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Two of my absolute favorite cities in the world--at least out of those I've been to so far!
Which offers a higher quality of life?
--Better economy/job market: I'm guessing D.C.? D.C. has a large high tech and aerospace sector in addition to the national bureaucracy. For the same job, salaries in America are on average higher than just about any other developed country. But Singapore has a killer GDP per capita, as one of the wealthiest metropolitan regions in the world by GDP per capita. It's an economic superstar even among developed Asian countries.
--Less traffic: Everyone loves to gripe about their own city's traffic woes. I see on INRIX that Singapore doesn't rank much better than D.C., but INRIX, as many have pointed out, isn't very accurate and is based on flawed premises. My impression is that SG traffic would be better than big cities in the U.S. like LA and SF, not to mention DC--but I don't know, I took the MRT and the DC Metro mostly when I was visiting.
--Better mass transit: The Singapore MRT has nearly 5 times the ridership of the DC Metro, has more stations, and is expanding much more than the DC Metro. To be fair, Singapore is also much denser than D.C., and for its density D.C. is doing pretty darn good for rail transit, as the DC Metro even reaches many suburban areas. The D.C. Metro opened ten years before the SG MRT, so the stations are a bit older in general. Still, the D.C. metro is the cleanest and one of the most modern U.S. transit systems in many people's minds, a huge step from ancient, rickety systems like the NYC subway or Paris Metro. What SG does better than the DC metro is that all of the underground MRT stations in SG have Air conditioning and all MRT stations have platform screen doors. What the D.C. metro does better is that its average speed is faster (because stations are spaced farther apart). DC Metro headways are surprisingly not bad, in some cases as low as 2 minutes per train during rush hour, but I'm sure they're still not as consistently good as SG's MRT.
--Airport: Yeah, you can't compete with Changi Airport, no matter how many times you renovate Dulles or Reagan ... or any other airport in the world. There's just one Achilles's heel for Changi Airport: it has a slow MRT connection to Downtown SG. The DC Metro to Reagan (and soon, Dulles) are not some first-class, airport express trains like the one in Hong Kong where you can check in your luggage at the downtown station but yeah, they're still a lot faster than the MRT to Changi.
--Education: SG's two main national universities, NUS and Nanyang Tech, are number 1 and 2 in Asia, respectively, in the QS rankings. (Of course, all these rankings vary wildly depending on your source, so eh, it's a rough estimate). GWU, GMU, and Georgetown may be good but I doubt they come close to NUS/Nanyang.
As for K-12 schooling...this will be interesting. YES, Singapore scored head and shoulders above the US in the OECD's PISA test for math and science. YES, the D.C. school district is an absolute disaster. BUT, Northern Virginia is very affluent and its schools are far above the U.S. average. So it's reasonable to say that Northern Virginia schools are comparable to the average Singapore school.
--Culture: Singapore has a unique, exotic multi-ethnic mix. It's the most religiously diverse nation in the world. It has four official languages. What it doesn't have, though, is the Black and Latino cultures of D.C., but that's just because D.C. is located in America. Singapore has excellent Hokkien, Teochew, and Cantonese food, Malay food, and Indian food, as well as Peranakan food, i.e. a Chinese-Malay fusion cuisine. I don't think Chinese food in D.C. is great--even compared to NYC, California, or Canada. Singapore has Peranakan shophouses that mix British, Portuguese, and Chinese architectural elements. But D.C. has Georgian architecture and, right next to D.C. in Alexandria, Old Town Alexandria, built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
D.C. reigns supreme on national monuments, no doubt about that. The Smithsonian is also legendary. But Singapore has a very impressive collection of national museums. After all, Singapore IS a national capital, just like D.C., except Singapore's the capital of itself!
--Safety and cleanliness: Singapore is many times safer than D.C. itself, no doubt. But did you know that Fairfax County, Virginia has a violent crime rate just as low as Singapore? Also, while D.C. does have some grimy areas, Singapore has ghetto Geylang. Singapore in general is much cleaner than big cities in the U.S., but I'd say that Fairfax County, especially Tysons Corner, are just as clean, as are touristy areas like The Mall. I'd also say that Greater D.C. is the cleanest U.S. metro area I've been to.
--Weather: If you like four seasons, then D.C. is for you. If you like boring, predictable, warm weather, Singapore's for you. Singapore is not any hotter or more humid than Miami during the summer. But at least Miami cools off somewhat in the winter. Singapore weather is Miami summer weather, but all year round.
Singapore has very clean air, except for the occasional smoke from Indonesian forest fires during Autumn. D.C. seems to have very clean air, too.
1. Economy: Singapore has a better economy. Washington has a far more stable economy, however. It's recession-proof to some extent due to the Government, tech, defense sector. So it depends on what you want: a faster growing but more volatile economy dependent on the global economy OR a slower growing but far more stable ecosystem.
2. Transit/Traffic: Singapore. Singapore has 6 million people in 200+ square miles. That's the entire DC metro area shoved into the Beltway. As such, it has much better transit options. The Singapore subway isn't as good as many of its competitors though.
3. Agree with you on airport.
4. Education: Hopkins/Georgetown/GW/American + the state schools to me > Singapore's duopoly. For kids, Singapore all the way.
5. Singapore is 75% Han. Yes, it has Kampong Glam, Little India, etc. but it's a Han chinese city with a patina of multiculturalism. Washington is far more diverse. Not just in Black/Hispanic/White diversity but in nationalities: Ethiopian/El Salvadorian/Korean/Nigerian. The World Bank/IMF/Intl Org crowd also brings a big "global" demographic. Singapore is more Asian than global in its makeup.
6. Culture: DC by far. It's Singapore weak point and something they've been trying to fix with new art centers, operas, Gardens by the Bay. Financial hubs always tend to suffer from sterility and dour vibes. On Architecture/Arts, Singapore can't compete with the Smithsonians and all the historic neighborhoods in DC. There is no equivalent in Singapore to the Library of Congress, Capitol Building, National Cathedral, Basilica of the National Shrine, Memorials etc.
7. Safety/Clean: Agree with you
8. Weather: Singapore is DC summers without end. I'll take DC on weather.
I think that Singapore would be the perfect city, except that I cannot stand the weather. For me, it has the best food in the world, best airport, excellent and easy to use public transport, efficiency in almost everything.
DC has a great deal of interest but parts are really scary if you end up in the wrong area.
Not very interested in both actually.
Give a higher score to Singapore many times higher than DC
DC is not as visited as Singapore by INTERNATIONAL visitors because it is less connected by direct international flights and less important in international business. Singapore is surrounded by countries poorer than itself, standing out highly in Southeast Asia. DC is a political capital, Singapore is more similar to NYC instead of DC in functions.
Singapore always a good choice among Asian cities, not western cities for someone enjoying a variety of Asian food than western food.
I like those cities too but Singapore is on another level. The first time you go to Singapore you really feel you are in a futuristic city with such an amazing airport and then looking at the driverless trains. While in DC, I remember I was kinda scared that something bad was going to happen to me if I end up in the wrong area. Also DC is a ghost-town after 9pm. While Singapore is buzzing. Singapore is the most perfect city I have ever been to. Except for the weather, I agree, but I definitely saw myself living there. DC is lovely, some parts of the city reminded me of Paris. DC has a beautiful architecture, but Singapore is mind blowing too. I prefer Singapore; the food is better, cleaner, safer, easier to move.
I like those cities too but Singapore is on another level. The first time you go to Singapore you really feel you are in a futuristic city with such an amazing airport and then looking at the driverless trains. While in DC, I remember I was kinda scared that something bad was going to happen to me if I end up in the wrong area. Also DC is a ghost-town after 9pm. While Singapore is buzzing. Singapore is the most perfect city I have ever been to. Except for the weather, I agree, but I definitely saw myself living there. DC is lovely, some parts of the city reminded me of Paris. DC has a beautiful architecture, but Singapore is mind blowing too. I prefer Singapore; the food is better, cleaner, safer, easier to move.
I agree with this except for one thing. I would absolutely love Singapore weather. It is among the best climates of any developed city in the world. To me as long as you follow the laws, Singapore is one of the places on Earth that's as close to paradise as you can get.
For this comparison, I would put Singapore way ahead of DC in almost every way except museums. The Smithsonian is in a class of its own.
^^ "Follow the laws." it should be noted that Singapore kills drug dealers [mandatory death with 500 grams of marijuana], being gay is a crime, you get caned for tiny offenses and your civil rights are equal to what the ruling party will tolerate.
Its "benevolent" patriarchal authoritarianism has brought economic success, but I would consider it a weakness overall.
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