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Old 08-11-2012, 05:59 PM
 
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I live in NJ, near NYC, currently attending school, majoring in criminal justice. I moved here a yr ago from Portland, OR, originally from Russia. I like the whole east coast vibe, but I don't like NYC. NJ is cool, but there is no point for me to stay here long term and pay premium just to be close to NYC, which I don't use that much for all it has to offer cuz I don't like mass transit and to drive there and back is hella hard even though I am so close in Jersey City. I don't like this whole island geography. People say this a lot, and it's true-NYC is overrated and it's just too much. I got about a yr left of school, and I've been researching other cities to move to like Philly and Boston, but DC might work better for me cuz I will most likely end up in the govt field, hopefully some kind of law enforcement or intelligence. DC seems expensive, but less expensive than NYC, prolly close to NJ levels.
What's the DC vibe like? I hear that it is pretty live and has better nightlife comparing to Philly and Boston, esp nightclubs?
Is traffic really that bad? DC has been ranked the worst traffic city a few times recently, but the latest rankings say it dropped to at least #5 so I guess it's not getting worse? I can't imagine how it would be worse than driving in Manhattan, esp when trying to cross the tunnels into NJ where every hr is a rush hr.
Is DC really transient and lacks identity, besides the black people? I keep reading about this, and people say it's hard to make friends because of that. What about the whole metro area?
Is DC cleaner than NYC on average? People like to brag how NYC cleaned up lately, but to me half of it is ghetto/dirty/trashy. I also heard the metro is cleaner than the subway?
Are summers way hotter or no? I hate the humidity.
Any other pros/cons I should know? The main DC cons I heard are the cons true to every big city: expensive, career oriented people, traffic, ghetto so that doesn't really bother me. I like the location as I can still go to NYC and other cities if need be, as well as Atlantic City to party hard.
Does it sound like DC is a good choice for me? I'm actually coming to visit later this month.
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Old 08-11-2012, 07:35 PM
 
Location: Montgomery County, MD
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What's the DC vibe like? Nightlife is the worst of any major American city, very dead and boring. Ugly girls too and waaaay too many guys
Is traffic really that bad? - yes, it only dropped on the list because cities like Houston got worse, not because it got better. It's pretty horrible anytime around rush hour and that means most of the day
Is DC really transient and lacks identity, besides the black people? - yes, no real sense of community. If you have tons of money, you can move to a nice neighborhood but if you rent, your rent will go up in 3 yrs too expensive for you to afford anymore and youll have to move. Also unfriendly people.
Is DC cleaner than NYC on average? - yes, no giant rats even the nicest NYC hoods have. Also the Metro is cleaner than the NYC subway but way more expensive and unreliable
Are summers way hotter or no? - about the same heat but lasts much longer
Any other pros/cons I should know? - It's a really boring place once you've done the tourist things like visit museums. If you really want a government career then you should move here but realize its not a good place to live.
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Old 08-11-2012, 07:55 PM
 
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interesting
how come the women are ugly?
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Old 08-11-2012, 10:33 PM
 
Location: East Coast of the United States
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Washington, D.C. is one of the best cities in the U.S., in my opinion. However, the high cost of living makes it tough for some people to live comfortably. That's pretty much the tradeoff and where you'll see much of negative commentary coming from on the forum. D.C. is also a lot smaller and less high energy than New York City. But it is also more manageable and has more green space, if you're looking for that. For a city its size, D.C. packs a good punch.

If you're working for the government, then this is the place to be. I agree that you should check out the city and some of the surrounding suburbs and see if you like the area.

Last edited by BigCityDreamer; 08-11-2012 at 10:48 PM..
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Old 08-11-2012, 10:47 PM
 
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Yea, well this time I will be more like a first time tourist, taking tours and checking all the landmarks, but I have time to make more trips in the future to get a more local type feel for it. And yea, COL is an issue, but it is one of those things that are typical to all important, big cities.
The thing I am wondering about though-people keep saying jobs in DC pay well and that's why a lot of people move there. Which jobs are they talking about exactly? You're not gonna get rich in a govt job unless you reach very high ranks so I'm just trying to understand. Far as I know, most jobs are govt or govt related.
Smaller and more manageable is def what I want. NYC is a prime example of bigger is not always better.

Last edited by OleSchoolFool; 08-11-2012 at 10:55 PM..
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Old 08-11-2012, 10:58 PM
 
Location: East Coast of the United States
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OleSchoolFool View Post
Yea, well this time I will be more like a first time tourist, taking tours and checking all the landmarks, but I have time to make more trips in the future to get a more local type feel for it. And yea, COL is an issue, but it is one of those things that are typical to all important, big cities.
The thing I am wondering about though-people keep saying jobs in DC pay well and that's why a lot of people move there. Which jobs are they talking about exactly? You're not gonna get rich in a govt job unless you reach very high ranks so I'm just trying to understand. Far as I know, most jobs are govt or govt related.
It tends to be cyclical. When the U.S. economy is doing great, private sector jobs pay more than the government - often with bonuses, stock options, etc. But when the economy is not so good (as has been the case for the past 4 years), then private sector jobs become less secure and government salaries can be higher.

It is typical for people in senior level positions in the government to be making 6-figure incomes.
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Old 08-11-2012, 11:04 PM
 
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O i see, that makes sense in regards to the cycle. I noticed they pay 100k and even more sometimes, but 100k in DC is not that much. I guess there are positions that pay 200k and more, but that seems like a real senior level, might be hard to reach. For me it's ok though, I am not in it for the money, just as long as I have enough to live decent, just trying to understand in general.
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Old 08-11-2012, 11:49 PM
 
Location: Fort Worth, TX
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Let's see

-Very East Coast vibe. Not quite as much hustle-and-bustle as New York but it's definitely not slow and Southern or Western.

-There's a pretty good nightlife scene from what I can tell. Don't know what to compare it to though.

-Traffic ****ing sucks, I'm pretty sure only LA is worse than DC at this point. The problem is that traffic just happens for no reason, especially on the Beltway. I've been stuck in traffic jams at 3PM on a Saturday, 1AM on a Sunday, etc. Usually due to construction or an accident.

-DC definitely feels more transient than other cities, like you said it's mostly natives (and thus mostly blacks) who have more of an identity. Trust me though, people who grow up in this area tend to rep it pretty hard, whether they grew up in Deanwood or Bethesda.

-The Metro is infinitely cleaner than the NY Subway, although the difference is most noticeable in the stations. I rode the NY subway recently and the trains didn't seem that dirty, but the stations stank. Oh and the NY subway sweeps the floor with Metro in terms of service and modernity of trains.

-It's a bit hotter but not much worse.

-You've got a good grasp of the pros & cons. I think you'd like it here. There are lots of good law enforcement agencies here, and of course all the three letter intel agencies.

e: Regarding jobs, I believe federal jobs only make up about 15% of the DC area's jobs. A lot of the other 85% are companies that contract with the feds though. And 100K is pretty great for someone who's single or has no kids, even in DC. You might not be buying a big house in Potomac with it but you can definitely live comfortably on it. Government jobs top out at like 199K though.
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Old 08-12-2012, 02:56 AM
 
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For the sake of simplicity, the OP will be edited to answer the questions.

Quote:
Originally Posted by OleSchoolFool View Post
What's the DC vibe like? I hear that it is pretty live and has better nightlife comparing to Philly and Boston, esp nightclubs?
The DC vibe is different depending on who you ask. Some people will tell you to stay as close to downtown as possible while avoiding going anywhere east of the Anacostia River due to its low income condition and thus fitting the description of "ghetto". Others will tell you that "ghetto" and "affluent" is on a neighborhood to neighborhood basis and it all depends on what you consider "safe". Then there's those that live within the suburbs of DC (Prince George County and Montgomery County in Maryland, and Arlington County, Fairfax County, and the City of Alexandria in Virginia) and consider their residential area to be part of DC proper and base their sentiments on DC based on their suburb. This is something that answers something you mentioned around your original post, not remembering where though. I know you mentioned something about conflicting posts describing DC.

Quote:
Originally Posted by OleSchoolFool View Post
Is traffic really that bad? DC has been ranked the worst traffic city a few times recently, but the latest rankings say it dropped to at least #5 so I guess it's not getting worse?
Traffic in DC proper and in the metropolitan area (MD & VA) is really bad. Part of the reason is because there is a lot of construction going on within the metropolitan area. Neighborhoods being rebuilt, roads being repaved, and the never ending mess that started when the interstate system was designed. To sum up the situation within my last sentence, I95 was meant to run through DC but there were protests so 495 and 95 share their road between Springfield, VA and College Park, MD. This, along with the construction of Tyson's Corner, an area that is office space, residential and commercial in McLean VA, as well as adding Montgomery County to the mix as a county for employment created an unforeseen circumstance around the whole area that resulted in the reconstruction of the 495 bridge in Alexandria VA (links to Oxon Hill, MD). That unforeseen circumstance was that 495 gets clogged going both ways during rush hour due to all the people who live in VA that work in DC & MD and vice versa. Now you might think why don't the people that work in one area live there... Well economics and perception has a lot to do with it. Many people perceive Maryland to be less affluent than Northern Virginia so they may work in Maryland, but live in Virginia. Likewise many people working in Northern Virginia cannot afford to live there due to the high prices of the housing stock in that area so they find it cheaper to live in MD and work in VA. This, along the forthcoming "paragraph" creates the mess seen on all of 495 (and the shared portion of 495 & 95) on top of the construction.

Then there's those that work in DC BUT cannot afford, are too scared (of the "ghetto" element), or want something big (large house, large property area, or both) that they end up living in the outer suburbs to get the type of housing they want. This creates what ranks DC as one of the worst areas for traffic, with some stating that only LA has WORSE traffic than DC. Because of this, I395 which connects DC to I95 is clogged all the way down to Fredericksburg VA, as well as I495 around Montgomery and Prince George's County in MD. Then there's the more further out areas which also have many people working in DC that creates more traffic. As such, I270 is involved in this traffic mess.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE..... Some people in the DC metropolitan area work in the Baltimore/Towson Metropolitan area and vice versa. This leads to traffic all the way out to Downtown Baltimore. As such, any major road within the 2 metropolitan areas become clogged as early as 6 in the morning for the morning rush hour, and 3 in the afternoon for the afternoon/evening rush hour. Sometimes the rush hour can extend to 11am and 8pm for their respective rush hours.

This ends up becoming this picture (below this paragraph)... All of the shaded area in red ends up having traffic one way or another due to many contributing factors involving how far people live to obtain cheap and plentiful property to live on as well as how far people are willing to travel in order to have a good job. Another reason this became what it is, is because many government and government related jobs are scattered as far as out as Baltimore. Defense Contractors are practically the #1 non govt employer here. After that, it is worldwide corporations. It's amazing how many companies have their headquarters within this region. Volkswagen Group of America is headquartered in Herndon, VA. Discovery Communications (Discovery Channel) is headquartered in Silver Spring, MD. Sprint Nextel is in Herndon, VA. Radio One is in Lanham, MD. Baltimore (well Maryland as a whole) benefits a lot from military jobs. There's a lot of air bases within Maryland as well as other military bases. Ft. Meade is also a major military base, on par with Ft. Belvoir in Virginia. They're both dedicated to military defense.

Anyways, all of this is clogged for rush hour. Some areas are smooth sailing, other areas you're practically in a parking lot creeping along at 5mph, and it gets to a point where you rather flintstone your car than idle it.



Quote:
Originally Posted by OleSchoolFool View Post
I can't imagine how it would be worse than driving in Manhattan, esp when trying to cross the tunnels into NJ where every hr is a rush hr.
DC proper's traffic isn't that bad. I will give you that. The major issue within DC is their speed cameras and ridiculously low speed limits outside of the downtown/tourist area. The defacto speed limit in DC is 25. It even says on the DMV website that if there's no sign posted then automatically, the speed limit is 25. The fastest you can go in DC is 50MPH, which is on I295. Then the 2nd fastest area is the Suitland Parkway, at 45MPH. Everything else is 25, 30 or 35. The traffic in DC moves, but because it is very limited, the traffic is because EVERYBODY is doing the speed limit and you can't speed because every heavily traveled area has cameras that are fixed or mobile. DC is very ridiculous with their speed cameras. They even place a camera on 395, where the speed limit is 40. Yes, that's right, 40MPH on an interstate. This creates a 2nd situation where there's sections where there's no speed cameras and people speed, but then there's signs warning of such devices and everyone stops, creating traffic. The worst cases of this situation are during rush hour. Other than that, it's very manageable so long you have a basic idea of the street grid.

Quote:
Originally Posted by OleSchoolFool View Post
Is DC really transient and lacks identity, besides the black people? I keep reading about this, and people say it's hard to make friends because of that. What about the whole metro area?
DC has no identity because it is a melting pot. Yes, the Black people have identity, but only because they have been in the city since the 70's (if not earlier). DC as a whole has no identity besides being the Nation's Capital because the identities lie within the neighborhoods. Anacostia & Shaw are known to be rich in Black culture, Dupont Circle is known to be a homosexual stronghold, Columbia Heights is a melting pot of Asian and Hispanic population. In summary, DC has many subcultures but nothing that links the whole area to an identity (besides Mambo sauce and go-go music, which really are subcultures but many people associate it with DC as a whole). Its a good thing and a bad thing. At least DC is not like NYC where Manhattan IS the identity for the 5 boroughs, Staten Island completely forgotten, and Bronx being considered the place where everything bad happens. This isn't what makes it hard to make friends in this area though. The real issue is that everybody tends to keep to themselves. This has nothing to do with a lack of identity. It really has more to do with self centrism, egos, and the dog eat dog mindstate within the transplants of the area. The problem with DC (usually seen outside of the proper city and into the suburbs, especially down south to Northern Virginia) is that they THINK that they're a big shot because they are near the nation's capital but really don't amount to anything other than the small role they play within this region.

Another thing that makes it hard to make friends in the DC Metro Area is that everyone stays in groups.

The Hispanics stay with Hispanics and within this group, they're broken down even further to their country of origin. They can be the literal expression of "crabs in a bucket" where they don't help each other out. This usually is a rivalry between countries/cultures but sometimes they can have the same roots and be very hateful to each other. They'll stay together in small communities of people that have the same country of originin (For example, Arlandria in Alexandria, VA is also known as Chirilagua because many Salvadorans live there. You will not see anyone from South America there). When they interact with people from other areas, they'll usually try to one up each other than come to a mutual understanding that they speak Spanish and came here for political or economic reasons and should help each other out instead of hurting each other.

The Blacks usually stay together, but have a rivalry between the "hood" group and the "affluent" group. As such, you will never see a middle class Black person around a Black person that acts "hood". It's not so much an economic thing as it is social. Affluent/middle class Black people usually feel that those in the "hood" make them look bad, even though some successful Black people have ties to the "hood". They tend to want to forget where they came from. Others will represent their "hood" so hard that it makes them look ignorant. The ones that take pride in the crime rate of their area. That is plain ignorance and causes the issue between Middle class and "hood".

White people in the area always stay together and really have no identity. As such, you'll see some people calling their suburb a "hood". Most of these suburban "hoods" are nothing more than working class neighborhoods with the name "hood" simply because a small group of people choose to commit petty crimes (selling weed, shoplifting, etc) and have no class/culture. You'll hear a lot of people within Prince William County in Virginia call Woodbridge "Hoodbridge" or say that Dale City is "ghetto" and so on but the majority of these places are commuter cities.

You can see why its hard to make friends. Not many people venture out. Its all about similarities in this metropolitan area. It's even harder to find a good relationship (dating) in this area. There is a huge lack of unity based on community and more emphasis placed on origin.

Quote:
Originally Posted by OleSchoolFool View Post
Is DC cleaner than NYC on average? People like to brag how NYC cleaned up lately, but to me half of it is ghetto/dirty/trashy. I also heard the metro is cleaner than the subway?
YES! DC's roaches are tiny compared to the behemoths you find in NYC. The downside is that the whole metropolitan area is humid and has mosquito & fly problems in the summer. For the most part, areas that tend to be filthy have RATS and areas that are clean will only have roach & fly problems. Roaches are mostly a residential issue. Im not sure where they come from or how they get into these residential places, but they do and it's hard to get rid of em.

The trains in the Metro system are a lot comfortable. They're actually carpeted and have very little vandalism problems. The most you'll see is throw up during the weekends and trash from foods. The seats also face towards the front instead of towards the center. The only problem is that the metro is always being worked on.


Quote:
Originally Posted by OleSchoolFool View Post
Are summers way hotter or no? I hate the humidity.
DC has more Northeastern weather than anything. You won't be suffocating like you would in Chicago or Atlanta. It snows a lot less in DC than in NYC. Sadly, it does rain a lot, which causes humidity.

Quote:
Originally Posted by OleSchoolFool View Post
Any other pros/cons I should know? The main DC cons I heard are the cons true to every big city: expensive, career oriented people, traffic, ghetto so that doesn't really bother me. I like the location as I can still go to NYC and other cities if need be, as well as Atlantic City to party hard.
I more or less summed up the area. It is in a nutshell but like I said, the major thing you should know is the traffic. In a way, it's kind of how the northern half of NJ is part of the NYC Metropolitan area. If you're looking for a career involving the govt, then DC's the only place to do it. I'm not sure what field you're looking for but there's a little bit of everything here in DC. Just remember, if you miss home, it's a 5 hour trip BUT make sure not to do it during rush hour. Make the trip on a Friday night after 7pm, get there as soon as you can and come back Sunday afternoon. You'll be ok, just know you might feel lonely a lot because it will be hard to find someone you click with.
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Old 08-12-2012, 05:14 AM
 
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DCs a fantastic city if your income is 300k. Just do that and you'll enjoy it .
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