Don’t Move to Washington DC. Unless you can handle these things!
1- Expensive – Although DC is known for its FREE Smithsonian museums which include the national zoo and some fan favorites as the air and space museum and the national portrait gallery, there are 21 FREE Smithsonian museums so plenty to choose from, and you have free access to the the stunning monuments and national mall which is a great day trip and a lot of fun to walk around, thats about all that DC will offer you for free. https://www.si.edu/about/museums
Living in DC is expensive. In fact, just looking at rentcafe.com, they show that housing is 150% more expensive in Washington DC than the U.S average, while utilities are about 13% pricier. When it comes to basic necessities such as food and clothing, groceries are around 18% more in Washington, DC than in the rest of the country, while clothing costs around 18% more .
Rentcafe has an average rent of a 1 bedroom is $2422 with an average size of 746 Sq Ft. They specify average because there are definitely parts of DC that are cheaper as well as neighborhoods that are much more expensive.
Apartmentlist.com has the median rent for a 1bd at $2096 and a 2 bd at $2152 so even if you do some basic research, you will find a range of prices. https://www.apartmentlist.com/rent-report/dc/washington
As for sales, the median listing home price according to realtor.com is $629,000 as of November 2023. https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Washington_DC/overview I can tell you as a realtor, that this number takes into account the whole city which has a diverse range of home prices. So, if you are thinking about moving to DC and want a single family home or even a townhome, I would budget a lot more so you’re not surprised at the different home values.
Bottom line- DC is expensive to live in.
2- Traffic- You cant talk about DC without complaining about the traffic. In fact, US News came out with a study of the top 10 cities with the worst traffic and DC came in at #8. https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/articles/10-cities-with-the-worst-traffic-in-the-us
It’s bad. The city was designed after Paris by a Pierre L’Enfant and although it’s beautiful to look at, the endless circles (thank you Paris) add to an already terrible traffic situation. And don’t get me started on road construction- which is happening now btw all along the GW parkway. It’s a nightmare!
The city is too congested with its own residents. Once you add the commuters from MD and VA and the tourists – so many tourists- becomes a virtual parking lot. Without the parking. Which there is not enough. It is a rare day that you will find street parking so you’ll end up finding a garage which will cost you.
And if you do find street parking, beware of the time. The parking meter cops are everywhere. In fact, while we’re talking about tickets, be aware DC has so many traffic cameras so mind your speed and stop at the lights. Tickets are crazy expensive.
We do have a metro in DC so if you can use it to get around, you can avoid the traffic and parking- just be aware of your route before you pick where to live. It will safe you a lot of time and money.
3- Speaking of metro- and this is really important- always stand to the right and walk to your left while riding the escalator. Standing in a twosome that blocks the left side is strongly (and often loudly) discouraged by your fellow Metro riders. And I’m being nice. Whether you’re visiting DC or moving here- if you get one thing from this video- let it be this. Stand right. Walk left!
4- Summers- When you think of our nations capital, you prob don’t think of a swamp. But if you look at history, DC was said to have been originally built on a swamp. Now, I’m not sure thats true, but it def feels like it during the summer. It gets super hot, humid and buggy in the summer.
It’s pretty normal for the weather person to announce – it will be 85 today but feel like 110. And it does!!
So, if you are moving here, some tips. Get a dehumidifier for your basement. Run it all summer. You’ll be so happy you did. And in the winter, we do get some snow and cold weather, so go ahead and buy a humidifier to combat the dry heat.
And as for the bugs, the mosquitos here can get pretty bad- esp at dusk in the summer. Orkin did a study of the cities with the worst mosquitos and DC came in at #6. https://www.orkin.com/press-room/2023-top-cities-with-most-mosquitoes This is one of the reasons screened in porches are so valuable in DC. So if you are looking to buy and the house already has a screened in porch- be really happy! You will LOVE it!
I do want to mention if you are thinking of moving to DC or the DC suburbs, make sure to hit that subscribe button because thats what this channel is all about.
5- Representation. If you are politically minded and you like to get involved and have your vote count, DC may not be the place for you to live. I know, sounds crazy right- it’s the nations capital! Should be heaven for those who love to get involved. But- sadly, DC residents do Not have any voting representation in Congress.
You’ll notice the license plates in DC with the slogan Taxation without representation. Because while DC residents do not have representation, they do get to pay taxes as if they do. In fact, DC residents pay the highest per-capita federal income taxes in the US., and DC residents pay more in total federal income tax than residents of 22 other states, but have no say over how those tax dollars are spent. The debate on whether DC should be a state is for another video but I’ll put a link in my blog that shows the different arguments for statehood. https://statehood.dc.gov/page/why-statehood-dc
6- Crime. You would have to be living under a rock not to have heard that crime is up in DC. Just last week, the Washington Post reported 2023’s homicides are back to the nineties numbers. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/interactive/2024/dc-crime-homicide-victims-shooting-violence/
So, I did a video with one of MPDs finest (we call the DC police MPD- metropolitan police dept) who went over the best way to see if crime in an area you are thinking about moving to is the same or different from where you live now. This way you can really compare how it feels to you. So check out that video next if crime is one of your big concerns. https://youtu.be/R3h9YKPdA4o?si=lLupXMu9ZmaUpq5j
7- Sports- Oh I remember the good ole days when Washington had a great football team. I was young, but I still remember. Now we do finally have new ownership of the Commanders so I’m hoping next season they will make some much needed changes to bring Washington back to its glory.
And I’m not the only one. DC fans are die hards. Even with Baltimore so close by, you will be hard to find Raven fans in DC- we like our teams and will will stick by them. Even if we complain a lot.
As for our other DC teams, which we have a lot, the rumor that the Wizards and the Capitals are moving to VA is breaking hearts all over the district. I really hope they don’t go. Cap games are so fun and we need our teams to stay in DC. I mean, come on, Virginia doesn’t have any professional sports teams…maybe there’s a reason for that.
** Please don’t hate me Virginians….***
There’s a lot more I can say about living in DC, I was born there and moved between my parents homes in MD and DC since I was really young and I really do love the city.
If you want to know more about living there, check out this video next! https://youtu.be/nihb_zq8gOM?si=BEE4TpRBm1sYwyGC
And if you are thinking of moving to DC or the DC suburbs and you would like our help., just send an email and we’ll set up a zoom and get you started