We’re considering the opp - leaving DC for NYC, even though it would be slightly more expensive for us. I usually spend a few weeks out of the year in Brooklyn the last few years

1. Living vs visiting - the humidity is disgusting in the summer time. And the mosquitoes are a different breed. Air is noticeably cleaner here than NYC.

But it’s like any place you make home, you can find stuff to do every single night of the week or not! Less concrete jungle and calmer - much easier to go hiking/ biking/ SUP if you want on weekends. Free museums whenever. Or you can easily bar hop.

Groceries aren’t taxed but juices/ soda and prepared food are (which I think is similar to NYC if I remember right.)

Taxes in DC are slightly lower than NY (7% vs 9% roughly if I recall)

It’s so hard to find a good slice of pizza! And to be at the right location. Andy’s, wiseguys, etc just do not compare to any of the slices you can get so easily in NY. (My current fav slice is table 87)

I think food scene in DC isn’t great. Suburbs food scene isn’t as fancy, but it is good. I honestly found DC more expensive while NY is much easier to have a satisfactory meal at the same price point. Some solid choices around but not as much as NY. Eating out here is 10% tax.

2. definitely doable to live here without a car.

• only upside to getting a car is being able to go to suburbs/ specialty stores/ wineries/ friends who live there. Or medical appointments not close to a station.
• get capital bike share. (If you get a bike, have two bike locks, but don’t expect to leave it alone for long. Keep it in apt, never bike room. Will likely get stolen.)
• between buses, circulator, bikeshade and metro you should be mostly fine.
• while metro is much cleaner than NY, the constant delays and work make it frustrating to take. The delays/ weekend work in Brooklyn were like nothing compared to what goes on here.
• while you can easily walk to another stop within like 10 min in most places in NY, here stops are more spread out. Try to live near a metro stop

DC is a quieter/ smaller/ calmer version of a major city. You get all the benefits of being in a big city but still have it feel like a small town. While NYC has way more going on and different boroughs you can go to, DC instead has VA and MD. Depends on what kind of life you want to have. I think in/ around DC you meet a lot more ppl who have hobbies outside of work… while in NY ppl I knew/ met, were very focused on the grind. You’ll still have ppl who are only about work/ networking tho so ymmv here.

Most of my friend groups don’t really talk about work even tho we’re all either govt, nonprofit or govt adjacent - You’ll learn govt acronyms real fast tho bc those do come up a lot at least when meeting new ppl or someone complaining shot something that happened. Instead of meeting someone who worked at some fancy design agency or tech start up for example, you might meet someone who works on the hill or lobbying. You’re more likely to meet a consultant that works at any 3 letter agency or a fed.

I think you tend to be more in the know with what happens in politics/ govt just by living here. Some sort of program or event will impact someone you know somehow