Wow. I'm not sure if I agree with everything you list, but I think a lot of neighborhoods in and around DC have gone through an incredible amount of change in the last 5-10 years. Lots of development both within the city as well as out very far in the suburbs. Friends of mine keep moving farther out in order to be able to afford bigger houses for growing families. So it's a double-edged sword. The DC area has had lower unemployment in general than the rest of the U.S. (I believe it's around 3-3.5% right now) mainly due to the large amount of government and government-related jobs, although there are certainly a fair share of purely technology or non-gov't related companies out there. But this also means that the cost of living is higher. More people have more income and what with the interest rates the housing market has been out of control. Not quite as high as New York, but not that far away either!
I would say your two best places to learn more about the area, its neighborhoods current events, etc., etc., is http://www.washingtonpost.com/ (The major newspaper here - they also host washingtonjobs.com), and http://www.washingtonian.com/ (the major local magazine which has lots of great resources and info about the area). Good luck! I've lived in Rocville, Gaithersburg, and Germantown Maryland, Adams Morgan in DC, Arlington, and Vienna Virginia. My personal favorite of these, and where I live now is Vienna, although there are many other cool areas that I wouldn't mind living - Clarendon, Takoma Park, Old Town Alexandria, Falls Church City, etc. Most of these places, though, are pretty pricey, at least to live in the better parts of them. As far as safety, well, there are good and bad areas throughout, although probably the worst crime areas are Souteast and Northeast DC - although the Capitol Hill area is in Southeast and that's been doing really well. It's not all cut and dry is all, but you will get a much better picture by just driving around and talking to people who live in various parts of the area... Good luck! Levi Wallach Blog: twelveblackcodemonkeys.com DVD Review Site: dvdmon.com Pictures at: http://wallachexpressions.smugmug.com/Photos%20by%20Levi From: Simon Horwith Sent: Fri 1/21/05 4:02 PM To: CF-Jobs-Talk Subject: Re: DC Jobs - What the... I lived in the DC area for 5 years before moving to London and now I'm back again. I like the DC area. In terms of nightlife - if you like clubbing, dancing, and/or drinking, DC is really good. There aren't quite as many places for that stuff as in New York City, but it's close (and usually cheaper, too). The best areas to go for that sort of stuff depends on your taste, but most likely you're going to want to hang-out in the Adams Morgan and Dupont Circle areas. Georgetown has a few bars/clubs that are fun as well. There are many very large nightclubs more downtown - closer to chinatown. There are also some nice bars in VA, though not much in terms of clubbing/dancing there. If you're into museums and culture, DC is terriffic - all of the national museums are here.... it'd take you over a year of spending every single weekend in a museum to see them all. There are also a lot of nice monuments, govt buildings to tour, and parks. It's a terriffic city, really. You'll most likely want to stay in North West DC - the rest of it can be nice but you're much more likely to end-up in bad neighborhoods/dangerous situations in those areas... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Logware: a new and convenient web-based time tracking application. Start tracking and documenting hours spent on a project or with a client with Logware today. Try it for free with a 15 day trial account. http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=67 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:11:2229 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/11 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:11 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.11 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
