Leaving DC for a lower COL area

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Philly is really insular and kind of mediocre, though the suburbs have some nicer older homes. There’s obviously a reason why it’s more affordable than other areas. It’s better than Baltimore, but beyond that...

Philly has wayyyyyyyyyyy better dining, better arts, better sports, better architecture and is better in almost every way than DC. Mainline PA is stunningly gorgeous and has beautiful homes. Plus PA has lots of small charming little town all.over the place on the mainline with lots of hidden gems. Would easily move to PA for lower COL and better QOL if I weren't tired to the area w the job.

Then why isn’t Philly a more expensive place to live if it’s so desirable? Why aren’t companies and recent college grads moving there?

You really should stop talking because the more you open your mouth the more ignorance tumbles out of it.

Philly has more college students than Boston, and Center City is filled with recent college grads. The place is heaving with them. There are lots of jobs. It's a solid region and growing. They built Comcast Tower. It's not a boom town but it's not a depressed hicksville either. Harping on why such a place isn't as expensive as another is meaningless. What exactly does that prove? Or mean? Are you patting yourself for making a six figure income in DC when that's an artificially inflated wage that leaves you no better off than someone making half that amount in another city and who likely has a better quality of life?

Real estate prices reveal A LOT. If more people wanted to live in Philly and it was desirable as you believe, then it wouldn’t be so inexpensive to live there. You live there so you probably can’t understand this, but Philly isn’t a growth city. It’s a second tier city barely hanging on. It has some interesting history and pretty homes, but Philly isn’t a city of the future. NY, Washington and Boston have substantially outpaced phillys private sector job growth within the past 10 years. Just google it. Even Jacksonville and Phoenix had stronger job growth than Philly.

The rest of your post is full of assumptions.

You also seem very defensive about Philly. Just because I doubt that philly is desirable as you believe doesn’t mean that it I’m no better off than someone making half my salary outside of DC and that I have a lower quality of life.

Because Philly doesn’t have a bunch of government t!t suckers. People don’t want to live in DC because there is anything special about it. They come here for jobs. Most of those jobs are somehow related to the government.

^^ this is why I could never live in a city like Philly. It’s full of people like PP. go to the southern equivalent and you have heartbeat bill supporters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Philly is really insular and kind of mediocre, though the suburbs have some nicer older homes. There’s obviously a reason why it’s more affordable than other areas. It’s better than Baltimore, but beyond that...

Philly has wayyyyyyyyyyy better dining, better arts, better sports, better architecture and is better in almost every way than DC. Mainline PA is stunningly gorgeous and has beautiful homes. Plus PA has lots of small charming little town all.over the place on the mainline with lots of hidden gems. Would easily move to PA for lower COL and better QOL if I weren't tired to the area w the job.

Then why isn’t Philly a more expensive place to live if it’s so desirable? Why aren’t companies and recent college grads moving there?

You really should stop talking because the more you open your mouth the more ignorance tumbles out of it.

Philly has more college students than Boston, and Center City is filled with recent college grads. The place is heaving with them. There are lots of jobs. It's a solid region and growing. They built Comcast Tower. It's not a boom town but it's not a depressed hicksville either. Harping on why such a place isn't as expensive as another is meaningless. What exactly does that prove? Or mean? Are you patting yourself for making a six figure income in DC when that's an artificially inflated wage that leaves you no better off than someone making half that amount in another city and who likely has a better quality of life?

Real estate prices reveal A LOT. If more people wanted to live in Philly and it was desirable as you believe, then it wouldn’t be so inexpensive to live there. You live there so you probably can’t understand this, but Philly isn’t a growth city. It’s a second tier city barely hanging on. It has some interesting history and pretty homes, but Philly isn’t a city of the future. NY, Washington and Boston have substantially outpaced phillys private sector job growth within the past 10 years. Just google it. Even Jacksonville and Phoenix had stronger job growth than Philly.

The rest of your post is full of assumptions.

You also seem very defensive about Philly. Just because I doubt that philly is desirable as you believe doesn’t mean that it I’m no better off than someone making half my salary outside of DC and that I have a lower quality of life.

Because Philly doesn’t have a bunch of government t!t suckers. People don’t want to live in DC because there is anything special about it. They come here for jobs. Most of those jobs are somehow related to the government.

PP shot themselves in the foot with the Jacksonville argument, which proves a "stronger economy" does not equal a better city. There is more to life than "economic growth" or a "dynamic economy," you herb. I'm sure Houston has a more "robust economy" than Paris or Barcelona. That doesn't make it a better city.

Is your point that Baltimore is indeed a better city than dc?

[Anonymous]

I desperately want to leave in the next few years. Life would be SO much cheaper, and my husband could easily re-start up his contracting company. Our youngest is also starting college in our state of choice.

Husband won't budge, despite the financial facts. Now the school board boundary shake up might impact us so negatively, we might be stuck here for a quite a while.

NOT happy.

[Anonymous]

I'm one of the several Philadelphia area posters who posted on the last few threads. The thread has definitely taken a weird turn. The ugliness of the DC defenders in shooting down other cities is just plain weird.

In the first place, Philadelphia is not exactly cheap. Housing is more expensive compared to many cities, while cheaper than other cities. Parts of Philadelphia are quite expensive. There are cheaper areas, too. In this sense Philadelphia is normal among American cities. It's a solid city in a solid region with solid prospects. There's been a lot of growth in parts of Philadelphia, both jobs and population, and plenty of development. There are still very deprived areas. Another post pointed out it's not a boom town and that's just fine and dandy with me. It's a normal city with a working class, middle class and upper class and plenty of all three groups. I have a feeling none of the critics have been to Philadelphia.

We like living in Philadelphia. It works for us and offers us a high quality and stimulative life and it does for our friends and neighbors, too. And on top of this we have one of the best urban downtowns in the country. I'm sorry if this somehow bothers you.

[Anonymous]

I just can’t imagine why anyone would want to walk to and from the grocery store carrying enough groceries for a family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just can’t imagine why anyone would want to walk to and from the grocery store carrying enough groceries for a family.

You just can’t imagine how this would happen? Sounds like you’ve been in a non-walkable area for too long. It just means that you can make more frequent trips for small amounts of groceries—I don’t think you ever see anyone carrying a week’s worth of groceries by hand. Also, some of us are in decent enough shape and don’t mind the exercise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just can’t imagine why anyone would want to walk to and from the grocery store carrying enough groceries for a family.

It’s called a cart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm one of the Philly posters. It definitely has its drawbacks compared to DC. The job market isn't as good for some professions. The subway is disgustingly dirty. I've felt less safe downtown. But, Philly definitely has cheaper housing and there is plenty to do. For me overall it's good. If I ever want to switch jobs, though, I have much, much less choice than I did in DC.

+1. The lower housing costs are related to JOBS

Yes, I realize that. As I said, if I want to switch jobs I'm going to have to have a tough time finding a new one.

[Anonymous]

I've lived in the DMV for a decade now. For the first 5-6 years, I could rationalize the downsides of living here (incredibly high COL, living in a cramped townhouse, the traffic, the Type-A striver culture) because we were thisclose to the DC. How special, how amazing just to be here!

Increasingly, that is being replaced by the feeling that we are always fighting for every little scrap we have. We do well, but it always feels like we're bleeding money. My spouse's Metro commute is now 90-minutes one way, and we're just outside the Beltway. He got home at 9 p.m. last night.

My spouse has a job interview in another (smaller, highly cost-affordable) city soon, and I'm all for it. I'm quietly mentally exhausted from the constant struggle. This place will wear you down. It may take some years, but you will reach that place in your mind where the downsides outweigh the benefits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've lived in the DMV for a decade now. For the first 5-6 years, I could rationalize the downsides of living here (incredibly high COL, living in a cramped townhouse, the traffic, the Type-A striver culture) because we were thisclose to the DC. How special, how amazing just to be here!

Increasingly, that is being replaced by the feeling that we are always fighting for every little scrap we have. We do well, but it always feels like we're bleeding money. My spouse's Metro commute is now 90-minutes one way, and we're just outside the Beltway. He got home at 9 p.m. last night.

My spouse has a job interview in another (smaller, highly cost-affordable) city soon, and I'm all for it. I'm quietly mentally exhausted from the constant struggle. This place will wear you down. It may take some years, but you will reach that place in your mind where the downsides outweigh the benefits.

Definitely makes sense to move. You don’t even live in DC! You have all of the downside and little upside! I live here but we earn the HHI to live in the city, can walk to work and spend multiple nights a week enjoying events and out in DC. No way I’d live in a townhouse in the burbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can’t imagine why anyone would want to walk to and from the grocery store carrying enough groceries for a family.

You just can’t imagine how this would happen? Sounds like you’ve been in a non-walkable area for too long. It just means that you can make more frequent trips for small amounts of groceries—I don’t think you ever see anyone carrying a week’s worth of groceries by hand. Also, some of us are in decent enough shape and don’t mind the exercise.

Seriously wtf.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've lived in the DMV for a decade now. For the first 5-6 years, I could rationalize the downsides of living here (incredibly high COL, living in a cramped townhouse, the traffic, the Type-A striver culture) because we were thisclose to the DC. How special, how amazing just to be here!

Increasingly, that is being replaced by the feeling that we are always fighting for every little scrap we have. We do well, but it always feels like we're bleeding money. My spouse's Metro commute is now 90-minutes one way, and we're just outside the Beltway. He got home at 9 p.m. last night.

My spouse has a job interview in another (smaller, highly cost-affordable) city soon, and I'm all for it. I'm quietly mentally exhausted from the constant struggle. This place will wear you down. It may take some years, but you will reach that place in your mind where the downsides outweigh the benefits.

That would wear me down too. Personally, I don’t really see the benefit of living in the area if your commute is that long. I live and work in DC and have a manageable commute, but I would be less enamored of the area if I had a long commute. I feel like the suburbs of most big cities are pretty similar to each other, and have less benefits than living in the actual city itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've lived in the DMV for a decade now. For the first 5-6 years, I could rationalize the downsides of living here (incredibly high COL, living in a cramped townhouse, the traffic, the Type-A striver culture) because we were thisclose to the DC. How special, how amazing just to be here!

Increasingly, that is being replaced by the feeling that we are always fighting for every little scrap we have. We do well, but it always feels like we're bleeding money. My spouse's Metro commute is now 90-minutes one way, and we're just outside the Beltway. He got home at 9 p.m. last night.

My spouse has a job interview in another (smaller, highly cost-affordable) city soon, and I'm all for it. I'm quietly mentally exhausted from the constant struggle. This place will wear you down. It may take some years, but you will reach that place in your mind where the downsides outweigh the benefits.

+1

NP. I've been here as long as you and feel the same. We don't have the commute issue, but it's because we've chosen to continue renting somewhat involuntarily because we can't afford a home in our current neighborhood. Even though we like where we live, crime and nagging QOL issues are on the rise in and around our EOTP NW DC neighborhood and have made me adjust my schedule and how I get around.

The tipping point arose when kids entered the picture, which is nothing new, but in DC it seems amplified. The DCPS lottery is a crapshoot, there's a ton of competition for children's activities and childcare (forget about it if they're low-cost or free), and childcare expenses are insane. We also are applying to jobs that would bring us closer to one of our families (both in lower COL areas) because it's just not worth the stress and headache anymore.

I honestly don't know how people make it work here without (a) getting lucky on the property ladder, (b) family help, (c) working a stressful job that impacts work/life balance, and/or (d) a significant amount of debt.

[Anonymous]

My house in Suffolk became my permanent residence in 2017. It cost me 206K and its a 4bd/ 3.5 bath. I work in DC one day per week every now and then its 2 days. I take the train from Richmond and usually hit the office by 7:45. Get home by 8:00 but at least no 95 traffic. Wouldnt trade it winters are warmer and shorter. Beach closer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Providence, RI and have a bunch of friends who moved here from NYC or the Bay area because you can afford to buy a house here.

Sounds lovely. What type of careers do you and most of your friends have? What kind of industry?

Meds and Eds is the quick description for the economy here. I know a bunch of people working in the healthcare sector, some providers and some in management, many people working in higher ed, one fed who works for the EPA out of Boston, a few people working for tech companies that have offices here, one person in biotech. I'm a non-profit fundraiser. I think there's a shortage of engineers and people with the skills to work in advanced manufacturing.