To move or not to move?
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Anonymous
PP here. That was my guess based on what you said! |
Anonymous
| If you can both find good jobs somewhere else, I would move. This is a tough environment to raise a family (competitive, high housing prices, lack of community support, long commutes, etc). We'd love to move but are stuck here for a few more years because of our jobs. |
Anonymous
Would a suburb of Providence, RI work? Near water, MUCH less snow, still has 4 seasons like New England.... smaller city so shorter commutes, but an interesting city nonetheless (with it's own share of urban problems). My aunt and uncle live in Barrington, RI and love it.... Not sure about COL though... Northampton, MA is very hippy/liberal - it's the "4th largest city in Massachusetts" - it's claim to fame - and it's the college "town" for Smith College. Really interesting and varied restaurants, fun stores, lots happening at Smith you can go to (lectures, etc), and yet it's a small, quaint town when you get to the houses, etc. Not sure about whether you could work there, though, I went to Smith! Very large lesbian community, very liberal.... Less snow than Portland, ME maybe. Not sure. Hmmm..... |
Anonymous
| Um, guys, there are lots of cities smaller than D.C. that are much bigger than college towns that could check these boxes: Austin, San Diego, Nashville, St Louis, etc etc |
Anonymous
| This whole moving out of the area question is constantly on my mind. We don't have family in the area and have been here for the last 11 years. It feels like home. Ever since we have DD who is 1.5, we have been struggling with our finances with the cost of her daycare center more than our mortgage. If we are able to have a second, I think we would need to move as we just can't afford two daycare costs or survive on one income. |
Anonymous
I could have written this, except we lived in the suburbs of the midwestern college town and were bored out of our minds. But we were married without kids then, so I wonder sometimes if things would be different now? I think we'd still be bored, though. |
Anonymous
Austin (8th largest city in US) and San Diego (11th) are both bigger than D.C.(22nd)... |
Anonymous
| If I could get a good job j. A smaller city with lower COL and slower pace of life, I totally would. |
Anonymous
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I think about this every few months. I have a remote job and could live anywhere and keep the same salary.
I fantasize about my kid having fields of grass to run through instead of our back alley. But we love our life here. We've both been in DC about 20 years and the idea of starting over is so daunting. I love hearing about the other cities that people choose. I often think about Denver / Ft. Collins area as being a good spot. Close to a major airport, 4 seasons, lots of sun... |
Anonymous
These are not fair comparisons. East coast cities tend to be small in area whereas cities in TX and in the west may include more area, so the population seems larger. If you compare metro areas then the DC metro population is top 10 in the country. |
Anonymous
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People moving back in 6 months?
Kinda wimpy... It takes time to adjust to a new home. 6 months is hardly giving a place a chance. |
Anonymous
| We moved to Chicago after 10 years in DC. No regrets! |
Anonymous
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We moved to seattle for 2.5 years and came back once we had a kid. We rented both there and here, so the rent difference is only about $300. But here are our reasons for coming back:
1. Both my husband and I have different ethnic backgrounds and we were both born outside of USA. Most of our friend group in DC had were either immigrants/foreigners/ex-pats, or if they were American, they had done Peace Corps and spoke another language. Most of the married couples we knew in DC were of mixed nationalities. This is nothing special at all, but when you are thrown in the mix of all white Americans who are haven’t been east of the Rockies, the fact that you speak multiple languages at home and all your vacations are to see grandparents in other countries all of a sudden made us stand out in not a good way. For us, it was very difficult to relate to anyone and we couldn’t find that many topics in common for small talk. 2. Ticket prices to go anywhere were $600, and it’s 6 hour flight to DC. Limited amount of flights in general and weird connections. 3. There was nothing to do in the city. The nature in PNW is unbeatable, but what do you do on a normal rainy Saturday 9 months out of the year with a kid? Or without a kid. Or if you did have something to do, it cost a lot of money! $50 for a zoo trip or an art museum visit. 4. You can’t take a baby into a bar in Seattle and most casual restaurants had a “tavern” license so it meant 21+ only. We are back and loving the weekly zoo trips, excellent public pools, museums, bike lanes, and grabbing a beer on a slow night with the kid in tow. |
Anonymous
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I've been through this and we did make the move to a small city out west. I don't regret it and it's been a terrific change of pace. Still, depending on what you do and where you are headed, you may need to redefine your definition of success. If you've had a great career in DC, you may not find the same career-- and salary-- in a slower, smaller city or town. I've seen many educated women have to resort to service sector jobs-- or, those who don't, work in a very specific niche where their skills fit perfectly with the handful of jobs available, i.e. experienced hotel manager or school speech therapist.
It may work fine if you are able to keep your job and telework... if you are a stay at home mom, though, you may find yourself unimpressed with the job options when you are ready to return to work full time and realize there's very little to choose from beyond working at the local hospital or schools. |
Anonymous
| PP here. Also, smaller city or doesn't always mean friendly people who roll out the welcome wagon. Many parents of young children I've met already have solid ties in my area-- they went to high school here, they moved away and returned, for example, and are still close with their local friends and cousins. Their weekends are spent with those people and they don't have much room in their lives-- nor desire for-- new friends. It's helpful to know if where you want to move has a good number of transplants from other cities and states. Ask yourself, where will you fit in? Is there a good parents' MeetUp? Are you someone ready and willing to join activities for both yourself and your DC, make the effort on weekends to get to know other people, take classes, etc.? |