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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 think the East Coast in general has a much faster pace then SoCal. Having lived in Simi Valley I know this to be the case. No one here bases their lives around the beach and high tide which I found to be the norm when I was in CA. Our winters run the gamut from very mild meaning little to no snow vs 2 feet all at once which shuts most of the city and the Government down for a week. The ice is the real problem, though when it comes to storms here.
It is expensive here but with 400K you can find something you should like. Look along the red line north of DC in Montgomery County and also Northern, VA along the Orange, Yellow and Blue lines. Join a realty site such as zip realty or similar and get listings in your price range in those areas and see what there is and you can get demographics for each area as well.
Culturally, the DC area and southern California are quite different. The knock against DC is that its residents are overly ambitious and career-driven, and are thus quite uptight and impersonal. This is an overly broad generalization that I've found to be largely untrue, however there IS a distinct difference between the two areas--no one would ever accuse DCists of being "laid back" for instance.
And then there's the weather. DC in January can be quite cold. We're not Buffalo or Anchorage, but we frequently fall below freezing, and a few days of snow isn't uncommon. Just be prepared for that.
With that being said, people who come to this city and truly make an effort to take advantage of everything it has to offer--the museums and cultural attractions, great green spaces, fun neighborhoods, and so on--typically have a great time. DC is a beautiful city with a lot going on, so hopefully you'll be able to take advantage of it.
A friend of mine made the move to DC from Laguna Niguel in January two years ago. She made the because she was laid off of work and couldn't find new work. She lasted exactly two weeks and she couldn't take it anymore and moved back to socal. If you're in love with socal and looking for something similar then don't even waste the time or money to move to DC. But if you're ready for a change then chances are high that you will like it.
Just remember that the vibe in DC is different in winter than summer. The change from socal to DC is more tolerable during the summer - then you can slowly adjust to the change in winter.
If you come to DC with comparisons of SoCal then you're gonna be miserable. If you come with the attitude that DC isn't SoCal and that DC has its own unique identity and you can respect and admire that then you will have a ball. Enjoy the exsposure of the Nations Capital and wite it down as a life experience. GL buddy...
shenANAgins - you will NOT like it here. I moved from L.A. to D.C. almost four years ago because my husband's job required that we relocate. I came here with the attitude of "if I can make friends in a big city like L.A., I can make friends here." Not so. The people here are recluse and guarded. After almost four years, the friends I have made turned out to be back stabbers or have ulterior motives. Your coworkers will stop at nothing to "throw you under the bus," D.C. "friends" will outright insult you and take advantage of you.
Politically, I am middle of the road, but here, that is considered "liberal."
The worst part of living here: people rarely smile. If they do, it's because they are eyeing your wallet.
It was only AFTER I moved here that I asked old friends (from around the country) who had been here, what they thought. The consensus was that it is a miserable and lonely place to live. To top it off, even the people in N.Y. aren't as smarmy as they are in D.C. It's like the old joke, "D.C. is the NY for ugly people." So true, so true.
If you want to move to the east coast, try further north in N.Y. or N.J. Even there, people are kinder and nicer.
What ever you do, don't move to D.C., MD or NoVA. I promise you, you will be miserable.
yikes, that's harsh green....but i can't argue with your assessment. I'm a transplant from Tennessee (nothing beats southern hospitality) so DC is definitely not as friendly as the south but it depends on the areas of D.C.
yes the uppity areas some people are too cool for anyone but I've found most people friendly in my area (U street/Shaw).
shenANAgins - you will NOT like it here. I moved from L.A. to D.C. almost four years ago because my husband's job required that we relocate. I came here with the attitude of "if I can make friends in a big city like L.A., I can make friends here." Not so. The people here are recluse and guarded. After almost four years, the friends I have made turned out to be back stabbers or have ulterior motives. Your coworkers will stop at nothing to "throw you under the bus," D.C. "friends" will outright insult you and take advantage of you.
Politically, I am middle of the road, but here, that is considered "liberal."
The worst part of living here: people rarely smile. If they do, it's because they are eyeing your wallet.
It was only AFTER I moved here that I asked old friends (from around the country) who had been here, what they thought. The consensus was that it is a miserable and lonely place to live. To top it off, even the people in N.Y. aren't as smarmy as they are in D.C. It's like the old joke, "D.C. is the NY for ugly people." So true, so true.
If you want to move to the east coast, try further north in N.Y. or N.J. Even there, people are kinder and nicer.
What ever you do, don't move to D.C., MD or NoVA. I promise you, you will be miserable.
I see...so your friends and co-workers don't like you. I love it when people take an entire metro area--in this case, an area of over 5.5 million people--and condense everyone down into a single, ugly stereotype because they've been unable to make friends.
Seriously, if this is your impression of the people who live in DC after being here four years, methinks the problem is more likely to be with you, rather than the other way around. Like FinallyDC said, your experience is what you make of it. Myself, I moved here from Ohio, have made numerous wonderful friends and work alongside many fantastic people (some of whom I see on a social basis).
And if you're going to insult a city's population, at least get the insult right. It's "DC is LA for ugly people". (You'd think you would know that having lived here for four years.) And while I typically find that statement to be absurd, in the case of your post I think it actually might fit.
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thanks!!
