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Old 10-18-2009, 11:32 AM
 
Location: Fondren SW Yo
2,783 posts, read 6,659,136 times
Reputation: 2224

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Quote:
Originally Posted by EastBay-NowDCarea View Post
rb4browns, you seem like a nice person, but you posted some opinions that really didn't make sense and you didn't provide any good backup to your opinions and your credibility fell through the roof with your comparisons.

But I understand everyone has different opinions and feelings towards a place to live. Keep in mind that you also came across as rude towards many people. And in life you get treated the way you treat other people.

In summary, I acknowledge, but not agree about your belief about how DC and its suburbs suck when compared to Houston and other places like San Diego. I acknowledge, but not agree that Houston is an awesome place compared to DC, and I respect your opinion. Case closed and lets move on. Glad you found a place you love. End of story and best of luck to you.
Thank you for the important lesson and validation, I for one am a better person thanks to this thread.
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Old 10-19-2009, 02:55 AM
Yac
 
6,049 posts, read 7,702,183 times
Everybody please calm down.
Yac.
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Old 10-19-2009, 11:29 AM
 
583 posts, read 1,249,343 times
Reputation: 323
Quote:
Originally Posted by shenANAgins View Post
how much of a culture shock is this going to be?! how much am i going to be hating life if i move in january? thoughts/feelings/reactions from locals would be beyond appreciated!!
thanks!!
I lived in DC after living in two different areas in LA - a sterile suburb of Thousand Oaks and the yuppie heaven of Santa Monica, I have to say it's not as much shock as just an adjustment and figuring out what you like.

First, as most posters mentioned already, the weather will be drastically different from SoCal. so, it will for the rest of the country as SoCal is known to have the best climate in the US. You simply won't find another place with the perfect all year around weather.

DC is a good place to start if you want to experience the East Coast and the 4 seasons. The weather is fairly mild while being full 4 seasons and not severe, the winters are fairly short (usually about 2 months of really cold weather) and there are breaks of 60 degree weather and snow usually never stays and it snows very seldom. Of course, each year is a bit different but overall, it's not like places where snow settles down for months and you don't see the ground till April. Pretty easy to keep yourself warm by using regular winter clothes. If you are from the valley in SoCal you are probably used to scorching dry summers, here it will be not as hot but very humid with lots of mosquitoes. All in all, it's a wash to me personally as I find dry heat to be just as uncomfortable as humidity, but you may feel differently. all in all, uncomfortably hot weather is usually July and August with the beautiful Fall and Spring and June weather is pretty decent IMO also.

If you are a very outdoorsy person who needs to train regularly for different sorts of sporting events, or you are just a huge running or biking enthusiast, you may find it harder to adjust to weather that isn't outdoor perfect all year round. People do this here all the time, but it does require adjustment. Nature is also different, so you may find yourself missing the beach and the mountains if you are really accustomed to have easy access to certain activities like snowboarding or surfing. It won't be as easy to enjoy such activities in DC area, but not impossible with a certain amount of driving.

Food in DC may disappoint you after LA. Although you do have to drive to different areas in LA to get the most awesome international food, it's much more abundant there and IMO, asian food is pretty much a disappointment in DC after living in places like LA. It's not impossible to find decent Korean, Vietnamese or sushi in DC but you have to do you research and these places are pretty scarce and most are just ok, very few decent, but not spectacular. To be honest, it is true of the most of East Coast, not just DC. Most international food is also in suburban strip malls with very few places scattered around the city.

DC is ethnically diverse area, which will make your transition easier if you are also from an ethnically diverse area in LA. LA has its share of mostly white homogeneous suburbs as well, so if you are from there you still won't be shocked as there are places in DC like this as well.

DC is not as car oriented as LA, you may find it to be easier to live in a city without a car, this might be a lifestyle change for you which is either going to be welcome or not. I personally found this to be nice to be able to ditch my car and walk around everywhere.

As far as people are concerned, I find people everywhere to be the same, in the way that you have to get to know someone and look beyond the surface to truly understand the person. With that said, I do believe that east coast overall is slightly more reserved culture especially in the work place, although people are just as interesting and diverse if you really get to know them. If you are going to jump to conclusions quickly based on surface observations then you will find that it's not a specific geographical area that determines the certain people's behavior and lifestyle, but more so the socio-economic status, one's type of employment, or living in an area that appears to be more homogeneous in income level, occupations, racial mix, etc. You will find the same suburbs in DC area as there are in LA area full of manicured houses, SUVs, soccer moms, parents obsessed with their commute and jobs and their kids. it will be just different foliage, weather and architecture. It's definitely not characteristic to DC area only, despite what some may say.

If you need to find some grit and character, you can find this in DC as well, you just have to go explore a little and go to different areas within more mixed income neighborhoods. If you generalize all middle upper-middle class suburbs and yuppie urban areas as sterile, then to be honest, there is plenty of it in LA, the OC, the Valleys, Thounsand Oaks, etc.

The only advice i can give you is to try to find a job before moving here. It's an expensive COL area and it's not going to be easy to survive without employment unless you are willing to move to those 'gritty' and not so sterile areas.
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Old 10-19-2009, 06:25 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles
8 posts, read 15,193 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by KT13 View Post
I lived in DC after living in two different areas in LA - a sterile suburb of Thousand Oaks and the yuppie heaven of Santa Monica, I have to say it's not as much shock as just an adjustment and figuring out what you like.

First, as most posters mentioned already, the weather will be drastically different from SoCal. so, it will for the rest of the country as SoCal is known to have the best climate in the US. You simply won't find another place with the perfect all year around weather.

DC is a good place to start if you want to experience the East Coast and the 4 seasons. The weather is fairly mild while being full 4 seasons and not severe, the winters are fairly short (usually about 2 months of really cold weather) and there are breaks of 60 degree weather and snow usually never stays and it snows very seldom. Of course, each year is a bit different but overall, it's not like places where snow settles down for months and you don't see the ground till April. Pretty easy to keep yourself warm by using regular winter clothes. If you are from the valley in SoCal you are probably used to scorching dry summers, here it will be not as hot but very humid with lots of mosquitoes. All in all, it's a wash to me personally as I find dry heat to be just as uncomfortable as humidity, but you may feel differently. all in all, uncomfortably hot weather is usually July and August with the beautiful Fall and Spring and June weather is pretty decent IMO also.

If you are a very outdoorsy person who needs to train regularly for different sorts of sporting events, or you are just a huge running or biking enthusiast, you may find it harder to adjust to weather that isn't outdoor perfect all year round. People do this here all the time, but it does require adjustment. Nature is also different, so you may find yourself missing the beach and the mountains if you are really accustomed to have easy access to certain activities like snowboarding or surfing. It won't be as easy to enjoy such activities in DC area, but not impossible with a certain amount of driving.

Food in DC may disappoint you after LA. Although you do have to drive to different areas in LA to get the most awesome international food, it's much more abundant there and IMO, asian food is pretty much a disappointment in DC after living in places like LA. It's not impossible to find decent Korean, Vietnamese or sushi in DC but you have to do you research and these places are pretty scarce and most are just ok, very few decent, but not spectacular. To be honest, it is true of the most of East Coast, not just DC. Most international food is also in suburban strip malls with very few places scattered around the city.

DC is ethnically diverse area, which will make your transition easier if you are also from an ethnically diverse area in LA. LA has its share of mostly white homogeneous suburbs as well, so if you are from there you still won't be shocked as there are places in DC like this as well.

DC is not as car oriented as LA, you may find it to be easier to live in a city without a car, this might be a lifestyle change for you which is either going to be welcome or not. I personally found this to be nice to be able to ditch my car and walk around everywhere.

As far as people are concerned, I find people everywhere to be the same, in the way that you have to get to know someone and look beyond the surface to truly understand the person. With that said, I do believe that east coast overall is slightly more reserved culture especially in the work place, although people are just as interesting and diverse if you really get to know them. If you are going to jump to conclusions quickly based on surface observations then you will find that it's not a specific geographical area that determines the certain people's behavior and lifestyle, but more so the socio-economic status, one's type of employment, or living in an area that appears to be more homogeneous in income level, occupations, racial mix, etc. You will find the same suburbs in DC area as there are in LA area full of manicured houses, SUVs, soccer moms, parents obsessed with their commute and jobs and their kids. it will be just different foliage, weather and architecture. It's definitely not characteristic to DC area only, despite what some may say.

If you need to find some grit and character, you can find this in DC as well, you just have to go explore a little and go to different areas within more mixed income neighborhoods. If you generalize all middle upper-middle class suburbs and yuppie urban areas as sterile, then to be honest, there is plenty of it in LA, the OC, the Valleys, Thounsand Oaks, etc.

The only advice i can give you is to try to find a job before moving here. It's an expensive COL area and it's not going to be easy to survive without employment unless you are willing to move to those 'gritty' and not so sterile areas.
thank you so much. your advice was very helpful i am definitely looking forward to experiencing 4 seasons and not having to drive!! the job situation is all settled and i will be living in arlington. i really appreciate your positive outlook!
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Old 10-19-2009, 09:39 PM
 
656 posts, read 1,416,844 times
Reputation: 84
Quote:
Originally Posted by shenANAgins View Post
thank you so much. your advice was very helpful i am definitely looking forward to experiencing 4 seasons and not having to drive!! the job situation is all settled and i will be living in arlington. i really appreciate your positive outlook!

I should tell you that Arlington is not the 4 seasons you may have in mind, the winters are short, but the summers are long and hot and humid, sure there are 4 seasons and beware of arlington's high housing costs and suburban style living and traffic if you are not close to your job aka reverse commute.


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Old 10-19-2009, 09:42 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles
8 posts, read 15,193 times
Reputation: 10
thank you. i'm close to work!
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Old 10-20-2009, 10:33 AM
 
Location: Rockville, MD
3,546 posts, read 8,540,174 times
Reputation: 1389
Quote:
Originally Posted by tech2enable View Post
Arlington is not the 4 seasons you may have in mind
Quote:
Originally Posted by tech2enable View Post
sure there are 4 seasons


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Old 10-20-2009, 10:34 AM
 
Location: Rockville, MD
3,546 posts, read 8,540,174 times
Reputation: 1389
Quote:
Originally Posted by shenANAgins View Post
thank you. i'm close to work!
Bit of advice: ignore tech2enable. He doesn't live in DC, and doesn't know anything about the DC market. Others in this thread have offered far, far more sensible (and accurate) advice. Listen to the people that actually live here.
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Old 10-20-2009, 03:18 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles
8 posts, read 15,193 times
Reputation: 10
thank you!! i love everyone's advice. i'm not feeling apprehensive about the move anymore. i'm really excited about it and totally ready for an adventure. california is great but i've done the west coast and i'm pumped about checking out the east coast
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Old 10-20-2009, 05:18 PM
 
Location: Springfield VA
4,036 posts, read 9,216,089 times
Reputation: 1522
Quote:
Originally Posted by tech2enable View Post
I should tell you that Arlington is not the 4 seasons you may have in mind, the winters are short, but the summers are long and hot and humid, sure there are 4 seasons and beware of arlington's high housing costs and suburban style living and traffic if you are not close to your job aka reverse commute.


Huh? Summers up here can get hot but I've been through longer and hotter. Last winter for me was about four months from Thanksgiving to March. If there was any season that I would say was short it'd be fall seems to go right from summer to winter but I'd say that about the south so it might just be an east coast thing.

At the end of the day its all subjective. What is an unbelievably cold winter will be mild for someone else. Maybe it's just best to look up the average temperatures and decide from there.
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