Reply to How many friends or family of yours have left the DC area recently due to the rising cost of living?

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Reply to "How many friends or family of yours have left the DC area recently due to the rising cost of living?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There is one thing I don't understand about moving to a lower COL city.  If you move to a "lower" COL city, aren't you still paying same/more for cars, plane tickets, gas, groceries, taxes, refrigerators, movies, clothes?  Does the cheap real estate prices offset all that even with a lower salary?  
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I have lived in Akron, Cleveland, Chicago, Princeton, NW DC and Arlington as an adult. All lower col than DC/Arlington - Akron and Cleveland by a lot. Plane tickets are a bit more expensive and less convenient when you live near a smaller airport. Houses and property taxes are lower, but even in "good" districts you might consider private school. I grew up in Ohio and my mom was a teacher there. Now that I have some exposure to Arlington, Falls Church, Ffx county schools, I'm not sure I could send my kids to public school back home.

Fruits and vegetables cost more in the Midwest. Gym memberships and classes are cheaper, but pedicures and haircuts cost more. Clothes and stuff costs the same everywhere thanks to the internet, but in the D.C. Area you might spend more because you are exposed to more high end brands. For example, Cleveland and D.C. Area both have Kohls and Nordstrom. At home my peers (40ish moms) shop at Kohls. In the DC area I shop at Nordstrom. So a lot of your col depends on your peers and whether you care what your friends have. If you go to a Midwest city and surround yourself with coastal transplants and match their clothes, stuff and vacations you really only save on the house. [/quote]

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