2017 Best Places to Live in America vol. NYC didn't crack top 20 cities

[hennessy]

I actually just got a job in northwest DC that starts in about a month. Was looking at Arlington but glad I came in here to get different perspectives. What about Bethesda/Chevy Chase area?

I was over there Saturday morning to get some business cards printed last minute. The Staples over there was only place that could get it done for me in time for an event I had to be at. It just reminded me of why I hadn't been over that way in like 2 years before Saturday. Nothing over there but rich people and traffic. I wouldn't live in Bethesda/Chevy Chase unless I had to for some reason. Especially as a young adult. That's all old money, the country club, and luxury shops over there. Not a draw for young people unless you work right there and want an easy commute.

 

[nazdrowie]

 I wouldn't live in Bethesda/Chevy Chase unless I had to for some reason. Especially as a young adult. That's all old money, the country club, and luxury shops over there. Not a draw for young people unless you work right there and want an easy commute.

this is exactly the case...Bethesda/Chevy Chase is for the mid-late 30s crowd...theres not much going on besides some nice restaurants...lots of divorcees and soccer moms (if thats anyones thing)...

I work @ Bethesda metro center, and getting into Bethesda SUCKS, especially during rush hour...you only have access from Old Georgetown Road, East-West HW or Wisconsin Blvd, for driving,

the Redline sucks because you have to cut through the city just to go north...it takes 40-50 mins to go from Silver Spring to Bethesda on the metro and the stations are only 4 miles apart...  

Bethesda sucks.../end rant

 

[Mark Antony]

I wonder why PG schools are terrible when comparatively Montgomery is the best in the nation. Incomes not that far off, but the race makeup is definitely different. A definite deliberate lack of resources and budget given to one county. And people want to deny systemic racism.

 

[verbal kint]

If you're a young(under 45 really), successful, relatively attractive male, without kids.. and you're looking for nightlife and the full "effect" of this area.. I personally wouldn't live outside of DC. The rents are all somewhat relative and comparable to parts of DC, in areas like Arlington, parts of Alexandria, Merrifield etc.. Though the sq. footage is usually aLOT smaller.

        The DMV as a whole is also somewhat lacking in variety in terms of nightlight options, and its easy enough to take the train out to Clarendon for Don Titos or Clarendon Ballroom, or Ballston for A-town, or Tyson's, MGM etc as a change of pace, then head back to the city for the full scope(U st. Gtown, 14th, K st. H st.).  If you're outgoing, and mix it up a bit.. living in DC is one of the better experiences you can have.

I'm a BK dude, that's been in this area for a long time.. I've lived in areas such as Herndon, Lorton, Clarendon, King St., Dunn Loring.. and as long as youre not a wack dude.. you'll have fun and enjoy living anywhere really.  But being able to walk outside my door and bike, jog, walk, train, uber to different parts of the city and not have to worry about trekking all the way back to my crib after a long night of partying, or HHing, or hooping, or grabbing a bite etc is beyond convenient.  Plus, in the summertime, with day-parties.. not having to travel back to VA or MD to change etc. is a benefit in and of itself.

Some of the cats I run with, live in the larger buildings out here like City Center, Flats130, Avalon on M.. and the connections you'll make, as well as the afterparty possibilities make it well worth it. Even if you have a chick, as I do.. the ability to transition from work, to home, to hangingout for coffee and convo at a spot like tryst, or hitting a random event without pre-planning is very convenient.

Just my perspective.

 

[アミーゴ]

Thanks man, it's really looking like DuPont for me. Also helps big time I won't have to pay for rent for a year while in Vevey.

 

[capital sb]

I was over there Saturday morning to get some business cards printed last minute. The Staples over there was only place that could get it done for me in time for an event I had to be at. It just reminded me of why I hadn't been over that way in like 2 years before Saturday. Nothing over there but rich people and traffic. I wouldn't live in Bethesda/Chevy Chase unless I had to for some reason. Especially as a young adult. That's all old money, the country club, and luxury shops over there. Not a draw for young people unless you work right there and want an easy commute.

TOO MUCH TRAFFIC . Agreed, I'd only live there if I worked in Bethesda/Rockville.

I wonder why PG schools are terrible when comparatively Montgomery is the best in the nation. Incomes not that far off, but the race makeup is definitely different. A definite deliberate lack of resources and budget given to one county. And people want to deny systemic racism.

Exactly

 

[phillie]

No no please explain. I haven't been, so I'm not aware...[emoji]128064[/emoji]

I lived in Orlando for 6 years (3 years attending law school and for 3 years after graduation).  Orlando has a college park area... that has nothing to do with any Colleges/Universities... Lol.  The young progressive black movement is real in Orlando.  If you are between the ages of 25-40, there are so many attractive single women.  The Downtown area between Central Ave and Church Street is fantastic and there are plenty of day parties, lounges and clubs every Thursday through Monday.  There is a place called Ember that has a Happy Hour Deal on Friday's between 4-7:30pm that features 3-4-1 drinks!  Around the corner and a little further down from Ember is a place called Vintage that has like $2 to $5 drinks until 10pm.  Across from Vintage is one of the greatest cigar bars I have ever been to called Corona which sits basically in the middle of all the action and you can see everything while smoking a cigar in the outside areas.

But that comes with it's issues.  Orlando is relatively small, even with all of the women and so you are only probably have 2 to 3 degrees of separation from female to female so you always have to thread lightly.

Also, Orlando has a low cost of living but absolutely very few jobs are created for those trying to make $50k a year or more.  There is no real industry in Orlando outside of hospitality.  That is why I left Orlando, the wages/salary are low and the DMV was willing to pay me about $30k more to do the same job.  I had to eventually bounce.

 

[verbal kint]

Yeah no problem at all.  I don't know what your priorities are in terms of a dwelling, but Dupont doesn't have a ton of newer buildings. It's mostly older construction with lesser amenities, for a similar cost as other buildings due to the locality. The Drake is probably the nicest newer construction over in that area currently. Though DC has new apartments going up all the time.

I'll give a quick snapshot of a few areas in DC, and maybe this could also help other folks who are thinking of moving into the city as well.

U st./14th St. - Easily the best area to live for a young, single professional imo. Tons of bars, including a few of the more popular night spots in the city, like marvin, policy, lost society, good to great restaurant options, very walkable, newer buildings such as http://www.dcdistrict.com & http://www.thelouisdc.com/index.aspx - green/yellow metro line. Further down 14th st are alot of brand new buildings as well like 14W, Capitol View on 14th etc

Dupont - Dupont is a large area in relation to the others.. The circle has a few different cuts.. one side is where the majority of restaurants lie, the other is where the clubs, bars and office areas lie, and then there are two residential offshoots.  There aren't many newer buildings down in this area, but the location is probably the best in DC in terms of balance.. proximity to downtown and capital, close to U st., Gtown, Dupont has direct access to most parts of DC as well as rte 66, which will take you to Arlington and Tysons etc.  It wouldnt be my preference to live, mainly because its kinda of spread out and there arent off the top of my head, local grocery stores or convenience stores. Its primarily an area to drink or work. redline metro

Chinatown - Probably the real "downtown" of DC. Verizon ctr is in this area, nearby to museums and the "downtown" office areas. Tons of really good restaurants. This is where most of the concentration of tourists go. Some nightlife options, but not a ton. Home to the most aesthetic building in DC; citycenterdc.com redline metro

H st. - Currently a poor mans U st., but its quickly changing. A few pretty good bars such as Red rocks, rock and roll hotel, smith commons. Solid restaurant options. Nearby to a main train hub in Union Station. A few really nice buildings have gone up recently in http://stationhousedc.com/, http://anthologydc.com, www.theapollodc.com/ red line metro

Adams Morgan - If there was a metro stop, would probably be the 2nd best place to live imo. but no metro stop and not many newer, nicer buildings though.. mainly only the Hepburn. Really walkable, tons of people out at all hours of the day and night, heavily policed for some reason, numerous bars and places to eat, direct access to Connecticut ave and DuPont, as well as Columbia hgts and 14th st.

K. St/City Vista - Probably the 2nd best area to live at the moment imo.  Close to 395, easy access to downtown(chinatown), or the U st. area. Stones throw from the convention ctr where alot of events are held like the Washington auto show. Huge grocery store, a few restaurant options and great apartment options like Lyric, Gables City Vista, 425 Mass, Meridian. Pretty busy area with tons of traffic moving through most of the day

Columbia Hgts. - It's tiny, but a pretty good area to live in (my area), with a metro stop right outside your door, CVS, huge Target, Giant grocery, a number of solid restaurant and bar options, fast food spots like chiptole, chic fila, cava and a Washington Sports Club with a court and a pretty good run everyday(its where I hoop). Highland Park is probably the best apt option over that way

Petworth- Heavily residential with not a ton to do right outside your door, but close to Columbia Hgts which has a few decent restaurants and bars as mentioned. Pretty chill area; A few newer buildings such as Park Place, Griffin and the Swift, mixed in with a ton of row houses. Metro is right on the block; green/yellow line. Located off GA Ave, which is a direct conduit to Silver Spring, MD

Georgetown - Old money, not metro accessible, but the largest shopping district in the district. Fantastic restaurants, many of which are right on the waterfront, varied options as well, really classy bars and a few clubs, direct access to arlington(rosslyn), which also has numerous restaurants and bars. Very walkable, but parking is tough and it feels somewhat cut off from the rest of the city.

SW/Navy Yard - Totally rebuilt area, everything around here is pretty newly constructed. Basically built next to Nats stadium, alot of nice, new buildings.. too many to list really, for the lowest price/sq. foot ratio in DC. A few decent restaurants like Gordon Biersch. Right off of 395/295. walkable/bikable to Barracks row and Capitol Hill, which feature a ****ton of great restaurants and bars. Nearby to the Yards, which is a really nice, newly build park, with a couple of couple of cool restaurants and probably the best brewey in DC.. bluejacket. Theres not a ton to do around here at night though.. and it gets kind of desolate after maybe 9pm. Also somewhat cut off from the rest of the city.. but i have a few friends that live here.. and its a nice area to live in

Noma - Another rebuilt from the ground up, type of area. Its weird at the moment, because it reminds me of a collegiate campus with huge skyscraping buildings, and a ton of people walking around .. but really only within a few blocks.. if you leave those blocks.. the area gets interesting, as the rest of NoMA hasnt been redone as of yet.  A few places to eat and grocery shop, parking is a huge issue unless you rent a garage spot in your building. Nothing todo at night, but things are coming. But the action is really in the buildings themselves tbh.. Avalon on M, Elevation(which doubles as a hotel evidently), Flats130, and a few others

Other areas that are cool depending on what you're looking for:

Fort Totten

Waterfront

Capitol Hill

Brookland

Van Ness

Foggy Bottom

Logan Circle

Shaw

West End - another one of my favorite areas, though a bit quiet at night

In terms of women.. it's women everywhere..It's not LA or NY..but that would be the least of my worries moving out this way.

I'm sure I'm probably forgetting something's, in which case ill edit the post.

 

[suberzat1]

@Ecook0808  Excellent post on living in DC above.

Dupoint is a great area to live also from your earlier post

U St

Chinatown

H ST/Dupont

are my favorite areas in DC outside of Brookland since I live in the area.

 

[capital sb]

I just want to find a dope loft once I come back from overseas. Preferably MD, but Alexandria or Arlington is cool too.

 

[nazdrowie]

Foggy Bottom is my favorite place...

i want a condo in one of the buildings off Virginia Ave, but the buildings are 40+ years old so the fees are astronomical 

 

[Los Angeles]

ive lived a lot of places in socal:
lbc
rowland hts
walnut
hacienda hts
diamond bar
chino hills
corona
west covina

walnut is by far the city i wanna raise my family, houses start at like $700k tho :x

 

[HIM]

So what's NC like for a young hispanic male? Boise too? Wouldn't mind taking a job and stacking up for a couple years before moving back to LA.

 

[frshstunna]

No no please explain. I haven't been, so I'm not aware...[emoji]128064[/emoji]

I lived in Orlando for 6 years (3 years attending law school and for 3 years after graduation).  Orlando has a college park area... that has nothing to do with any Colleges/Universities... Lol.  The young progressive black movement is real in Orlando.  If you are between the ages of 25-40, there are so many attractive single women.  The Downtown area between Central Ave and Church Street is fantastic and there are plenty of day parties, lounges and clubs every Thursday through Monday.  There is a place called Ember that has a Happy Hour Deal on Friday's between 4-7:30pm that features 3-4-1 drinks!  Around the corner and a little further down from Ember is a place called Vintage that has like $2 to $5 drinks until 10pm.  Across from Vintage is one of the greatest cigar bars I have ever been to called Corona which sits basically in the middle of all the action and you can see everything while smoking a cigar in the outside areas.

But that comes with it's issues.  Orlando is relatively small, even with all of the women and so you are only probably have 2 to 3 degrees of separation from female to female so you always have to thread lightly.

Also, Orlando has a low cost of living but absolutely very few jobs are created for those trying to make $50k a year or more.  There is no real industry in Orlando outside of hospitality.  That is why I left Orlando, the wages/salary are low and the DMV was willing to pay me about $30k more to do the same job.  I had to eventually bounce.

Yea thats the thing about moving south in general, the cost of living is low but so are the salaries...looked at trying to move to Orlando a while back and the pay for some of the jobs they had listed was disrepectful :x

Main reason i aint pull the trigger on an ATL move yet, need an equal or better pay doing the same type of job i got now

 

[frshstunna]

So what's NC like for a young hispanic male? Boise too? Wouldn't mind taking a job and stacking up for a couple years before moving back to LA.

You'll be straight in Charlotte or raleigh/durham good mix of ppl/cost of living/things to do .....Only thing i Know bout Boise is what my Father told me, he had to go there for a lil min for work and said its EXACTLY how you think it is ...basically a middle of nowhere small city with no minorities