Did you move from DC to Boston? Was it a good move?

[joyo1966]

From, Dc and it is home, so yeah I like it better, but I love Boston too. Prefer the weather in DC, but Boston is closer to the beach.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by TheseGoTo11

yeah, but no one who lives in DC or the nice suburbs west of town ever sees those places, but hard to get to Swampscott or Marblehead without passing through some rough industrial areas

Sure, but there are still plenty of upscale places like Weston, Dover, etc. that don't require passing through any industrial areas. I don't really think there's anything all that threatening about the drive to Marblehead either. I just don't like since it's slow going.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by jed1982

I have lived in both cities and in my opinion almost everything about DC is better.

The biggest plus to DC is housing. Housing here in Boston is both crappier and more expensive than DC. The city is old, which gives it a charm that makes it nice to visit, but makes very hard to find a good place to live. Do you want to live in an apartment with radiators? Exposed pipes? Lead paint? Dark and cramped? Drafty windows? Nowhere to park? And pay 33% more than you are paying in DC? If you'd like to improve your living situation and driving situation, you picked probably the worst city possible.

Other things better about DC: Better weather, better transit system, better restaurants, easier to get around, your choice if you want to live in a walkable area or a suburb
Better things about Boston: Better jobs

Interesting.

Personally I find the older housing charming too, and don't really see what's wrong with living in much of it. I think 90% of the places I've lived in my life had radiators, without any negative consequences that I'm aware of. DC has some nice areas but a lot of it is just nondescript.

Also not sure that the 33% more has any basis today. When I lived in DC 10 years ago it was the cheapest of Boston/NYC/DC. Today I think Boston's cheaper.

There are plenty of close-in suburban options in the Boston area, and rentals in many of them are quite afforable compared to, say, the Back Bay. Our place in Belmont is spacious (3 BR, 1300 sq ft), old but newly renovated, has a driveway for 3 cars (no parking issues), has a big yard and a washer/dryer. 15 mins on the bus to Harvard, though I tend to drive to Alewife or take commuter rail 1 stop to Porter. Non-rush hour drive to downtown Boston is 20 mins. And we pay $1550.

The neighborhood is both walkable and suburban. In my experience you could find plenty of suburban in DC, but finding a safe affordable area that was actually walkable and not spread out was not so easy.

I have friends who live near the express bus in Newton and Brighton who pay about the same for comparable places, have off-street parking, etc. It's all where you live. If you live in the heart of the city, you're in the heart of the city. But Dupont, Adams Morgan, Foggy Bottom and Georgetown are no better in terms of high rents and tight parking.

I also think the Metro's clean and quiet, but essentially a commuter rail for the suburbs. Probably about 15% of DC residents live within reasonable walking distance of a station. And I used to walk home from 16th and K to Glover Park and beat the bus, which sat in traffic the whole way.

I wouldn't go back to DC.

[EastBay-NowDCarea]

Originally Posted by holden125

Interesting.

Personally I find the older housing charming too, and don't really see what's wrong with living in much of it. I think 90% of the places I've lived in my life had radiators, without any negative consequences that I'm aware of. DC has some nice areas but a lot of it is just nondescript.

Also not sure that the 33% more has any basis today. When I lived in DC 10 years ago it was the cheapest of Boston/NYC/DC. Today I think Boston's cheaper.

There are plenty of close-in suburban options in the Boston area, and rentals in many of them are quite afforable compared to, say, the Back Bay. Our place in Belmont is spacious (3 BR, 1300 sq ft), old but newly renovated, has a driveway for 3 cars (no parking issues), has a big yard and a washer/dryer. 15 mins on the bus to Harvard, though I tend to drive to Alewife or take commuter rail 1 stop to Porter. Non-rush hour drive to downtown Boston is 20 mins. And we pay $1550.

The neighborhood is both walkable and suburban. In my experience you could find plenty of suburban in DC, but finding a safe affordable area that was actually walkable and not spread out was not so easy.

I have friends who live near the express bus in Newton and Brighton who pay about the same for comparable places, have off-street parking, etc. It's all where you live. If you live in the heart of the city, you're in the heart of the city. But Dupont, Adams Morgan, Foggy Bottom and Georgetown are no better in terms of high rents and tight parking.

I also think the Metro's clean and quiet, but essentially a commuter rail for the suburbs. Probably about 15% of DC residents live within reasonable walking distance of a station. And I used to walk home from 16th and K to Glover Park and beat the bus, which sat in traffic the whole way.

I wouldn't go back to DC.

DC is not the DC it was 10 years ago. It has changed a lot and continues to do so.

[TheseGoTo11]

Originally Posted by holden125

I also think the Metro's clean and quiet, but essentially a commuter rail for the suburbs. Probably about 15% of DC residents live within reasonable walking distance of a station.

Metro ridership is way up, and the Dulles link is now under construction. Metro now carries 200k more pax a day than the T and MBTA commuter rail combined.

You can get plenty of walkable suburban neighborhoods in Arlington, Alexandria, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, and Falls Church - which you wouldn't recognize from 10 years ago. Issue is outside the Beltway is still charmless.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by redpanda

I grew up a bit outside of Metro DC, so I moved to Boston in a sort of roundabout way.

I love DC, and I love Boston. I think they're very similar in terms of architecture, things to do, and intellectual residents...although Boston definitely lacks the political flavor of DC.

The biggest difference I see between Boston and DC (and, why we're still in Boston despite my family being down in that area) is that DC is much sprawl-ier. DC's "close-in" suburbs extend MUCH further out than Boston's. In a way it's a good thing for DC, because the Metro is much easier to rely on than the T. (MUCH! And you're much more able to stick with rail and avoid buses entirely.).

But why I prefer Boston is this: here, I live in a close-in, safe, decent (although not top-of-the-line) school suburb. It takes me 10 minutes to get downtown if it's not rush hour. In the foul weather months, it is not unusual for me to hit the aquarium, the museum of science, and the children's museum all in a given week, because they're just a quick drive away. My husband and I bop on downtown to the South End for "date nights" instead of heading over to the local Outback. And yet, it feels suburban and neighborhoody here. In order to achieve all that in the DC area, you really have to pay a huge premium that we don't have to pay here.

I don't think Boston is more affordable than DC, not at all. But I do think that Boston offers a larger number of close, fairly affordable, nice suburbs than DC.

That's my take. Good luck to you!

Nice selling point for Boston!

Everything else I read had me favoring DC by quite a bit (and still do)....but that post definitely put some solid points in the Boston column!

[NewfieMama]

I went to college in DC and lived there for several years aftward. I decided to make the move to Boston about 7 years ago and while there are things I miss about DC, I like Boston more.

When I lived in DC, I lived at Friendship Heights in MD. So not exactly IN the city, but close enough to jump on the metro and be in the city in 15 minutes. When my then-boyfriend (now husband) and I moved to Boston, we decided to make the move to the 'burbs, so we've had a different experience living in Boston than living in DC.

I do miss the metro. It's superior to the T. And I miss having access to tons of free museums. The traffic during rush-hour is somewhat similar for me (both awful), but I feel like Boston has worse traffic during non-rush hour times. I don't remember sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic in DC on a Saturday like I often find myself doing in Boston.

For me, what tips the scales is proximity to the ocean and charm. I'm a girl who loves the ocean. Since moving to Boston, we've lived on the ocean, lived near the ocean. We finally bought a house last year and are very close to the ocean. In DC, the best it gets are the Delaware beaches or overcrowded outer banks, which are both hours away.

Also, I do prefer the homes in the Boston 'burbs. In DC, I was in Chevy Chase, which was very charming, but not like it is here. I'm sort of in love with 18th century homes (ours is one) and tree-lined streets.

I loved living in both towns, and like anywhere you live, there will be positives and negatives, but I'm glad I made the move to Boston and planon staying here until the urge to buy a ranch in Montana overwhelms me and I leave

[holden125]

Originally Posted by NewfieMama

The traffic during rush-hour is somewhat similar for me (both awful), but I feel like Boston has worse traffic during non-rush hour times. I don't remember sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic in DC on a Saturday like I often find myself doing in Boston.

* * * *

Also, I do prefer the homes in the Boston 'burbs. In DC, I was in Chevy Chase, which was very charming, but not like it is here. I'm sort of in love with 18th century homes (ours is one) and tree-lined streets.

I agree entirely about the homes and the look of the towns. I flat out dislike virtually all of the DC suburbs (notable exceptions being Takoma, Alexandria, Chevy Chase).

I couldn't disagree more with the traffic observation. I don't know where you're driving, but it seems to me traffic is lousy here in Boston at rush hour, and if you're going to the Cape or Maine on summer weekends. The rest of the time it's smooth sailing. The DC area I found (when I lived there and much more recently) terribly traffic-choked everywhere at all times.

I also spent many a year in NYC (now that's traffic hell) and found I had a smooth weekend drive to/from Boston except for the immediate NYC. Going to DC from NYC was invariably hours of delay in NJ, DE, MD. The gas stations on the Jersey Turnpike had lines like in the 70's oil embargo days.

[chaxey]

Originally Posted by holden125

I agree entirely about the homes and the look of the towns. I flat out dislike virtually all of the DC suburbs (notable exceptions being Takoma, Alexandria, Chevy Chase).

I couldn't disagree more with the traffic observation. I don't know where you're driving, but it seems to me traffic is lousy here in Boston at rush hour, and if you're going to the Cape or Maine on summer weekends. The rest of the time it's smooth sailing. The DC area I found (when I lived there and much more recently) terribly traffic-choked everywhere at all times.

I also spent many a year in NYC (now that's traffic hell) and found I had a smooth weekend drive to/from Boston except for the immediate NYC. Going to DC from NYC was invariably hours of delay in NJ, DE, MD. The gas stations on the Jersey Turnpike had lines like in the 70's oil embargo days.

Totally agree. Traffic in DC is much worse than Boston for non-peak times and is compeltely unpredictable with no rhyme or reason to it. At least in Boston, you know where the likely problems are going to be during the weekends, and at rush our, etc...

Also agree with the observations about DC's suburbs. Your choices in architecture? More like a choice between McMansion or Townhouse...