Reply to DC or NYC which is the best city to raise a family in the suburbs?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here. Lots of good perspectives, thanks.  I was born and raised in DC .  Lived in the south some.   The energy of NYC is interesting and the people, neighborhoods, etc seem much more interesting.

DC is still growing a lot, still seems like a sleepy town on the weekends.  New Yorkers, from my limited experience, seem to go out more?[/quote]

People with kids in general go out less than DINKs, it is true for NYC just as much as it is true for any smaller town, especially while living in the burbs.

We live in Manhattan now, used to live in DC as DINKs and in NYC as DINKs and then as parents of two kids for 7 years.   There is more energy in NYC hands down, it's noticeable, there is so much more to do, and just walking around will give you different perspectives.  NYC is huge and diverse, you can go and visit different neighbourhoods and feel like you are travelling to different cities.   But you have kids, kids have school and activities and friends, they want to see on weekends.  We go around quite a bit on Saturdays, but Sundays are usually spent in our local area attending sports activities for our kids, and staying around our local playgrounds, because this is what the kids want.   Most families stay local to their neighbourhood on weekends, let's say if you live in UES or UWS, you are likely to go out around there, unless kids bday parties or some other scheduled events, like shows or planned museum trips.  Usually people rarely go impromptu across town to another neighbourhood, as theirs has all the necessities.  We are the people, who get around more than average, and do more things impromptu than other families and still we definitely don't go out as much as to take advantage of a lot of amenities, like we could as DINKs.  Disposable income is also lower and we have to budget how many costly things or restaurant outings we can afford, most people have such limits.

When kids were little and in strollers we just took them around wherever we wanted, taking long walks.  On scooters and on foot kids are somehow a lot less "portable", when it comes to walking distances, and we have to rely on PT, which can be a pain.  When kids reach K age, they also have minds of their own and refuse to go where you want to go.

This is my perspective on living in the city, I have never lived in NYC burbs and cannot give you this perspective, but from what I know and what I heard from others, you will be going out even less there and will be more prone to do things locally, local restaurants, local playgrounds and local friends, etc.  You will be using the car on weekends and perhaps driving to the beach or other nature things more often than we do, living in the city.  
[/quote]

Do you own your own place?  We would have been able to live the lifestyle you describe but would have been spending everything we make (rent and childcare) with the exception of retirement savings.  We would have had to live like college students in our 30s to save money for a downpayment.  In DC we will have a fully paid off house in 10 years.

I realize some people in NY rent for life and then retire somewhere less expensive but I have no desire to end up in Florida.  [/quote]

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