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So, what do you think? Is Washington DC worth the cost of living?
I mean, I think it is if you are single and under a certain age...and looking for an interesting career. You can do roommate situations or get a studio.
So, what do you think? Is Washington DC worth the cost of living?
I mean, I think it is if you are single and under a certain age...and looking for an interesting career. You can do roommate situations or get a studio.
But how about everyone else...? Worth it?
No. I cannot wait for high speed rail so I can live further away. There's no justification for the cost of living here, other than self importance of so m any people.
The answer to the "is DC worth the high cost question" should vary from one person to the next. To me, the worth really comes down to what industry you work in...
For instance, a friend of mine moved here because she really wanted to work for a non-profit, and DC is the mecca for non-profit organizations. So for her, it is well worth it to move to a city with plentiful jobs in her field.
But if you're in, say, the soccer refereeing industry, you could likely get a job in that field at similar pay rates in many other cities which have much lower costs of living, so D.C. might not be as worth it for that person.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiger Beer
So, what do you think? Is Washington DC worth the cost of living?
I mean, I think it is if you are single and under a certain age...and looking for an interesting career. You can do roommate situations or get a studio.
But how about everyone else...? Worth it?
For me, it wasn't worth it. True, there is a good job market and lots you won't find anywhere else but the negatives far outweighed the positives for me and cost-of-living was a major deterrent for me.
The answer to the "is DC worth the high cost question" should vary from one person to the next.
This pretty much sums it up. For my husband and I, it is almost idyllic. However, it wouldn't be other people's idea of quality living.
I don't want/need/care about having a detached huge house with a giant yard. I don't like driving and, therefore, want to live where I can walk most places or take mass transit. A giant, sprawled out suburb or city just isn't for me. So a lower cost city in terms of housing such as Dallas, OKC, KC is pretty much out because I don't want to have to drive every single place I go. For us, to live in any kind of dense, walkable neighborhood in any of those cities I don't think we would have paid much less than what we paid for our house in DC. Yes, the suburbs in those cities are considerably less but to get the same type of environment we have here I don't think it would be less expensive.
Honestly, by the time we figure in the fact that in most (maybe not all) lower cost cities we would have to have 2 cars and are driving considerably more..... that for *us* we would actual save money.
Granted, we lucked out in the fact that my husband's job is in the neighborhood we live in and I work from home so we essentially have zero commuting costs and we don't have kids so not worried about the schools at this point. But that is why I said it is almost Idyllic for us.
Also, I highly doubt that my husband would make as much money with the job security he has anywhere else..................
So, in short, we love it here and the cost of living is not an issue.
I guess it's nice for me right now since I don't have to pay rent or anything. Once I'm out of college or off the parental dole (whichever comes first, hopefully the former) I'm probably gonna hightail it out of here.
Arkcitynative makes a great point. But in order to really get that sort of experience it seems you have to make a LOT of money. If you're making $50K a year (which seems to be what most fresh-out-of-college grads make on the high end) you can't really afford to live in the parts of the city that are safe and walkable. You've either gotta live in the more dangerous parts of town or live out in the suburbs which for the most part are ugly-strip-mall and drive-everywhere 'meccas'. At which point you might as well move somewhere that's cheaper since you'd be getting the same experience.
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