We left DC 18 months ago for the New England burbs. I think there are some things I prefer in DC and other things I prefer here. I am much happier that I no longer spend time stressing about finding a parking spot! I miss the great restaurants all over DC (MA food sucks). I have met a lot of people but some I find a bit vanilla. All this taken into consideration we are very happy here and will stay for a while and maybe return to DC when we are old and retired.

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone chime in if they are going to compare it to "pros and cons of everywhere in the world?" DC is not the real world, people. Anyone who is not "from here" knows that. And it does not mean that those who are not from here are from a small town. It's not one or the other and that's it. There are MANY options.

PP, I am with 100% about the snow. D.C. is so lazy. It's like a broken record: "we don't usually get this much snow, blah, blah, blah..."nothing but excuses because they are too lazy to get out and plow like the rest of the places that know what to do with snow. A national embarrassment every year.

Even Obama said something about it!

But the locals will chime in with more excuses. OP, in keeping with your question, where are you going? We'd love to know

Well I lived in DC for 15 years and I'm pretty sure it was the real world, with real friends and a real life. And I hate to tell you but everyplace has it's pros and cons. To say it doesn't is just weird. I wasn't from DC and I loved living there. And DC is lazy? I think you're a bit hysterical. You seem to feel the only opinion that is valid is your own. I know plenty of people who have great lives in DC and plenty of people who have great lives in other places.

Why would anyone chime in if they are going to compare it to "pros and cons of everywhere in the world?" DC is not the real world, people. Anyone who is not "from here" knows that. And it does not mean that those who are not from here are from a small town. It's not one or the other and that's it. There are MANY options.

PP, I am with 100% about the snow. D.C. is so lazy. It's like a broken record: "we don't usually get this much snow, blah, blah, blah..."nothing but excuses because they are too lazy to get out and plow like the rest of the places that know what to do with snow. A national embarrassment every year.

Even Obama said something about it!

But the locals will chime in with more excuses. OP, in keeping with your question, where are you going? We'd love to know

Yes, especially summers - highs in the low 80's and dry. We spend all day outdoors.

No. I very much miss living in DC and everything it had to offer. I'm always puzzled when people say they didn't have friends in DC because I had such a large social circle I had a really hard time fitting everyone onto my calendar. DC is beautiful and I always had so much to do. The cost of living does suck but there are pros and cons to every place in the world.

Yes, we moved to a smaller city, and we love it -- especially the better cost of living, the slower pace of life and the open and friendly people (who have time to make new friends because they're not working 70 hours a week!)

We do miss our DC friends, but we plan to visit a few times a year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved to Chicago burbs and we couldn't be happier!

In 3 months here I've made more friends than in 6 years there! I think just this number says it all.

Sit through a few winters and then report back.

The last few DC winters have been brutal. Snow + Ice = major disruption and school closings in DC. Chicago seems to handle the winter weather much better!

Hey lady, I'm not scared of the weather. I dislike people, rude people.

I've been talking to my new friends here and they mentioned that life is still the same no matter what, they gave me a few tips about dressing properly and they assured me that here people do know how to drive in snow. The government handles the clean up seriously and my community does the clean up of entryway and patios for us. I got an assigned parking spot in our heated garage and the maintenance folks will clean my driveway for me.

I can't wait to see real snow

Yes. We're in Baltimore. It's much more laid back, cheaper, slower pace of life.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved to Chicago burbs and we couldn't be happier!

In 3 months here I've made more friends than in 6 years there! I think just this number says it all.

Sit through a few winters and then report back.

The last few DC winters have been brutal. Snow + Ice = major disruption and school closings in DC. Chicago seems to handle the winter weather much better!

We left for a NY suburb a few months ago and we are thrilled! I have made more friends here in the past few weeks than I did in my 10 years of living in Washington DC. I can actually see some of these friends becoming very close and I love how many casual last minute get togethers we have. It just seemed so difficult to penetrate the surface of people in DC.

Anonymous wrote:We moved to Chicago burbs and we couldn't be happier!

In 3 months here I've made more friends than in 6 years there! I think just this number says it all.

Sit through a few winters and then report back.

This is a no brainer. I am counting the days

We moved to Chicago burbs and we couldn't be happier!

In 3 months here I've made more friends than in 6 years there! I think just this number says it all.

I'll be able to reply to answer soon. We're leaving for a smaller town in a few weeks

I see both a lot of DC-bashing on here as well as people posting from outside the area. We are considering a move away from DC and wonder if all these years, we'll really be happier away. Did you relocate and are you happier?