All of our friends are leaving DC

[Anonymous]

We returned to the DC area after 8 years away. Will never leave again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
DP.. it can be. Try hosting a get together with people who don't live near mass transit and have to drive to your DC rowhouse with no parking around. Or, going to a store with little kids and having to lug around lots of groceries. You've become accustomed to paying for every little thing. And I say this as someone who has lived in SF, were we paid for every little thing. We live in the burbs now, and everything is so much easier.

I could care less about catering to drivers. Take an uber or taxi or *gasp* the bus to get to my DC rowhouse.

You are SO destined to be friendless. You think you’re such hot sh*t and the people who can barely tolerate you now will move to other places eventually.

[Anonymous]

This is why I moved to Kensington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only lawyers or lobbyists stay in dc, do you want to spend the rest of your life around lawyers? Or lobbyists? Normal people don’t. Add in the costs and easy to understand why most families leave DC

This is just false and stop saying it. I am raising my kids here and almost all of my friends are still here. I don’t find it any more transient than where I grew up (Midwest small city). It just depends on your circle- we are mostly educators/nonprofit types and feds. Not strivers.

I call BS. A family of “educators/non-profits” living happily in dc or inner suburbia is an just code for “our parents paid our down payment and currently pay for private school.”

A non profit is not a real job. It is a play world

You are an idiot and deluded. My parents paid for nothing (not even college). I make low six figures at a nonprofit and so does DH who is an admin for DCPS. We have a house EOTP and three kids in charter school. We have lots of friends who are similar. It really is not hard at all to live well with a HHI of $200k if you’re not a striver.

[Anonymous]

I could've made this post, OP.

I grew up in a small town that is halfway across the country. I have zero family here. I've met three women that I "actually" clicked with and they've all moved due to jobs and being closer to family. It sucks. Due to our job situations, it will be very difficult to move. My DH has some family here but they are workaholics and weekends, for them, are consumed with catching up on errands, grocery shopping and preparing for the week ahead.

On July 3rd, I found out another friend is moving 10 hours away.

We don't live in DC and though we both work, we aren't caught up in the DC lifestyle. Sigh.

[Anonymous]

The vast majority of my friends, like me, grew up in the DC metro area. As a group, we're here, we're raising our kids here, we have no plans to leave. Friends and I laugh when we get that whole "it's so transient!" and "no one is from here!" crap from people.

Interestingly, none of us work in crazy high-pressure fields or make big bucks. More like county and city employees, nurses, a think-tank person, some lower-end consultants. Decidedly not the striver class.

I did leave, twice: for college, and then for DH's "dream job" in one of those supposedly wonderful lower COL sprawling suburban "cities" where there is abundant free parking as far as the eye can see. We were miserable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I could've made this post, OP.

I grew up in a small town that is halfway across the country. I have zero family here. I've met three women that I "actually" clicked with and they've all moved due to jobs and being closer to family. It sucks. Due to our job situations, it will be very difficult to move. My DH has some family here but they are workaholics and weekends, for them, are consumed with catching up on errands, grocery shopping and preparing for the week ahead.

On July 3rd, I found out another friend is moving 10 hours away.

We don't live in DC and though we both work, we aren't caught up in the DC lifestyle. Sigh.

Newsflash. This is a big part of being an adult. Many people run errands during the weekend. It has NOTHING to do with being a workaholic or living in dc!

Hate to break it to you but the DC lifestyle of working, saving for college and retirement and keeping up with a home is common in most parts of thE US

[Anonymous]

Guess it depends on what you consider “home”. We are from NYC and can’t wait to move back. Most of our friends are there and DC is like a “sleepy Southern town” to us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate this part about living in DC. My sense is that there is more stability in the close-in suburbs and in the NW. Have you explored moving to Takoma Park/Silver Spring?

Definitely true. I live in a NW DC neighborhood with very little turnover. We are zoned for decent schools, and there are also a lot of locals here--I think both of these contribute to the feeling of permanence. Most people we know plan on staying for the longterm. In almost 5 years here, we've only had one family we know move away (for a job in another state).

+1. In fact, thinking about most of my friends, they are from Montgomery County so this was moving back for them. Also agree it settles down once kids start kindergarten and if someone has made the investment of buying a house in a school pyramid they like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a very transient area. It's just part of life. Sorry, OP. It's hard when good friends move.

x10000

It sucks. Sorry, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some will return. They always do.

I don’t know anyone who has returned.

I did. Stayed here after college, got married and had kids. Moved to Seattle when the kids were toddlers. Spent 4 years there and came back. I love this area and won't move away again.

[Anonymous]

I don't like it here but there were financial opportunities that we decided were worth it. Now that some doors have opened we will be leaving. I think that our situation is fairly common

[Anonymous]

I was born and raised in DC. My friends and family were priced out of this area a long time ago. At first they all moved to the suburban outskirts, but once that became too expensive they left the DC area altogether. Half went the NJ/Philly route and others headed down to the Carolinas. I haven't made any new friends outside of coworkers with whom I occasionally go out with for drinks. I'd leave too if not for the joint custody arrangements with my ex.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is a challenge to live in this area. Little chores can take hours with traffic and crowds. It can be quicker to complete a grocery run in NYC. These are the reasons our friends are leaving for places like Nashville, Richmond, Raleigh and of course the NE. I suspect we may do the same once DS reaches school age.

What? Everyone I know I NYC complains about access to decent grocery stores. I can walk to WF and Giant. No traffic. Live in upper NW DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a challenge to live in this area. Little chores can take hours with traffic and crowds. It can be quicker to complete a grocery run in NYC. These are the reasons our friends are leaving for places like Nashville, Richmond, Raleigh and of course the NE. I suspect we may do the same once DS reaches school age.

What? Everyone I know I NYC complains about access to decent grocery stores. I can walk to WF and Giant. No traffic. Live in upper NW DC.

I think sometimes these things are actually more difficult in the inner suburbs. It can take me 15 minutes to get to the target that is less than 1.5 miles from my house. It's not a huge deal but those things can add up