Is DC right for us? (apartment, travel, income)

[CityPlan]

Hello all --

I have been looking at a job in DC and my wife and I considering whether this would be a good place for us to move. We have both visited a few times. I spent a summer in DC for an internship in college. But our purposes of visiting before are vastly different from our reasons for this inquiry today.

Some brief notes on my situation. We're late 20's married couple, looking to start a family in a year or two. The job I'm looking at is about $100K. My wife is a teacher, but with babies she may not work, at least while they are newborns. So, our income could be $100K one year, $150K (estimate) the next.

We would like to live in the city, but we understand that living outside may be necessary. I would rather travel by metro as much as possible. We would like a neighborhood with an eclectic mix of people and land uses, but that's not mandatory.

Based on this limited information (and I will be more than happy to provide more, if needed) -- do you think DC could be a good place for us? I think we would be happy with the living, but I'm concerned about the cost, raising a family in DC, ability to save, etc. Any help is much appreciated.

[chrisherbert]

Sure, I think DC or the surrounding area would be a fine choice for you.

As long as it's just you and your wife, or while the future kid is still a baby, DC proper could work. However, if you're planning to buy or stay in the same place for a long time, I wouldn't recommend living in the city. The school system is horrible.

There are close-in suburbs that might also be acceptable to you -- Arlington, Alexandria, Bethesda, Silver Spring, Takoma, etc. Those are all accessible by metro and relatively "diverse" (depending on how you define that).

[fjennell]

That probably is not enough money if you are going to live in DC and have children to support and if you moved to say Fairfax where school systems are better, etc. that probably is still not enough money. The commute would be horrible from other areas and the quality of life would go down. I don't know where you are considering moving from so not sure what you are used to but I would say stay out of this area - enjoy a better quality of life. At 150k you may be able to swing it but again, having children in DC you are going to probably opt for private school which would eat that extra money up and living in surrounding areas will cause you to commute which will eat money and time up. Of course this is just my opinion so I suggest you really look at several options.

[juniperbleu]

On your income ($100k) it would be tight, but not impossible. To live in DC itself, there are less expensive areas you can check out, like Petworth, Waterfront, or Columbia Heights. As far as having children, they won't be going to school for several years so you could still easily live in DC and not have to worry about the public school system. Some things to consider, though, are that you will most likely have to rent, and at biggest would be a townhouse. Single-family homes are few in the district and can be expensive. Personally, for me this isn't a big issue, but it can be for others. You could easily find a 1 bedroom place in your price range, and probably find a 2-bedroom without too much trouble. If you want to buy and settle somewhere permanently, that would be harder, but again not impossible. I'd advise to rent for at least the first year, so you can feel out the area and where exactly you'd want to live.

As for the suburbs, Maryland has some affordable options, especially in Silver Spring. Arlington and Alexandria are also very nice. One thing I've found (especially in the suburbs) is that if you look 2+ miles away from a metro station the rental prices tend to drop drastically. My friend has a 2 level, 2 bed/2.5 bath apartment in Foxchase (Alexandria) and pays about $500+ less than we do for our smaller 2 bed/1.5 bath townhouse in DC. The only catch is that you can't walk to the metro, but she drives to work in Old Town and her fiance drives out to Ballston. Just something to consider.

[CityPlan]

Great input so far, folks. Much appreciated. My sense is that it would be feasible, but we would have to sacrifice some space and convenience, based on our income level. It seems that the amount which we would need to sacrifice depends on a little luck, too. I plan to do a lot more research on these different areas to figure out what's the best option for us. Thanks again! And, please keep those comments coming!

[juniperbleu]

Originally Posted by CityPlan

My sense is that it would be feasible, but we would have to sacrifice some space and convenience, based on our income level. It seems that the amount which we would need to sacrifice depends on a little luck, too. I plan to do a lot more research on these different areas to figure out what's the best option for us.

DC (and the surrounding area) is a great place to live, I love it here so far. It's a tradeoff in some sense, but one that works very well for me. Seriously, doing as much research as possible is the best thing you can do. As long as you do that and both be honest about what you want or definitely don't want, you'll be very happy regardless of your choice.

[PenguinSix]

It's great and a fun place to live, but you need to be planning long term if you want to stay in this region with 1 income and a kid. While living in say Eastern Market now would be awesome, you'll be paying a bit more in rent in those areas making your 'down payment' savings a bit more reduced. Living out 15 miles can save you some cash on rent, but the commute will be hurting longer term.

Do you have the income to buy in the next 12 months or are you going to be in the rental market until your kids are in school (basically)? I think you should be looking at this process long term--with the DINK (double income no kids) phase being the time to save up extra income and so when you have a kid you aren't struggling. (I should note this is easier said than done, especially in DC which has so many distractions and ways to spend your extra income).

So while I think it is a great place, I just hope you don't get stuck 5 years from now unable to get on the property ladder and having to look elsewhere for a decent housing / decent schools mix.

Good luck

[LIS123]

The previous post is very good. I haven't been here too long, but will absolutely agree that it's VERY easy to spend extra money here and there. Dining, going out, random items... the list goes on. Be careful!

[CaseyMac]

I think you should consider Arlington. Arlington in my opinion has all the benefits of DC living inside itself and then if you want the real thing, it is a quick Metro ride or drive over or under the river. The DC schools are a mess and will be a mess for the time being.

I also agree with the poster who stated how moving off the Metrorail line and onto a Metrobus line can save hundreds in rent. I live on a Metrobus line providing frequent service from my area of Arlington to the Rosslyn or Court House Metro stations.

I also agree with someone before who stated you need to rent for a year to see what you like. You may decide the inner MD suburbs of Bethesda or Silver Spring suit your needs better than Arlington or Alexandria. The thing you guys do know is that you want to be inside the Beltway at all costs and suburban living at high prices is not for you when you can have the same, with less space in a more cool area. There are plenty of beautiful areas in the suburbs of Fairfax County, but the fact of the matter is that they can be found anywhere. But the eclectic neighborhoods of Clarendon (Arlington), Del Ray (Alexandria), Bethesda, Silver Spring, Takoma Park (our Berkeley-East place if you are into that) and many parts of DC just cannot be found anywhere.

Hope this helps you a bit--it will make much more sense when you start going out and exploring. Best of luck to you.

Oh, just curious--where are you guys coming from? I have traveled quite a bit across the US so maybe I can compare an area of your hometown to an area of DC. I guess I just did with the Takoma - Berkeley, CA reference.....

[CityPlan]

I really appreciate all of these comments. My wife and I read through them this morning and found them to be very helpful for our consideration. We had previously thought of Arlington as a good place to look. What are the public schools like in Northern VA? How about Maryland? And the recommendation of the bus line is a great one! Again, thank you all for your help. More input is very much appreciated.