Where do people go after DC? (sales, real estate, schools)

[galtor2]

So you have made your money in DC, you are a 20-30 something.

Where do people go after you have decided it is time to move on? Do you move south where the housing prices are better? Move to NY? Or do most people just stay put and hope the housing market becomes more affordable?

[BigCityDreamer]

Suburbs

[BoomBoxing]

1) Wherever you're from originally, or close to it OR 2) Where you find that next perfect job opportunity.

[HurricaneDC]

They go wherever they feel like going.

[hiker16]

...crazy

[chicagotodc]

Depends. If you are making $200 or $300 a year here, theres no need to move.

[terrence81]

I wouldn't say I've "made my money". But I make 30% more than when I first moved here a few years ago. However, I like it here and don't plan to move. I wouldn't neccesarily there's an "after DC" trend or pattern. People go where there's opportunity. With that said the few people I've known to ditch DC have headed to warmer climates like Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, and Houston.

The acquaintance that was moving to Houston actually lived in Baltimore but was all about the warmer weather and cheaper housing. Everyone goes on and on about Baltimore being cheap but to me its still very expensive, with low salaries just not as expensive as DC.

Also some people just like to move. Leaving my hometown was so traumatic I can't imagine moving to another city again after just a few years.

[movinghere]

I think that people often go back to where they came from (or where their significant other/spouse came from if they met a significant other while here). Also many 20-somethings who didn't go straight to grad school will come here and work for a few years, and then relocate depending on what grad schools they get into. Personally I know people who have moved to cheaper locations (ie the south) as well as people who've moved to expensive but fun places (ie NYC, San Francisco). And there definitely are some people who stay in DC for the long-run.

[coldbliss]

Where do people go after DC?

Depends. If you FAIL in this town, you are heading back home. I have met people who could not launch successful careers in DC. They slaved away as temps, waiters, store clerks, and couriers, but they had no luck in finding a well-paying, satisfying FT job. Going back to the parents is the only option.

If you SUCCEED in this town but you are ready for a change of scenery, you have lots of options.

1. You can find an overseas job. DC has a big community of international development specialists, foreign service personnel and public health researchers. These fields offer plenty of opportunity for international jobs--particularly if you have a soft spot for places in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Central Asia and Southeast Asia.

2. If you are a lawyer, you might want to work in a different office (NY, LA, Chicago, San Francisco etc.). If you are a physician, you might get a promotion and huge salary boost by moving to another city. Ditto for architects, sales & marketing executives, software & IT network engineers, accountants, nurses and so on.

3. People might leave DC because they are changing their focus away from career development and devoting more energy to lifestyle issues. Even Baltimore would be an improvement here.

4. Some leave DC because they can get more "bang for the buck" with cheaper real estate, lower taxes, and lower overall cost of living. Biggest destinations could be The Carolinas, West Virginia, Tennessee, Colorado, New Mexico and so on.

5. If we are talking about people in their 50s and 60s, they could be leaving DC because they are looking to retire some place. Florida, South Carolina, Arizona or some other warm locale.

6. Or someone like me who is so disgusted with the corrupt stench of Power and Privilege in this city that he would contemplate leaving with ZERO job prospects and ZERO savings in the bank to some faraway American city. That's desperation.

[mettler]

I hope to get to the Rockies on my next move. I've lived all over the east coast and think it is time to head west. I remember having an English teacher in college my freshman year that told the class that when we get out of college we should go far, because when we get older we will want to be close to our parents. Now that I am in my early 40s I see that point, and I find that the thing weighing most heavily on my mind about moving across the country is being too far from my parents. But, I can't deny that when I am in Rockies for whatever reason I actually feel like I am home, and my parents are all about me moving west. My mom tells me it will give them a reason to come out there.