All of our friends are leaving DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Agree. We live in a popular school pyramid in Loudoun (I know, gasp!) and it’s not very transient at all. Maybe there was a small exodus in the preschool years, but now that we are upper elementary most seem here to stay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Um, fresh direct...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Where are they living? Surely not where their parents live(d). We left when we realized that we would never have what our parents had in DC (until we collect their inheritance (grim, I know).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Agree. We live in a popular school pyramid in Loudoun (I know, gasp!) and it’s not very transient at all. Maybe there was a small exodus in the preschool years, but now that we are upper elementary most seem here to stay.

Why?

[Anonymous]

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.

This describes my circle of friends too, adding in media companies too. We've been here 20+ years and so have many of our neighbors and friends. But, that also means we settled in the area when it was a lot more affordable. At current housing prices, I don't know that I would have chosen to move to DC in the first place.

[Anonymous]

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.

This describes my circle of friends too, adding in media companies too. We've been here 20+ years and so have many of our neighbors and friends. But, that also means we settled in the area when it was a lot more affordable. At current housing prices, I don't know that I would have chosen to move to DC in the first place.

[Anonymous]

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.

This describes my circle of friends too, adding in media companies too. We've been here 20+ years and so have many of our neighbors and friends. But, that also means we settled in the area when it was a lot more affordable. At current housing prices, I don't know that I would have chosen to move to DC in the first place.

+1 it is a different city for young families today.

[Anonymous]

I am from Western NY. Came here after college and never left. It’s been 25 years. I got married, bought a house in a desirable part of Vienna/Oakton area, had kids, stayed home, now teaching. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. We love NoVA/DC. Our kids are in HS, and are looking at local private colleges to attend. My neighbors have been here for 10+ years, and a few are original owners (20-25 years). I suppose if you live in a far out town or county, you may have a different experience.

[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.

This describes my circle of friends too, adding in media companies too. We've been here 20+ years and so have many of our neighbors and friends. But, that also means we settled in the area when it was a lot more affordable. At current housing prices, I don't know that I would have chosen to move to DC in the first place.

+1 it is a different city for young families today.

+2, exactly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am from Western NY. Came here after college and never left. It’s been 25 years. I got married, bought a house in a desirable part of Vienna/Oakton area, had kids, stayed home, now teaching. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. We love NoVA/DC. Our kids are in HS, and are looking at local private colleges to attend. My neighbors have been here for 10+ years, and a few are original owners (20-25 years). I suppose if you live in a far out town or county, you may have a different experience.

The key words here being “25 years ago.” It is a lot harder now with the ridiculous cost of housing.

[Anonymous]

Native of DC area here and I’ve only had like two friends move away and never come back. But most of my friends were also DC natives and/or settled in DC right after college so have strong roots. Makes a big difference. I think a lot of the people that come later in life or just for a job are more inclined to leave when that particular job is done, or return back home when they tire of DC. I only know two lawyers and no lobbyists - most of our friends are in tech, or teachers, or government workers, or journalists, or think tank/nonprofit types.

[Anonymous]

Most of the friends we made when the kids were younger than elementary school age moved away. Very common for
this area.

[Anonymous]

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

So true

[Anonymous]

Went through this. Some moved far away, some moved around the beltway. As your kids get older, you will find friends among parents of their friends. We still stay in touch with most of our "dc friends". We get together a couple times a year with the ones in the area, much less with some of the others and some we have fallen out of touch with (though others in the group are in contact and update)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the friends we made when the kids were younger than elementary school age moved away. Very common for
this area.

Similar, but very few of the families we met when our kids started ES have since moved away. I think once you have kids in school, the barrier to moving becomes a lot higher.