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Ask HN: Moving to DC in 2023?

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Re: Ask HN: Moving to DC in 2023?

#71

Post by compsciphd »

setgree wrote: post #39
bane wrote: post #20

One mistake almost everybody in tech makes when they move to DC from somewhere else in the country is that they move to DC proper. DC, despite being a fairly walkable city with a decent subway by US standards and a lot of diverse food choices, is not where action outside of government or government related is. Nearly all of the tech scene is outside of the city in two areas. Either in the stretch of MD north of DC an…

Contra this, I recommend that folks live in DC and commute to those areas if/when needed. I lived in the Columbia Heights area for two years and I found it lovely. Dense, full of amenities, and within walking distance of Rock Creek Park which, IMO, is as good for running/walking/biking as any urban park I've been in. By contrast, I find the suburbs around DC painfully bland and car-centric. Crystal City and Silver Sp…

silver springs is in florida, not md ;)

Re: Ask HN: Moving to DC in 2023?

#72

Post by cglan »

throwaway24124 wrote: post #26
cglan wrote: post #19

I lived there 4 years in Dupont Circle. It's a weird city. I personally didn't vibe with it so take what I say with a huge grain of salt. It's clean, people are intelligent, and there's a lot of stuff that's free and the architecture is gorgeous. That said, it doesn't have much of a culture since it's very transient. They way I describe it is the culture is very 'safe'. It's not gonna push the boundaries of anything.…

What neighborhood did you move to in NYC? I'm in NYC now and considering signing a 1 bedroom lease here, but the avg price in Manhattan/Brooklyn seems to be $3500 a month which is pushing me toward living in DC instead.

I moved near east williamsburg/bushwhick along the L this past fall. I pay around 1.8k for a pretty large place alone. You can definitely find deals but the market has been sorta nuts. $3500 definitely feels high but keep in mind I dont have a dishwasher or w/d which for me is fine. I'm immensely more happy here than in DC and I am fully remote. I pay about $100 a month for wework basic and it gets me out of the house during the day. Or I go to friends places.

Re: Ask HN: Moving to DC in 2023?

#73

Post by bane »

setgree wrote: post #39
bane wrote: post #20

One mistake almost everybody in tech makes when they move to DC from somewhere else in the country is that they move to DC proper. DC, despite being a fairly walkable city with a decent subway by US standards and a lot of diverse food choices, is not where action outside of government or government related is. Nearly all of the tech scene is outside of the city in two areas. Either in the stretch of MD north of DC an…

Contra this, I recommend that folks live in DC and commute to those areas if/when needed. I lived in the Columbia Heights area for two years and I found it lovely. Dense, full of amenities, and within walking distance of Rock Creek Park which, IMO, is as good for running/walking/biking as any urban park I've been in. By contrast, I find the suburbs around DC painfully bland and car-centric. Crystal City and Silver Sp…

It's definitely true, despite the Metro, the area is painfully car centric, with some very difficult to navigate road systems. I've heard it called an area based on the civic planning model of "development denial" where the suburbs get defined, with all the nasty suburban roads/stroads types you can think of, then NIMBYs disallow further development, so new suburbs and added a bit further out, and that pattern has repeated since WW2. The DC Metro Area consistently rates in the top-10 for worst traffic in the country, and its patternless ebb and flow absolutely defies consistent planning when driving around.

Adding to your note, most of the people I know who've lived in DC proper end up with jobs out of the city, and usually after 2 or 3 years just give in and move closer to work. A trip from Columbia Heights or even Dupont Circle to National Landing (where Amazon's HQ2 is) is still frustratingly about an hour on the Metro, a driving distance of less than 7 miles. It's a reverse commute so I guess there that?

Re: Ask HN: Moving to DC in 2023?

#74

Post by bmay »

torstenvl wrote: post #44

Strongly advise against living in the District. There is little to no benefit to doing so. If you want a "downtown" feel, I'd recommend Alexandria or the north side of Arlington (the south side of Arlington is very DoD, so probably not your vibe). Virginia has a much lower violent crime rate (104 per 100000 vs 977 per 100000 in DC), lower taxes, a better social scene, and is more accessible to any of the common recre…

> Virginia has [...] a better social scene

What's your definition of a "social scene"? I have lived in both and have known many people who have lived in both and you are probably the only person I've ever met (myself included) who thinks this.

Re: Ask HN: Moving to DC in 2023?

#75

Post by rhino369 »

jonstewart wrote: post #53
torstenvl wrote: post #44

Strongly advise against living in the District. There is little to no benefit to doing so. If you want a "downtown" feel, I'd recommend Alexandria or the north side of Arlington (the south side of Arlington is very DoD, so probably not your vibe). Virginia has a much lower violent crime rate (104 per 100000 vs 977 per 100000 in DC), lower taxes, a better social scene, and is more accessible to any of the common recre…

Strongly advise against living in NoVA. It’s extremely segregated and parochial. Do you like the Cheesecake Factory and frat boys? Then you’ll love Arlington. I throw up in my mouth a little whenever I venture across the Potomac (I live in Mount Pleasant in DC).

DC attracts the higher end culinary restaurants--the sort of place an upper middle class person can afford to eat at once a month or less. But you are fooling yourself if you think the tiers of restaurants below that are any better in the district. Both are worse than food scenes in real cities.

And for the places you are paying 200/person for dinner--people in Arlington aren't much (or at all) further than people in NE.

And you are fooling yourself if you think the people living in old town are much different than people in Logan Circle. Or people in courthouse are different than people in navy yard.

Re: Ask HN: Moving to DC in 2023?

#76

Post by mixmastamyk »

rootbear wrote: post #9

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is in Greenbelt, Maryland, just outside the Beltway. I was a contractor there, mostly as a Unix and Linux system administrator, for nearly 30 years. It's a great place to work, but the salaries won't be as high as you'd get in private industry. Commuting from Dupont Circle might be a pain, but it's a reverse commute, so that helps. (Most commuter come into the city in the morning, not…

Contractor for thirty years?

Re: Ask HN: Moving to DC in 2023?

#77

Post by [deleted] »

bmay wrote: post #74
torstenvl wrote: post #44

Strongly advise against living in the District. There is little to no benefit to doing so. If you want a "downtown" feel, I'd recommend Alexandria or the north side of Arlington (the south side of Arlington is very DoD, so probably not your vibe). Virginia has a much lower violent crime rate (104 per 100000 vs 977 per 100000 in DC), lower taxes, a better social scene, and is more accessible to any of the common recre…

> Virginia has [...] a better social scene What's your definition of a "social scene"? I have lived in both and have known many people who have lived in both and you are probably the only person I've ever met (myself included) who thinks this.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Moving to DC in 2023?

#78

Post by torstenvl »

bmay wrote: post #74
torstenvl wrote: post #44

Strongly advise against living in the District. There is little to no benefit to doing so. If you want a "downtown" feel, I'd recommend Alexandria or the north side of Arlington (the south side of Arlington is very DoD, so probably not your vibe). Virginia has a much lower violent crime rate (104 per 100000 vs 977 per 100000 in DC), lower taxes, a better social scene, and is more accessible to any of the common recre…

> Virginia has [...] a better social scene What's your definition of a "social scene"? I have lived in both and have known many people who have lived in both and you are probably the only person I've ever met (myself included) who thinks this.

My idea of a social scene is people doing things with strangers such that they can be social outside their existing friend groups and make new friends.

It isn't two far-left white dudes in suits talking politics and their Hill jobs at a ground level bar in some brutalist monstrosity while ignoring everyone around them.

Yeah there are some fun and quirky things but a lot of that was hurt by COVID too.

Re: Ask HN: Moving to DC in 2023?

#79

Post by gaws »

techperson20007 wrote: post #58

I disagree with some of the opinions here. But I think it depends on your background, age, lifestyle, family status etc. I have lived in DC for 6 years and in the NOVA area for much longer. I ended up buying a house in DC, in Georgetown. I absolutely love it in DC. There are so many cool little bars and restaurants, especially around the Logan Circle area. The wharfs and waterfronts in Georgetown and in Southwest are…

> I ended up buying a house in DC, in Georgetown.

When? And for how much?

Re: Ask HN: Moving to DC in 2023?

#80

Post by rootbear »

mixmastamyk wrote: post #76
rootbear wrote: post #9

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is in Greenbelt, Maryland, just outside the Beltway. I was a contractor there, mostly as a Unix and Linux system administrator, for nearly 30 years. It's a great place to work, but the salaries won't be as high as you'd get in private industry. Commuting from Dupont Circle might be a pain, but it's a reverse commute, so that helps. (Most commuter come into the city in the morning, not…

Contractor for thirty years?

Yep. I worked for a half dozen different contracting companies over those years and in three different groups. I was at Goddard two separate times, with a three year break in the Real World in between. My two stints together amount to just short of thirty years. I retired last July.
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