Leaving DC for a lower COL area

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you done it?

We are strongly considering it over the course of the next five years. We have to make it work with careers, of course, but if we can, we'd like to head back to upstate NY to be closer to family and to be in a lower COL area.

We didn't get on the property ladder when we should have and now are still renting while paying for childcare, saving for college, and saving for retirement. We simply cannot afford a home in the city that would guarantee good school options through high school. We hate the thought of long commutes and what that will mean for spending time with our kids. DC is increasingly expensive and we think we can have a better quality of life elsewhere. BUT I am sure I am romanticizing, and there are likely plenty of factors I am not considering. So, have you done it? Have you left for a lower COL area, and if so, what have been the pros and cons?

Some friends move to CO, Denver I think, and they love it.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I dream about this too, but you can't find the jobs, schools, and doctors etc. you need for kids or when you are old in alot of those places. My parents fled to a lower COL area about 15, 20 years ago with their younger kids. They struggled to get good schooling, special services for a SN sibling, and now Dad has serious health problems and they have to commute several states to get good care.

Somewhere like Rochester has schools ranked among the top in the country, major colleges and universities, good hospital systems, and pretty good economy...but lower COL.

People who think your options are living in DC or living Hicksville are super strange.

My spouse spent several years in Rochester for grad school. Disliked the cold and heavy snow. The climate here is a lot better for many who prefer milder winters.

Then I guess you're stuck in DC!

PP. I'm glad, we love it! But we're lucky to be able to afford it with our HHI (we live in DC in a nice neighborhood zoned for Deal/Wilson).

We've lived in several other high-cost parts of the country, and don't think DC is the best, but it's a reasonably nice place to raise kids.

I don't mean to be a jerk but from all the things you've just written it's clear you are not really in a position to offer OP any advice. "Be rich like we are!" isn't really helpful to someone who is trying to navigate how to balance a more moderate HHI with the opportunities but costs of DC.

I actually did offer advice upthread—I suggested either a condo in DC, or the Forest Glen area of Silver Spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP, but if you moved to a lower COL area and you like it, can you please share the name of the city/region you moved to?

No need to keep it a secret!

Yes, please share! I also would love to know how so many people just keep their jobs and work remotely.

[Anonymous]

You’re smart to consider a move if you can’t own a home here. Only way it would be okay to not own would be if you’re instead investing in other assets. But t seems like instead you’re spending most of what you make on childcare, rent etc.

I’d first try and find higher paying jobs here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I moved to DC two years ago as it is cheap. My car insurance lower, my property taxes lower and my commute costs much less.

If you are moving from NYC or San Fran DC is still cheap

OK, you're right, DC is super cheap.

You roll your eyes but we are moving from Boston to DC. In a suburb of DC we can get a house that is fairly nice and have jobs that pay well. Boston is outrageous. Not quite NYC or SF but close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I moved to DC two years ago as it is cheap. My car insurance lower, my property taxes lower and my commute costs much less.

If you are moving from NYC or San Fran DC is still cheap

OK, you're right, DC is super cheap.

You roll your eyes but we are moving from Boston to DC. In a suburb of DC we can get a house that is fairly nice and have jobs that pay well. Boston is outrageous. Not quite NYC or SF but close.

Saying that there are a handful of cities more expensive than the one of the most expensive cities in the country does literally nothing to answer OP's request for advice for people who have left DC for areas with lower COL but go on.

[Anonymous]

Norfolk, VA. Great houses, lots of restaurants and things to do, we can walk to the beach. I never stop being amazed that when I go downtown I can find a parking spot in front of the restaurant/museum. There are some "red staters" and it was a bit of a culture shock but overall we're happy here and plan to stay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dream about this too, but you can't find the jobs, schools, and doctors etc. you need for kids or when you are old in alot of those places. My parents fled to a lower COL area about 15, 20 years ago with their younger kids. They struggled to get good schooling, special services for a SN sibling, and now Dad has serious health problems and they have to commute several states to get good care.

Somewhere like Rochester has schools ranked among the top in the country, major colleges and universities, good hospital systems, and pretty good economy...but lower COL.

People who think your options are living in DC or living Hicksville are super strange.

My spouse spent several years in Rochester for grad school. Disliked the cold and heavy snow. The climate here is a lot better for many who prefer milder winters.

Well, ok, then don't move to Rochester. The point was that people who want to paint the rest of the country that isn't DC/Boston/SF/NY/etc as desolate places with universally crappy schools and no good healthcare are just flat out wrong

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP you have other options:

1. Make more money. You do not need to keep these same jobs. You can jump to private industry, lobbying, sales, or any other industries related to your field of expertise. Teachers can transition to corporate training and make great money. The opportunity to make more money is there if you are willing to be creative and explore your options.

2. Take advantage of teleworking. There are great surrounding areas where housing is cheaper and solid schools are available. The suburbs of Baltimore, Howard County, Anne Arundel County, etc. You bite the bullet and do the long commute 3x per week. You work from home the other two days. Your spouse WFH opposite days.

This is OP, and while these are fair points, they're not really the point of this thread. We don't want the stress of the jobs that could earn us the kind of money that would afford us to stay here. We want a more simple life. As for teleworking, if we're not able to find career options out of this area, that will have to be our backup plan. It's hard though, there seems to be a cultural shift away from teleworking under my current leadership at work and I don't want to make housing decisions based on a benefit that might not exist down the road, especially if it results in a bad commute five times a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Norfolk, VA. Great houses, lots of restaurants and things to do, we can walk to the beach. I never stop being amazed that when I go downtown I can find a parking spot in front of the restaurant/museum. There are some "red staters" and it was a bit of a culture shock but overall we're happy here and plan to stay.

Curious, are you feds?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lower cost areas don't have the same amenities, and too often they're Trump country, so I don't want to raise kids there. My parents both live in areas like this--super cheap areas of FL and TX. Those are not my people or politics, and I like DC, so here we stay, for now. May eventually head back to CA as empty nesters.

There's really a lot of variety in American communities. Not all affordable places have terrible politics. I live in a smaller, cheaper place with very good amenities and a blue-voting population.

There's really a whole world out there, guys.

[Anonymous]

To the PP that mentioned Rochester, curious what kind of industry / careers are there? Would love to live someplace like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the PP that mentioned Rochester, curious what kind of industry / careers are there? Would love to live someplace like that.

food and beverage manufacturing, optics, photonics and imaging, biotech and life sciences, healthcare, energy innovation, software and IT services are the main ones. Plus higher education.

[Anonymous]

We were transferred to a lower COL area and kept the same salary. It was wonderful and I would have stayed but they asked us to come back and there weren't any comparable jobs in the area. We are set to make another move in 2020 which will be to a slightly lower COL area, which happens to be my hometown.

[Anonymous]

We are weighing a move like this. We LOVE DC, and have a pretty sweet set up in terms of home, community, and job. But we're also both only children and have very strong family ties. Considering a move down south to be closer to them. There are pros and cons of both.