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Wow. Way to completely misinterpret everything I said. I never even implied any negative aspect to living in Arlington, unless you have some preconceived bias against young, urban professionals. I know several people who live in the Ballston corridor and are quite happy. I even said she would be quite happy if that's the environment that appeals to her. While there is a sizable hispanic and family population, when you're going out at night it's not hard to peg the rather homogenous demographic of people you see in places like Clarendon. It's not like a night out in most parts of DC.
I also never implied that such people don't live or gravitate to the city. I, actually, said the complete opposite when I pointed out that you can find everything in DC that you can find in Arlington. To completely spell it out for you, that means that you can find that post-collegiate set in spades throughout many parts of the city.
I simply and accurately pointed out that there is a great deal more to deal with in the city itself - both positive and negative - that does not exist in Arlington. Some people embrace that added layer of vibrancy and chaos and others do not. Simple as that.
I'm not totally convinced it's a matter of misinterpretation - the tone of your second post on this thread is a bit different than the tone of your first.
The good thing for the OP is that she'll have a job that will give her choices that aren't available to a lot of 20-somethings moving to the metro area.
I thought of leaving SW DC and moving to Pentagon city but honestly, prices were about the same. Plus, I love living in the city. I can actually walk to work if I want.
I guess I should point out that my job is actually in Fairfax. My dire hatred of long commutes in traffic was one factor in my decision to live in Fairfax instead.
Thanks for the input everyone ... though it does still seem to be split down the middle! I forgot to mention that I believe I save about $280/mo in taxes living in Virginia rather than D.C. JEB77 is right that my job makes the cost factor less of a concern, although I'm probably going to save a LOT for down the road... I've been living like a college kid for 6 years, I'm pretty sure living even within my means would make my head spin.
I obviously haven't given up on living in the district - in my way-too-soon craigslist browsing I found this (Elegant Clean 2Br Condominium w/Great Views..Awesome Features! (http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/apa/2259166713.html - broken link)) and it made me wish I was moving now!
I guess I will have a few larger Arlington complexes in mind as back-ups (suggestions welcome!!!) and will also look in late summer for the perfect place in the district ... I just don't to settle for anything just because it is technically in D.C. rather than VA.
Maybe because I didn't want to spend so much of my $$ on housing and I wanted extra to save and spend????
If people are going to judge just because I gave up the real urban life in lieu of other priorities, then I'm probably going to physically throw you out of my life.
Prices in Arlington are about the same as most desirable parts of DC, so it really is a matter of lifestyle choice and not saving money.
BoldasLove - You should double check your taxes - you very well may save, but my taxes are lower in DC than in the suburbs and I've seen studies that show the same for most income brackets. Perhaps you're in a different situation though. Best of luck in your decision.
Prices in Arlington are about the same as most desirable parts of DC, so it really is a matter of lifestyle choice and not saving money.
The prices are the same, but the apartments themselves are not. I could get a one bedroom in DC for what I am paying in Arlington, but it would be smaller, older and have fewer amenities.
Still, if I were in the OP's shoes, I would live in DC. Arlington is great for me since I like to hang out in DC, but work in VA, and Arlington enables me to live in a walkable neighborhood with (some) good restaurants and with access to Metro. If you work downtown, though, why not live near a lot of really cool places and be able to walk to work?
Of course, all of this assumes that by DC we mean "south of Columbia Heights and east of Rock Creek Park." I haven't been able to figure out why people in their twenties would choose to live in neighborhoods like Cleveland Park, unless they worked in Bethesda or Rockville.
Prices in Arlington are about the same as most desirable parts of DC, so it really is a matter of lifestyle choice and not saving money.
BoldasLove - You should double check your taxes - you very well may save, but my taxes are lower in DC than in the suburbs and I've seen studies that show the same for most income brackets. Perhaps you're in a different situation though. Best of luck in your decision.
Re the DC taxes, I think this is the type of report Bluefly has in mind:
I haven't tried to confirm if it's accurate or not. In general, the GGW site epitomizes the "suburbs suck" mind-set of some DC residents. However, it has some interesting articles, so long as you can tolerate the smugness.
I'm not totally convinced it's a matter of misinterpretation - the tone of your second post on this thread is a bit different than the tone of your first.
The good thing for the OP is that she'll have a job that will give her choices that aren't available to a lot of 20-somethings moving to the metro area.
The tone was the same. I think you just read some interpretation into descriptive words that wasn't there.
The tone was the same. I think you just read some interpretation into descriptive words that wasn't there.
The following statement did strike me as rather supercilious:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluefly
The Arlington it sounds like your friends are talking about tends to cater to a predominantly white, yuppie-in-training post-collegiate frat/sorority set that is more homogenous and perhaps not interested in dealing with a real city, only something that looks like a real city.
When I read that, I somehow thought it was perpetuating a bit of a stereotype. Not sure what I was thinking. Must have been hung over from the kegger the other night at Whitlow's, dude. Sorry for that.
The following statement did strike me as rather supercilious:
When I read that, I somehow thought it was perpetuating a bit of a stereotype. Not sure what I was thinking. Must have been hung over from the kegger the other night at Whitlow's, dude. Sorry for that.
I haven't tried to confirm if it's accurate or not. In general, the GGW site epitomizes the "suburbs suck" mind-set of some DC residents. However, it has some interesting articles, so long as you can tolerate the smugness.
That's one of the studies I was thinking of. And it's not really a smugness per se over there, more just an awareness that the whole car-centric thing doesn't really work in a city and we should probably make wise decisions to mix things up with other options.
That's irrelevant here, though, because the part of Arlington we're talking about has transitioned to transit-oriented development quite wonderfully over the past couple decades. So, back to just whatever lifestyle is more appealing - the more homogenous post-collegiate crowd or the more diverse city crowd (and I mean neither of those in any negative way! )
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