Do you ever fantasize about picking up and moving to a lower cost of living area?

[Anonymous]

13:12 - good point! There are definitely trade offs everywhere. What many here do not realize is that D.C. is not the be all and end all for every one. And it might not be that that person is the problem if they don't like it here. Which is such a small minded view! D.C. is not for every one, and those who do not like it might still be extremely educated and well traveled - imagine that!

[Anonymous]

We did it and moved to a big Southern city. Definitely less culture, fewer intellectuals, less-educated people, no free museums. Life is less interesting, for sure. The COL is NOT significantly lower for most things-- we shop at the same places (Safeway, Wal-Mart, Target, Macys), and the taxes are equivalent. BUT it is SO much easier to get from Point A to Point B; it is less-congested; and we paid 700K for a HUGE house that is within close commuting distance to work, and so DH and I commute less than 30 minutes each way on a very easy drive. We paid $60/every two weeks in DC to have someone clean our 2 BR apartment; here, we pay $80/every two weeks to have someone clean our 4-BR house.

I find that we have less stress on a day-to-day basis, which leads to greater happiness on the whole.

Yes, we miss the constant stimulation and the walkability of DC and all our friends with multiple advanced degrees (like us), but we are happy being homebodies in our huge, comfortable house with lots of nice retail located closeby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not all places that have a lower cost of living have uneducated people. Take any college town. Take Philly. Take many areas of places like Vermont.

burlington vt is a dream of mine. i've heard shelburne farms is lovely

Burlington is great in theory but the public schools are very under funded. People don't realize that there is a northern version of rednecks called "townies". Violent, poor and toothless, they drive the educated classes to send their kids to the ultra $$$ downstate--like Putney or into MA or other NE schools like Groton, Andover, Deerfield, Northfield-Mt Hermon, etc. The laid back granola life style up there comes at a much higher price than you might expect because there really is no middle class there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not all places that have a lower cost of living have uneducated people. Take any college town. Take Philly. Take many areas of places like Vermont.

burlington vt is a dream of mine. i've heard shelburne farms is lovely

Burlington is great in theory but the public schools are very under funded. People don't realize that there is a northern version of rednecks called "townies". Violent, poor and toothless, they drive the educated classes to send their kids to the ultra $$$ downstate--like Putney or into MA or other NE schools like Groton, Andover, Deerfield, Northfield-Mt Hermon, etc. The laid back granola life style up there comes at a much higher price than you might expect because there really is no middle class there.

Is this in any way related to BU Townies?

[Anonymous]

I'm really confused after reading many of these posts. It seems that most people posting to this forum send their children to private schools. How is that providing the diverse environment that you keep saying is part of the Washington DC experience? Then I read about all the uneducated, lacking in culture people you think live in other cities--so much so that you wouldn't want to move to those places? I'm trying to square that viewpoint with the Washington DC population. Are you actually referring only to the high income locations? Because I KNOW there are poor, uneducated people there, just like any city would have.

[Anonymous]

18:08 - you nailed it. You will never meet a bigger group of hypocrites. Anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm really confused after reading many of these posts. It seems that most people posting to this forum send their children to private schools. How is that providing the diverse environment that you keep saying is part of the Washington DC experience? Then I read about all the uneducated, lacking in culture people you think live in other cities--so much so that you wouldn't want to move to those places? I'm trying to square that viewpoint with the Washington DC population. Are you actually referring only to the high income locations? Because I KNOW there are poor, uneducated people there, just like any city would have.

DC is incredibly segregated along socio-economic lines. There is virtually no middle class within the city limits in the NW sector of the city. Yes there are large swaths of poor and uneducated--there is virtually no interaction whatsoever. Chicago, NYC, Boston, even Portland, Washington are very different int that there is a thriving middle and artisan class--they keep the cuisine, architecture, and soul, if you will of a city going. DC and LA are very much alike in that way, unfortunately, imo. DC has racial and cultural diversity--there are very well off people of all races and backgrounds here--but make no mistake, people don't cross class lines often here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did it and moved to a big Southern city. Definitely less culture, fewer intellectuals, less-educated people, no free museums. Life is less interesting, for sure. The COL is NOT significantly lower for most things-- we shop at the same places (Safeway, Wal-Mart, Target, Macys), and the taxes are equivalent. BUT it is SO much easier to get from Point A to Point B; it is less-congested; and we paid 700K for a HUGE house that is within close commuting distance to work, and so DH and I commute less than 30 minutes each way on a very easy drive. We paid $60/every two weeks in DC to have someone clean our 2 BR apartment; here, we pay $80/every two weeks to have someone clean our 4-BR house.

I find that we have less stress on a day-to-day basis, which leads to greater happiness on the whole.

Yes, we miss the constant stimulation and the walkability of DC and all our friends with multiple advanced degrees (like us), but we are happy being homebodies in our huge, comfortable house with lots of nice retail located closeby.

Where do you live?

[Anonymous]

Family is in this area, I grew up in Front Royal and she grew up in Springfield.

We can afford to live here (HHI of 180k, live in Vienna) so why would we move to a place with fewer jobs and less of a support network?

OTOH, if you're out of college and are making 30k a year as an office drone, there's probably better places to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:18:08 - you nailed it. You will never meet a bigger group of hypocrites. Anywhere.

I don't know about the "anywhere" part, but no one seems to have tried to defend what was said. Maybe you're right. In fact, the high SES snobbery towards people in other areas of the country is astonishing, given all the comments about wanting their children to embrace diversity, etc.

[Anonymous]

What is SES?

[Anonymous]

We're making exactly this kind of a move this week! We can't wait!!!!

For us, the main driver is that it's close to our families. But we're also looking forward to the less expensive cost of living (far less!) and the more relaxed pace of life. The public schools are excellent, and everyone sends their children there, so there's no private school madness, either.

I'm sure there will be tradeoffs, but nothing that we can't handle. Plus, with all the money we're saving, we can afford frequent travel -- to see our friends here in DC, as well as to take nice vacations!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is SES?

socio-economic status

[Anonymous]

I did it. Moved to a college town. We have great friends who are very intelligent, a constant flow of academics flowing through for dinner parties, and can drive to Chicago in a couple of hours if I want an event. I make 1/3 of what I did in DC at a law firm, work 2 days a week and live in a 3800 sf house that looks like Frank Lloyd Wright built it, with a fruit orchard and 20 acres. Cost less than our 2 BR SF in Spring Valley. Excellent schools. Love my new life. Miss some DC friends but nothing else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:18:08 - you nailed it. You will never meet a bigger group of hypocrites. Anywhere.

I don't know about the "anywhere" part, but no one seems to have tried to defend what was said. Maybe you're right. In fact, the high SES snobbery towards people in other areas of the country is astonishing, given all the comments about wanting their children to embrace diversity, etc.

well, not THAT kind of diversity. LOL must be diversity of the progressive liberal type. white christian conservatives (although rare in many parts of this city) are not considered to be an acceptable element of diversity. a diverse neighborhood must have a majority of the people NOT be white christian conservatives, but rather liberal, jewish and/or people of any ethnic hertitage that includes something other than or in addition to european and who share a similar, purportedly tolerant and open minded world view.

wait. if all the people share the same worldview is that still diverse?