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My wife and I live in San Diego. We're working on our first child and desire to get closer to family for the support that provides. I'm from the DC area and my wife is from South Padre, TX. My wife is a hairstylist and I work in financial services. It's looking very likely that I'm going to have an opportunity to transfer with my company to either Austin or the DC metro area, probably starting early next year. Either way my wife will have to start over building a new clientele, but once the baby comes she would probably be working only a partial schedule anyway. The DC job will pay about 40-50k more, partly neutralizing the cost of living differences. Both pay more than I'm making now. Being in financial services, I feel like I have my head around the financial aspects of the decision, but I don't want to make a decision based purely on money. We'll be fine financially either way, but I'm trying to fully appreciate the other nuances and differences of the two areas. Weather, schools, culture, people, traffic, etc., etc.... We've both been in San Diego for over 15 years. For anyone that has perspective on these two areas, I'd greatly appreciate you weighing in. If it helps, we're both around 40 and pretty active, both physically and socially. Thank you.
Do you like Socal? If you do, then Austin will have some of the same "feel." But it is MUCH HOTTER here and summer goes on forever. DC Metro has a much more east coast urban feel. But with a more human scale thanks to the DC city design and height restrictions. Four seasons in DC, lots more trees, greener, lusher.
My wife and I live in San Diego. We're working on our first child and desire to get closer to family for the support that provides. I'm from the DC area and my wife is from South Padre, TX. My wife is a hairstylist and I work in financial services. It's looking very likely that I'm going to have an opportunity to transfer with my company to either Austin or the DC metro area, probably starting early next year. Either way my wife will have to start over building a new clientele, but once the baby comes she would probably be working only a partial schedule anyway. The DC job will pay about 40-50k more, partly neutralizing the cost of living differences. Both pay more than I'm making now. Being in financial services, I feel like I have my head around the financial aspects of the decision, but I don't want to make a decision based purely on money. We'll be fine financially either way, but I'm trying to fully appreciate the other nuances and differences of the two areas. Weather, schools, culture, people, traffic, etc., etc.... We've both been in San Diego for over 15 years. For anyone that has perspective on these two areas, I'd greatly appreciate you weighing in. If it helps, we're both around 40 and pretty active, both physically and socially. Thank you.
austin is like 6 hours from south padre so you pretty much get zero benefit from family if they are in south padre. You havent given enough info about what you are looking for to help out.
for example if you want high culture (museums, art, music, food) then DC hands down. The suburbs around DC have that small town feel like austin so you pretty much neutralize austins benefit there.
austin is like 6 hours from south padre so you pretty much get zero benefit from family if they are in south padre. You havent given enough info about what you are looking for to help out.
for example if you want high culture (museums, art, music, food) then DC hands down. The suburbs around DC have that small town feel like austin so you pretty much neutralize austins benefit there.
If you dont want the cold, then probably austin.
Northern Virgina hardly has a small town feel.
I agree South Padre is a long drive, but it is a decent drive and maybe that distance is easier for the family to visit the OP.
Since the OP plans to start a family, schools are a consideration. DC suburbs have some good schools, but DC itself is near worst in nation.
I agree South Padre is a long drive, but it is a decent drive and maybe that distance is easier for the family to visit the OP.
Since the OP plans to start a family, schools are a consideration. DC suburbs have some good schools, but DC itself is near worst in nation.
Right that is why I mentioned the suburbs. Outside the beltway there are a ton of small towns with that east coast small town feel in northern virginia. The towns may all be stacked on one another, but each town feels small, can be walkable, has a town square etc. I have relatives out there and they all live in either small towns or "out in the country". They typically are a short commute to the train and then take the train into DC for work. Around a 45 minute commute.
So much to consider. I love both places but they offer very different things. Washington DC has more to offer in terms of museums, history, bigger city cultural events, and of course, being next to the seat of our national government. Austin has great things to do outdoors and a unique culture all of its own, but not the cultural breadth that you would find in DC.
Would you plan to live in DC proper or the suburbs? The DC suburbs do have some great outdoors opportunities (hiking, etc.) that would match some of the outdoor opportunities you would find in Austin, but living in the city would be a very different experience, certainly more urban. Another important consideration is schools. There are some fabulous school districts in Maryland, but a lot of weak districts in the city of DC itself. Again, it would depend on where you are living.
How about future job opportunities for you? The financial services sector in Austin is probably more limited than the opportunities in DC. Yes, there are jobs in that sector here, but I have seen neighbors in the industry, upon losing their jobs, to have to consider other markets to find a suitable job that matched their skill and experience. It kind of depends what area of financial services you work in.
DC wins hands-down for convenient public transportation. The Metro Rail can take you just about anywhere you need to go in the city and burbs, except for Georgetown. We have very limited public transport options in Austin. Also, you can visit other East Cost cities pretty easily with the train. There is a lot of interesting history to explore along the East Coast.
I've lived summers in both, and while DC definitely humid, the intensity and duration of the heat in Austin is worse. You will also experience more seasonal weather change in DC and the chance for more snow. Is that something you want or not? Outside of a few freezes a year, our weather pattern in Austin doesn't change much between hot and comfortably warm.
If it sounds like I'm trying to sell DC, I'm actually not. Austin has been a great place to raise our family, our kids' schools are fabulous, we have wonderful neighbors, and it's a relatively low stress place to live. My only real complaint is the duration of the heat- summers are VERY long and hot. But I love it here. However, I enjoy DC a lot too, but it is just very different in many ways, and I think those differences are things to consider in your decision.
I moved to Austin from the DC suburbs over a year ago.
I was sick of the traffic, the high housing prices and grew up there so part of me just wanted to move. I enjoy Austin a lot more. But I enjoy the casual easiness of Austin. I grew up in Nova and I never felt like I was from anywhere.
DC does have some great public transportation **if** you work in a serviced area. They were getting ready to build a metro near my old office in Tysons. What that meant for me was bad news. It would take 10 years to build and traffic would be worse.
I like Austin because I can live pretty close to town without paying a fortune. I live off Burnet Road in Austin and I love it. But a friend visited and thought Burnet looked terrible. So I guess it's in the eye of the beholder.
People in both are pretty friendly. I think people in DC are more stressed out. I noticed at my job nobody seems as stressed (Even when we are working nights and weekends). In DC everyone seemed stressed out all the time. People don't get as worked up about things here.
While there I lived in Arlington, Leesburg and Reston. But the salary does sound a lot better in DC. There are some great benefits to DC, the trees, the proximity to museums. (I do miss the Blue Crabs) . I grew up there and had a nice childhood. People move in and out a bit in DC i guess due to military and government jobs.
That's a lot of babbling I just wrote - good luck with your decision.
Just stating a personal opinion, but I've always found the DC area incredibly boring and very un-charming. People are like zombies. Since almost everyone works for the government or some close proxy, peoples' personalities largely reflect that milieu. Imagine a place where almost everyone worked for the Post Office, except with solid middle class or upper middle salaries, since government jobs pay so well, especially these days. It's stable, plain, and, uh, mediocre. People are stressed there but because they are trapped in a hierarchy that is simultaneously safe (people rarely get fired) but also highly confining. It's not stress that comes from the potential of failure.
Austin is much more individualistic and energetic and creative and entrepreneurial. Certainly not as much as some areas of California or the NYC Metro, but impressive for its size.
Just stating a personal opinion, but I've always found the DC area incredibly boring and very un-charming. People are like zombies. Since almost everyone works for the government or some close proxy, peoples' personalities largely reflect that milieu. Imagine a place where almost everyone worked for the Post Office, except with solid middle class or upper middle salaries, since government jobs pay so well, especially these days. It's stable, plain, and, uh, mediocre. People are stressed there but because they are trapped in a hierarchy that is simultaneously safe (people rarely get fired) but also highly confining. It's not stress that comes from the potential of failure.
Austin is much more individualistic and energetic and creative and entrepreneurial. Certainly not as much as some areas of California or the NYC Metro, but impressive for its size.
I spent 11 years in Northern Virginia and now 18 years in Austin. I never held a single "government" job the entire time in was in D.C. and only a few of my acquaintances did either. That's a common misconception. And to say that the government jobs "pay so well" is really a crock. I made much more than my conterparts that held government jobs. Beyond that, here are my thoughts on D.C. versus Austin.
Spring and Fall - D.C. is incredible and Austin is okay - advantage D.C.
Winter - D.C. has cold, wet, humid winters that felt colder to me than the 35 winters I spent in Minnesota. Austin has nice winters except for a couple days. Advantage Austin.
Summer - D.C. is hot and humid for months on end. Austin is hotter but drier for months on end. Toss up to me.
Traffic - D.C. is horrible, but Austin is catching up if it hasn't already passed D.C.
The big advantage to me of D.C. is the proximity to many other things. In the time it takes to drive to either Dallas or Houston (and why would you want to go to either one?), you could be in Baltimore, Philadelphia, the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Williamsburg, Charlottesville, or the Blue Ridge Mountains. And if you like to travel by plane, Dulles, Reagan and BWI can get you anywhere quickly and conveniently. From Austin, unless Southwest makes a direct run, nothing is convenient. for example, to go diving on Grand Cayman Island which is 1272 miles from Austin and 1372 miles from Washington D.C., the cost from Austin is $671 with one stop and travel time of $ hours and 54 minutes. The cost from Washington D.C. is $446 and is non-stop with a travel time of 3 hours and 23 minutes.
Overall I would rate Washington, D.C. higher - especially if you are going to be compensated for moving there. The cost of living in Austin contiues to rise and is getting to be not that different from the suburbs of D.C.
I spent 11 years in Northern Virginia and now 18 years in Austin. I never held a single "government" job the entire time in was in D.C. and only a few of my acquaintances did either. That's a common misconception. And to say that the government jobs "pay so well" is really a crock. I made much more than my conterparts that held government jobs. Beyond that, here are my thoughts on D.C. versus Austin.
Spring and Fall - D.C. is incredible and Austin is okay - advantage D.C.
Winter - D.C. has cold, wet, humid winters that felt colder to me than the 35 winters I spent in Minnesota. Austin has nice winters except for a couple days. Advantage Austin.
Summer - D.C. is hot and humid for months on end. Austin is hotter but drier for months on end. Toss up to me.
Traffic - D.C. is horrible, but Austin is catching up if it hasn't already passed D.C.
The big advantage to me of D.C. is the proximity to many other things. In the time it takes to drive to either Dallas or Houston (and why would you want to go to either one?), you could be in Baltimore, Philadelphia, the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Williamsburg, Charlottesville, or the Blue Ridge Mountains. And if you like to travel by plane, Dulles, Reagan and BWI can get you anywhere quickly and conveniently. From Austin, unless Southwest makes a direct run, nothing is convenient. for example, to go diving on Grand Cayman Island which is 1272 miles from Austin and 1372 miles from Washington D.C., the cost from Austin is $671 with one stop and travel time of $ hours and 54 minutes. The cost from Washington D.C. is $446 and is non-stop with a travel time of 3 hours and 23 minutes.
Overall I would rate Washington, D.C. higher - especially if you are going to be compensated for moving there. The cost of living in Austin contiues to rise and is getting to be not that different from the suburbs of D.C.
Was the last time you lived in DC 18 years ago? The traffic is much, much worse now then it was almost twenty years ago to the point where many of the road trips you suggest require taking time off of work to "beat traffic" or crawling for hours in parking lot conditions. That's a phrase that you will be hearing and dealing with a lot in DC OP, it is everyone's obsession and the determining factor in everything, even though it is basically impossible. An example, this summer I drove from Springfield, VA to Chester, VA on a friday. The trip is a little over 100 miles and should take an hour and a half to two hours since it is all interstate. It took me 4 hours and I left around 1 PM. Traffic on I-95 south had been backed up since 10AM. Eastern shore of Maryland for a summer weekend getaway? Surely you jest, expect to be in the car for 5-6 hours depending on where in the DC area you are leaving from and it doesn't matter if you leave at 12PM or 8PM. That is the difference with DC, it never stops, the problems are almost 24x7. In the past 2 weeks I've sat in jams at 9:30 PM on a tuesday on the Maryland beltway and 7PM on Sunday evening on I-95 South in Maryland.
I also agree with the other posters about the feel of DC, and I've lived here just about all of my life. DC is very much a company town, just about everyone here works either for the government or for a business that either directly or indirectly makes their money from the government. All I'll say is that in my opinion it attracts people that are interested in either Politics (dem/rep/capitol hill/public policy) or politics (interpersonal, interoffice, or contractual), if that's your thing, great, but personally those aren't the kind of people I like to associate with.
Obviously I'm biased, I'm moving from DC to Austin, but OP if it's been awhile since you were in DC I think you should at least visit before deciding to move here, it's probably not the same city you grew up in and money isn't everything. Especially since you've been in SoCal for so long.
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