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I am considering moving to DC so would like to hear what makes DC stand out. People talk about how it's transient and bland, but there must be a certain flavor to the region still, and DC suburbs are not that transient actually. People also always talk about a great job market, but what else is there? How does DC stack up against other upper tier cities in what it offers? What makes it unique and pleasant? In other words, what would make someone wanna live there, aside from a job?
You should check out the culture section in the Washington Post to see what the region has to offer because you'll get a fair share of people on here who hate the region for their own personal reasons and turn you away from it.
The People: DC draws people from all over the country and all over the world. You'll meet people from all walks of life whether you seek it out or not. There are very few cities in the country that have the diverse draw that we do. The transient nature of the city is a knock on it, but when your friends do leave, you've got a place to stay in Des Moines, Tokyo, London, Morocco, Chicago, New York, Singapore - I have a world-wide network of couches to crash on. When I compare the diversity of people here to places I have lived before (Philadelphia, NOLA, Wyoming, UK) DC has exposed me to more kinds of people than all of the others combined.
The Social/party Scene: It seems like we have a never-ending pipeline of new bars. I don't think our 'clubbing' scene is particularly good, and it's hard to find a cheap drink sometimes, but we have an absurd number of of middle-of-the-road bars and high-end bars. Just a few years ago, your geographic options for going out were limited to a few neighborhoods, but there are quite a few options now to mix it up. The beer scene is great - tons of options and even some world-class selections (Churchkey). Tequila is my thing, and places like El Centro have some great anejo sipping tequilas. Jack-Rose has more drams of scotch than you could go through in a lifetime. Mixology has a near-annoying representation here. You can go on the international circuit with the embassy parties, just get messy in Adams Morgan, or go to a bunch of quirky bars on H street and everything in between.
The Food: This is a recent development as a strength. When I moved here, the restaurants in DC were underwhelming. At best they attempted to not offend the palate. Over the past 5 years or so, we've seen an explosion of new restaurants of every variety. Whether you want a hoagie (taylor) or a mountain of foie gras (Le Diplomat), you can get it in DC (both owners are from my home town, gotta plug them). I'm rebuilding my kitchen myself, so I've been getting delivery and eating out A LOT, and it's awesome.
Events/Activities/cultural draws: I'm including concerts, theater, crafts shows, marathons, major consumer conventions, political events, educational events, museums - I don't know if another city can knock us out of 2nd place behind NYC. For anyone that says otherwise, just go to the city-paper events calendar for a conclusive counterpoint. The attractions that we have by virtue of being the capital city cannot be discounted (monuments, national collections/museums etc).
Sports: DC is a great sports town in two ways. 1) they've got all of them - football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer. That alone is a huge boon. 2) we've got fan bases from everywhere. If you're moving here from NJ and want to watch a Devil's game, I guarantee you that you can find a reliable crowd of Devils fans that will regularly take over part of a bar and watch the game together. The DC fanbase itself is a little slack, but the sports scene overall is great. I'm a Philly fan, and I have a blast with my fellow PA ex-pats.
The Professional Environment: This goes beyond DC just having a good economic environment. DC is the crossroads of every conceivable interest, albeit sometimes just the white-collared representation of that interest. We're not a blue collar town, but as far as exposing yourself to different industries at a high level, we've got a lot to offer. You put a random selection of DC professionals in a room, and you're going to have an interesting collection of knowledge and expertise. If I had stayed in Philadelphia, or New Orleans, I would not have a fraction of the exposure to different issues and perspectives that I have had here.
Green Space:There's a lot of open green space. I'm not a fan of the looming skyscrapers of NYC or the endless concrete sprawl of LA; that's just me. DC offers plenty of blue sky and lots of parks, circles and squares sprinkled throughout the city where you can sit under the trees. The Mall is a completely unique open space that hosts all sorts of events, and Rock Creek Park is enormous.
Transportation Local, regional, national and international are covered. People can ***** all they want about WMATA, but only a few US cities can quantitatively or qualitatively make the case that they have better local public transportation. I love travelling by train, and it's easy to get to NYC or Philly on Amtrak's NEC. We're served by 3 major airports.
It's managable We're not a city of millions of people; we're a medium sized city with big-city features and the uniqueness of being the Nation's capital. There's a lot packed in.
The People: DC draws people from all over the country and all over the world. You'll meet people from all walks of life whether you seek it out or not. There are very few cities in the country that have the diverse draw that we do. The transient nature of the city is a knock on it, but when your friends do leave, you've got a place to stay in Des Moines, Tokyo, London, Morocco, Chicago, New York, Singapore - I have a world-wide network of couches to crash on. When I compare the diversity of people here to places I have lived before (Philadelphia, NOLA, Wyoming, UK) DC has exposed me to more kinds of people than all of the others combined.
The Social/party Scene: It seems like we have a never-ending pipeline of new bars. I don't think our 'clubbing' scene is particularly good, and it's hard to find a cheap drink sometimes, but we have an absurd number of of middle-of-the-road bars and high-end bars. Just a few years ago, your geographic options for going out were limited to a few neighborhoods, but there are quite a few options now to mix it up. The beer scene is great - tons of options and even some world-class selections (Churchkey). Tequila is my thing, and places like El Centro have some great anejo sipping tequilas. Jack-Rose has more drams of scotch than you could go through in a lifetime. Mixology has a near-annoying representation here. You can go on the international circuit with the embassy parties, just get messy in Adams Morgan, or go to a bunch of quirky bars on H street and everything in between.
The Food: This is a recent development as a strength. When I moved here, the restaurants in DC were underwhelming. At best they attempted to not offend the palate. Over the past 5 years or so, we've seen an explosion of new restaurants of every variety. Whether you want a hoagie (taylor) or a mountain of foie gras (Le Diplomat), you can get it in DC (both owners are from my home town, gotta plug them). I'm rebuilding my kitchen myself, so I've been getting delivery and eating out A LOT, and it's awesome.
Events/Activities/cultural draws: I'm including concerts, theater, crafts shows, marathons, major consumer conventions, political events, educational events, museums - I don't know if another city can knock us out of 2nd place behind NYC. For anyone that says otherwise, just go to the city-paper events calendar for a conclusive counterpoint. The attractions that we have by virtue of being the capital city cannot be discounted (monuments, national collections/museums etc).
Sports: DC is a great sports town in two ways. 1) they've got all of them - football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer. That alone is a huge boon. 2) we've got fan bases from everywhere. If you're moving here from NJ and want to watch a Devil's game, I guarantee you that you can find a reliable crowd of Devils fans that will regularly take over part of a bar and watch the game together. The DC fanbase itself is a little slack, but the sports scene overall is great. I'm a Philly fan, and I have a blast with my fellow PA ex-pats.
The Professional Environment: This goes beyond DC just having a good economic environment. DC is the crossroads of every conceivable interest, albeit sometimes just the white-collared representation of that interest. We're not a blue collar town, but as far as exposing yourself to different industries at a high level, we've got a lot to offer. You put a random selection of DC professionals in a room, and you're going to have an interesting collection of knowledge and expertise. If I had stayed in Philadelphia, or New Orleans, I would not have a fraction of the exposure to different issues and perspectives that I have had here.
Green Space:There's a lot of open green space. I'm not a fan of the looming skyscrapers of NYC or the endless concrete sprawl of LA; that's just me. DC offers plenty of blue sky and lots of parks, circles and squares sprinkled throughout the city where you can sit under the trees. The Mall is a completely unique open space that hosts all sorts of events, and Rock Creek Park is enormous.
Transportation Local, regional, national and international are covered. People can ***** all they want about WMATA, but only a few US cities can quantitatively or qualitatively make the case that they have better local public transportation. I love travelling by train, and it's easy to get to NYC or Philly on Amtrak's NEC. We're served by 3 major airports.
It's managable We're not a city of millions of people; we're a medium sized city with big-city features and the uniqueness of being the Nation's capital. There's a lot packed in.
I would add to KStreetQB's post that while the DC restaurant scene has exploded in a good way in the past 5 years, the DC suburbs have for much longer been quite strong in the food department. While the city is where you want to go for fine dining, the suburbs dominate in cheap and authentic ethnic food. Great Chinese in Rockville, great Vietnamese in Eden Center in Falls Church, great Korean in Annandale and tons of great hole-in-the-wall Afghan, Persian and Indian places all over.
DC also is probably the best metro area in the country to eat Ethiopian or Salvadorean food, although that is one of the exceptions in which both the suburbs AND the city are quite strong.
so what caused all this diversity? i mean i know theres embassies and international conventions and all that, but most regular people dont have to do with it
so what caused all this diversity? i mean i know theres embassies and international conventions and all that, but most regular people dont have to do with it
Global/multinational corporations, investment & development organizations, banks, other international NGO's & consultancies and membership organizations have some interest in being in proximity to the State Department, USAID, Millenium Challenge corp, IMF, World Bank, Embassies and the Capitol, all of which employ international individuals directly and/or through fellowships/exchanges themselves. We have several major Universities that add to the draw, as well as satellite campuses for many more. There's a critical mass of international interests here that perpetuates itself. I'm probably missing some things.
As far as the international social scene goes, it's not as exclusive as you might expect; particularly for young people.
The People: DC draws people from all over the country and all over the world. You'll meet people from all walks of life whether you seek it out or not. There are very few cities in the country that have the diverse draw that we do. The transient nature of the city is a knock on it, but when your friends do leave, you've got a place to stay in Des Moines, Tokyo, London, Morocco, Chicago, New York, Singapore - I have a world-wide network of couches to crash on. When I compare the diversity of people here to places I have lived before (Philadelphia, NOLA, Wyoming, UK) DC has exposed me to more kinds of people than all of the others combined.
The Social/party Scene: It seems like we have a never-ending pipeline of new bars. I don't think our 'clubbing' scene is particularly good, and it's hard to find a cheap drink sometimes, but we have an absurd number of of middle-of-the-road bars and high-end bars. Just a few years ago, your geographic options for going out were limited to a few neighborhoods, but there are quite a few options now to mix it up. The beer scene is great - tons of options and even some world-class selections (Churchkey). Tequila is my thing, and places like El Centro have some great anejo sipping tequilas. Jack-Rose has more drams of scotch than you could go through in a lifetime. Mixology has a near-annoying representation here. You can go on the international circuit with the embassy parties, just get messy in Adams Morgan, or go to a bunch of quirky bars on H street and everything in between.
The Food: This is a recent development as a strength. When I moved here, the restaurants in DC were underwhelming. At best they attempted to not offend the palate. Over the past 5 years or so, we've seen an explosion of new restaurants of every variety. Whether you want a hoagie (taylor) or a mountain of foie gras (Le Diplomat), you can get it in DC (both owners are from my home town, gotta plug them). I'm rebuilding my kitchen myself, so I've been getting delivery and eating out A LOT, and it's awesome.
Events/Activities/cultural draws: I'm including concerts, theater, crafts shows, marathons, major consumer conventions, political events, educational events, museums - I don't know if another city can knock us out of 2nd place behind NYC. For anyone that says otherwise, just go to the city-paper events calendar for a conclusive counterpoint. The attractions that we have by virtue of being the capital city cannot be discounted (monuments, national collections/museums etc).
Sports: DC is a great sports town in two ways. 1) they've got all of them - football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer. That alone is a huge boon. 2) we've got fan bases from everywhere. If you're moving here from NJ and want to watch a Devil's game, I guarantee you that you can find a reliable crowd of Devils fans that will regularly take over part of a bar and watch the game together. The DC fanbase itself is a little slack, but the sports scene overall is great. I'm a Philly fan, and I have a blast with my fellow PA ex-pats.
The Professional Environment: This goes beyond DC just having a good economic environment. DC is the crossroads of every conceivable interest, albeit sometimes just the white-collared representation of that interest. We're not a blue collar town, but as far as exposing yourself to different industries at a high level, we've got a lot to offer. You put a random selection of DC professionals in a room, and you're going to have an interesting collection of knowledge and expertise. If I had stayed in Philadelphia, or New Orleans, I would not have a fraction of the exposure to different issues and perspectives that I have had here.
Green Space:There's a lot of open green space. I'm not a fan of the looming skyscrapers of NYC or the endless concrete sprawl of LA; that's just me. DC offers plenty of blue sky and lots of parks, circles and squares sprinkled throughout the city where you can sit under the trees. The Mall is a completely unique open space that hosts all sorts of events, and Rock Creek Park is enormous.
Transportation Local, regional, national and international are covered. People can ***** all they want about WMATA, but only a few US cities can quantitatively or qualitatively make the case that they have better local public transportation. I love travelling by train, and it's easy to get to NYC or Philly on Amtrak's NEC. We're served by 3 major airports.
It's managable We're not a city of millions of people; we're a medium sized city with big-city features and the uniqueness of being the Nation's capital. There's a lot packed in.
I would say this is probably the best description on what makes DC so great
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