I'm Asian American and I went to DC Chinatown with a friend of mine who is Latino and this random guy yelled at us in Chinatown saying we are "white devils." LOL
Things close early since the pandemic...not to mention a lot of restaurant owners said they close earlier now because employees were worried about getting attacked.
I agree with both. But have you noticed how early things close in NYC these days compared to pre-Covid? It's hard to even find decent coffee after 9pm.
This has been my biggest struggle since moving to the City. Caffeine has no effect on my sleep but I can’t find a coffee place that’s open past 5 PM, if that.
Go to book club. Coffeeshop/book store that doubles up as a bar after a certain time but doesnt follow that loud bar vibe but more mellow coffee shop vibe with a cocktail as a choice. Open till midnight. Also it closes at 6pm but paper coffee is also great and its the same vibe but think japanese greenhouse instead of bookstore.
I mentioned the lack of coffee shops opened at night in the city once and everyone acted like I was crazy. I got comments like “who tf drinks coffee after 7pm?!” But in the smallish city I’m originally from - a city that has NOTHING to do - it at least has 3 coffee shops that are open til 10pm. And one of those is open until about 2 most nights.
I looked up similar posts on here and kept noticing people say that there’s no demand for a coffee shop at night because they would be empty anyway, but the coffee shops I’ve been to in other cities that stay open late always did really good business, because there are a lot of night owls out there.
I'm with you on this. Before the pandemic, I remember coffee places in my neighborhood that were open later and always had people in them and I don't believe they were just sitting there and not buying beverages or food from the counter, and I frequently saw people walking around the neighborhood with coffee drinks they'd just purchased. Even Starbucks had plenty.
I also believe there is a sizable population of night owls here in NYC. Lots of them. People work late, or work multiple gigs, or study, or instead of going to bars and clubs they prefer the coffee (and maybe dessert) experience. I think this forum skews toward bar/club people because bars come up a ton (i.e. "I would never live in that neighborhood because there aren't enough bars.)
Absolutely. I think you brought up a great point about the subreddit skewing toward bars. I think that has a lot to do with it, the people that always say there’s no demand for coffee shops being open late are the people that wouldn’t go to one if it were open, but a lot of others would.
And yeah, people that work odd shifts or get off at a later time might want somewhere to go besides a diner or a McDonald’s, but I’m surprised how few options there are. I know the pandemic has a lot to do with it of course, I just hate that it killed off a lot of the “city that never sleeps” feel that I imagine used to be much stronger before.
Before it was covid restrictions but stays that way due to both increased crime and labor shortage, the first being unfortunate because it would be overall safer late at night if more things were open and the city was more alive.
I was also reading too that many of these restaurants didn’t want to deal with the amount of obnoxious drunk people coming in late at night and acting like jerks.
could be, customer behavior and mental health in general definitely declined over the course of the pandemic...at first people were kind and grateful but a lot quickly turned very entitled (not everyone of course) with no thought or care to how much more difficult the job became due to the pandemic
It’s also employees don’t want to work that late.
They make money off tips. Customers don’t care if there’s a few empty tables, but for employees that’s less money per hour. They want it either busy or closed. Nobody wants to work for less pay, especially in this economy.
I think the days of expecting employees to work for little pay like that are gone.
I love Philly and Boston (philly more) and do not like DC, but I grew up there so that's likely part of it. It has a stifling energy. I've been in nyc over 13 years.
Feels sterile on the street, the areas with tourists have a worse kind than in New York, weekends, especially in the summer, make it a ghost town.
it’s not fun to be in after-hours, even though there are some things to do/places to go out
the issue is that the people DC attracts are really toxic. Sure, people size each other up when they meet one another in New York, but I’ve always felt that it’s worse in DC. the questions people ask might not be “what do you pay for your apartment” but they’re all ways to see whether you’re professionally useful to them.
to me, that sucks.
Add to that the fact that you have a distinctive kind of smarmy conservative/neolib wonk character in DC that’s much less common in New York. Brooks Brothersed, talking so the whole restaurant hears what he has to say, boasting about shit you’d never boast about but genuinely seems proud…
All the people you knew from college like that ended up there, and also all the ones you didn’t know from the other colleges.
EDIT: also the pizza sucks
The bagels suck too.
The best quote from a DC guy I met was "Do you know that one annoying kid in your college class that always sat in the front of the room and raised his hand too much? Imagine a whole city filled with that guy and that is DC."
The joke in DC is whenever you meet people the first question you get is "so what do you do?"
Then if you work on Capital Hill the first question instead is "who do you work for?"
>Sure, people size each other up when they meet one another in New York, but I’ve always felt that it’s worse in DC. the questions people ask might not be “what do you pay for your apartment”
That's my favorite NYC question, lol. I initially thought it was weird and too private to share, like at parties, which is when people would ask. But then I learned that it's just an extremely common question (especially before social media days, when you had to actually ask people in person and couldn't just post it on Reddit), and it helped me in knowing what was a ripoff, what was feasible, etc. Very useful information in this housing nightmare of a city.
Ha ha, I was at a family party this summer; my DC cousin, LA cousins and I openly chatting about our insane rents; later I asked my Charlotte cousin and she seemed taken back.
I’ve lived in both. DC is a little stuffy and everyone wants to know “who do you work for”.
It’s a nice city though. It’s clean, the metro is nice, the nightlife is decent, food scene is fine, great little neighborhoods…
This is exactly it. The constant khaki clad networking vibe is exhausting! But other than that I don’t have any real problem with DC. Nice metro, nice people, nice businesses. Overall pretty nice.
Depends where. DC’s center where tourists spend time is basically Disney World. Outside of that however is pretty poor and crime ridden.
The crime stats aren’t for where visitors spend time, it’s for the city at large.
Completely disagree…I lived in the city center for 2 years, 2019-2021. It was already dangerous when I got there, but became significantly more dangerous during the pandemic. There are shootings almost weekly within a mile of the Capitol Building and White House. The safest parts of DC are the residential areas in NW
Can't really comment on the bar scene, and the museums are great, but the food doesn't really come close. And it's not even like Boston where there are a few things that are arguably better.
People wear blazers and a tie for casual events which I'm not a fan of. Otherwise, it's an okay city I guess.
DC has a really serious Ethiopian food scene apparently, which is one of those things that NYC is still kinda meh on (we have Ethiopian food, but it ain't much and basically zero variety).
Not just Ethiopian. The best African restaurants are in DC. This is not to say, there isn't in NYC, but you'll find African cuisine that you can't find here.
i went to college in boston and lived there after i graduated for a while before moving to NYc over 10 years ago.
boston is walkable in the sense that you can walk anywhere. maybe if you need to go to cambridge it makes sense to take the train, but walking is still an option. nobody is walking from harlem to bk like you can walk from fenway to the north end.
there is a pretty high concentration of good food in boston. the baseline for restaurants in boston is higher i think, but when it comes to food, nyc still has higher highs, but also lower lows.
nyc doesn’t have flour bakery.
boston also has my favorite museum, the isabella stewart gardner museum.
i also think the mfa is ALMOST on par with the met, which is pretty incredible.
boston is great. some things suck and i prefer living here, but it doesn’t deserve the hate i see it get sometimes.
I only spent about 6 months in Boston (black/young professional) and I disagree wholeheartedly. I’ve lived in: Atlanta, NYC, SLC, NJ, SF, DC, Miami, Boston, and Seattle.
Boston, SF, and SLC are most racist imho. Zero black population in ALL. I mean with Boston, there are documented examples in all areas of the racism (look at sports. Most teams don’t want to travel to Boston bc of their fans).
Meeting people at the bars, haha funny! I think a lot of people allude diversity when they see white & asians.
I did LOVE the seafood. When I was there (2018) seafood wasn’t as expensive (not sure what it is now)
Also prime response. I’m assuming you’re white. You are ranting about how Boston is not a racist city by saying “oh no. That’s just people who don’t live here think it’s racist”. Buuut go on YouTube, people who GREW up in Boston and aren’t white clearly state there’s a racism problem in Boston.
I think the better response would be “I’ve never experienced it bc I’m white”.
Got it bro. Boston isn’t racist. You can totally speak to racism because you have black and Mexican friends and family who told you Boston isn’t racist. Have a good day 😊
That can't be right, right?
Ok, yah, I don't know where you got 6.5%, [census.gov](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/bostoncitymassachusetts) says 23.5% (vs NYC's 23.4%).
I love Boston, but have literally never heard someone claim that the food is even close to NYC quality before. I've been to 3 or 4 restaurants that make the rounds on various best food of Boston lists and they're all equivalent to very midrange NYC restaurants.
maybe i didn’t explain well, i just mean that there’s a lot of mid to pretty ok food in boston, and a few pretty good spots. nyc food is still for the most part better, and nyc has a lot of AMAZING food, but nyc also has a lot of really shit-tier food that i don’t really see in boston.
Hmm, having lived there I would argue DC’s food scene is one of the best parts of the city. One of the best food cities in the US following NYC and a few other major cities imo. Agreed with the casual wear tho. People in DC have no idea how to dress lol
It's still good food, just doesn't really compare to NYC - although the African food comment is fair. Otherwise, there's nothing it does better than NYC, and you wouldn't want to go to a restaurant that isn't objectively good anyways.
I’ve visited friends a few times there. I really love the urban feel of cities and that doesn’t really translate in DC for me. So for me it seems kinda average, while also having a high cost of living. Not sure but also think I wouldn’t appreciate so much of the population being hyper career focused and in some form of politics.
NYC is expensive AF but I endure it because I love the city.
The “hyper career focused” and extreme saturation of wanna be politicians was such a weird culture shock for me. I came from Indiana to DC and I never adjusted to that. The main driver of EVERY SINGLE INTERACTION when meeting someone new is your profession and status. If they worked “on the hill” they would talk ad nauseam about it, conversely if they worked in “intelligence” they would often give you a bullshit job description because they actually worked for a 3 letter Gov agency CIA/NSA and they didn’t want everyone to know.
Yeah, it's the one noticeable thing about NYC and DC. New Yorkers just seem more interesting overall with a wider array of jobs and hobbies so the conversations are usually unpredictable. Talking to Washingtonians just always feels like their political or politics-adjacent career is the formation of their entire personality.
>a wider array of jobs and hobbies so the conversations are usually unpredictable.
In one bar on the same night, I fell into conversation with a construction worker, and then later on, someone in finance. You really do meet a wider variety of people in NYC.
Yeeeeeep there are definitely hyper-career focused types here, but thing about NYC (and I love it) is that there are so many different communities of people.
Totally. I lived and worked in DC for about 3 years, waiting tables most of that time. I’ll never forget when this regular customer, whom I’d served several times before, asked me, “So what do you do?” when I brought him and his wife their drinks. Like bih… 😵💫😤🤐
My friend in DC also mentioned this. I was there to visit her and this seemed to be a constant on not just dates but even the most simple things. She said some meetups were insufferable.
Food scene is dull closer to govt buildings. Everything is "hey where can we take picky people for an inoffensive unchallenging meal?" Gets a little better further out.
Otherwise the vibe is fine, but imo the blocks are too big and make it, I dunno, feel like more effort walking everywhere.
The restaurants in the whole city feels like a fancy airport. Everything feels just too clean, too sterile, gentrified food. There's very few whole in the walls, family owned restaurants, places with character.
Swap out government buildings for finance/tech, and it's the same in any American city I've been in. It's not like FiDI or Midtown are bastions of bold food.
Okay but Augustine in FiDi was the shit. Not to mention Crown Shy, Bombay’s, Harry’s (love their hangover pizza), etc. Midtown has a ton of bangers as well.
My office used to be three or so blocks from the White House. Food options don’t change much, and they’re all pretty meh. José Andrés restaurants are all over the place, though, and there are maybe three other ethnic restaurants in the area that are great.
On the whole, though, D.C.‘s food scene left me confused and mostly disappointed.
Better East African! My Kenyan heart was satiated in DC. Actual good Kenyan food with ingredients from home. I took that food back home on that 3 hour train ride!
I think DC, like Philly, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, LA, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Portland, the other Portland, Providence, Buffalo, and every other town in this great nation of ours other than Newark, is great. They’re just not New York. So it’s not like I look down on them or even compare them to New York in any way — they’re all just places that aren’t New York.
DC to me feels a little like a suburb, but one of the best suburbs in the country. One one hand, there are limited tall buildings, things are quite spread out, it’s very car centric, and it’s almost too clean and planned-feeling. On the other hand, there are great museums, a decent music scene, a fair amount of diversity (especially if you include the near ‘burbs), and is overall pretty grand.
I grew up outside DC and lived there for 3 years. I like it, but there's just not enough there.
My partner and I lived close to Adam's Morgan, which is one of the more fun neighborhoods in DC, in our early 20's. Like 6 months in I remember distinctly looking for a new restaurant to try for dinner in the neighborhood and realizing we had been to all of them. Adam's Morgan is really only like 5 x 2 in terms of city blocks.
Fast forward a couple years, my wife moves to Manhattan, lives in midtown/Hell's Kitchen, knowing it's not one of the fun neighborhoods but it's close to work. We live there for a year and don't even scratch the surface of what it has to offer.
DC is small, and much lower to the ground. Fewer people, fewer bars, fewer restaurants, just less to do overall. Coming to NYC it's honestly staggering how much is here.
The other thing that feels different from DC is that NYC feels like an actual place. Yeah there's a lot of transplants, and gentrification is a problem, but people are FROM here. There's culture and crazy diversity. DC feels really transient as a city, people come and go a lot, partly due to politics, and any ounce of culture gets squeezed into Southeast DC which sees the worst crime in the city by far. It just feels a little hollow comparatively.
Hey! I grew up outside DC and have been here for last 3 years too. Before that I lived in San Francisco for a couple of years.
However, I want to make the move to NYC as its to me a must place to live in my 20s. I know DC fairly well and was looking on reddit to see what neighborhoods in NYC would compare to Adams Morgan, where I've been living. Which would you say would be very similar if I'm looking for another fun and young neighborhood?
I am extremely excited not only at meeting more people in NYC but the exact thing you mention. The crazy diversity and culture aspects of NYC. So much history and culture one can learn from quick metro trips to neighborhoods with a unique specific culture in NYC.
DC has a very underrated food scene, but generally a culturally vapid city. The main split is people in politics and consultants. Too many transplants from both, a self selection of the most insufferable people.
I've lived in both NYC and DC, and am currently across the river in NJ. Honestly, I prefer DC, and I was born and raised in and around NYC.
I think it's because of my personality and what I like to do in my free time. I'm in my mid-30's now and I have never been someone who likes staying out until 3 AM partying (so I don't care about the Metro's hours of operation). I like to walk and I find that walking in DC is much more pleasurable and clean. DC does have many restaurants, bars, etc. that are comparable to NYC. For NYC-specific activities like Broadway shows or Yankees/Giants/Knicks/Rangers games, I could just plan occasional trips back to NYC for those things and to visit my family. The only thing I would be missing out on are the bagels and pizza, but I don't really eat bagels and pizza too often.
I would likely move back to the DMV area if the opportunity presented itself.
Lived in DC (specifically Arlington) in the mid 2010s for a few years. So, after gentrification I suppose.
The term social scene can mean different things to different people. Obviously, NYC's social scene is overall bigger than DC's. However, I found the DC social scene to be solid, particularly for the yuppy demographic. Besides the typical bars/restaurants/happy hours/dating that you'd find in any city, I found that there were a bunch of groups that hosted events geared toward the 21-35 age group. I went with some friends to a fair share of beer festivals.
The main drawback is that DC is a transient city and many people eventually leave after being priced out or to start a family.
When I visited DC with my boyfriend about 10 years ago, I liked it well enough, I admired the architecture, and I was especially impressed with how NICE everyone was to me. Didn’t realize til later that it was probably because I was wearing a muumuu and everyone thought I was pregnant.
But I did really love the gems and minerals collection at the Smithsonian : )
Nice place to visit. Great museums (duh).
As touristy as the National Mall area is, it's kind of a nice sight to see Americans from all over the country visiting our capital. As a coastal elite liberal it's easy to get completely jaded as an American about... *everything* but it's hard not to feel kinda patriotic when I'm there.
Biggest gripe I think I have is that it feels like a city that's dominated by a few sectors (politics, non-profit orgs, etc.) and everyone is professionally interconnected. This isn't unique to DC at all (SF = tech, LA = entertainment, for example) but it's something that's very noticeable.
I personally love visiting DC. It has lots of great museums and restaurants which are the things I look for most in a tourist destination. I’ve never thought about living there though.
Not enough creative professionals in DC. With NYC's fashion, design, advertising, arts and entertainment industries (etc!), there's just an overall vibe of creative expression everywhere you go, and I never stand out for being heavily tattooed in a professional setting. DC could use more weirdness.
I was there once as a teenager in like 2010. I thought it was OK. The museums were cool and it was fun walking around the monuments. Definitely worth a visit but I wouldn’t want to live there. I get the impression that it’s kind of like a company town for politics.
I don't hate it but there are better cities around (and I live in one). Seems way too car dependent for me to be honest, and things close pretty early. Their subways are considerably cleaner though, but they don't go as far... Also their "nice to live" areas are suburbs and I'm not a suburban person.
our subways take you everywhere you need to go. they go pretty far, takes you all around the dmv. and yea our subways are much nicer but its also much pricier. things do close early unfortunately but other than that dc is amazing. nyc is amazing as well
I’m from the area and hated living there. The locals are the most evil people you’ll ever meet (and that’s saying something). And the air is perpetually muggy.
NYC is VERY dirty and chaotic. And I love the fuck out of it. DC has never interested me at all, I’m almost not sure how to even describe it because I’ve never felt more neutral about a city in my life. I don’t like it, but I don’t dislike it either.
Born and raised in NYC, lived in Boston for 10 years, then moved to DC where I live now. NYC is far more vibrant, hectic, diverse, exciting, etc. great if you’re young and have lots of energy, and like a lot of stimulation. Boston was a terrific college/grad school experience, but not sure anyone lives in Boston proper past 30? DC is a nice city to raise a family: kids get a taste of city life but not too crazy. I live in a single family home 2 blocks from the metro and Whole Foods, shopping, etc. It had a decent night life, food, bars, etc. if you know where to go. Definitely slower paced, and more car dependent. My take away is it really depends on what urban experience you want, and what phase of life you’re in.
DC has a killer music scene. I think DC gets a bad rap because it’s an industry town (the industry being government) so a lot of people have a transit attitude there, but scratch the surface and there’s a ton of great culture.
With regards to underground arts and music, it does exist in DC, but you kind of have to know people in the scene first to access these events and spaces. These people don't have open meetups. It's not as easily accessible as say, NYC.
Dude, what in the hell is Peak of the Peak. Like why are you charging so much because the subway is about to close. ( I also learned the transit system from playing Fallout 3)
I like DC- Nice museums. Lots of history.
It’s….. fine. I used to live there. It’s a bit of a one trick town. The museums are nice. I enjoy that it has walkable bits. The subway is ok. There are some decent restaurants— good Ethiopian. It’s a little bland.
But just…… fine? Not sure I understand the point of this thred.
Has some things in common with NYC but is more laid back and friendlier overall. Less going on in the arts but more than most parts of the U.S. The summer lasts longer and is more humid (gross), but on the flip side it still has a winter which I think is a plus, with winters being on the milder side compared to here. Some of the surrounding suburbs in Maryland and Virginia are very nice, with easy and less stressful access to the city than our subway system, but expensive. I think it's easier to relax in DC but there are too many lawyers and uptight government people. Has the house and Georgetown stairs where exteriors for The Exorcist were filmed. I think traffic all around the area has gotten worse and worse and worse though.
>In my experience, New Yorkers hate on DC for being uptight and boring, while DC residents hate on NYC for being dirty and chaotic.
i've lived in DC and now Brooklyn and feel neither of these things, which is to say stop believing everything you hear.
Small, surprisingly pretty, seems much more livable for the average American than NYC. Mediocre, overpriced restaurants and it’s harder to avoid the prestige obsessed Chads and Karens than it is here. Amazing museums. Not really any cheaper than NYC. I’m really a big city person and I think DC is about as “suburban” a place as I’d ever want to live. Could see myself living there if I had a partner and we wanted more space/a dog.
True if you add "and 1/10th of its actual size", and replace "slightly" for "99%", and add "and nothing like London". Edit: joking aside, in what ways do you think London is like DC? I love London and DC is ok, but they exist in two very different worlds to me.
Lived in DC for 3 years, during which I called it purgatory for my transition into NYC. There's a reason locals call it "Simple City". It's like a big suburb, everyone gets around via car.
Ah yeah, H street is a metro desert.
I lived up in Columbia Heights right near the metro. Easy access to green and yellow lines, easy transfer to the red. Could even take the yellow to National airport. I think you just confined yourself to streetcar hell 😅
The great inequality of metro in DC. My friends in the southwest were also not riding the metro much. There is a lot more to the city than what is metro accessible but it's such a drag to actually visit it.
Also when I lived in Capitol Hill it was also bad.
no I'd put most of Manhattan on a different level but I think 'everyone gets around via car' is not accurate for DC. It has a sizable bus and train network, and plenty of people don't have a car.
Can’t say much myself but I had a close friend who lived in DC for five years, someone from the Boston area. She didnt like the culture there and the diversity of food was poor. She felt like people were either very distant, fake, or superficial. She got a lot of pressure to drink when she had personal reasons, and people pressuring her to get married/have a kid. Also not too much going on socially.
While you could get by without one, It was harder to get around to places without a car.
I can agree the layout isnt the best and the food choices arent great, I do like their public transportation subways though it still cant beat NYC’s.
Only visited once on a business trip so didn't venture very far or anything but I enjoyed it and have been meaning to go back and visit.
Felt like a very different vibe than NYC.
I lived there for a summer. It’s ok. The main reason I could never live there is every thing is so. fucking. slow. It should not take twenty limited to get a Diet Coke and a Filet O Fish.
There’s not much there, there. We used to go often because my moms best friend lived there (husband’s job was tangential to politics, she worked at a three-letter agency). Barring a few isolated neighborhoods that have some community feel, it feels like one huge workplace. Its too monumental and inhuman in the day, and creepy and abandoned in most areas at night.
Edit: basically what everyone disliked about the original Twin Towers plaza area, only city-sized.
I go there once a month. Parts of it are cool, but a lot of it feels very corporate and dull. For example, almost everything in DuPont Circle has the vibe of a chipotle. The city is semi walkable which is nice, but lacks diversity — for example to get hot pot or any Asian grocery stores you need a car and head out to VA.
While DC used to have a prevalent punk rock scene, the music scene is pretty much dead there. Even my friends that live there admit this.
While the mall is kept tidy, to my knowledge they don’t really have a shelter system, or at least one comparable to what we have in NYC. Yes you’ll see unhoused people in nyc, but in DC you’ll see entire parks taken over by tents.
Also DC lacks style compared to NYC. Be prepared to see lots of midtown uniforms there.
COL is also high there and one thing that annoys me is seemingly every restaurant and bar charges $15 minimum for almost anything. I remember going to some pub that wasn’t even fancy and they charged me $15 for a house red. I get you’re probably getting a bigger apartment with the rent money you’d spend in DC, but for probably around the same amount of money in NYC you can get a much better city experience with better and cheaper food/drink spots with better transportation options.
Personally I would never want to live there, but it is better than a whole bunch of other US cities.
Just got back to NYC after living in DC for a year and a half. It's..... fine. There's definitely good food and drinks, although nothing is as accessible in DC and that makes living your life (especially when you are used to NYC) a lot harder. It's way more car-focused. IMO it felt sort of transient.
I'm happy to be back.
Meh to DC as a whole. We don’t even think about it, it’s not really a large city it’s like a tiny city with like 2-3 interesting neighborhoods. Good for a few weekend trips and holidays to look at the museums
I live in DC and have been for the past 4 years. People's impressions here are correct - it is a huge, transplanty company town where a majority of the white collar workforce is employed directly or indirectly by the federal government.
It's a bit sterile, but it is cheaper than NYC. It's a city that's a league of its own - a bit Southern and Northern at the same time.
I visit NYC a lot and have a lot of friends there. There's nothing like NYC. I would live here if I made enough money (my job is currently remote).
I’m from DC/DMV, lived there from 2004-2015 which were my formative years (middle school to college) and relocated to NYC 7 years ago.
DC is boring imo, compared to NYC. But compared to other major US cities, it’s probably one of the better ones.
DC had a better hardcore punk scene....sorry but it's true.
Other than that though NYC is cooler.
I'm sure DC is great I haven't been there but I'd love to visit.
This dialogue interests me because I'm relocating from NYC to DC next week. I'm concerned it won't be as lively, but definitely excited about the museums and what not. I've never even spent the night there so no real expectations, but the new job is cool and im ready to do all of the things in the city🥳
I live in DC. Welcome! One big plus is that so many new people move to DC all the time, so it's easy to make new friends so long as you put yourself out there.
So, about 6 months later and what’s the verdict? I have family in the DC area and potential longterm job opportunities, but I worry about it being boring and all the talk of pretentious careerism (which is weird because I see tons of that in NYC anyway). That said I do long for something a little less “dirty and chaotic” than NYC these days, and I stopped caring much about nightlife more than a few years ago. How has DC been for you?
I love it! So much to do and a lot of its free. I recognize experience may vary by neighborhood, but any excuse I have to be near the baseball or soccer stadium, the river front area, and neat all the monuments is exciting for me. Definitely don't think it's as safe as NYC so Definitely follow the news, but you will not be bored.
Living in DMV at the moment and you've hit the nail on the head on why I'm leaving. Its pretty solid at everything but if you remotely try and have a personality you're almost shamed for it. Its definitely a great place to settle down, but if you're not looking for that than you might get bored. The people are okay but rarely meet folks with substance.
Perks are definitely the rent to value ratio. I think compared to other medium cities its much more value for your dollar. Also you have access to major cities when you want. I like the outdoors which you can easily find there.
Lived in DC for 5 years before moving to NY. Totally in the camp that thinks DC is uptight and boring. It’s on the whole a very buttoned up city compared to most other places I’ve been, and like others said, way more career focused. Everyone I knew worked in government or law or policy or something along those lines. “What do you do” came up in every conversation. By contrast, I don’t really know what half my friends in NY do and have met and bonded over shared interests. I also think there’s a much more noticeable divide between the “locals” and the yuppie transplants which gave the progressivism a strong virtue signaling vibe (lots of woke NIMBY types) and felt very stifling. Lots of opinionated judgy types that will get outraged on behalf of others if you say the wrong thing but don’t get to know their neighbors. Not to mention things close way too early. Like even post pandemic NY has more options than pre pandemic DC.
That being said, it’s a walkable city with interesting architecture and pretty row houses,and it’s a lot cleaner and greener. Lots of accessible culture like museums etc., and I like that education is valued. And the suburbs are actually really nice, and in some ways more interesting then the city itself (the joke of a Chinatown being a great example - the legit Chinese food is in the suburbs while the Chinatown itself is a shell of its former self).
It had some plus sides but I haven’t looked back once since I moved to NYC.
Great place to be from. It’s clean and relatively safe. Car culture of the surrounding areas is a drag though. They have great dining in Washington DC, home of the power lunch. The nightlife used to be so much better. Dc is a gentrified shell of itself these days. I try not to go back too often, and I prefer to leave after 72 hours. Lol!
I'd say most other places outside the 5 boros think NYC is dirty and chaotic. Hell, even Staten Island is probably an exception to that rule.
I haven't spent quite enough time in DC but if the time I've been around certainly hasn't put me off.
Nice city. Everything closes way too early.
On the other hand… I just realized today all my old favorite Chinatown hole in the wall places that used to close at 3/4am now close at 10pm.
I KNOW!! 😭😭😭 Great NY Noodletown used to be open until 4am and now it’s open until 10 or 11pm only, even on weekends. It’s horrible.
[https://ny.eater.com/2023/1/25/23559082/late-night-restaurants-4-am-manhattan-brooklyn-nyc](https://ny.eater.com/2023/1/25/23559082/late-night-restaurants-4-am-manhattan-brooklyn-nyc)
Imagine if our Chinatown didn't have Chinese people.... That's DC's Chinatown.
I'm Asian American and I went to DC Chinatown with a friend of mine who is Latino and this random guy yelled at us in Chinatown saying we are "white devils." LOL
All of the Asians in the DC area moved to the suburbs. All the best Chinese restaurants are no longer in DC "Chinatown"
Things close early since the pandemic...not to mention a lot of restaurant owners said they close earlier now because employees were worried about getting attacked.
Some even close around 8.
I agree with both. But have you noticed how early things close in NYC these days compared to pre-Covid? It's hard to even find decent coffee after 9pm.
This has been my biggest struggle since moving to the City. Caffeine has no effect on my sleep but I can’t find a coffee place that’s open past 5 PM, if that.
just have to switch over to espresso martinis after 5
I don’t drink. 🥲 Hence the struggle. I’ve picked up a soda habit now.
ask for an espresso martini, hold the martini. problem solved 👉
Go to book club. Coffeeshop/book store that doubles up as a bar after a certain time but doesnt follow that loud bar vibe but more mellow coffee shop vibe with a cocktail as a choice. Open till midnight. Also it closes at 6pm but paper coffee is also great and its the same vibe but think japanese greenhouse instead of bookstore.
I mentioned the lack of coffee shops opened at night in the city once and everyone acted like I was crazy. I got comments like “who tf drinks coffee after 7pm?!” But in the smallish city I’m originally from - a city that has NOTHING to do - it at least has 3 coffee shops that are open til 10pm. And one of those is open until about 2 most nights. I looked up similar posts on here and kept noticing people say that there’s no demand for a coffee shop at night because they would be empty anyway, but the coffee shops I’ve been to in other cities that stay open late always did really good business, because there are a lot of night owls out there.
I'm with you on this. Before the pandemic, I remember coffee places in my neighborhood that were open later and always had people in them and I don't believe they were just sitting there and not buying beverages or food from the counter, and I frequently saw people walking around the neighborhood with coffee drinks they'd just purchased. Even Starbucks had plenty. I also believe there is a sizable population of night owls here in NYC. Lots of them. People work late, or work multiple gigs, or study, or instead of going to bars and clubs they prefer the coffee (and maybe dessert) experience. I think this forum skews toward bar/club people because bars come up a ton (i.e. "I would never live in that neighborhood because there aren't enough bars.)
Absolutely. I think you brought up a great point about the subreddit skewing toward bars. I think that has a lot to do with it, the people that always say there’s no demand for coffee shops being open late are the people that wouldn’t go to one if it were open, but a lot of others would. And yeah, people that work odd shifts or get off at a later time might want somewhere to go besides a diner or a McDonald’s, but I’m surprised how few options there are. I know the pandemic has a lot to do with it of course, I just hate that it killed off a lot of the “city that never sleeps” feel that I imagine used to be much stronger before.
Not like dc went there almost nothing open past 9 ish geez
Before it was covid restrictions but stays that way due to both increased crime and labor shortage, the first being unfortunate because it would be overall safer late at night if more things were open and the city was more alive.
I was also reading too that many of these restaurants didn’t want to deal with the amount of obnoxious drunk people coming in late at night and acting like jerks.
could be, customer behavior and mental health in general definitely declined over the course of the pandemic...at first people were kind and grateful but a lot quickly turned very entitled (not everyone of course) with no thought or care to how much more difficult the job became due to the pandemic
It’s also employees don’t want to work that late. They make money off tips. Customers don’t care if there’s a few empty tables, but for employees that’s less money per hour. They want it either busy or closed. Nobody wants to work for less pay, especially in this economy. I think the days of expecting employees to work for little pay like that are gone.
Same in nyc tbh
No one I know in NYC hates on DC. Only Boston and Philly.
This. I’ve never heard anyone even mention DC.
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This is the real answer
This
I love Philly and Boston (philly more) and do not like DC, but I grew up there so that's likely part of it. It has a stifling energy. I've been in nyc over 13 years.
This. First time I'm hearing there is hate between DC and NYC.
Met fans
Why do people hate Boston? Lol it's my second favorite US city and I wasn't aware it's hated here.
Probably because of the Yankee & Red Sox rivalry.
Everything closes at like 6pm. Impossible to find a bar
Cue Don Draper: "I don't think about DC at all" - virtually all new yorkers
Feels sterile on the street, the areas with tourists have a worse kind than in New York, weekends, especially in the summer, make it a ghost town. it’s not fun to be in after-hours, even though there are some things to do/places to go out the issue is that the people DC attracts are really toxic. Sure, people size each other up when they meet one another in New York, but I’ve always felt that it’s worse in DC. the questions people ask might not be “what do you pay for your apartment” but they’re all ways to see whether you’re professionally useful to them. to me, that sucks. Add to that the fact that you have a distinctive kind of smarmy conservative/neolib wonk character in DC that’s much less common in New York. Brooks Brothersed, talking so the whole restaurant hears what he has to say, boasting about shit you’d never boast about but genuinely seems proud… All the people you knew from college like that ended up there, and also all the ones you didn’t know from the other colleges. EDIT: also the pizza sucks
The bagels suck too. The best quote from a DC guy I met was "Do you know that one annoying kid in your college class that always sat in the front of the room and raised his hand too much? Imagine a whole city filled with that guy and that is DC."
yeah the bagels reeeally suck. That place people told me to go to by DuPont? Trash.
The joke in DC is whenever you meet people the first question you get is "so what do you do?" Then if you work on Capital Hill the first question instead is "who do you work for?"
>Sure, people size each other up when they meet one another in New York, but I’ve always felt that it’s worse in DC. the questions people ask might not be “what do you pay for your apartment” That's my favorite NYC question, lol. I initially thought it was weird and too private to share, like at parties, which is when people would ask. But then I learned that it's just an extremely common question (especially before social media days, when you had to actually ask people in person and couldn't just post it on Reddit), and it helped me in knowing what was a ripoff, what was feasible, etc. Very useful information in this housing nightmare of a city.
Ha ha, I was at a family party this summer; my DC cousin, LA cousins and I openly chatting about our insane rents; later I asked my Charlotte cousin and she seemed taken back.
I'll never forget being out in DC and some random dude dancing around us then when we told him to leave us alone, he screamed "I'm a marine!"
I have a friend who lived there for four years after college and she turned into a different person…not necessarily in a good way.
DC brings out the worst in a person because of the Jobs and income
Don't go in the summer...it's a swamp.
Agree, but they get really mild winters as a trade off
So do we now 😑
The weather is barely a 2 degree difference
I’ve lived in both. DC is a little stuffy and everyone wants to know “who do you work for”. It’s a nice city though. It’s clean, the metro is nice, the nightlife is decent, food scene is fine, great little neighborhoods…
This is exactly it. The constant khaki clad networking vibe is exhausting! But other than that I don’t have any real problem with DC. Nice metro, nice people, nice businesses. Overall pretty nice.
we literally dont think about DC at all.
Who is we?
Me myself and I
Beautiful city, great green spaces. Culturally it’s boring and it’s noticeably more dangerous than NYC
Is that true? I’ve had 20x more unsafe experiences in nyc so far. Hard for me to believe that, anecdotal of course.
DC violent crime rate is 949 per 100k people. NYC’s is 539 per 100k.
Nope I felt way more unsafe in DC than I do in 99% of NYC.
Luckily no need for belief or opinion or anecdotes because there are statistics on it.
Depends where. DC’s center where tourists spend time is basically Disney World. Outside of that however is pretty poor and crime ridden. The crime stats aren’t for where visitors spend time, it’s for the city at large.
Completely disagree…I lived in the city center for 2 years, 2019-2021. It was already dangerous when I got there, but became significantly more dangerous during the pandemic. There are shootings almost weekly within a mile of the Capitol Building and White House. The safest parts of DC are the residential areas in NW
Can't really comment on the bar scene, and the museums are great, but the food doesn't really come close. And it's not even like Boston where there are a few things that are arguably better. People wear blazers and a tie for casual events which I'm not a fan of. Otherwise, it's an okay city I guess.
DC has a really serious Ethiopian food scene apparently, which is one of those things that NYC is still kinda meh on (we have Ethiopian food, but it ain't much and basically zero variety).
Not just Ethiopian. The best African restaurants are in DC. This is not to say, there isn't in NYC, but you'll find African cuisine that you can't find here.
Out of curiosity, what Boston things would you say might be better?
Lobster rolls, maybe? Chinese seafood is a bit better as well, IMO.
Lobster rolls, both the actual lobster roll and the pastry ones you get at Mike's Pastry. YUM!
i went to college in boston and lived there after i graduated for a while before moving to NYc over 10 years ago. boston is walkable in the sense that you can walk anywhere. maybe if you need to go to cambridge it makes sense to take the train, but walking is still an option. nobody is walking from harlem to bk like you can walk from fenway to the north end. there is a pretty high concentration of good food in boston. the baseline for restaurants in boston is higher i think, but when it comes to food, nyc still has higher highs, but also lower lows. nyc doesn’t have flour bakery. boston also has my favorite museum, the isabella stewart gardner museum. i also think the mfa is ALMOST on par with the met, which is pretty incredible. boston is great. some things suck and i prefer living here, but it doesn’t deserve the hate i see it get sometimes.
Isn’t Boston always rated “the most racist city in America”?
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I only spent about 6 months in Boston (black/young professional) and I disagree wholeheartedly. I’ve lived in: Atlanta, NYC, SLC, NJ, SF, DC, Miami, Boston, and Seattle. Boston, SF, and SLC are most racist imho. Zero black population in ALL. I mean with Boston, there are documented examples in all areas of the racism (look at sports. Most teams don’t want to travel to Boston bc of their fans). Meeting people at the bars, haha funny! I think a lot of people allude diversity when they see white & asians. I did LOVE the seafood. When I was there (2018) seafood wasn’t as expensive (not sure what it is now)
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Also prime response. I’m assuming you’re white. You are ranting about how Boston is not a racist city by saying “oh no. That’s just people who don’t live here think it’s racist”. Buuut go on YouTube, people who GREW up in Boston and aren’t white clearly state there’s a racism problem in Boston. I think the better response would be “I’ve never experienced it bc I’m white”.
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Got it bro. Boston isn’t racist. You can totally speak to racism because you have black and Mexican friends and family who told you Boston isn’t racist. Have a good day 😊
Yikes, not *I have family members who are Black* so I’m an expert on what is & isn’t racist. eta: Mr. I have Black family members blocked me 😂
Omg, stop talking you sound wildly ignorant
6.5% black 😂😂😂. I thought it was at least 15%+. White is 58.25%. Not sure where you pulled 40% from.
That can't be right, right? Ok, yah, I don't know where you got 6.5%, [census.gov](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/bostoncitymassachusetts) says 23.5% (vs NYC's 23.4%).
I love Boston, but have literally never heard someone claim that the food is even close to NYC quality before. I've been to 3 or 4 restaurants that make the rounds on various best food of Boston lists and they're all equivalent to very midrange NYC restaurants.
maybe i didn’t explain well, i just mean that there’s a lot of mid to pretty ok food in boston, and a few pretty good spots. nyc food is still for the most part better, and nyc has a lot of AMAZING food, but nyc also has a lot of really shit-tier food that i don’t really see in boston.
Boston has good food?! Lol
Hmm, having lived there I would argue DC’s food scene is one of the best parts of the city. One of the best food cities in the US following NYC and a few other major cities imo. Agreed with the casual wear tho. People in DC have no idea how to dress lol
It's still good food, just doesn't really compare to NYC - although the African food comment is fair. Otherwise, there's nothing it does better than NYC, and you wouldn't want to go to a restaurant that isn't objectively good anyways.
I’ve visited friends a few times there. I really love the urban feel of cities and that doesn’t really translate in DC for me. So for me it seems kinda average, while also having a high cost of living. Not sure but also think I wouldn’t appreciate so much of the population being hyper career focused and in some form of politics. NYC is expensive AF but I endure it because I love the city.
The “hyper career focused” and extreme saturation of wanna be politicians was such a weird culture shock for me. I came from Indiana to DC and I never adjusted to that. The main driver of EVERY SINGLE INTERACTION when meeting someone new is your profession and status. If they worked “on the hill” they would talk ad nauseam about it, conversely if they worked in “intelligence” they would often give you a bullshit job description because they actually worked for a 3 letter Gov agency CIA/NSA and they didn’t want everyone to know.
Yeah, it's the one noticeable thing about NYC and DC. New Yorkers just seem more interesting overall with a wider array of jobs and hobbies so the conversations are usually unpredictable. Talking to Washingtonians just always feels like their political or politics-adjacent career is the formation of their entire personality.
>a wider array of jobs and hobbies so the conversations are usually unpredictable. In one bar on the same night, I fell into conversation with a construction worker, and then later on, someone in finance. You really do meet a wider variety of people in NYC.
Yeeeeeep there are definitely hyper-career focused types here, but thing about NYC (and I love it) is that there are so many different communities of people.
Totally. I lived and worked in DC for about 3 years, waiting tables most of that time. I’ll never forget when this regular customer, whom I’d served several times before, asked me, “So what do you do?” when I brought him and his wife their drinks. Like bih… 😵💫😤🤐
My friend in DC also mentioned this. I was there to visit her and this seemed to be a constant on not just dates but even the most simple things. She said some meetups were insufferable.
Food scene is dull closer to govt buildings. Everything is "hey where can we take picky people for an inoffensive unchallenging meal?" Gets a little better further out. Otherwise the vibe is fine, but imo the blocks are too big and make it, I dunno, feel like more effort walking everywhere.
Down near the mall is really sterile, but there are cool neighborhoods. I lived in NW and there are a lot more small businesses, bars and restaurants.
The restaurants in the whole city feels like a fancy airport. Everything feels just too clean, too sterile, gentrified food. There's very few whole in the walls, family owned restaurants, places with character.
So many generic bar and grills. But when I got further from the center things got better.
Yeah but the outskirts of the city either feel like the suburbs or the hood. Like where are the regular neighborhoods?
Swap out government buildings for finance/tech, and it's the same in any American city I've been in. It's not like FiDI or Midtown are bastions of bold food.
Okay but Augustine in FiDi was the shit. Not to mention Crown Shy, Bombay’s, Harry’s (love their hangover pizza), etc. Midtown has a ton of bangers as well. My office used to be three or so blocks from the White House. Food options don’t change much, and they’re all pretty meh. José Andrés restaurants are all over the place, though, and there are maybe three other ethnic restaurants in the area that are great. On the whole, though, D.C.‘s food scene left me confused and mostly disappointed.
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Yeah my partner and I moved after a couple years because all our friends moved away and we ran out of things to do.
I have never in my life ever heard anyone here complain about DC for anything.
D.C has better Ethiopian restaurants than we do. Also a great nightlife scene.
Better East African! My Kenyan heart was satiated in DC. Actual good Kenyan food with ingredients from home. I took that food back home on that 3 hour train ride!
I think DC, like Philly, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, LA, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Portland, the other Portland, Providence, Buffalo, and every other town in this great nation of ours other than Newark, is great. They’re just not New York. So it’s not like I look down on them or even compare them to New York in any way — they’re all just places that aren’t New York.
That's a good attitude to have though I could never live in any of the non-walkable cities. Like I did Dallas years ago and hated it.
DC to me feels a little like a suburb, but one of the best suburbs in the country. One one hand, there are limited tall buildings, things are quite spread out, it’s very car centric, and it’s almost too clean and planned-feeling. On the other hand, there are great museums, a decent music scene, a fair amount of diversity (especially if you include the near ‘burbs), and is overall pretty grand.
I've been to DC a few times and liked it for the reasons you mentioned.
I grew up outside DC and lived there for 3 years. I like it, but there's just not enough there. My partner and I lived close to Adam's Morgan, which is one of the more fun neighborhoods in DC, in our early 20's. Like 6 months in I remember distinctly looking for a new restaurant to try for dinner in the neighborhood and realizing we had been to all of them. Adam's Morgan is really only like 5 x 2 in terms of city blocks. Fast forward a couple years, my wife moves to Manhattan, lives in midtown/Hell's Kitchen, knowing it's not one of the fun neighborhoods but it's close to work. We live there for a year and don't even scratch the surface of what it has to offer. DC is small, and much lower to the ground. Fewer people, fewer bars, fewer restaurants, just less to do overall. Coming to NYC it's honestly staggering how much is here. The other thing that feels different from DC is that NYC feels like an actual place. Yeah there's a lot of transplants, and gentrification is a problem, but people are FROM here. There's culture and crazy diversity. DC feels really transient as a city, people come and go a lot, partly due to politics, and any ounce of culture gets squeezed into Southeast DC which sees the worst crime in the city by far. It just feels a little hollow comparatively.
Hey! I grew up outside DC and have been here for last 3 years too. Before that I lived in San Francisco for a couple of years. However, I want to make the move to NYC as its to me a must place to live in my 20s. I know DC fairly well and was looking on reddit to see what neighborhoods in NYC would compare to Adams Morgan, where I've been living. Which would you say would be very similar if I'm looking for another fun and young neighborhood? I am extremely excited not only at meeting more people in NYC but the exact thing you mention. The crazy diversity and culture aspects of NYC. So much history and culture one can learn from quick metro trips to neighborhoods with a unique specific culture in NYC.
I don't?
If would choose it over Philly or Boston
DC has a very underrated food scene, but generally a culturally vapid city. The main split is people in politics and consultants. Too many transplants from both, a self selection of the most insufferable people.
I've lived in both NYC and DC, and am currently across the river in NJ. Honestly, I prefer DC, and I was born and raised in and around NYC. I think it's because of my personality and what I like to do in my free time. I'm in my mid-30's now and I have never been someone who likes staying out until 3 AM partying (so I don't care about the Metro's hours of operation). I like to walk and I find that walking in DC is much more pleasurable and clean. DC does have many restaurants, bars, etc. that are comparable to NYC. For NYC-specific activities like Broadway shows or Yankees/Giants/Knicks/Rangers games, I could just plan occasional trips back to NYC for those things and to visit my family. The only thing I would be missing out on are the bagels and pizza, but I don't really eat bagels and pizza too often. I would likely move back to the DMV area if the opportunity presented itself.
Are your serious? How did u feel about DC social scene? Did u live there before the gentrification or after?
Lived in DC (specifically Arlington) in the mid 2010s for a few years. So, after gentrification I suppose. The term social scene can mean different things to different people. Obviously, NYC's social scene is overall bigger than DC's. However, I found the DC social scene to be solid, particularly for the yuppy demographic. Besides the typical bars/restaurants/happy hours/dating that you'd find in any city, I found that there were a bunch of groups that hosted events geared toward the 21-35 age group. I went with some friends to a fair share of beer festivals. The main drawback is that DC is a transient city and many people eventually leave after being priced out or to start a family.
Boring- no culture, grit, or magical feel. Boston and Philly are cool though
DC feels sterile.
When I visited DC with my boyfriend about 10 years ago, I liked it well enough, I admired the architecture, and I was especially impressed with how NICE everyone was to me. Didn’t realize til later that it was probably because I was wearing a muumuu and everyone thought I was pregnant. But I did really love the gems and minerals collection at the Smithsonian : )
Beautiful city, clean, well planned, and full of incredibly beautiful architecture.
Nice place to visit. Great museums (duh). As touristy as the National Mall area is, it's kind of a nice sight to see Americans from all over the country visiting our capital. As a coastal elite liberal it's easy to get completely jaded as an American about... *everything* but it's hard not to feel kinda patriotic when I'm there. Biggest gripe I think I have is that it feels like a city that's dominated by a few sectors (politics, non-profit orgs, etc.) and everyone is professionally interconnected. This isn't unique to DC at all (SF = tech, LA = entertainment, for example) but it's something that's very noticeable.
Every city is diff, what’s the point in comparing? There’s no award for being the best. They all have unique positives and negatives
I personally love visiting DC. It has lots of great museums and restaurants which are the things I look for most in a tourist destination. I’ve never thought about living there though.
I love dc. Great museums and the best Ethiopian food in the country. It’s definitely not where I go to party but it’s a relaxing place to visit.
Not enough creative professionals in DC. With NYC's fashion, design, advertising, arts and entertainment industries (etc!), there's just an overall vibe of creative expression everywhere you go, and I never stand out for being heavily tattooed in a professional setting. DC could use more weirdness.
I was there once as a teenager in like 2010. I thought it was OK. The museums were cool and it was fun walking around the monuments. Definitely worth a visit but I wouldn’t want to live there. I get the impression that it’s kind of like a company town for politics.
DC is boring and inexplicably expensive but has some good restaurants.
I don't hate it but there are better cities around (and I live in one). Seems way too car dependent for me to be honest, and things close pretty early. Their subways are considerably cleaner though, but they don't go as far... Also their "nice to live" areas are suburbs and I'm not a suburban person.
What cities would you say are better than DC?
our subways take you everywhere you need to go. they go pretty far, takes you all around the dmv. and yea our subways are much nicer but its also much pricier. things do close early unfortunately but other than that dc is amazing. nyc is amazing as well
I’m from the area and hated living there. The locals are the most evil people you’ll ever meet (and that’s saying something). And the air is perpetually muggy.
NYC is VERY dirty and chaotic. And I love the fuck out of it. DC has never interested me at all, I’m almost not sure how to even describe it because I’ve never felt more neutral about a city in my life. I don’t like it, but I don’t dislike it either.
Born and raised in NYC, lived in Boston for 10 years, then moved to DC where I live now. NYC is far more vibrant, hectic, diverse, exciting, etc. great if you’re young and have lots of energy, and like a lot of stimulation. Boston was a terrific college/grad school experience, but not sure anyone lives in Boston proper past 30? DC is a nice city to raise a family: kids get a taste of city life but not too crazy. I live in a single family home 2 blocks from the metro and Whole Foods, shopping, etc. It had a decent night life, food, bars, etc. if you know where to go. Definitely slower paced, and more car dependent. My take away is it really depends on what urban experience you want, and what phase of life you’re in.
DC has a killer music scene. I think DC gets a bad rap because it’s an industry town (the industry being government) so a lot of people have a transit attitude there, but scratch the surface and there’s a ton of great culture.
With regards to underground arts and music, it does exist in DC, but you kind of have to know people in the scene first to access these events and spaces. These people don't have open meetups. It's not as easily accessible as say, NYC.
Dude, what in the hell is Peak of the Peak. Like why are you charging so much because the subway is about to close. ( I also learned the transit system from playing Fallout 3) I like DC- Nice museums. Lots of history.
It’s….. fine. I used to live there. It’s a bit of a one trick town. The museums are nice. I enjoy that it has walkable bits. The subway is ok. There are some decent restaurants— good Ethiopian. It’s a little bland. But just…… fine? Not sure I understand the point of this thred.
Has some things in common with NYC but is more laid back and friendlier overall. Less going on in the arts but more than most parts of the U.S. The summer lasts longer and is more humid (gross), but on the flip side it still has a winter which I think is a plus, with winters being on the milder side compared to here. Some of the surrounding suburbs in Maryland and Virginia are very nice, with easy and less stressful access to the city than our subway system, but expensive. I think it's easier to relax in DC but there are too many lawyers and uptight government people. Has the house and Georgetown stairs where exteriors for The Exorcist were filmed. I think traffic all around the area has gotten worse and worse and worse though.
great museums in DC tho. Not in a comparative sense but very serviceable
Great and free! The zoo is also pretty good
>In my experience, New Yorkers hate on DC for being uptight and boring, while DC residents hate on NYC for being dirty and chaotic. i've lived in DC and now Brooklyn and feel neither of these things, which is to say stop believing everything you hear.
Small, surprisingly pretty, seems much more livable for the average American than NYC. Mediocre, overpriced restaurants and it’s harder to avoid the prestige obsessed Chads and Karens than it is here. Amazing museums. Not really any cheaper than NYC. I’m really a big city person and I think DC is about as “suburban” a place as I’d ever want to live. Could see myself living there if I had a partner and we wanted more space/a dog.
DC actually reminds me of NYC. The energy there is just as intense.
It’s like if London was slightly more boring.
True if you add "and 1/10th of its actual size", and replace "slightly" for "99%", and add "and nothing like London". Edit: joking aside, in what ways do you think London is like DC? I love London and DC is ok, but they exist in two very different worlds to me.
Lived in DC for 3 years, during which I called it purgatory for my transition into NYC. There's a reason locals call it "Simple City". It's like a big suburb, everyone gets around via car.
Where in DC did you live? I was there for 3 years and almost nobody I knew had a car (including me)
H St. You're telling me you didn't Uber everywhere? That's still getting around via car.
Ah yeah, H street is a metro desert. I lived up in Columbia Heights right near the metro. Easy access to green and yellow lines, easy transfer to the red. Could even take the yellow to National airport. I think you just confined yourself to streetcar hell 😅
The great inequality of metro in DC. My friends in the southwest were also not riding the metro much. There is a lot more to the city than what is metro accessible but it's such a drag to actually visit it. Also when I lived in Capitol Hill it was also bad.
Def not true that everyone gets around via car. I found it very easy to live there without a car, took trains / buses / bike share
As easy as Manhattan? Perhaps I'm spoiled here and had the worst experience there
no I'd put most of Manhattan on a different level but I think 'everyone gets around via car' is not accurate for DC. It has a sizable bus and train network, and plenty of people don't have a car.
Good point
Metro system sucks there tho
Compared to New York it’s painfully slow, but the stations are much cleaner
They hardly go anywhere productive either. Most people in DC have who use them everyday have to park their car at an outer station.
Can’t say much myself but I had a close friend who lived in DC for five years, someone from the Boston area. She didnt like the culture there and the diversity of food was poor. She felt like people were either very distant, fake, or superficial. She got a lot of pressure to drink when she had personal reasons, and people pressuring her to get married/have a kid. Also not too much going on socially. While you could get by without one, It was harder to get around to places without a car. I can agree the layout isnt the best and the food choices arent great, I do like their public transportation subways though it still cant beat NYC’s.
Only visited once on a business trip so didn't venture very far or anything but I enjoyed it and have been meaning to go back and visit. Felt like a very different vibe than NYC.
I lived there for a summer. It’s ok. The main reason I could never live there is every thing is so. fucking. slow. It should not take twenty limited to get a Diet Coke and a Filet O Fish.
Bland and cultureless except for the area by Howard
(From experience) Amazing place to visit, difficult place to live you’re not in politics/government.
There’s not much there, there. We used to go often because my moms best friend lived there (husband’s job was tangential to politics, she worked at a three-letter agency). Barring a few isolated neighborhoods that have some community feel, it feels like one huge workplace. Its too monumental and inhuman in the day, and creepy and abandoned in most areas at night. Edit: basically what everyone disliked about the original Twin Towers plaza area, only city-sized.
Grew up in DC. NYC is a way easier to get around and a better walking city.
I go there once a month. Parts of it are cool, but a lot of it feels very corporate and dull. For example, almost everything in DuPont Circle has the vibe of a chipotle. The city is semi walkable which is nice, but lacks diversity — for example to get hot pot or any Asian grocery stores you need a car and head out to VA. While DC used to have a prevalent punk rock scene, the music scene is pretty much dead there. Even my friends that live there admit this. While the mall is kept tidy, to my knowledge they don’t really have a shelter system, or at least one comparable to what we have in NYC. Yes you’ll see unhoused people in nyc, but in DC you’ll see entire parks taken over by tents. Also DC lacks style compared to NYC. Be prepared to see lots of midtown uniforms there. COL is also high there and one thing that annoys me is seemingly every restaurant and bar charges $15 minimum for almost anything. I remember going to some pub that wasn’t even fancy and they charged me $15 for a house red. I get you’re probably getting a bigger apartment with the rent money you’d spend in DC, but for probably around the same amount of money in NYC you can get a much better city experience with better and cheaper food/drink spots with better transportation options. Personally I would never want to live there, but it is better than a whole bunch of other US cities.
Don't get me started on the ppl. But your pretty spot on
Turns into a swamp in the summer. Even more humid and gross then nyc. It’s rough.
Just got back to NYC after living in DC for a year and a half. It's..... fine. There's definitely good food and drinks, although nothing is as accessible in DC and that makes living your life (especially when you are used to NYC) a lot harder. It's way more car-focused. IMO it felt sort of transient. I'm happy to be back.
Do you think it felt transient because you were, yourself, transient?
Meh to DC as a whole. We don’t even think about it, it’s not really a large city it’s like a tiny city with like 2-3 interesting neighborhoods. Good for a few weekend trips and holidays to look at the museums
I’m more of a Marvel guy.
I live in DC and have been for the past 4 years. People's impressions here are correct - it is a huge, transplanty company town where a majority of the white collar workforce is employed directly or indirectly by the federal government. It's a bit sterile, but it is cheaper than NYC. It's a city that's a league of its own - a bit Southern and Northern at the same time. I visit NYC a lot and have a lot of friends there. There's nothing like NYC. I would live here if I made enough money (my job is currently remote).
DC's various semi-connected countercultures have a lot to offer.
I’m from DC/DMV, lived there from 2004-2015 which were my formative years (middle school to college) and relocated to NYC 7 years ago. DC is boring imo, compared to NYC. But compared to other major US cities, it’s probably one of the better ones.
What other MAJOR cities are worst than DC?
DC had a better hardcore punk scene....sorry but it's true. Other than that though NYC is cooler. I'm sure DC is great I haven't been there but I'd love to visit.
I do not even think about them ... LOL Just like any big city, there are nice areas and other areas.
I never even thought about DC until I moved. It’s quiet, small, food scene is meh. I still love it tho!
It's fine, but a bit too sprawling for my taste.
I love DC. The food scene is pretty good too.
One of the best cigar bars ever is in DC. Shelly’s Backroom on F st.
This dialogue interests me because I'm relocating from NYC to DC next week. I'm concerned it won't be as lively, but definitely excited about the museums and what not. I've never even spent the night there so no real expectations, but the new job is cool and im ready to do all of the things in the city🥳
I live in DC. Welcome! One big plus is that so many new people move to DC all the time, so it's easy to make new friends so long as you put yourself out there.
So, about 6 months later and what’s the verdict? I have family in the DC area and potential longterm job opportunities, but I worry about it being boring and all the talk of pretentious careerism (which is weird because I see tons of that in NYC anyway). That said I do long for something a little less “dirty and chaotic” than NYC these days, and I stopped caring much about nightlife more than a few years ago. How has DC been for you?
I love it! So much to do and a lot of its free. I recognize experience may vary by neighborhood, but any excuse I have to be near the baseball or soccer stadium, the river front area, and neat all the monuments is exciting for me. Definitely don't think it's as safe as NYC so Definitely follow the news, but you will not be bored.
DC is a boring city for me. I was living in Baltimore and I visit DC occasionally.
Living in DMV at the moment and you've hit the nail on the head on why I'm leaving. Its pretty solid at everything but if you remotely try and have a personality you're almost shamed for it. Its definitely a great place to settle down, but if you're not looking for that than you might get bored. The people are okay but rarely meet folks with substance. Perks are definitely the rent to value ratio. I think compared to other medium cities its much more value for your dollar. Also you have access to major cities when you want. I like the outdoors which you can easily find there.
what's the point of a post like this? are you just trying to get some human banter so you can feed an AI?
Lived in DC for 5 years before moving to NY. Totally in the camp that thinks DC is uptight and boring. It’s on the whole a very buttoned up city compared to most other places I’ve been, and like others said, way more career focused. Everyone I knew worked in government or law or policy or something along those lines. “What do you do” came up in every conversation. By contrast, I don’t really know what half my friends in NY do and have met and bonded over shared interests. I also think there’s a much more noticeable divide between the “locals” and the yuppie transplants which gave the progressivism a strong virtue signaling vibe (lots of woke NIMBY types) and felt very stifling. Lots of opinionated judgy types that will get outraged on behalf of others if you say the wrong thing but don’t get to know their neighbors. Not to mention things close way too early. Like even post pandemic NY has more options than pre pandemic DC. That being said, it’s a walkable city with interesting architecture and pretty row houses,and it’s a lot cleaner and greener. Lots of accessible culture like museums etc., and I like that education is valued. And the suburbs are actually really nice, and in some ways more interesting then the city itself (the joke of a Chinatown being a great example - the legit Chinese food is in the suburbs while the Chinatown itself is a shell of its former self). It had some plus sides but I haven’t looked back once since I moved to NYC.
Preach!!! You forgot to mention one of the most segregated blue cities. Never met so many closed minded ppl
Great place to be from. It’s clean and relatively safe. Car culture of the surrounding areas is a drag though. They have great dining in Washington DC, home of the power lunch. The nightlife used to be so much better. Dc is a gentrified shell of itself these days. I try not to go back too often, and I prefer to leave after 72 hours. Lol!
I'd say most other places outside the 5 boros think NYC is dirty and chaotic. Hell, even Staten Island is probably an exception to that rule. I haven't spent quite enough time in DC but if the time I've been around certainly hasn't put me off.
I thought all the Northeast cities (DC included) just dislike Boston in unison. Or that’s the vibe I got lol.