Why DC is over

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Much of the discussion about millennial migration tends to focus on high-cost, dense urban regions such as those that dominate New York, Massachusetts and, of course, California. Yet the IRS data tells us a very different story about migrants aged 26 to 34. Here it’s Texas in the lead, and by a wide margin, followed by Oregon, Colorado, Washington, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, Maine, Florida and New Hampshire. Once again New York and Illinois stand out as the biggest losers in this age category.

Perhaps more important for the immediate future may be the migration of people at the peak of their careers, those aged 35 to 54. These are also the age cohorts most likely to be raising children. The top four are the same in both cohorts. Among the 35 to 44 age group, it’s Texas, followed by Florida, South Carolina and North Dakota. Among the 45 to 54 cohort, Texas, followed by South Carolina, Florida and North Dakota.

Perhaps with the influx of educated high-earners, these states will stop voting against their own interests and turn blue.

Texan here. We've seen a massive influx of Californians to our state...who proceed vote for the exact same policies/types of politicians that caused them to flee CA in the first place.

I don't get it.

CA's high COL wasn't because they had exceptional social nets and policies geared towards helping people with healthcare, shelters, medicine etc. It was because it was an extremely desirable place to live on the coast with beautiful geography.

By that same measure most people aren't fleeing CA because of the homeless issues, its because they themselves can't afford to live there with any QOL. Texas is a good medium because it has good jobs and excellent QOL for a lower cost. Them voting for the same policies doesn't really change that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I moved to DC in 1996 because at that time it was sort of a gay Mecca. It was cheap compared to other East Coast cities (!), and had beautiful architecture and parks.

Now I'm in my fifties, and can't stand it here. Everyone around me is half my age and they (gay or straight) basically look through me. The place is full of Type A personalities, and the lovely historical neighborhoods are getting torn apart for condos and popups. Also the crime situation is starting to worsen again. And the traffic...

So my partner and I are headed for a 2nd tier city - maybe Richmond, Charlottesville, or Providence.

Isn’t everyone being half your age and looking through you more about getting older and true for any city? I’ve also been here since the 90s and my life is not the same as when I was in my 20s but it’s not dc’s fault.

Strange. My parents came in the mid-60s and stayed. They love it and go out with friends, socialize, museums, Kennedy center, Birchmere, etc. People are educated.

I lived other places (even Europe) before settling back here and it's hard to find a place similar. NYC was too big and not green enough for me. Boston was too cold, etc. West Coast too long for flights to Europe.

I am not sure where you are or if you are 85 because the 'everyone is half your age' is very strange. Our entire neighborhood close-in are people in their 40s/50s/60s.

I find some people think that changing their location will suddenly make them happy, most often they just bring their misery with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People come for jobs.

Remember what happened to Detroit? Cleveland?

People will always follow the jobs. Cities like NYC, Boston, DC etc. are big for a reason and expensive---it's where the $ is.

+100

[Anonymous]

I think I would have liked 1996 DC.

I loved 1996 Brooklyn.

This is a lovely place with terrible people. It's not your fault, you terrible people, you just are. Humorless, didactic, overly organized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a young decent/highish earning couple (HHI north of 200k) and never considered DC for reasons in this article. Mainly the price. DC is too expensive, not enough space, and doesnt offer a good commute at all. If our jobs werent central do the DC area we would not live here. I love visiting the city, but would never live there.

We're a young high earning couple and never considered VA or MD because we didn't want to be stuck in traffic for most of our lives. It's very expensive here, but we love our house/neighborhood and walkability/accessibility.

Honestly if you love visiting cities but wouldn't want to live in one it probably wasn't the cost pushing you to the burbs. Everything's not for everybody.

DP. Young (how are we defining young here? Under 30? Under 35?) family. We used to live in DC until our HHI increased to $400k and this line of thinking really bothers me. For the amount of money you pay in taxes in dc you should really get more than walkability and the chance at free pre-k (because depending on where you live it’s not guaranteed at your neighborhood school and most folks don’t want to have to travel far for pre k). And add to that that you don’t get representation at the national level. No thanks.

As people have said, it's not for everybody. I've lived in Charlotte and Atlanta. I LOVE DC. People are smart here. There is more to life than a big house. At $700K HHI, I'm happy to pay my taxes here. To each his own.

PP. Who said anything about a big house? And you do know that people in places like Charlotte and Atlanta also pay taxes? My point is you get nothing for what you pay despite the fact that dc is actually financially better positioned than many other cities because it’s not heavily in debt.

I don't see how that's true. I get the same in DC that I got in Charlotte or Atlanta. Quite frankly, the only difference for me is that I get to live around smart people. Yes, Charlotte was easier to live in because it's just an easier lifestyle, but I worked for Bank of America and I was working my ass off. There was no difference work wise. I was the only woman on my team for 5 years. Women generally didn't work at the same level as men. If you don't want to work then I guess that's good.

PP here. And, for the record, they weren't cheaper. They were just as expensive. If I wanted to live in some far out suburb it's cheaper. Hell, I could move to a far out suburb here and it's much cheaper. Plus, taxes were high as hell. The income tax was lower, but every other tax was much higher. Our property taxes in Charlotte made me fall out the chair at closing!

You didn’t know what your taxes were going to be until you were at your closing? That doesn’t sound very smart

You are right. My husband (at the time) did all of the house hunting b/c I was still in DC. He knew, I didn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I should kindly point out that the vast majority of people in the DC region drive to work and live a car dependent lifestyle. Hello? Look at the suburbs! Look at the traffic on the roads!

You can have a walkable lifestyle in DC. And you can have a walkable lifestyle in other cities too. It’s about how you organize your life.

Yeah, but people aren't as smart in those other cities. That alone keeps me in DC.

^^ This is exactly why I want to leave DC.

That's good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think I would have liked 1996 DC.

I loved 1996 Brooklyn.

This is a lovely place with terrible people. It's not your fault, you terrible people, you just are. Humorless, didactic, overly organized.

So you like rampant crime, across-the-board school horror shows, wide swaths of the city looking like bombed out Beirut (including many of the places in NW that are trendy today) and municipal services that make the current DC government seem like a well-oiled machine?

It's always so adorable to hear newcomers talk about DC glory days that never existed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t leave pre-kids, wait until your kids are in one of the 2000 student cut-throat schools*50 of them in the dmv.
Stressful and total crapshoot applying to colleges around here.

But have fun with all the sports and arts cuts. Only <10% will make the cut! What a place to live.

Well, if you make the <10% in podunk high school, flyover country, it still may not cut it either for an elite college.

This isn’t 100% accurate. Elite schools also care about geographic diversity so it can actually be easier to get in from a state where there are less applicants.

I was the shining star of a podunk high school, and got into elite Ivy. And barely survived freshman year bc I was in way over my head. I would rather my kids go to excellent high school, be middle of the pack, and then do stellar at VT or JMU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think I would have liked 1996 DC.

I loved 1996 Brooklyn.

This is a lovely place with terrible people. It's not your fault, you terrible people, you just are. Humorless, didactic, overly organized.

Wasn’t it the murder capital in 1996, Marion Barry in his second term?

[Anonymous]

dmv: more millennials out, more unskilled illegal immigrants in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I moved to DC in 1996 because at that time it was sort of a gay Mecca. It was cheap compared to other East Coast cities (!), and had beautiful architecture and parks.

Now I'm in my fifties, and can't stand it here. Everyone around me is half my age and they (gay or straight) basically look through me. The place is full of Type A personalities, and the lovely historical neighborhoods are getting torn apart for condos and popups. Also the crime situation is starting to worsen again. And the traffic...

So my partner and I are headed for a 2nd tier city - maybe Richmond, Charlottesville, or Providence.

Isn’t everyone being half your age and looking through you more about getting older and true for any city? I’ve also been here since the 90s and my life is not the same as when I was in my 20s but it’s not dc’s fault.

Strange. My parents came in the mid-60s and stayed. They love it and go out with friends, socialize, museums, Kennedy center, Birchmere, etc. People are educated.

I lived other places (even Europe) before settling back here and it's hard to find a place similar. NYC was too big and not green enough for me. Boston was too cold, etc. West Coast too long for flights to Europe.

I am not sure where you are or if you are 85 because the 'everyone is half your age' is very strange. Our entire neighborhood close-in are people in their 40s/50s/60s.

I find some people think that changing their location will suddenly make them happy, most often they just bring their misery with them.

Where in DC are people in their 40s/50s/60s? Deanwood?
OP here.. I'm in Petworth and pretty much every time my partner and I go out to eat we are the oldest folks in the restaurant.
Yeah, maybe we'll bring our misery with us. But at least we'll give it our best shot somewhere else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I moved to DC in 1996 because at that time it was sort of a gay Mecca. It was cheap compared to other East Coast cities (!), and had beautiful architecture and parks.

Now I'm in my fifties, and can't stand it here. Everyone around me is half my age and they (gay or straight) basically look through me. The place is full of Type A personalities, and the lovely historical neighborhoods are getting torn apart for condos and popups. Also the crime situation is starting to worsen again. And the traffic...

So my partner and I are headed for a 2nd tier city - maybe Richmond, Charlottesville, or Providence.

Isn’t everyone being half your age and looking through you more about getting older and true for any city? I’ve also been here since the 90s and my life is not the same as when I was in my 20s but it’s not dc’s fault.

Strange. My parents came in the mid-60s and stayed. They love it and go out with friends, socialize, museums, Kennedy center, Birchmere, etc. People are educated.

I lived other places (even Europe) before settling back here and it's hard to find a place similar. NYC was too big and not green enough for me. Boston was too cold, etc. West Coast too long for flights to Europe.

I am not sure where you are or if you are 85 because the 'everyone is half your age' is very strange. Our entire neighborhood close-in are people in their 40s/50s/60s.

I find some people think that changing their location will suddenly make them happy, most often they just bring their misery with them.

Where in DC are people in their 40s/50s/60s? Deanwood?
OP here.. I'm in Petworth and pretty much every time my partner and I go out to eat we are the oldest folks in the restaurant.
Yeah, maybe we'll bring our misery with us. But at least we'll give it our best shot somewhere else.

DP. Is this a serious question? My EOTP NW DC neighborhood has lots of middle aged and elderly people, and there are also a ton WOTP. Who do you think can afford those expensive homes in Gtown, Woodley Park, Chevy Chase, etc.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t leave pre-kids, wait until your kids are in one of the 2000 student cut-throat schools*50 of them in the dmv.
Stressful and total crapshoot applying to colleges around here.

But have fun with all the sports and arts cuts. Only <10% will make the cut! What a place to live.

Well, if you make the <10% in podunk high school, flyover country, it still may not cut it either for an elite college.

This isn’t 100% accurate. Elite schools also care about geographic diversity so it can actually be easier to get in from a state where there are less applicants.

I was the shining star of a podunk high school, and got into elite Ivy. And barely survived freshman year bc I was in way over my head. I would rather my kids go to excellent high school, be middle of the pack, and then do stellar at VT or JMU.

[phone]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think I would have liked 1996 DC.

I loved 1996 Brooklyn.

This is a lovely place with terrible people. It's not your fault, you terrible people, you just are. Humorless, didactic, overly organized.

Wasn’t it the murder capital in 1996, Marion Barry in his second term?

D.C. in 1996 was Baltimore of 2018. PP probably liked it because it was cheap as hell.

I personally love the current D.C.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think I would have liked 1996 DC.

I loved 1996 Brooklyn.

This is a lovely place with terrible people. It's not your fault, you terrible people, you just are. Humorless, didactic, overly organized.

Wasn’t it the murder capital in 1996, Marion Barry in his second term?

Yup. With open air drug supermarkets. The crack epidemic was at its height and there were videos of the Mayor partaking with a hooker! DC was a laughingstock. All the trendy places like 14th St. now did not exist. Hell, even the cops were afraid to go into some NW neighborhoods without a tactical SWAT team escort. Whole neighborhoods were "run" by drug gangs.