Washington, DC

Post Reply New Topic

What are the pros and cons of living in the DC area?

pro: i live there
con: red light cameras aren't against the law in DC (I know! WTF?) so you might get a ticket if you miscalculate the yellow duration.

I live there too. It's nice in some areas. Some are really really really scary. It's got pretty good public transportation if you don't like to drive. (I don't) Um, the restaurants here have some of the best food I've ever eaten. It's kinda loud sometimes. Usually, I have to have headphones no matter where I go. There is a decent amount of people but it's not like you have to talk to people as you walk down the street. The only places it gets really crowded is in the underground metro and the smithsonian.

What is the cost of living like?

very expensive...if you live in a nice area (which I STRONGLY suggest) you have to pay upwards of $1000/month. Anything below that is a steal. I don't know what your budget is, so that might actually be cheap to you lol. To me it's expensive.

Is it as expensive as, say, San Francisco or NYC?

If so, what are some alternatives to DC in terms of the type of amenities?

less expensive because you can live in the suburbs as well and still get into town quickly on the metro.

Thanks for the info!

no problem. another pro is that there's always work, even in a recession, due to the government.

Thanks for the advice!

Pro: There's always something to do and somewhere to go

Con: National Mall is a mess, a report said a fix would cost $40 million

Move to Portland! Move to Portland!

We got mountains,, and beaches, all within a 150 mile radius. And the Smithsonian..

I call all that pluses.

From a resident there...

PROs

Nice, safe, clean. There are bad neighborhoods in DC, but it's no different than most cities. Most of the neighborhoods have revived in the last decade. I also think the public transit system here is the best in the nation. If you live near a Metro station, don't even bother owning a car. You'll never use it.

CONs

1. Expensive. Not NYC or San Francisco expensive, but expensive. Just be smart with your money and you'll survive.

2. Traffic is horrendous. If you decide to live out in the suburbs, it may take at least 2 hours to get into DC.

3. You better like federal politics a lot, because you'll hear more about it than you ever thought possible. Really. It comes up as often as weather does in most places. The federal government is the largest employer in town, and everyone here works for it in one way or another. Northern Virginia has other stuff, though (a lot of IT and other business in Fairfax County).

4. The people are a little rude. Not NYC rude, but just into themselves.

Depends. If you live in Montgomery County, it's very easy to get into DC because there are so many large stations on the Red Line. Out in Northern Virginia, there's much more sprawl, and the metro stations are farther apart from each other. If you live near Tysons Corner/Dulles, you have no Metro at all. Unless you are fortunate enough to be near the Orange or Blue lines, you have no options.

From a friend:

PROs

*Not particularly dangerous.

*Hasn't been slammed as hard by Great Depression 2.0 as other places have been


CONs

*The people are rude as hell and have an attitude. Think of the DC Metro Area as "Hollywood for Ugly People with college degrees"

*Traffic sucks.

yeah my husbands uncle works for the navy as does his son. They commute to DC all the time despite lving on the bay in maryland. I have gone with them on the metro and it can be quite daunting although i can imagine driving is a downright nightmare.