Tired of the DC thing

[Anonymous]

I'll add that by "decent" commute I mean 30-45 minutes by car. I'd love to be able to just take public transportation but I gave up that dream long ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We made the escape last year and have no regrets. I loved DC when I was younger and single but we both decided once kids come along it would be great to move back home. We live in a small town on outskirts of a large Midwestern city. DH got offers comparable to his DC salary and COL is so low I'm able to SAH for now. My job was one of those "only in DC" types but I'm looking forward to doing something completely different once I'm ready to get back to work.

It works for us because we are homebodies for the most part but can get into the city on a weekend if we want, but something to think about if you love going out all the time. There is a trade off.

Op, if I were you I'd pick a couple places, vacation there a couple times and start sending resumes. You may be surprised at salaries like we were. It's just not true that there are no good jobs in "fly over country".

Well I live outside Detroit, and are there good jobs, yes, but very few unless you have something to do with making a car. Is there someone who works in an ad agency or investment banking and makes good money? Not predominant unless you are in a high COL area. And I don't see it as anything different in Cleveland or St. Louis.

You cited the poster child for the worst economy in America (Detroit). Also, per all the comments above, you don't move to flyover country to be an investment banker. The point is that you can move to lower col areas and become, say, a duel teacher household, or if you're a DC fed transfer to a federal government office and get a job making $80k, or be a nurse, or professor, or doctor, or small town lawyer, or small town accountant, or work for the random big company that is there (in the finance department or legal department or marketing). The job won't be as stimulating as your DC job, but a lot of those jobs can get you close to six figures in certain small towns. Which in those places will buy you a much happier life (for many of us) than what we have in DC. Just to use an example, a ton of new York banks are moving their backroom operations to Tampa. There are also several large corps that have their hqs or SE-US hqs in tampa. No sales tax, cheap houses (so relatively low property tax compared with DC - even though the millage rate is higher), good schools, decent traffic (relative to DC). Lots of professional jobs paying $120k down there. Home by 6pm every night.

I get what you're saying but my sticking point has always been -- when that IB cuts back office operations which they invariably do every yr or so to save money and you get restructured out -- is there going to be another 120k job for you in finance in Tampa, given that you won't be the only one looking - you'll be competing with everyone else who was restructured out; and if you don't get a job in Tampa, a move would require selling a home --which isn't always easy in secondary markets if people aren't moving in--and uprooting a family. I get it -- life in DC/NYC/big cities sucks, but the relatively good employability and the relative confidence that you can lose a job and get another one is what keeps me going at least at this stage of my career.

[Anonymous]

I'd like to get out of the DC area in the next few years also. I'm going to see what happens with the election. I'll drill down into the voting data and any area that Trump won will automatically be removed from consideration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a lot of people who make an active choice walk away from the DC thing - to Portland (both of them - ME and OR), research triangle, florida, texas, Norfolk, Richmond, Charlottesville.... Lots of people who move to other big cities, but those don't really count for this discussion.

We did it once (jobs brought us back to DC) but are putting the pieces in place to do it again. Sometimes, my friends have pretty good jobs here (say, duel feds) but not good enough that they'll ever get ahead and not good enough that they are so committed to that path. So they just blanket a new area with resumes and move 6 months later. My husband and I both have very good jobs that would be harder to walk away from, so both times we moved involved years of, as we call it, dropping breadcrumbs to get where we want to be. In our situation, it will probably ultimately involve my husband staying in his senior exec role but working from home (because his only real face time requirements are with clients, who are all over the world) and me probably either consulting or doing something else totally new. The col difference is so outrageous and my husband will still have a high income, so really we don't need my income at all after we move (we only need half of his) so we figure we can always make something work.

One problem we had the first time we did this: you find the random unicorn awesome job in this desireable area with low COL. But then 3 years later, the job isn't that great and you're ready to move on. But there are no other good jobs in your new town. So you're stuck. We lived in an amazing region where tons of people like to move for a better life, and many of our friends were former DC people, but we all struggled with this.

One other warning: if you go someone lower key, you have to just accept a professional step down. either because your job is less good or pays less well, or simply because you'll be surrounded by a bunch of other people who don't give a crap what you do because they are teachers, or zumba instructors, or a/c repair guys, or stay at home moms. We define much of our happiness in DC by our jobs and our degrees. By necessity, a low COL community is going to have less people with good jobs, is going to have less good jobs, is going to have lower quality colleagues in your somewhat good job, is going to have less good clients. No matter how good your job is in the new place, it will never be a "DC job". We are sooooo okay with that. We are a power couple and have it all (reputation, success, $$), but we're like "who cares?" and happy to walk away. Just a warning.

This seems spot on. Do you have kids? How old, and did they go to school in DC or the other place ...

This says to me something that I've long suspected--that the people complaining about the DC "rat race" are the very people who perpetuate it--who are impressed with their own power, reputation, $$$ and want other people to be impressed too.

Because there are plenty of teachers, zumba instructors, and a/c repair guys in the DC area. There are plenty of career feds who work staff-style jobs who aren't seeking power or money and don't have "reputations" outside of the 30 people they work with. There are plenty of people who don't define themselves by their jobs. We are right here, sitting in the traffic next to you. But you probably won't find us in large numbers in your McLean or Chevy Chase neighborhoods.

If you want more house for your money, or you can't stand the traffic here anymore, I get it. Go with god. But please don't complain to me about getting out of the "rat race," when you are fully capable of doing so in DC if you want to.

[Anonymous]

Bump because this was such an interesting conversation. I too wonder if I'll be priced out of the DC market and driven into the suburbs with the long commutes and rat race in order to afford a home larger than 2 bedrooms (when it comes to that). Right now I'm comfortable with my condo and make a good living downtown. But I'm well aware there's a big difference in price points when 'need' that extra space just to make ends meet and everyone in the home happy. I just don't want to be stuck in Vienna or Ashburn to get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to get out of the DC area in the next few years also. I'm going to see what happens with the election. I'll drill down into the voting data and any area that Trump won will automatically be removed from consideration.

Curious to hear from this poster now

[Anonymous]

Stop complaining about commutes. You know nothing of commute.

[Anonymous]

I'm hoarding money. Buying a house in cash in Costa Rica in the next 3 years, will rent it for the 7 years after that, at that time DH and I will be 49 & 50, kids will be in college and we will be PEACE OUT. This is why we live in the exurbs with a 2k mortgage. We're taking our nice NOVA salaries and banking it all and spending the minimim on housing. Im not waiting until we're 65 to live a good life.

[Anonymous]

DC makes me feel suffocated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC makes me feel suffocated.

Not sure why you say that but I would think a lot of that is on you. Much of the "DC rat race" is self-imposed.

I have a "DC job" that I like to do not just because it is challenging and interesting and I get to work with great people but because I find it meaningful to use my days doing something that I think makes the world a little better. Now you can say I am wrong or that someone would do my job if I wasn't here but the fact is that I would feel I was wasting my life a bit if I took that replacement job in some corporate support office in Tampa or Portland or wherever. It's not that I am in a prestigious job or am ambitious to move higher but I am making a contribution that I think I can be proud of when I retire. In the meantime I've managed to arrange my life so I hardly ever have to drive -- weekends are spent walking to the library not shuttling my kid to multiple activities. For all the complaints about metro and MCPS I think there aren't many places in the country that have schools and walkability/public transportation as good as here and overall, having moved here from Boston and with friends and relatives in RTP and on the west coast, we feel pretty lucky to be here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm hoarding money. Buying a house in cash in Costa Rica in the next 3 years, will rent it for the 7 years after that, at that time DH and I will be 49 & 50, kids will be in college and we will be PEACE OUT. This is why we live in the exurbs with a 2k mortgage. We're taking our nice NOVA salaries and banking it all and spending the minimim on housing. Im not waiting until we're 65 to live a good life.

Sweet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm hoarding money. Buying a house in cash in Costa Rica in the next 3 years, will rent it for the 7 years after that, at that time DH and I will be 49 & 50, kids will be in college and we will be PEACE OUT. This is why we live in the exurbs with a 2k mortgage. We're taking our nice NOVA salaries and banking it all and spending the minimim on housing. Im not waiting until we're 65 to live a good life.

Sweet

And where in CR?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm hoarding money. Buying a house in cash in Costa Rica in the next 3 years, will rent it for the 7 years after that, at that time DH and I will be 49 & 50, kids will be in college and we will be PEACE OUT. This is why we live in the exurbs with a 2k mortgage. We're taking our nice NOVA salaries and banking it all and spending the minimim on housing. Im not waiting until we're 65 to live a good life.

Sweet

And where in CR?

West coast. Preferably the Nicoya Peninsula, we like Samara. OR just Nort of manuel antonio national park. I even love lake Arenal, but I'm not sure how we feel about being so far from the coast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm hoarding money. Buying a house in cash in Costa Rica in the next 3 years, will rent it for the 7 years after that, at that time DH and I will be 49 & 50, kids will be in college and we will be PEACE OUT. This is why we live in the exurbs with a 2k mortgage. We're taking our nice NOVA salaries and banking it all and spending the minimim on housing. Im not waiting until we're 65 to live a good life.

Couple things on that: you better ensure the property has clear title, and you'll need a guard watching out for squatters, because squatting in a place for like two months means it's theirs. I've been to costa a lot. You're better off in Panama or Nicaragua. They're cheaper these days. Nica is the best of the three and less petty crime these days than costa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm hoarding money. Buying a house in cash in Costa Rica in the next 3 years, will rent it for the 7 years after that, at that time DH and I will be 49 & 50, kids will be in college and we will be PEACE OUT. This is why we live in the exurbs with a 2k mortgage. We're taking our nice NOVA salaries and banking it all and spending the minimim on housing. Im not waiting until we're 65 to live a good life.

Couple things on that: you better ensure the property has clear title, and you'll need a guard watching out for squatters, because squatting in a place for like two months means it's theirs. I've been to costa a lot. You're better off in Panama or Nicaragua. They're cheaper these days. Nica is the best of the three and less petty crime these days than costa.

For the last 3 summers we have rented a house down there for the entire summer, both DH and i have WFH flexibility and know the country inside and out. Having pratically already lived there and spending much time in Nicaragua (completely ruled that out for many many reasons, glue huffing being one). We'd live in an expat community. They cater to people like us. Communities gated and 24hr grounds keeper for those exact reasons. All homes weve looked at are income properties, and low season is summer, so really the 7 years we rent it out, well be there a good 3 months at a stretch with renters solid theough the winter.