sounds so much like complacence.

Living a

Yeah, except the number of DC residents who start out claiming they are all in and modestly suggesting their presence will help address societal problems and then either end up moving or finding a way to live in an urban bubble (private schools, housing that is unaffordable to anyone making less than $150K, etc.) is legion.

To me, the suburbs actually seem to more diverse, both economically and racially, and there are more people who live their lives respectfully and in a mutually supportive way without putting an exaggerated gloss on the degree to which their doing so reduces "societal problems."