Further info on DC needed

[boots]

The traffic is horrible.

If you rely on the Beltway, 95 or any of the major highways, your life and social life will be dominated by it. If one asshat gets in a fender bender on 95 you can call off whatever plans you may have had.

Having the metro close would be a major plus.

There are a lot of good looking single women all around, but you also need to be making some decent money to have a shot at most of them.

The area sports are not all that bad, but most people are from someplace else so they will root for that team. I never lived in the area when the Redskins were worth anything.

There is a lot of culture here though, and you are close (train) to a lot of other major cities.

I would not live in DC metro area unless I made at least 80-100K per year. Simple as that. Your household will need to make about 150K minimum to own decent property.

Honestly, Richmond may be more appealing to live, but maybe not to work.

Richmond is an option, especially since they've added a bus line to the Fredericksburg train station.

 

[93Devil]

Actually, if you are lucky to work odd hours (nights) the traffic may not be horrible.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

Richmond is a terrible option, and so is living too far outside the beltway. Not only do your commutes still blow because of the length, but the costs associated are often more than it would cost to live in town.

The part of SW he's looking at is slated for some major development. He could be one of the first in what'll be a much improving part of town. There are a few neighborhoods in DC that are slated for improvement in the coming years, and that's clearly one of them. Some of the suburbs, especially in Arlington are great places to be, though also costly. But definitely, living near a Metro station is a good thing.

 

[boots]

Richmond is a terrible option, and so is living too far outside the beltway. Not only do your commutes still blow because of the length, but the costs associated are often more than it would cost to live in town.

The part of SW he's looking at is slated for some major development. He could be one of the first in what'll be a much improving part of town. There are a few neighborhoods in DC that are slated for improvement in the coming years, and that's clearly one of them. Some of the suburbs, especially in Arlington are great places to be, though also costly. But definitely, living near a Metro station is a good thing.

Metro is the way to go. DC, Philly, NYC, Boston, Chicago. You can't go wrong with Pub Trans in those places.

 

[Hustle]

Good luck. Suburban Maryland and Virginia isn't as great as many would have you to believe. This is a high-priced area. Crime is everywhere. You might get into a pocket where there is less of it, but there is crime.
DC is known as Chocolate City and its famous for its Vanilla suburbs.

Well, let's put this in perspective. DC has had 49 homicides this year:
http://mpdc.dc.gov/mpdc/cwp/view,a,1239,q,561242,mpdcNav_GID,1523,mpdcNav,%7C.asp

Within the past week, I've read/seen where Prince Georges County just passed 50 homicides for the year. Philly alone has more than the DC/PG combined total:
http://www.nbc10.com/news/13120359/detail.html

To say crime is rampant is silly. It's like any other major city.

A quick search shows a waterfront condo in DC (1BR) running at $1400/mo., the same for what we pay a few miles down 395 in the west end of Alex.