Having worked in both Seattle and Arlington, i have to say, I love the hell out of Arlington. Why? - Not overrun with tech workers. People have extremely diverse backgrounds, and it makes meeting new people and schmoozing really interesting. - Better weather nine months of the year - Urban with plenty of stuff to do. Excellent nightlife both in North Arlington as well as in a dozen or so different neighborhoods in DC. - Great food in the DC area. Whether it beats Seattle is debatable. Both Seattle and DC have some of the best (and underrated) food scenes in the nation. - Great music scene (but Seattle is better than DC on this one) - DC is bustling and diverse and a bridge or metro ride away - Arlington and DC don't care that you're a tech worker transplant... people here are either welcoming or indifferent that you're a tech worker or from somewhere else. Yes, that includes DC natives, unlike Seattle natives that hate Amazon with a passion. - Crystal City in particular loves Amazon. From my time in SLU, I gathered that the city really has no love for tech worker transplants. - Women outnumber men in the DC area. Arlington has the highest rate of singles per capita in the United States. And everyone here is really, really attractive. - Housing is expensive but still cheaper than in Seattle - For my older friends: NOVA public schools are some of the best in the country. If you're raising a nerd, you can send your kid to Thomas Jefferson, one of the top magnet schools in the country. Otherwise, just live in Fairfax whose public high schools are feeders into the top public universities and Ivy-level privates. Overall: If you're young, like having four seasons (and value seeing daylight), are single, like people, then definitely consider moving to and working in Arlington.
+1 to this. I lived there for a year and had the same experience. Pentagon city sucks tho.
1) not overrun by techies is a great thing. Although means less jobs 2) weather is so subjective, Seattle weather is amazing. 3) Seattle food sucks, what the hell are you talking about best and underrated food here? I need recs, this city sucks for food. DC is much better foodwise. 4) wale is great I agree 5) you must only hang out with rich dc natives if you think the locals don't hate the wealth moving in. Not as bad as Seattle but still 6) you forgot to mention a competent baseball team that's in the world series
Seattle food does suck tho. What you can’t get enough salmon?
You need to move to NYC man. Everything you said is true but taken to another level.
I've been afraid of the politics spilling into daily lives. Are people obsessed or over-passionate about politics? Is politics the main theme of many conversations in the DC area?
If politics aren't spilling into your daily life then you are very blessed and privileged to not experience the negative side effects of public policy
It's not an obsession, but Trump supporters (and Trump) definitely aren't welcome in DC. That's sort of the case for most major cities in the U.S.
Is there a large Asian population? I’d love to check out Texas
I think he means Arlington county in Virginia
Dc area is pretty chill. People are very smart, great culture, decent urban amenities (not as good as nyc though). Summers are kinda unbearably hot/humid though and it’s a company town for politics in the same way SF is for tech. Decent place to be if you’ve got a solid career trajectory lined up.
That said, I find Arlington too suburban for my tastes but I get it if you have kids and want a bit of city while also not dealing with all the downsides.
Strongly disagree about the weather. I grew up in the northeast and the weather there stinks 1/2 the year. Hot and humid in the summer, freezing cold durig the winter. Seattle and it's fair temperatures wins in my opinion.
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Lived there for several years and couldn’t agree more