Relocating out of DC

[Anonymous]

Just spent a week in San Francisco. I was surprised how affordable it is for everyday items, excluding real estate. Absolutely insane prices for rents and mortgages. A 2BR, 2BA apartment that you can get in Mt. Pleasant in DC for $500K would sell for over $1 million in SF in a similarly convenient area. Nuts.

The weather was gorgeous and being in the Bay Area reminded me that DC is an overpriced, mediocre food desert. The food in SF and the produce in grocery stores was so good and really affordable. Drinks were cheap at local bars. Public transportation is reliable and affordable. Traffic was better than LA or DC (though, I never drove between SF and Silicon Valley - that's where traffic is a parking lot).

I liked Oakland a lot and had some nice times visiting friends there. If reminds me a lot of Brooklyn or DC 10 to 15 years ago. Still scary to most white people, but the real estate gains will be massive in the next 10 years when all the young tech workers start having kids and many people get priced out of the peninsula/SF. If you like inner DC, you will really like Oakland. Similar in density and the weather is always nice there, regardless of weather in SF. You can get to downtown SF from Oakland in 10-15 minutes. It was super fast and easy.

Schools are pretty crappy in SF and Oakland. Best public schools are in Silicon Valley and San Jose, but those areas are just so absurdly overpriced and ugly. Seriously, they look like Gaithersburg or Fairfax, but at 10x the price. Silicon Valley is so overrated and miserable. Nice weather, but filled with nouveau riche techies and the poor souls just trying go hang on in the most expensive area of the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would love to move but can't due to husband's job based here...

I would go back to the Midwest. To many of you, that is flyover country. I want my big house and friendly people and easy commutes again.

salivate when I think of it...

Don't give up the dream. . .just made it back after 10 years in exile and it's great!

Aaah. Which city are you near? You can tell me - I am a Midwesterner who had an exceptionally stressful DC day yesterday full of bad traffic, rude/nasty people and stressful pace. I often wonder if I am the only midwesterner who understands that this is a very stressful place to live with a horrid pace and rude people. Too much traffic and too many self proclaimed important people. Where are you? Do you have room for a family of three? I have a nice nine year old daughter. I'm moving in with you.

[Anonymous]

We are hoping to move back to our home state in the next year. (It's New England, so not exactly friendly, but familiar to us!) Only one hitch remains: we have to ask my husband's company if it's ok with them. He mostly works from home and others in the company live in the north, but if they say no I don't know what will happen...it would be very hard to replace his job, but possibly harder to condemn ourselves to DC forever.

[Anonymous]

HI. I am feeling particularly sad today that I am living here and so tired of the pace here. The running to work, the running the kid to activities, the constant competition... You see, I'm a midwesterner who grew up with a third of the traffic of this place. We never struggled to find parking or had to wait in line to do things. I often feel that people here look at me as if I am crazy when I express how tired I am of this stress here and the rude people who are always in a hurry..running, running everywhere. To me, life was just easier. I am a slower moving person. I don't thrive on stress, or being super planned or being first or having my kid be a super over achiever. I just want her to be happy and healthy.

I cannot get out of here and am stuck. We both need to continue working to pay the bills and to fund our retirement and our jobs are based here. Husband is a New Yawker who doesn't know what it is like to grow up in a slower environment.

We are stuck here because his business is based here.

I love him dearly but want to MOVE and I can't.

Just looking for like minded folks to gripe with today. I need to know I am not alone.

Sorry for the bitching!

[Anonymous]

My husband and I are considering leaving after being here for 3 years. Our HHI is only about $160K so we are priced out of so many areas. I'd LOVE to go to a small east cost city like Philly or Baltimore or Raleigh and enjoy a little more peace and quiet and affordability. My husband has a local government job and I work in corporate real estate. Our industries are much less plentiful in those smaller cities and we are afraid to lose his pension. So here we stay, for now...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would love to move but can't due to husband's job based here...

I would go back to the Midwest. To many of you, that is flyover country. I want my big house and friendly people and easy commutes again.

salivate when I think of it...

Me, too. Could have written this, word for word.

My hangups about the midwest are tornadoes and heavy snow. Where in the midwest can I live without these?

How about Columbus OH?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just spent a week in San Francisco. I was surprised how affordable it is for everyday items, excluding real estate. Absolutely insane prices for rents and mortgages. A 2BR, 2BA apartment that you can get in Mt. Pleasant in DC for $500K would sell for over $1 million in SF in a similarly convenient area. Nuts.

The weather was gorgeous and being in the Bay Area reminded me that DC is an overpriced, mediocre food desert. The food in SF and the produce in grocery stores was so good and really affordable. Drinks were cheap at local bars. Public transportation is reliable and affordable. Traffic was better than LA or DC (though, I never drove between SF and Silicon Valley - that's where traffic is a parking lot).

I liked Oakland a lot and had some nice times visiting friends there. If reminds me a lot of Brooklyn or DC 10 to 15 years ago. Still scary to most white people, but the real estate gains will be massive in the next 10 years when all the young tech workers start having kids and many people get priced out of the peninsula/SF. If you like inner DC, you will really like Oakland. Similar in density and the weather is always nice there, regardless of weather in SF. You can get to downtown SF from Oakland in 10-15 minutes. It was super fast and easy.

Schools are pretty crappy in SF and Oakland. Best public schools are in Silicon Valley and San Jose, but those areas are just so absurdly overpriced and ugly. Seriously, they look like Gaithersburg or Fairfax, but at 10x the price. Silicon Valley is so overrated and miserable. Nice weather, but filled with nouveau riche techies and the poor souls just trying go hang on in the most expensive area of the country.

We moved to DC from California in early 2000s. Food is soooo much better now; it has come a long way since then.

Interesting point on Oakland...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HI. I am feeling particularly sad today that I am living here and so tired of the pace here. The running to work, the running the kid to activities, the constant competition... You see, I'm a midwesterner who grew up with a third of the traffic of this place. We never struggled to find parking or had to wait in line to do things. I often feel that people here look at me as if I am crazy when I express how tired I am of this stress here and the rude people who are always in a hurry..running, running everywhere. To me, life was just easier. I am a slower moving person. I don't thrive on stress, or being super planned or being first or having my kid be a super over achiever. I just want her to be happy and healthy.

I cannot get out of here and am stuck. We both need to continue working to pay the bills and to fund our retirement and our jobs are based here. Husband is a New Yawker who doesn't know what it is like to grow up in a slower environment.

We are stuck here because his business is based here.

I love him dearly but want to MOVE and I can't.

Just looking for like minded folks to gripe with today. I need to know I am not alone.

Sorry for the bitching!

You are not alone in feeling this way. Today I raced from work to pick up daughter at daycare, to get son at aftercare then to his baseball game. I always feel so rushed with how hectic everything is here and so much traffic. But when I look a job openings elsewhere, the salaries are so depressing. We've still got hefty grad school loans. Sigh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

My hangups about the midwest are tornadoes and heavy snow. Where in the midwest can I live without these?

Bump to this question. Midwesterners, sell me on your weather-safe cities / states!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My hangups about the midwest are tornadoes and heavy snow. Where in the midwest can I live without these?

Bump to this question. Midwesterners, sell me on your weather-safe cities / states!

Madison, WI and Ann Arbor, MI are both awesome. College towns, lots to do, the winters suck (more so in Madison), but cost of living in excellent. I would move back in a heartbeat. They are also university jobs as well as tech opportunities due to the major research institutions. Also major hospitals in both cities and state government in Madison. If you can, move to either place!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Charlotte is a nice town, but it is true that a lot of it is suburb. If you want to live in the core area it will be expensive. Myers Park, and Dilworth and Uptown are just as expensive as the close in DC areas, albeit you will get more square footage for your million bucks. The difference is that in DC the suburbs with nice schools are still crazy expensive, where they are not as expensive in Charlotte. The traffic is terrible there and there is No Public transportation to speak of.
We almost took a job there and heavily researched the real estate market. The city was fun and we would have loved living there, but it's not as exciting as DC.

We lived in Charleston, SC for 9 years. Great city, but the schools are not so hot. The cost of living is better than DC, but not terrific if you want to live close to all of the cool things it has to offer. The proximity to the beach was nice. It's getting better, but most of the jobs are in tourism/medicine. It won't have nearly the opportunities. I'm a southerner, and while I don't bash the South, I will say that the general demeanor is tiring. It's very conservative, even in Charleston, which is the most liberal part of the state. While, the social implications of this can be annoying, the really bad part is that people don't want to pay taxes for services like good schools.

We lived in Ann Arbor, MI for four years. This was awesome. Growing in terms of tech jobs. Affordable living even close to downtown, vibrant city center. Close to activities and pro sports in Detroit. U of M there for activities and employment. Just awesome college town. Awesome Schools. Winters not terrible since you are on the eastern part of the state, and summer were glorious. I'd move back in a heartbeat.

We currently live in Madison, WI. This is very similar to Ann Arbor. The things to add are lakes and proximity to Chicago. The Winters are bad though. The schools are very good. Even more of College town feel than Ann Arbor I like it here a lot.

We are still looking to go to DC for job opportunities and because We want to try living in a real city with all the amenities while we are still young. I hope we don't regret the decision.

I'm so jealous. I'm a Wisconsin girl, and thought I'd love living in DC. Well, first off, we never made enough money to live in a safe enough part of DC in anything more than a studio, so we ended up in Nova. Finally bought a townhouse, the price of which could have bought us a lovely art-deco home near the lake someplace like Madison. I'd move in a heartbeat, but DH is a "City guy" and wants to live in or near a really big city, which obviously limits us quite a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My hangups about the midwest are tornadoes and heavy snow. Where in the midwest can I live without these?

You can't. Put on your big girl pants.

Madison, WI and Ann Arbor, MI are both awesome. College towns, lots to do, the winters suck (more so in Madison), but cost of living in excellent.

There's more to Michigan than Ann Arbor, which is extremely overpriced for SE MI and MI in general. That's like saying NW DC is the only place to live in the city.

I'll retire in Michigan. I'm not having kids, so I'm in DC for the long haul. I'm about to double my salary. Same position in Mich would be at $45k. Screw that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My hangups about the midwest are tornadoes and heavy snow. Where in the midwest can I live without these?

You can't. Put on your big girl pants.

Madison, WI and Ann Arbor, MI are both awesome. College towns, lots to do, the winters suck (more so in Madison), but cost of living in excellent.

There's more to Michigan than Ann Arbor, which is extremely overpriced for SE MI and MI in general. That's like saying NW DC is the only place to live in the city.

I'll retire in Michigan. I'm not having kids, so I'm in DC for the long haul. I'm about to double my salary. Same position in Mich would be at $45k. Screw that.

I lived in Ann Arbor, and it's the only place I know, which is why I mentioned it. There are some very nice suburbs in SE Michigan, but Ann Arbor is nice.
I agree with the retire in Michigan sentiment, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband and I are considering leaving after being here for 3 years. Our HHI is only about $160K so we are priced out of so many areas. I'd LOVE to go to a small east cost city like Philly or Baltimore or Raleigh and enjoy a little more peace and quiet and affordability. My husband has a local government job and I work in corporate real estate. Our industries are much less plentiful in those smaller cities and we are afraid to lose his pension. So here we stay, for now...

You guys could live in Baltimore and hubby could take the MARC train into DC daily. It would help if he could telecommute one or two says per week.
I have coworkers who do this and they really enjoy it. DC wages and Baltimore cost of living! Besides, I think Baltimore is a waaaay more interesting town than DC. The town definitely has it's own distinct culture and personality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I lived in Ann Arbor, and it's the only place I know, which is why I mentioned it.

As I like to say about Ann Arbor: east coast rents, midwest living.