I don't know if it was because of higher COL, but I have lots of friends who left DC over the past 5 years - I'm 31 so it seems like 26-31 is a prime age for moving around, settling somewhere, etc.

Honestly, some of them are happier and some aren't. Some left for higher COL cities (NYC, SF) and some for lower (Pittsburgh, Chicago). Some thought they were getting lower COL but seem to be struggling (Portland, Austin, Denver). I'll say that across the board most of them complain about job options, except for those that moved to NYC or SF - you get a lot of benefits in quality of life in places like Denver or Portland, but the job market is just not at all on par with someplace like DC, at least not in most industries. Which is fine, it just means you take the job you get and you don't jump around as much- fewer options. But a lot of them work fewer hours, have more land, etc.

I also know quite a few who have stayed and are really happy too. I don't know why this forum seems so hellbent on figuring out if DC is the Greatest Ever or the Worst Ever. It's a city like many others. It has a ton going for it (walkability, culture/amenities, public transit, job market, lots to do in driving distance) and a lot about it that is tough (high COL, bad summers, traffic, difficult schools/childcare). No place is perfect, I promise you, and everyone is just deciding what is important to them and what they're willing to put up with.

Me personally, I love living in DC but I am starting to feel the general logistical crunch of it now that I'm worrying more about school quality and don't have the budget for a $1.5 mil+ house. But, I also don't have any other cities up on a pedestal -- I grew up in Pittsburgh and it's a cool city and all but it has its own set of issues.

My sister moved to Denver for the booming economy and lower COL. While it's not as cheap as some think, it's definitely an upgrade. Hoping to move out there by the end of the year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A friend of our family just recently left the area after finally receiving an out of state transfer after 4 years of waiting.
She estimates in the 4 years she has been living here she has spent close to 100k just in rent alone.
A few months after relocating here she realized this area was not for her but by then it was already too late.

Just on this original calculation: 4 years x 12 months = 48. So roughly $2k/month in rent over 4 years. That seems extremely reasonable. Most of my friends in NYC pay $3k/month just for a studio. One of my family members pays $5k/month in SF.

Well, not only quite reasonable, but she spent that on a place to live indoors, so presumably, she did not just flush $100K down the toilet, either. I get that there are emotional reactions to rent versus buying, but it's not like you get nothing for your rent money. And why did she stay four years if she realized quickly the area was not for her? Leases tend to be for 12 months. Leave if it makes you that unhappy, why wait 4 years for a transfer?

Anonymous wrote:A friend of our family just recently left the area after finally receiving an out of state transfer after 4 years of waiting.
She estimates in the 4 years she has been living here she has spent close to 100k just in rent alone.
A few months after relocating here she realized this area was not for her but by then it was already too late.

Just on this original calculation: 4 years x 12 months = 48. So roughly $2k/month in rent over 4 years. That seems extremely reasonable. Most of my friends in NYC pay $3k/month just for a studio. One of my family members pays $5k/month in SF.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My agency offers full time telework. Quite a few of the younger employees take a DC area salary and move to a state with a lower cost of living and no income tax.

I wish I could do the same.

At lead at my agency, if you go FT telework, you are paid based on the locality pay where you live, not D.C. I would think those would be standard OPM rules across government, but maybe not.

If you are on a special pay scale, you get the higher of locality pay or special pay. I'm the OP, we're on special pay table 0576.

Anonymous wrote:My agency offers full time telework. Quite a few of the younger employees take a DC area salary and move to a state with a lower cost of living and no income tax.

I wish I could do the same.

At lead at my agency, if you go FT telework, you are paid based on the locality pay where you live, not D.C. I would think those would be standard OPM rules across government, but maybe not.

Anonymous wrote:My agency offers full time telework. Quite a few of the younger employees take a DC area salary and move to a state with a lower cost of living and no income tax.

I wish I could do the same.

Why can't you?

My agency offers full time telework. Quite a few of the younger employees take a DC area salary and move to a state with a lower cost of living and no income tax.

I wish I could do the same.

Anonymous wrote:The stats above prove that the PP afraid of getting shot in a bar due to his ethnicity should probably move out of DC, since that's more likely to happen here than almost anywhere else.

How do the stats above prove that PP is more likely to be shot in a bar due to his ethnicity in DC?

The stats above prove that the PP afraid of getting shot in a bar due to his ethnicity should probably move out of DC, since that's more likely to happen here than almost anywhere else.

DC was the murder capital in the 1980s when I moved here. It is so much better now and crime is much lower.

Yes but most of that crime is confined to pretty segregated parts of the city. And on a day to day basis, it's way easier to be a minority in a (relatively) cosmopolitan city like DC than to deal with the idiocy of most midwesterners.

In general, I'm not worried about getting shot up in some crack deal gone wrong in DC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_crime_rate

DC is actually one of the most violent cities in the country. When working on things besides blind prejudice, it becomes readily apparent that it's safer to live pretty much anywhere else.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Washington,_D.C.

^ The murder rate in DC is 18.5; that's far worse than in most places in the US on average. Statistically, you're safer in the Midwest regardless of ethnicity.

I work at GW OP and I have noticed a lot of young people who have worked here for 3 to 5 years are moving back to where they are from because they just can't afford to live here on a university salary.