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I would agree given the cost of living differential, the traffic congestion in Northern Virginia (worst I've ever seen) and the desire for the wife to be a "stay-at-home Mom" that Charleston is in my opinion the more practical option.
If it were me, I would choose the DC area - because it's a much larger city and metro with a strong job market and so much more to see and do. It's also close to many other major cities and attractions on the east coast.
I haven't been to Charleston, but I've heard it's scenic and historic too. Would be great for a vacation.
I'm a big city person, so I'd personally pick DC. Charleston is one of the best smaller/midsize cities in the country though, so if you don't want to be in a large metro area, Charleston is hard to beat.
Also, your salary will go further in Charleston so that is definitely something to keep in mind.
We need more info from you. Do you like big cities? Is an easy to use airport important? How about mass transit? What do you like doing on the weekends.
D.C. is one of the premier cities in North America, there is no doubt I would pick DC in a heartbeat especially over a small town like Chalreston.
We need more info from you. Do you like big cities? Is an easy to use airport important? How about mass transit? What do you like doing on the weekends.
D.C. is one of the premier cities in North America, there is no doubt I would pick DC in a heartbeat especially over a small town like Chalreston.
Charleston is not so "small town" anymore and there is so much to do in Charleston. Apparently you have not been there lately.
Thats a tough one, have you been to DC/Charleston before? Clearly DC would take the cake for having family close by. That tends to make things easier. But at the same time 115k would go far down here in Charleston, really far. It's not the cheapest place but compared to DC and Va it's dirt cheap. Do you prefer the fast pace of a large city or do you prefer a nice, slow moving tourists town? Charleston is pretty small under a million in the metro. Not to say there isn't anything to do. But me personally I prefer the big city life and while Charleston isn't the worst place I've lived, it's far from the best. After four years I'm ready to get out of here. That being said I'd say it's a decent place to raise a family. Feel free to PM me if you have any more in depth questions.
As I mentioned previously, I love Charleston, it is a beautiful, historic and friendly place. But thats all there is. IF you are a country person, the low country is beautiful, but when you leave Charleston, the populated areas are becoming too similar to Florida style suburban/strip mall sprawl. They are really building it out in an ill-thought manner. So for that reason, I would choose DC. DC is a city with great public trans, lots to do, and if you get an itch to travel, you have a wide variety of great destination places close by -- a few states worth -- relatively speaking, from more cities to rural mountain areas, its all a half-day drive away. With Charleston, Savannah or Atlanta are about the only other notable, destination cities close by. Thats not to say there isnt great stuff to do in any state, cuz there always is, its just you will have way more in DC.
One thing I have to acknowledge re: DC is that there are some very strong school systems there, not to mention the eduational resources the city offers. My kids were not yet school-aged when we moved away, but my niece and nephew were products of the Fairfax County School System (lived in Oakton). My sister was delighted with her kids' experience there.
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