If you're moving out of the DMV area because of the HCOL

[Anonymous]

We moved to Hampton Roads and for me by far the most freeing thing was that we didn't need to decide about summer camp in January, and we got into a pool club by going down and signing up the day we arrived with no wait list, etc.
Swim lessons? No problem!

You can't put a price on the peace of mind that comes with not having to deal with shortages and wait lists, etc. I remember when I gave up on taking my kids to story time at the library in NOVA because you had to sign up so far in advance and there was a wait list. For story time at the library. Madness. Don't miss that at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People aren't going to tell you *exactly* where they are moving. Why? Because plenty of people on this forum are snobs and will try to rip any place listed to shred. I *love* my home (i.e. the LCOL I left the DMV for) and I don't want to see it criticized by the angry, bitter people who think the DMV, New York and San Francisco are the only place to live. I will NEVER mention it by name on this forum. And, yes, my home has
1. Great school district (highly rated by all objective measures).
2. LCOL
3. Better traffic.
4. Better weather.
5. I make significantly more here than I did in the DMV.
6. Laid back attitude

These places are out there. You just have to look. Some people will never "see" them because they only want to live in places considered desirable by their social circle.

Don’t lie that is the reason you don’t want to share, it may help someone but then your secret is out.

My guess is it’s Charleston, SC. Let’s all guess!

Public schools are horrible in Charleston and salaries are not likely to be higher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People aren't going to tell you *exactly* where they are moving. Why? Because plenty of people on this forum are snobs and will try to rip any place listed to shred. I *love* my home (i.e. the LCOL I left the DMV for) and I don't want to see it criticized by the angry, bitter people who think the DMV, New York and San Francisco are the only place to live. I will NEVER mention it by name on this forum. And, yes, my home has
1. Great school district (highly rated by all objective measures).
2. LCOL
3. Better traffic.
4. Better weather.
5. I make significantly more here than I did in the DMV.
6. Laid back attitude

These places are out there. You just have to look. Some people will never "see" them because they only want to live in places considered desirable by their social circle.

**quietly agreeing**

The herd mentality is strong. The only places that aren’t trashed (and even then, they are by some) are the places that have already been deemed “acceptable,” like Austin, and those places have already been ruined by an influx of people from the coasts.

I won’t post where we moved because one of two things would happen (1) people on here would trash it and explain the myriad ways I really don’t love living here or (2) I would actually convince people that it’s awesome, and we would be overrun, even more so than we are already.

FWiW, our house wasn’t cheaper than our house in DC, it it is bigger, has a water view, and nicer in every way. Everything here is so much less stressful. Everything — from kids stuff (schools, car pool, summer camp, etc) to little things like going to the grocery store.

You two win least helpful comments in response to the OP. "I moved but won't tell you where because DCUM isn't nice, even though I still read and post here on my own volition in spite of not residing in the area anymore. The end."

As a Black person, I always want to know because there really are very few places outside of this region with a large Black middle class, which makes life here much better for my family. Even though we deal with the everyday casual racism and microaggressions, and have the same fears about police violence that all POC have - being in a place where there are more of us, means that the white people here are a bit better to deal with. White people here are less surprised that my children are articulate and don't always expect that my husband and I are uneducated, dangerous potential criminals. The experiences that our Black friends and family have living in many of the other LCOL places that folks write about are far different than the experiences of whites. So, I ask because I want to know about these hidden places in hopes that one of them would be an option for me, one day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People aren't going to tell you *exactly* where they are moving. Why? Because plenty of people on this forum are snobs and will try to rip any place listed to shred. I *love* my home (i.e. the LCOL I left the DMV for) and I don't want to see it criticized by the angry, bitter people who think the DMV, New York and San Francisco are the only place to live. I will NEVER mention it by name on this forum. And, yes, my home has
1. Great school district (highly rated by all objective measures).
2. LCOL
3. Better traffic.
4. Better weather.
5. I make significantly more here than I did in the DMV.
6. Laid back attitude

These places are out there. You just have to look. Some people will never "see" them because they only want to live in places considered desirable by their social circle.

**quietly agreeing**

The herd mentality is strong. The only places that aren’t trashed (and even then, they are by some) are the places that have already been deemed “acceptable,” like Austin, and those places have already been ruined by an influx of people from the coasts.

I won’t post where we moved because one of two things would happen (1) people on here would trash it and explain the myriad ways I really don’t love living here or (2) I would actually convince people that it’s awesome, and we would be overrun, even more so than we are already.

FWiW, our house wasn’t cheaper than our house in DC, it it is bigger, has a water view, and nicer in every way. Everything here is so much less stressful. Everything — from kids stuff (schools, car pool, summer camp, etc) to little things like going to the grocery store.

You two win least helpful comments in response to the OP. "I moved but won't tell you where because DCUM isn't nice, even though I still read and post here on my own volition in spite of not residing in the area anymore. The end."

You are missing the point. Let me spell it out for you:

If you have an open mind about where to live, it will be easy to find a place outside the DMV with a high quality of life. You don't need us to spell it out for you. There are many websites dedicated to identifying cities that meet certain criteria.

The fact that you need us to identify specific cities for you is likely because you would only consider living in a handful of places that have a high cost of living. And there is nothing I can say to change your mind. So I'm not going to try.

[Anonymous]

None of these options sound as nice as my life in Glover Park in DC - guess that's why this area is so expensive - you get what you pay for.

[Anonymous]

Both our jobs changed to full time telework, so we moved to Hagerstown. You can get new builds for under $400k:
https://www.danryanbuilders.com/communities/westfields/

No traffic, low cost of living, and the DC area is an hour drive away so it's easy to visit family in the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People aren't going to tell you *exactly* where they are moving. Why? Because plenty of people on this forum are snobs and will try to rip any place listed to shred. I *love* my home (i.e. the LCOL I left the DMV for) and I don't want to see it criticized by the angry, bitter people who think the DMV, New York and San Francisco are the only place to live. I will NEVER mention it by name on this forum. And, yes, my home has
1. Great school district (highly rated by all objective measures).
2. LCOL
3. Better traffic.
4. Better weather.
5. I make significantly more here than I did in the DMV.
6. Laid back attitude

These places are out there. You just have to look. Some people will never "see" them because they only want to live in places considered desirable by their social circle.

Don’t lie that is the reason you don’t want to share, it may help someone but then your secret is out.

My guess is it’s Charleston, SC. Let’s all guess!

Public schools are horrible in Charleston and salaries are not likely to be higher.

Interesting, I didn’t know that the schools were bad. Okay, my second guess is Atlanta, Ga and third is Raleigh, NC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:None of these options sound as nice as my life in Glover Park in DC - guess that's why this area is so expensive - you get what you pay for.

I agree that "You get what you pay for." That is one of the reasons I left-- In the DMV I was "paying" for positives I never used.

Large metro area with great museums, restaurants and world class activities-- as a dual income professional household with young kids, we were too busy and tired to take advantage of most of these more than 2-3 times per year. And I was sick of "paying" for them in the form of high real estate costs and long commutes.

The things I care about are this:
Well paid professional jobs for me and DH.
Good schools.
Reasonable commute.

We found all of this in a place with a much lower cost of living. So we moved.

DC is a great place to live. But not a great place for our family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People aren't going to tell you *exactly* where they are moving. Why? Because plenty of people on this forum are snobs and will try to rip any place listed to shred. I *love* my home (i.e. the LCOL I left the DMV for) and I don't want to see it criticized by the angry, bitter people who think the DMV, New York and San Francisco are the only place to live. I will NEVER mention it by name on this forum. And, yes, my home has
1. Great school district (highly rated by all objective measures).
2. LCOL
3. Better traffic.
4. Better weather.
5. I make significantly more here than I did in the DMV.
6. Laid back attitude

These places are out there. You just have to look. Some people will never "see" them because they only want to live in places considered desirable by their social circle.

**quietly agreeing**

The herd mentality is strong. The only places that aren’t trashed (and even then, they are by some) are the places that have already been deemed “acceptable,” like Austin, and those places have already been ruined by an influx of people from the coasts.

I won’t post where we moved because one of two things would happen (1) people on here would trash it and explain the myriad ways I really don’t love living here or (2) I would actually convince people that it’s awesome, and we would be overrun, even more so than we are already.

FWiW, our house wasn’t cheaper than our house in DC, it it is bigger, has a water view, and nicer in every way. Everything here is so much less stressful. Everything — from kids stuff (schools, car pool, summer camp, etc) to little things like going to the grocery store.

You two win least helpful comments in response to the OP. "I moved but won't tell you where because DCUM isn't nice, even though I still read and post here on my own volition in spite of not residing in the area anymore. The end."

As a Black person, I always want to know because there really are very few places outside of this region with a large Black middle class, which makes life here much better for my family. Even though we deal with the everyday casual racism and microaggressions, and have the same fears about police violence that all POC have - being in a place where there are more of us, means that the white people here are a bit better to deal with. White people here are less surprised that my children are articulate and don't always expect that my husband and I are uneducated, dangerous potential criminals. The experiences that our Black friends and family have living in many of the other LCOL places that folks write about are far different than the experiences of whites. So, I ask because I want to know about these hidden places in hopes that one of them would be an option for me, one day.

Atlanta

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a person of color, I always get envious of this thread, I don't feel like I can just take my kids and move to a random non diverse city. It is privilege no having to think about how your kids or family will fit in. Enjoy

x100000. this is the comment i was looking for. my husband and i discussed moving in a few years but our options are limited if we dont our kids to be only black kids in the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People aren't going to tell you *exactly* where they are moving. Why? Because plenty of people on this forum are snobs and will try to rip any place listed to shred. I *love* my home (i.e. the LCOL I left the DMV for) and I don't want to see it criticized by the angry, bitter people who think the DMV, New York and San Francisco are the only place to live. I will NEVER mention it by name on this forum. And, yes, my home has
1. Great school district (highly rated by all objective measures).
2. LCOL
3. Better traffic.
4. Better weather.
5. I make significantly more here than I did in the DMV.
6. Laid back attitude

These places are out there. You just have to look. Some people will never "see" them because they only want to live in places considered desirable by their social circle.

**quietly agreeing**

The herd mentality is strong. The only places that aren’t trashed (and even then, they are by some) are the places that have already been deemed “acceptable,” like Austin, and those places have already been ruined by an influx of people from the coasts.

I won’t post where we moved because one of two things would happen (1) people on here would trash it and explain the myriad ways I really don’t love living here or (2) I would actually convince people that it’s awesome, and we would be overrun, even more so than we are already.

FWiW, our house wasn’t cheaper than our house in DC, it it is bigger, has a water view, and nicer in every way. Everything here is so much less stressful. Everything — from kids stuff (schools, car pool, summer camp, etc) to little things like going to the grocery store.

You two win least helpful comments in response to the OP. "I moved but won't tell you where because DCUM isn't nice, even though I still read and post here on my own volition in spite of not residing in the area anymore. The end."

As a Black person, I always want to know because there really are very few places outside of this region with a large Black middle class, which makes life here much better for my family. Even though we deal with the everyday casual racism and microaggressions, and have the same fears about police violence that all POC have - being in a place where there are more of us, means that the white people here are a bit better to deal with. White people here are less surprised that my children are articulate and don't always expect that my husband and I are uneducated, dangerous potential criminals. The experiences that our Black friends and family have living in many of the other LCOL places that folks write about are far different than the experiences of whites. So, I ask because I want to know about these hidden places in hopes that one of them would be an option for me, one day.

Atlanta

Oak Park, IL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People aren't going to tell you *exactly* where they are moving. Why? Because plenty of people on this forum are snobs and will try to rip any place listed to shred. I *love* my home (i.e. the LCOL I left the DMV for) and I don't want to see it criticized by the angry, bitter people who think the DMV, New York and San Francisco are the only place to live. I will NEVER mention it by name on this forum. And, yes, my home has
1. Great school district (highly rated by all objective measures).
2. LCOL
3. Better traffic.
4. Better weather.
5. I make significantly more here than I did in the DMV.
6. Laid back attitude

These places are out there. You just have to look. Some people will never "see" them because they only want to live in places considered desirable by their social circle.

**quietly agreeing**

The herd mentality is strong. The only places that aren’t trashed (and even then, they are by some) are the places that have already been deemed “acceptable,” like Austin, and those places have already been ruined by an influx of people from the coasts.

I won’t post where we moved because one of two things would happen (1) people on here would trash it and explain the myriad ways I really don’t love living here or (2) I would actually convince people that it’s awesome, and we would be overrun, even more so than we are already.

FWiW, our house wasn’t cheaper than our house in DC, it it is bigger, has a water view, and nicer in every way. Everything here is so much less stressful. Everything — from kids stuff (schools, car pool, summer camp, etc) to little things like going to the grocery store.

You two win least helpful comments in response to the OP. "I moved but won't tell you where because DCUM isn't nice, even though I still read and post here on my own volition in spite of not residing in the area anymore. The end."

As a Black person, I always want to know because there really are very few places outside of this region with a large Black middle class, which makes life here much better for my family. Even though we deal with the everyday casual racism and microaggressions, and have the same fears about police violence that all POC have - being in a place where there are more of us, means that the white people here are a bit better to deal with. White people here are less surprised that my children are articulate and don't always expect that my husband and I are uneducated, dangerous potential criminals. The experiences that our Black friends and family have living in many of the other LCOL places that folks write about are far different than the experiences of whites. So, I ask because I want to know about these hidden places in hopes that one of them would be an option for me, one day.

Give me a break. Atlanta has a large Black middle class that is growing.

[Anonymous]

One of the top things I can't stand about DC people is that they think their city is the *best* ever and no other place compares. Then they come to threads like this and say asinine things like they can't move because other cities aren't diverse for black people. What the what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of the top things I can't stand about DC people is that they think their city is the *best* ever and no other place compares. Then they come to threads like this and say asinine things like they can't move because other cities aren't diverse for black people. What the what?

PP, you are overreacting, and I don't know why. Nobody in this thread has said DC is the *best* ever. People have said they like DC and that there are things in DC that they find worth paying for because they enjoy them and can't find them in a lower COL city. Perfectly reasonable opinions. And DC does in fact have one the largest black middle class communities in the country. It's not asinine to point that out.

[Anonymous]

3/4 of my friends who are moving are going to Florida.