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A new twist, variation on the theme 'Is Washington DC worth the cost of living'.
It seemed that the general concensus, was YES for good jobs, YES. If the type of job you can get is the same kind of job that you can get anywhere else, than NO.
How about this...even if you DO get a good job, and decent salary. Is it worth it if you are married with kids? Just thinking, that being young and single, seems worth it to me. You can have a roommate situation, and live in the city somewhere close enough to work, etc. Plenty of interesting things to do as a single person, etc.
But, if married with kids. It means you pretty much look at more expensive housing scenarios...probably much more commute times. On top of that, the better paying more interesting jobs, would probably require more hours at work as well.
In this sense, if a person is married, has a family....AND, best case scenario, land an interesting job for oneself (a BIG IF with that as well, can't guarantee that either)....but would be DC be worth the cost of living for someone with that kind of situation?
A new twist, variation on the theme 'Is Washington DC worth the cost of living'.
It seemed that the general concensus, was YES for good jobs, YES. If the type of job you can get is the same kind of job that you can get anywhere else, than NO.
How about this...even if you DO get a good job, and decent salary. Is it worth it if you are married with kids? Just thinking, that being young and single, seems worth it to me. You can have a roommate situation, and live in the city somewhere close enough to work, etc. Plenty of interesting things to do as a single person, etc.
But, if married with kids. It means you pretty much look at more expensive housing scenarios...probably much more commute times. On top of that, the better paying more interesting jobs, would probably require more hours at work as well.
In this sense, if a person is married, has a family....AND, best case scenario, land an interesting job for oneself (a BIG IF with that as well, can't guarantee that either)....but would be DC be worth the cost of living for someone with that kind of situation?
That depends on what you define as "DC". Do you mean living in the District or commuting in from someplace like Germantown?
That depends on what you define as "DC". Do you mean living in the District or commuting in from someplace like Germantown?
Entire Metro. From my understanding, everything is expensive way out there as well. Way too far out there, like Germantown, and I'd imagine you'd be spending a lot of time out of the house with just commuting alone (and gas) - taking out any cost advantage you might get with that. So yeah, I'd include that.
Way too far out there, like Germantown, and I'd imagine you'd be spending a lot of time out of the house with just commuting alone (and gas) - taking out any cost advantage you might get with that.
Yes, that's the tragedy of today's DC.
Back in the '80s, despite some problems with city government, at least the city was somewhat affordable then.
In this sense, if a person is married, has a family....AND, best case scenario, land an interesting job for oneself (a BIG IF with that as well, can't guarantee that either)....but would be DC be worth the cost of living for someone with that kind of situation?
I'd wager "yes", since i know of several married couples who are perfectly happy to stay in the area (some already have kids, some are just starting to). Again, it really depends on the person. If you love living in or near the city, don't mind a smaller place (i.e. townhouse, condo), and can figure out a schooling option, then it can definitely be worth it. If your budget and housing/schooling desires lead you to an outer suburb, probably not so much (I don't understand how anyone can be happy when commuting for 2+ hours every day).
In the end, like your other thread, it really just depends on the person. I know a family in Philly who planned to move to the suburbs when they had their first child. After spending a week at their parents' house (which was actually in the city, but further up in the Northeast) they hightailed it back to Old City and decided to just stay in the neighborhood. There's nothing wrong with where her parents live, but just not for them.
A new twist, variation on the theme 'Is Washington DC worth the cost of living'.
It seemed that the general concensus, was YES for good jobs, YES. If the type of job you can get is the same kind of job that you can get anywhere else, than NO.
How about this...even if you DO get a good job, and decent salary. Is it worth it if you are married with kids? Just thinking, that being young and single, seems worth it to me. You can have a roommate situation, and live in the city somewhere close enough to work, etc. Plenty of interesting things to do as a single person, etc.
But, if married with kids. It means you pretty much look at more expensive housing scenarios...probably much more commute times. On top of that, the better paying more interesting jobs, would probably require more hours at work as well.
In this sense, if a person is married, has a family....AND, best case scenario, land an interesting job for oneself (a BIG IF with that as well, can't guarantee that either)....but would be DC be worth the cost of living for someone with that kind of situation?
This is going to be a little bit off topic, but since you're currently living in Asia, I thought I'd ask, if you don't mind (I just saw this on CNN's website).
Have you tried this burger? Is it available in Japan yet? And bringing it full circle, does this have a chance to catch on as a delicacy in America?
Yup, married, living in an sfh and about to have a kid here. You just need to have a good $$$ for your household. That's the key. I also telecommute most of the time, so that helps too. :-D
BTW, I don't think I've said this before. But for anyone thinking of moving to the DC area to raise a family, I strongly recommend you have a 4-year college degree at least. This area is very much career-oriented.
Last edited by BigCityDreamer; 06-27-2010 at 09:41 AM..
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BigCityDreamer
Yup, married, living in an sfh and about to have a kid here. You just need to have a good $$$ for your household. That's the key. I also telecommute most of the time, so that helps too. :-D
BTW, I don't think I've said this before. But for anyone thinking of moving to the DC area to raise a family, I strongly recommend you have a 4-year college degree at least. This area is very much career-oriented.
A new twist, variation on the theme 'Is Washington DC worth the cost of living'.
It seemed that the general concensus, was YES for good jobs, YES. If the type of job you can get is the same kind of job that you can get anywhere else, than NO.
How about this...even if you DO get a good job, and decent salary. Is it worth it if you are married with kids? Just thinking, that being young and single, seems worth it to me. You can have a roommate situation, and live in the city somewhere close enough to work, etc. Plenty of interesting things to do as a single person, etc.
But, if married with kids. It means you pretty much look at more expensive housing scenarios...probably much more commute times. On top of that, the better paying more interesting jobs, would probably require more hours at work as well.
In this sense, if a person is married, has a family....AND, best case scenario, land an interesting job for oneself (a BIG IF with that as well, can't guarantee that either)....but would be DC be worth the cost of living for someone with that kind of situation?
Many well educated people with children find it a very goo environment in which to raise their children. It depends to some extent of what are you looking for -- a good education for your children or a cheap route to warehousing them. If you want cheap, head further south.
Unlike our most prolific Washington basher, I've raise a child here. It's an unparalleled environment in which to raise children.
Back in the '80s, despite some problems with city government, at least the city was somewhat affordable then.
But at some point, something went terribly wrong.
What went wrong is that this city actually became liveable and started to attract good jobs. And started attracting the best and the brightest. Much like NYC was a cr@phole in the 70's.
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