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I currently live in Durham NC. I've been here for 3 years. I have family up in Hagerstown MD. There has been a few times where I have considered a move to Washington area for many reasons including being closer to family. However I am not sure if I'd be giving up things with a move like this.
I work in IT and know that there is work in both areas. But Washington might be more security based. Id like to maintain my wfh life style if possible, but commuting may end up being an issue.
I really take advantage of trails for hiking, greenways for biking, and mtb single track in my area. I also like that is leans a bit liberal and has a lot of young people.
The pros of living in near Washington is family to watch my dog occasionally. More access to MD and Shenandoah area. But Farther away from west NC of course.
So it really comes down to if I could find/replicate some of the same things I enjoy in my current area.
Maybe Frederick would be good. I have family there, halfway between DC & Hagerstown, not far from Shenandoahs. The area leans liberal. As far as a younger crowd it's average but it's in the DC area so plenty of younger crowds nearby. DC has horrible traffic issues but as far as Frederick goes it's more a rush hour problem than anything else. Obviously all depends where you commute to. Lots of nice parks & bikeways throughout the DMV but I don't know anything about mountain biking.
I'm a former resident of both Durham and Washington DC. It sounds like the primary reasoning for the move is better proximity to family in Hagerstown. In terms of work opportunity its a bit of an upgrade. The Dulles Tech Corridor ranging from Dulles Airport up into Tysons Corner (along the Dulles Access Road/267) is another Silicon Valley and not all "security-based" IT. https://digitaltech.com/data-center-...burn-virginia/
The area is just 30 minutes east of the Shenandoah Valley and less than an hour into the Blue Ridge Mountains, in the middle of beautiful Northern Virginia wine country (VA produces stunningly good wines). The Herndon/Reston area is in the heart of the Tech Corridor, about an hour from Hagerstown. It's progressive and moderately liberal with plenty of single IT professionals, plus an easy MetroRail ride on the Silver Line into DC for concerts, sporting events and weekend sightseeing.
Well, the best area for a IT-related (including Security related) jobs would probably be Dulles Corridor...basically from Tysons to Reston or so. That puts you closer to Hagerstown and also Shenandoah NP. If you want to be in areas where things are more "happening" you can pick areas like Arlington and reverse commute to the Dulles Corridor.
COL in general is of course higher around DC but salary is also usually higher. As for hiking goes - there are endless possibility, ranging from path along Potomac (i.e. C&O Canal trail) to mountain one (Shenandoah NP, or the like of South Mountain / Catoctin Mountain in Frederick Co MD). You're definitely closer to mountain in most of DC area than Research Triangle anyway.
The pros of living in near Washington is family to watch my dog occasionally. More access to MD and Shenandoah area. But Farther away from west NC of course.
I grew up in the Triangle and live in DC now. Everyone always touted how the Triangle was "close" to the mountains and ocean, but geographically DC's much closer to both. One big reason I chose to live here is that the regional trail network is unparalleled in the east, something that's easily visible from the Google Maps bike layer. Most of it has been paved due to popularity, so there's not as much singletrack as in the Triangle. But there are definitely long dirt stretches on through-trails like the Cross-County Trail across Fairfax.
Tech jobs in this region are heavily weighted towards NoVA and the western side of the region; "Data Center Alley" extends almost up to the Blue Ridge foothills. It's <40 miles from the west suburbs to Skyline Drive, vs. 100+ miles from Durham to the mountains. It's close enough that plenty of people day-trip to the nearer mountain trails -- not really something I knew people in Raleigh to do.
Be mindful that even though the tech job market is slowing considerably right now, the defense-oriented companies are much less recession-exposed. The COL differential is narrower than it used to be, given the steep run-up in rents in the Triangle recently.
the trails around DC are pretty good but not sure how they compare to that area. YOu can get good hikes in an hour or less outside DC, and we have several trails in city ( rock creek) and around but its just so darn croweded here. I am craving the ralieigh area for a slower pace of living myself and nicer people. My uncle lives in cary and is always jogging on the trails, here the trails are busy and not that pretty, they are along highwys and full of angry bikers who dont hae enough space...I am in Scottsdale arizona at the moment, checcking it out for a possible move. Tons of really really hard hiking area and biking trails, people are nie here, and healthy...They are in shape and not stressed out like in DC . I am not sure i am ready to move out west yet so also considering raleigh are for the green space and access to trails...and yes hoping a slower pace.
the one thing i will miss about dc( but hey you can always move back) is walkability and bikablity, i can walk , metro, bike or uber anywhere without needing a car. that to me is a very healthy lifestlye. but of course you need a car to go hiking in VA and WVA.
I find some good hills in arlington and just do repeats to get heart rate up, i am curious if durham/raleigh has hills , obviously not like phonexi but you decent hills to climb in the city.
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