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Comment by cglan | Hacker News Reader

I lived there 4 years in Dupont Circle. It's a weird city. I personally didn't vibe with it so take what I say with a huge grain of salt. It's clean, people are intelligent, and there's a lot of stuff that's free and the architecture is gorgeous. That said, it doesn't have much of a culture since it's very transient. They way I describe it is the culture is very 'safe'. It's not gonna push the boundaries of anything. It also hasn't bounced back from Covid as well as some places. It's getting there, but it's not there. It's also very expensive. You're in an area that is approaching NYC prices in a lot of ways, but in reality is a mid size city. I moved to NYC and find it a much more interesting place overall. I think DC can appeal to a type of person, and it's a lot of fun in the summer but it wasn't for me. The tech scene was also uninteresting.

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> They way I describe it is the culture is very 'safe'

I grew up in the DC suburbs and my go-to example of this is the prevalence of chain restaurants in relation to the affluence of the population. The family from Michigan that’s here for four years along with some political administration isn’t going to take the time to sort through unfamiliar local places. They’re going to reach for familiar names. It’s the exact opposite of Philly, where a distinctly middle class, but permanent and stable, population keeps a thriving local restaurant scene in business.

There’s very much a culture to DC, but you have to look beyond the interim 20somethings to find it.

What neighborhood did you move to in NYC? I'm in NYC now and considering signing a 1 bedroom lease here, but the avg price in Manhattan/Brooklyn seems to be $3500 a month which is pushing me toward living in DC instead.

DC is way more lame than NYC, if that matters. DC is also overflowing with lawyers, apparatchiks, their groupies, and the permanently subsidized. NYC is much more random, diverse, corrupt, fun, and chaotic.

Moved from NOVA to Union City, NJ. My commute to Midtown is shorter than it would be if I were living in Brooklyn via Port Authority Buses. Rent is cheaper, and don't need to pay city tax.

I moved from NYC to DC and regretted it for the entire period (5+ years) that I stayed in DC. It's so dull by comparison. Even in the dead center it feels like a suburb. Worse, people come and go constantly so it's very difficult to build a stable solid social life. Every time I started really vibing with new friends, their job would disappear or send them to Kansas or Kabul or something, and I'd have to start over again.

Only positive thing I can say is that it's way better for cycling than NYC. Good infrastructure in the city, and fantastic paved trails throughout the surrounding areas. When my friends would move away at least I could spent the weekends exploring on two wheels.

I moved near east williamsburg/bushwhick along the L this past fall. I pay around 1.8k for a pretty large place alone. You can definitely find deals but the market has been sorta nuts. $3500 definitely feels high but keep in mind I dont have a dishwasher or w/d which for me is fine. I'm immensely more happy here than in DC and I am fully remote. I pay about $100 a month for wework basic and it gets me out of the house during the day. Or I go to friends places.

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