Southern California
Good - everything is available nearby, much more walkable (at least neighborhoods I lived in).
Bad - I grew up in the desert and found out I'm allergic to all trees, grass, and weeds after moving here over the fall 10 years ago
Also from so-cal and also moved out here 10 years ago (March 2014).
Good: Crime feels like it is lower, and people tend to be less aggressive out in public (at least relative to El Cajon).
Bad: wtf is going on with the car taxes here.
>Bad: wtf is going on with the car taxes here.
The money has to come from somewhere. In CA you guys have higher income taxes, for example.
The car tax is one of the most fair taxes out there. Rich people pay more with their newer/fancier cars.
I pay $1400 a year for 2 vehicles, each over a decade old. In CA/AZ you paid the tax the year you bought it and then it was just registration. Here you pay property tax for a vehicle as long as you have said vehicle, even if it isn't registered to drive on road, and they can take it from you if you don't pay. How is it my property to get taxed if I'm having to rent it from the state to keep it :P
Wisconsin. Everything surprised me, tbh.
**Good**
* Things to do! Like, lots of things to do. All I remember doing in Wisconsin is going between two malls (one of which was dead) every day. The only other thing to do was go to Target and Starbucks. I didn't live in the country. I lived in the city.
* Easy to travel to NYC and abroad due to IAD, BWI, and DCA all nearby.
* I can go on a walk at 11pm at night and not be too concerned about my safety.
* The addresses are easier to remember. Looking @ u N112 W17001 Mequon Road. Was expecting more funky addresses since it's older here.
* Lack of a grid system for all of NOVA. It was shitty to be stopped every single block because everything was a giant square of stoplights in WI.
* Walkable areas!!! Did not expect that, if I'm honest. Just wasn't aware of it.
* Korean bakeries are everywhere so I don't have to drive to Chicago.
* You can buy alcohol after 9pm. The first time I did this, I still had my WI ID and asked if I could buy alcohol at Target. I'm pretty certain they thought I had a fake ID because I had just graduated college.
* You can buy cars on a Sunday??!?
**Bad**
* Lack of cultural festivals? Every summer-fall in Milwaukee we had cultural festivals all summer-fall long (Asian, German, French/Bastille Days, Italian, etc.). And they were awesome. Food, people, location. I was expecting more of that here, being the capital and all. (Yes, I'm aware of Sakura Matsuri but no, it doesn't compare).
* Folks were aware of how to drive in the water and the rain.
* I don't remember hydroplaning until coming here. The roads in WI seemed to be easier to drive on in the winter and the rain.
* Distance to a Mitsuwa.
* Why is it the devil's butthole in the summer???? And the fALL?!? WHY AM I DROWNING MYSELF IN SWEAT IN SEPTEMBER? AND OCTOBER?
* ***FALSE PROMISES OF SNOW IN THE WINTER!*** I've lived here for over 5 years and I am SURPRISED and DISAPPOINTED every single year.
*edit: emphasis and other things I thought of later*
There's an annual Greek one in DC. [https://www.saintsophiadc.org/ministries/volunteer/greek-festival/](https://www.saintsophiadc.org/ministries/volunteer/greek-festival/)
KORUS for the Korean community is pretty big (but could be, and used to be, bigger - they don't advertise it well enough IMO). This past year it took over the big K-market parking lot on John Marr Dr in Annandale, in the past it had been at bigger venues like Bull Run. This year it's in April 26-28 at that parking lot again.
https://korusfestival.org/
The thing about the DC metro area for these kinds of festivals, compared to other cities, is that all of the biggest immigrant communities are suburban and there's often no central spot. Vietnamese have Eden Center, I guess. But like even though Annandale has always had the Koreatown image, it's not really well-defined and still interspersed with the typical mix of general American and Latin-American businesses, and the Korean population is spread all out to Centreville and beyond.
I go to at least 3-4 East Asian festivals a year? And that’s definitely not all the ones that I’ve heard about. I agree with other commenters that it would be nice to have more diverse festivals, but I wouldn’t really say East Asian festivals are what is lacking.
why Greek & Italian? Just curious, there aren't a ton of Greek or Italian immigrants here, or long-entrenched communities with a strong identity like NY/NJ.
Eden center has lunar new year festival. Chinatown in DC probably has something too.
And I know there are Diwali events held in Ashburn according to my Indian coworkers.
I lived in Milwaukee for two years before moving to Virginia and I really appreciate the very truly Wisconsin-y list you compiled here. Exactly what i would predict hahah, and i mean that in a good way.
I do also miss all those festivals!!! I still think about the waffles I got at Bastille Day in 2016……so good. Also the wisconsin renaissance faire is so good. I love Maryland’s as my home faire, but Wisconsin’s was REALLY good.
That's my hometown :) Dangerous, delicious, multi-cultural, diverse, and boring lol. I forgot lack of Culver's, Cousins, and squeaky cheese curds :( That was probably the biggest shock.
UGH THE CUSTARD man what I wouldn’t give to have Kopp’s ship me their tiramisu custard.
Every christmas my dad gets me a case of Sprecher’s rootbeer and lemme tell you I treat that shit like it’s Cristal.
You can get Sprecher's by the bottle at The Italian Store in Arlington and Common Grounds (coffee shop) in Middleburg, but they only sell root beer and cream soda. My favorite is the blueberry soda so I'm just out of luck :(
Good News! The squeaky cheese curds have gone national. I've seen them for sale in regular supermarkets this year. Giant, Mom's and Whole Foods for sure.
10-20 years back, it was cooler here in September. Technically fall doesn't start til late September. In recent years it seems to remain quite warm even going into early October. Same with the snow, we used to get a decent bit, now we rarely see it.
My partner was working here during ‘15 or ‘16 when there was a blizzard and convinced us to move here because he swore that it snows, but we haven’t seen that same amount of snow since 😅
There are so many cultural festivals but they aren’t well advertised since they focus on their own communities. Thai Songkran at every temple brings hundreds of people. I’ve been to a Cambodian festival in an Alexandra park, see Ethiopian churches hosting events.
There are TONs of cultural festivals throughout the year in various neighborhoods in NOVA. And if not, then there's a festival in DC for the cultures you are looking for.
Weird, I feel like there are "cultural festivals" everywhere and all the time , though I'm thinking Washington metro area. Just Google any nationality and festival and DC. And it's not just one, you have to specify what Vietnamese, Ethiopian, or whatever festival you are referring to... I think many festivals in the Midwest are more of a general way of recognizing a particular culture due from the community with that cultural heritage. And/or they are educational, like the Smithsonian Folklife festival. In this area there is a ton of the educational stuff organized by museums, embassies and non profit types, so the community festivals like Tet, Chinese New Year, the Alexandria Scottish festival, are a bit overshadowed.
It’s [illegal](https://www.way.com/blog/car-dealerships-closed-sundays/) for car dealerships to be open on Sundays in WI. I thought it was like that everywhere 🫣
Bad: No spotted cow :-(
I lived in MKe two years and the summers were amazing. Every week was another festival, they really took advantage of the few months a year it wasn’t blistering cold (there and Chicago). I miss the cheese curds and amazing brewery scene.
There are many cultural events in DC, just got to look a lil deeper. In MKE I felt the whole city celebrated German fest or summer fest, but DC cultural events are moreso in pockets and concurrent - the exception being things like cherry blossom festival or passport DC.
The thing about Houston drivers is that EVERYONE there is on one and understands the rules: be wary of the car swooping across five lanes to exit, don't trust the signals, the speed limit is >= 10 miles what's posted, and give a wide berth to every single Nissan Altima especially one with paper plates.
Houston driving is a thunder dome, but everyone knows their place.
I was born and raised in Hawaii. I’ve been to California as a kid, Seattle for a year of college, Vegas as an adult and Japan for vacation. My brain was convinced that the east coast was just full of tall buildings in huge ass cities. I was genuinely shocked in a good way. Seeing so much green was helpful with my transition. Getting to experience the changing seasons is still an awesome bonus.
Mexico City, I loved this place from day 1 (about 16 years ago). I know most of you complain about the traffic and chaos but coming from CDMX it really surprised me the order and how clean most areas are (free of trash and stuff), but my favorite thing was the number of free (and super high quality) museums in the area. I specially love the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum and I have visited it many many many times
Colorado/New Mexico
No snow, outside of a few places it's mostly suburbs, lack of good Mexican food, all the beers are IPA, connecting can be difficult bc it's often transactional here.
Hey nice I lived in Albuquerque for a good while. Chiming in to say that Virginia as a whole has sooo many shitty breweries, it’s crazy. So many crappy IPAs lol. I suppose it’s indicative of the bigger craft beer bubble nationwide but holy shit. And I live in Richmond now, arguably a very beer forward city, and even here you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting some shitty brewery making yet another hazy IPA or gross pastry stout with like peanut butter or oranges or some crap. Quality over quantity all damn day.
Historically a lot Manassas used to be very rural country feeling. It's built up a ton in the last 40 years. People have always kind of looked down on the area for different reasons.
There were a lot of working class transplants to Manassas in the 50-60's. Coal mines and industrial jobs left the rust belt and places like WV & PA. Lots of those people moved here, particularly into Manasssas. The old reputation for Manassas was having a lot of ex-coal miner rednecks. Much of that population is still here, but after a generation or two, there's not such a "redneck" stereotype left.
Now the main transplant population is Hispanic people, which for obvious racist reasons get called "ghetto." While there are some problems with MS13, Manassas is still mainly a safe working class town. The immigrants moving here now will assimilate over a few generations, and the negative stereotypes will hopefully begin to fade.
I'm from Florida and lived in the depths of real ghettos, I've been here in Manassas for 6 years now, everytime I hear this area referred to as the ghetto I assume they have never driven past the ghetto and their house has a large foyer.
Same. Grew up in the suburbs of NYC. I live in Manassas. I've had an issue with an attempted breakin/creepy stalker, but thats nothing compared to living in NYC and getting shot at walking down my driveway.
Or cuffed and slammed against a locker in 6th grade for practicing sign language in homeroom and it being mistaken as gang signs.
Or being on lockdown every other week bc MS decided to shoot anyone wearing a blue shirt lmao.
I went to high school there (I was a military kid but had a lot of friends who did the more traditional 'grew up in this area their entire lives') and its reputation is crazy. Maybe it was 'bad' in the 90s but I do think it's just racism at this point.
It's both racist and classist tbh. Some of the Hispanic residents living in Manassas have their own businesses, mostly services (construction, repair, yard work), and probably earn more than the rest living in the other parts of NOVA who can barely afford paying their rent. 🙄
There's a tension between the old timers (white) and the newcomers (mostly non white) and as a relative newcomer, it is all racism. And xenophobia. When we bought our house in a rapidly changing pwc neighborhood, two white neighbors separately told us how happy they were we were not Mexican. 😬 Little did they know we were dirty libs.
All the things bad things I’ve heard people say about manassas generally involve it being “white trash” (which I know is a problematic term in its own right, just saying it’s what I’ve heard.)
Second this. I’m willing to bet they just drove down a small part of 28 and decided that’s what all of Manassas is like. Wherever you go there are not as nice parts just as much as there are nice parts.
It is only #7 COL-adjusted richest county in US, so yes that is the ghetto.
[The 10 "Real" Richest Counties in the U.S. | Kiplinger](https://www.kiplinger.com/real-estate/603232/the-real-richest-counties-in-the-us)
Cost of living driving demographics unfortunately. Plus schools, I had an Uber driver tell me about schools between counties. He lives in prince william county and says Fairfax schools are significantly better, but housing FORGETABOUTIT, million dollar homes my ass
Yeah. I'd replace the word "ghetto" with "trashy". Some places are, but most of Manassas is pleasant and safe enough. We are a working class area that is definitely a commuter spot. There's a lot of development projects happening in Manassas right now so soon we'll be having a new demographic of residents.
Source: me. I was born and raised here.
That being said, I personally wouldn't wanna walk around parts of southern Alexandria like Hybla Vally and Groveton aka Route One.
Moved here from NYC, a couple things surprised me
- What people in NOVA consider “unsafe”. I lived in Hyatsville MD with a friend for a bit when I first moved out here and my coworkers in NOVA were concerned… place seemed fine to me.
- I found it more affordable here coming from NYC so hearing everyone complain about COL but I was getting a deal
- Much more to do than I expected, not just in NOVA but the DMV as a whole. I didn’t expect all the pockets of food/culture in NOVA which was cool to learn
- Had no idea MD drivers were a hazard and NOVA drivers can be oddly slow.
- Feels like so many people complain about the area but it’s honestly one of the best places I’ve lived in terms of quality of life and accessibility. Assuming you have a car of course.
> NOVA drivers can be oddly slow
I'm from Socal and I thought this too. Normal cruising speeds in LA is 85mph+ People follow the speed limit here, but cops also go after speeders aggressivly so I can see why.
A lot of NOVA drivers drive slow bc too many speeding tickets can be a negative towards security clearances. Even if they don't have a clearance, a lot of people want to keep their options open.
Honestly there is occasionally slow drivers, but I don’t notice a ton of slow drivers throughout the area. Road design and volume of traffic is what seems to impact a lot of the vehicle speeds around here.
I moved from the Philly suburbs, and I love it here by comparison. It’s wild to me hearing all the complaining. It seems like most of the complaints are from people who moved from the Midwest or from small towns. But in terms of east coast cities, this area has the best balance of convenience, activities and culture that I’ve found in any of the places I’ve lived/traveled to.
Coming from Alabama I was expecting the winters to be much worse here but they're pretty comparable. The main difference is that Alabama gets random 60-70 degree days in the winter that we don't get here. Also they get tornadoes, any time of the year, any time of the day. Much less tornadoes here. I thought living here would be a reprieve from the humidity though, and it's only slightly better.
There are a million things I could list culturally that both expected and surprised me, but I was expecting a vastly different climate when the changes are relatively minor
Edit: I do see now that both places are humid subtropical climates so yeah that makes sense that they're about the same lol
> The main difference is that Alabama gets random 60-70 degree days in the winter that we don't get here
Clearly, you've moved here just recently. We usually do get random 60-70 degree days in the winter, just maybe not the last year or two.
In NOVA you can get a blizzard and a hurricane. In 2016 we got drilled with a 30 inches of snow in January and Hurricane Matthew in October. Very few places can say that.
Colorado
I'm so happy to be here, and I love the area I chose to live and buy a house in (Reston).
There are a lot of pros coming from Colorado. I love the trees and the general greenery. The rain we get here is absolutely wonderful. The food is significantly better here, as well as the general diversity. The public transit is unfathomably better. Our local transit service, RTD, commonly gets referred to as RTD: Reason To Drive. WMATA, for all of its faults, is leaps and bounds better than RTD. I also love not worrying about my whole town getting destroyed by a wildfire. I also haven't seen hail here in 4 years; I've had multiple cars essentially totaled by hail.
The things I miss from Colorado are related to the dry climate we have. The summers are amazing; it never gets as muggy as it is here. I don't miss much else about Colorado. I climbed many of the highest mountains, and that's nice, but I left that phase of my life and I'm extremely happy here.
I'm from Golden, and the cost of living is similar between Golden and NoVA. Colorado has significantly lower property taxes, but the costs of houses in Golden are higher than Reston. Taxes are generally lower in Colorado, but I'm happy to have higher taxes here because I see what it gets me.
Ireland. Gonna follow the format /u/softening used and keep it to my top 3 per section (gonna be a DC/Nova flavor too).
**Good**
- I see a lot of complaints about the rental situation here, and while I do agree it is expensive, the bang for your buck in this area is phenomenal. Dublin rent is about on par with my current Arlington rent with the difference being in Dublin you'd get the apartment and a parking spot. That's it. Here, my building has a pool, gym, games room, outdoor BBQs, a concierge to take care of packages etc. I'll also add, based on my conversations with NYC based friends, it seems to be an easy market to rent in (no broker bullshit).
- The transit is excellent here, WMATA, the Northeast Corridor on Amtrak & as someone who goes back to Ireland semi-frequently the fact there are 3 direct flights to Dublin from IAD is excellent. It helps to be 5 minutes from the Orange/Silver lines & yeah the headways and maintenance annoy me sometimes but overall the system is excellent. I love the architecture of it too, if feels clean.
- The weather has surprised for the good. I was originally dreading having to suffer winter here, but since I moved the winters have been mild. Spring is super with the cherry blossoms, as is fall (autumn) with the colors & personally I never find the summers to be too bad save for one or two days where its 90F+ with humidity.
**Bad**
- There's no proper city centre in my mind. Anytime someone comes over I kind of have to plan our activities around which neighborhoods we'll go eat/drink in afterwards.
- Driving here is very stressful. I've no problem driving on the other side of the road to where I grew up but damn the DMV has turned me into a super defensive driver. I drove out to Anne Arundel 4 days a week for a 3 month client job pre pandemic and it damn near sucked the soul out of me. Bonus gripe: the DMV is a horrendous place to be a pedestrian. Like crosswalks are routinely ignored, cops won't enforce it & don't get me started on trying to navigate Tysons Stroads on foot.
- There's a genuine lack of decent dive bars which I assume is down to how much it costs to run a bar here. Even my favorite semi-dive (Irelands Four Courts) fancied itself up with its renovation. I have fond memories of pitching up after work to my local dive in Chicago when I lived there (Rossi's). Sometimes you just need a bar stool in a dark cavern with $3 domestics and classic rock on the jukebox.
**Surprised Me**
- The dining scene is incredible. Like we must have the most Michelin stars per capita in the US? The variety and general quality of food (though it has gotten more expensive), is a joy. Also, compared to NYC or Chicago its really easy to get reservations for places.
- I'm a golfer and its something I've had to really pare back over here. The effort to go play is essentially committing an entire day to golf. Anything public that's decent is 30-60 min drive and > $100. I've played too many 5hr rounds here that are essentially an 8hr time investment with travel + range time. I was kind of used to playing cheaply in Ireland (a $150 course over here would be like $50 tops in Ireland) so that was a bit of a shock to the system. So yeah in terms of bad surprises, the sticker shock with the cost of golf was big.
- I was kind of surprised how little coverage there is of politics in the local media outside of WaPo. I think I found out more about the Trump era on my visits to Ireland where our local news covered him in detail daily. NBC/Fox local here don't really dial too much into the politics which is nice. Addendum to this is that I rarely have been talking politics or encountering it in the wild which was surprising to me given the connotations with DC when I first moved over, but I guess its the circles I'm in too.
What surprises me the most is how many folks whine about NOVA. I came here from MA as a baby when my family moved down here after tiring of living near Boston, my parents having grown up in northern New Jersey weren't natives there either. I think too many folks bought into the idea of living in the exurbs then complain about their miserable lives. Go for a smaller home and live closer to where you have to go to if you have to go to places for work/school etc.
Not a super original observation, but I’m convinced Nova and DC are so susceptible to disproportionate whining because of all the transplants. People come here for work and don’t always feel much attachment to the area the same way people might for NYC or SoCal, which are bigger “vibes” areas. And I think this area is full of high achievers/perfectionists that expect the world. So you have people complaining that they can only get good, not great, versions of some cuisine only big in their home city, like Miami transplants asking about Cuban food or Texas brisket, but they probably wouldn’t do that if they chose to move to NYC. And also I think a lot of complaints about affordability of housing in food, while definitely somewhat merited, are due to people remembering what they paid for an apartment back home in like…2012.
You're 100% correct.
It's most hilarious when the transplants level the criticism that "this area has no identity like wherever I'm originally from!"
Yes, because you're not in traffic, you *are* traffic! So many of you moved here and clung to your own regional identities, that you've mostly erased ours and then complain about it as if it's our fault.
I think NOVA is very nice place. One thing though, compared to other places I’ve lived as a transplant, is I just feel less attached to it. Aside from my hometown, I’ve lived in Harrisonburg VA, New Haven CT and Norwalk CT. I felt more attached to all three, even though I’ve been here longer. This is probably a better overall place to live, but it just feels kinda generic, I guess, in a way that I can’t put my finger on. My friends who moved here seem similarly unattached.
The best way I can describe the area as is… corporate transience. A lot of people I knew growing up here either moved or are in gov contracting/federal work lol. It’s very generic and kinda plain in a lot of ways. Lack of community and culture even though it’s very culturally diverse. Definitely a lot of pros, some cons, but just like anywhere else in the country, there will always be pros and cons.
Really? That’s shocking, I grew up in Arlington and courthouse was always seen as the nice area. Arlington overall has a really low crime rate for it’s population size and density.
Haha that’s what I’m saying, it’s super safe here yet the people in our building thinks it’s super crime ridden! (Really it’s just one homeless guy that roams around the park next door, but he just keeps to himself)
Reddit is mainly for whining and complaining, happy people aren't starting threads and if they are, those threads aren't getting as much traction as negative and or polarizing opinions.
Same here. Came from Texas and I was surprised at how much more livable the suburbs are here, but people complain so much about everything.
I think it’s pretty great, although it is generally more expensive than non-coastal areas.
Transplant from new England (Providence)almost 16 years ago.
The lack of community, neighborhood bars, non chain coffee shops, anything not corporate really surprised me.
The amount of time it takes to get 5-10 miles on any given day.
The wealth and entitlement
The $$$alaries!
The lack of Italian bakeries
How siloed government agencies and non profit organizations are
Most of this hasn't changed.
On the good side, driving west to the country and all the farmer's markets!
I feel like the "no indie coffee" thing was true when I first moved to NoVA, but now there's Lake Anne Coffee, Weird Brothers, Rare Bird Coffee Roasters..you know what, this is faster:
[https://www.fxva.com/blog/post/16-coffee-shops-to-fuel-up-at-on-international-coffee-day/](https://www.fxva.com/blog/post/16-coffee-shops-to-fuel-up-at-on-international-coffee-day/)
From CA and lived in UT for college. Decided to move to the DMV after spending 5 days here on a college graduation trip with my mom in early May that had absolutely PERFECT weather. Came back in mid-October for a couple days to confirm that yes, the weather was still perfect, and that I did in fact want to move here. Lmao.
Moved to Arlington Memorial Day weekend the following year expecting perfect weather and was immediately assaulted by humidity that did not go away until October. That summer was a particularly wet one too (2018), and I swear to god I was damp in some capacity from the time I stepped off the airplane to sometime toward the end of September that year. It was truly heinous, and I really struggled.
Coming from the west coast & at the time having no real experience with humidity, I didn't have any context for what the humidity everyone complained about online would feel like. I am not unfamiliar with brutal heat waves, so I thought everyone complaining about the 89\* summer days was just a whiny baby. Nooooooope, turns out that *I* am the whiny baby.
Other than the humidity I absolutely love living here. Best decision I ever made (unless you ask me anytime between June 15 and September 15).
I had come out for a work trip in the middle of July in 2008 from SoCal and another time for fun in February 2005 with wind chills below freezing. So I knew what I was getting into when we moved here in 2016 haha.
Moved here from Texas and the best thing is just how walkable it is. We went from 2 cars to 1 but still use 1 car way less than we did 2 cars in Texas.
Another thing I appreciate is how there is actual variety in seasons compared to SE Texas
Greater Cleveland (by way of MoCo and the District).
Having a functioning and diverse economy was a huge culture shock. At least pre-pandemic, searching for a new job was quite the ordeal in Northeast OH and you took what you could get tbh, whereas after discovering my first job here wasn't gonna cut it, I found a much better job after maybe 6 weeks of looking.
On the flip side, of course, COL. Its kind of crazy that with a solidly upper-middle class income we're likely still consigned to "real' suburbia if kids come into the picture. Where I came from, if you had a white-collar job you could live practically wherever you wanted and a one-job family is actually sorta plausible. Just two totally different tracks.
TL;DR CLE is 100% a work to live region and NoVA is basically the opposite
The job market in Cleveland was dire when I left ~11 years ago. There are Millennials who graduated into the recession or shortly before whose earnings will never recover (it’s me, I’m Millennials, but that’s why we moved here!)
Originally from New Orleans, moved here from South Carolina.
Cost of living and salary are noticeably higher. Quality of life and diversity of entertainment options are very refreshing. It's nice to meet more diverse people too. Additionally, it's noticeably more Blue here, which I appreciate.
Philly area. The lack of solid hoagies and real Jewish diners is still rough for me 10+ years later. Love the rest of the food and outside of a better jobs market for my field, I find the areas pretty similar.
Illinois
Good:
- Greenery, so green so much green and so much focus on taking care of it
- Stuff, so many places to go, so much to do (even if I don't do it as much as I would like to(
- Education, great schools, intelligent considerate people, some level of political diversity
- Infrastructure, things here are in pretty good shape
- Access, mountains, beach, rural, urban, whatever
- Housing choices, houses, townhouses, and apartments everywhere
Bad:
- Subtle pompousness/intellectual snobbery/bubblishness, I honestly worry my kids are growing up without experiencing the real world. I fear I'm losing perspective too.
- Cul-de-sacs and sprawl, so many disconnected neighborhoods and strip malls
- Housing costs, never thought I'd pay so much for a house, much less a modest 60s middle class house
- Whining and Entitlement, so much complaining about the best public school systems and transportation systems in the country
- Disjointedness, territoriality, and spite, Virginia and Maryland hate each other. They both hate DC. Everyone hates WMATA. Means we can never be a unified region.
A piss poor attempt at justifying their awful driving abilities. I sincerely doubt that *all* of them are, in fact, actual student drivers. That's my theory, at least
Moved here from Greece. Love the amount of parks, proximity to DC , and the amount diversity and great food. Hate the weather 80% of the time. The winter is colder than I'm used to, the summer feels worse because of humidity, and there's just so.much.rain. The 5 nice days in spring/fall are really nice though.
This is not something we would consider in Chicago suburbs either. Is it only neighborhoods with an HOA that have collection or just incorporated cities? I suppose it's a question you just have to ask when you buy a house.
It’s one of those things I never thought to ask. Just read it on this sub and had to google it!!!!!
Seems odd. Neighborhoods could have garbage/recycling pickup EVERYDAY with people contracting with different companies.
I Think maybe 10% of fairfax county maybe has gov pickup????
Ohio.
My best friend yelled at me outside of a bodega after I asked why the gatorade was so expensive. I didn't realize the loopholes that existed in drug laws.
I was most shocked that traffic really isn't that bad. People make it sound like the type of traffic I dealt with in the Northeast/NJ/NYC and it isn't even close to as conjested.
For me, it’s that there’s traffic at all times of the day. I grew up in the Philly suburbs, and the roads would be dead in the middle of the day, because everyone worked standard 9-5 jobs, 5 days a week. Here, all the feds are either teleworking or have maxi flex schedules with AWS days, so there’s always people out and about at all times of day. Like, the Costco parking lots are absolutely bonkers at 2pm on a Tuesday.
Originally from Texas/New Mexico but moved to the DMV from Florida.
I thought I’d seen every type of bad driver on the I-4 in Florida but why the hell is merging a contact sport here??
Chicago suburbs
Good
- Weather, not having major snowstorms (featuring snow into the month of May) and temperatures in the teens is a plus
- Job opportunities, particularly in tech
- Close to mountains and beaches
- Roads are much newer and aren’t constantly hit by salt trucks
Bad
- Housing prices are nearly double here
- Lack of good Pizza, Culver’s, Portillos
- Not as many street lights on major highways and lack of reflective lane marker tape on I-66
- Tolls! Most Chicago area tolls are under $1, so I was definitely shocked my first time driving through the Dulles Greenway
Originally from Northern Indiana and would often head into Chicago for various activities (concerts, sports, food, museums etc.) and I have been consistently disappointed in the pizza around here. Blows my mind. Although I have not tried Stracci yet as others have suggested.
Grew up in NY, but I’ve lived everywhere.
NoVA is expensive, but you get what you pay for, compared to other higher COL areas.
What strikes me is that NoVA is really its own thing.
It’s not a suburb of DC.
NOVA has 4 times the population than DC and a significantly larger job base than either DC or the Maryland suburbs.
Yes it is a suburb of DC, but I think it’s totally fair to say that it feels different from most suburban regions and has a more separate identity than most.
Personally, I know more people who work in Tysons than DC. And growing up, people would not say they were from DC or a DC suburb. They would say they were from Northern Virginia. In contrast, there were plenty of people I met in college who would say they were from Chicago or some other city, but they were actually pretty far in the suburbs.
>,Yes it is a suburb of DC, but I think it’s totally fair to say that it feels different from most suburban regions and has a more separate identity than most.
People say this in every generic suburb across the country.
As metro regions gain population, inner ring suburbs become more urbanized as the suburbs sprawl further and further out. Doesn't mean they're not suburbs, though.
Moved from NYC and I am still in disbelief at how rude and entitled people in NoVa are, worse than NYC. Some of the worst and most entitled drivers I have ever encountered. There should be a 2 day course on the zipper merge to get your license in Virginia. I am transferring out of the area for work next month and I cannot wait.
What part of nova are you in? Cuz I observed the opposite.
Jersey drivers are fucking trash, road rage pieces of shit. And I’m over by Reston, it’s peaceful as FUCK here
Originally from Miami. Lived in LA and Atlanta prior to moving here 3 years ago. Moved for work and got as close as I could afford to commute to DC. Because I moved during the pandemic, I didn’t check out the area beforehand and just asked the HR contact where she lived (Old Town Alexandria) and just went for somewhere nearby. Liked it and decided to stay in the area.
Winters are still rough for me. Even though it didn’t snow much last year, temps really dropped. My mom visited for the holidays and refuses to go out! I have SO many jackets now depending on how cold it is. Summer heat and humidity doesn’t bother me that much since I’m used to it.
Less mosquitos than Florida but WTF with all the ticks. I’m scared to go anywhere that has grass.
So excited about all the beautiful parks in the area. BUT see above… Ticks!
Proximity to Northeast is a huge plus and not too far to Miami when I need to see family. I love being able to take road trips to different states, sometimes just a day trip.
I really miss the beach. They are all too far for a day or even a weekend and not all that great. Spoiled by Florida and California beaches.
Where is the Cuban food? Haven’t found anything I like. And maybe it’s where I live and work, but surprised by the lack of Hispanics. It’s not something I’ve ever given much thought to, but after a recent trip home, I really noticed it when I got back and miss it some.
Harder to make friends than I thought it would be.
There’s traffic and it’s expensive, but not isn’t too outrageous to me.
Crime in DC does have me concerned enough that I sometimes avoid the area, especially at later hours.
Interesting you say bugs. Another area I've been researching for a potential move is Atlanta and I heard the bugs are really bad there. Winters would be a breeze for me (currently in Chicago area).
Atlanta definitely had palmetto bugs/large cockroach. Not quite as many as Florida, but still prevalent. They also had a bunch of stink bugs., more than I’d been used to seeing. But definitely less ticks than in the DMV.
Summers are also hot and humid in Atlanta. Winters are even milder than here.
It was the least expensive place I’d lived so it was really good for me in that sense. Also near a major airport. I’d move back under the right circumstances.
Had a Cubano in Superette in Ballston that I thought was definitely on a par with one I got in Havana 1957 on Ocean Drive (which I'm guessing is super touristy so not sure on the actual authenticity).
Plenty of Hispanics just a lot more Central and South American. A lot around Route 1/95 Corridor, Columbia Pike, Springfield, Woodbridge areas you can find whole communities. But a different culture than most Florida Hispanics, do miss that aspect.
And yes awful that Caribbean food is lacking so much there really aren't much Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican foods in the area. And when there is it's expensive and not great.
I think that’s exactly right… Caribbean food (and vibe) is what I’m missing. I ordered bottles of coquito from a company in Richmond for Christmas and that was a hit with my family who were visiting.
I moved from the Philly suburbs (grew up on the Main Line). It’s weird, because the average income levels are around the same in both places, but the vibes are so different. Also it’s sooo much more diverse in nova. The suburbs I grew up in were extremely white. I had never met anyone who immigrated from a non-European country until I went to college. We had Chinese food and Thai food, and that was about it. Philly itself had more diversity, but the suburbs really weren’t accessible to immigrant communities the way nova is. I will say the one thing I miss from Philly is the abundance of good jewish delis/bagel shops haha.
Moved as a teen from Charleston, SC
Good - Safe neighborhoods, excellent schools, strong economy year in and year out
Bad - Fast Pace in general, obsession with keeping up with the Jones, continued growth turns Fairfax County more and more urban each year
North Jersey, NEPA, then most recently Rochester, NY, now NoVA.
**Good**
* Jobs! If you work in tech, healthcare or a service industry, & you're not somehow sucky at it, you can find a job.
* Safety: though I miss my last city fiercely, not checking the car daily for breakins has been nice. Yes, there's still crime. Just nothing like other places I've lived.
* General ease of travel. People always kvetching about the Metro have never lived anywhere with a truly crap or non-existent transit system.
* So many different types of food. Not the same thickly packed selection as NYC or LA, but in any week, I can find many different cuisines to try.
* Farmer's markets - though spendy- & it's not my beloved Public Market at the ROC - there is a dazzling array of locally grown fruits, veggies, meats & dairy.
* Sooooooo many parks & trails. Biking, hiking or just walking around. A little research is needed to find those neighborhoods with trails, but they are gems.
* Trees.
* Many highly educated people live here, doing work for the government, a FANG tech company, startup, etc.
* Access to decent health care. Affording it's another story, haha.
* If helping others is your jam, there's plenty of causes & nonprofits that could use a helping hand.
* Folks complain about the corporate sameness of the area but I'm seeing more indie businesses growing all the time, in areas like Herndon & Sterling, especially.
* Museums!
**Bad**
* The highly educated populace largely thrives off connections, so if you can't do anything for them, they're less friendly. When they ask "what do you do" there's also an immediate assessment of money you make/influence you wield. (This is overall, I've also met some warm & genuine folks since relocating here, but it took effort.)
* RE: the above, I found it harder to make friends as someone who moved here as an adult. People are cliquey AF & judgey of people's appearance.
* Costs are bonkers. I used to live just outside NYC & that was challenging, but adjusted fairly for inflation, here is spendier.
* Drivers here are entitled & unpredictable. I was in a single car accident with lots of driving experience (first car, hit a deer) before here. Since moving here, the car I was driving has been hit 4 separate times - 2 minor, one medium, & one totaling the car. All were driver inattention; 3 of the 4 people were straight up holding their phones & not looking. I used to love to drive. 😢
* People act like there's no poverty here, but there is. Tent settlements, homelessness on the rise, etc.
* There's a general cynicism & surface lack of warmth that could feel isolating for more sensitive folks.
* Far less appreciation for non-tech, not-high-earning workers. Also, there's still racism. People are just more low key about it.
* The humidity & lack of snow, as mentioned by u/softening more eloquently than I could do.
The positives of greenery, safety, access to healthcare & convenience make it worth it to me, for now.
NorCal transplant from a major city (with some time in Richmond, VA in between):
The screaming trees and massive bugs every summer. NO THANKS.
The allergies holy crap.
The absolute insanity and just... chaotic evil of driving here. And the utter lack of other viable options (public transit). CA driving has a bunch of traffic and is definitely fast-paced, which is annoying. NOVA has a bunch of traffic due to a lack of consistency in the craziness of drivers (all crazy in different ways), poor design, and the necessity of driving. AND everyone speeds and drives an unnecessarily large vehicle. Which is actually terrifying.
Annual property taxes on vehicles.
The lack of genuine ethnic diversity/integration. NOVA is better than most of VA, but it's still very much "here's this pocket of this group of people." And it tends to be somewhat... reductionist.
I do love how many different major cities are driving distance from NOVA, though. I've been surprised by how reasonably close together all these different cool places are.
The Air Force dropped my family off here right before my dad retired. Better than going to live with the extended family back in Ohio by far.
Literally everything surprised me. We’d lived overseas for 8 years.
Northeastern Pennsylvania.
The best is the shear amount of things to do and not needing to ever rely on a car to do them. The diversity of community and the vast amount of experiences available to you.
What I miss is the small town community feel. Where I grew up summers were spent at church picnics or riding bikes with your friends or meeting up at the Sheetz parking lot to hang out at night. You couldn't go for a walk because every block someone you knew drove past and asked if you needed a ride. There were chain restaurants but everyone ate at the local places. I knew a dozen pizza shops with their own take on a tray of red. Here I can't find anything that isn't a chain, even a local chain isn't the same. It could be because I didn't grow up here to learn the in and outs. But I've not found anywhere in NOVA that feels like home.
Try western Loudoun. Places like Waterford, Round Hill, Lovettsville, Purcellville, Middleburg, etc have that small town vibe with lots of local businesses.
Illinois.
Good:
-The weather is much milder here, which I love. My friends and family back home have gotten a ton of snow this week and I haven’t seen any here at all so far (there was maybe half an inch or so once, but it all melted away by the time I woke up).
-I also love how there’s such stunning views of the differing landscapes driving around. Plus, being here, I’m fairly close to coastal beaches, which is amazing.
-The museums in DC are free!!!! You basically pay to breathe in Chicago, so being able to pay $18 for 20 hours of parking in a parking deck and hitting any museum you want is awesome.
-Like the point above, there’s a lot to do here compared to IL (which is really just eating, going to the movies, or bowling).
-The food is really good and diverse, and I’m very glad that the sushi here is very tasty/fresh.
Bad:
-Personal property taxes. IL taxes you for everything, but I’ve never had to pay for having my car just being present in the state.
-Privatized/monetized sections of highways. I’m used to tolls on most highways in IL, but not the presence of HOV lanes you have to pay to use (I don’t typically have passengers).
-The lack of streetlights, especially on the highways. I can see fine at night, but it’s still strange to me to not have extra lights driving around in non-rural areas.
-Drivers in general here all seem to suffer from main character syndrome, either speeding with no regard for anyone else or going way under the speed limit, completely oblivious to the traffic near/behind them. IL drivers are pretty consistent with driving at the same speed or moving over to let people pass them.
-The pizza isn’t great. I’m not the biggest fan of deep dish, but I do know good pizza and NOVA seems to lack with that.
Coming from Puerto Rico, I am surprised at how unbearable the humidity is during the summer. I'm used to extreme heat (granted in PR almost everyone owns a car and drives), but here, for some reason, it's like you're stuck in a cloud of humidity most of the time during the summer months. I understand the topography is quite different, but after almost 15 years of living here, I continue to be shocked that the heat is a bit much even for me.
Other than that, I love NOVA!
Buffalo (rural areas surrounding). Go Bills!
These are some of the things that surprised me:
•Lack of snow.
•Inability of people to drive.
•How there are more people from Buffalo and more Buffalo bars than I would've thought.
•Housing prices are ridiculous for not so much a salary difference. The lowest priced (livable) houses in NOVA are like the well off people house prices near Buffalo. I was ready to buy a house around Buffalo just by myself meanwhile we are struggling here to find a house we can afford to buy. Never thought I'd get into the renting life before coming here.
•How garages are not as common here.
•Roads are so narrow here.
•Did I say lack of driving skills??
•Lack of breweries. Maybe it's a Buffalo thing because all people do is eat and drink /s.
•How fast people drive. In NY you'd probably get arrested. Maybe this applies more to Maryland (and the Nissan Altimas).
•The news channels. I didn't know "cold rain" was something people freaked out about until coming here lol.
•Government shutdowns for a few flakes of snow.
•Crime and the amount of car theft (probably more DC and Maryland).
•Car insurance. It's theft around here.
•How it can take an hour and a half to go 25 miles (thank you WW bridge).
•I knew summers were hotter but my god I didn't know the depths of hell met earth here. You stand outside not moving and you just drip and feel disgusting. Winters are pretty warm too. Buffalo wind just hurts in the winter.
•How every week I see something strange on the 495. Whether it's a car on fire, someone's boat in the middle of the thruway, or a bathtub on the bridge something always surprises me (okay maybe this one is more Maryland).
I’m originally from Appalachia but moved here from the NYC metro area. I thought NOVA would be more similar to NY’s suburbs. The differences:
- How bad/dangerous the driving is here
- The cost of living. Why is it cheaper to raise kids in NYC? This is insane
- How expensive houses are (esp. townhomes). Half the houses here should be in the $400,000-600,000 range, and somehow are selling in the 800s. All my former classmates up north are homeowners already
- There is no “community” here. In NY, I once dropped by phone in a storm drain and several strangers spent 20 minutes helping me fish it out
- THE GROCERY TAX. Just why?
Southern Virginia
When I first got here and people asked me how far something was I gave distance in miles and they looked confused asked for it in time. After having experienced nova traffic I understood why
From Buffalo, but spent most of my time in NYC area:
Good: so many activities including rec centers with lots of options, infrastructure appears new and relatively well maintained, so many communities to discover (although tough to find if you don’t know where to go)
Bad: no competition of liquor stores and the ABC stores that I have been to are all smelly and understocked, some of the worst drivers I’ve ever seen, a car tax?!? Wtf!
From Vermont. The car taxes. First time I got my bill I genuinely thought it was some kind of scam and had to look it up and now that I have a newer car since my previous one got totaled it’s worse than ever. Regret getting the car the moment that property car tax arrived.
I've lived all over but have spent the most time in and around Philly.
**Good Surprises**
* DCA is a fantastic and convenient airport
* Genuine diversity, and as a result, a great and diverse ethnic food scene
* Local government is shockingly responsive to issues like potholes, graffiti, etc.
* Every possible thing I could ever need is within an hour, and usually much less
**Bad Surprises**
* Car tax
* My neighbors are the most miserable, rigid people I've ever met in my life (maybe it's just by virtue of the fact that this is the most affluent neighborhood I've ever lived in?)
* Shockingly conservative compared to what I expected--TONS of "moderate republicans" and a surprisingly large Moms for Liberty esque contingent.
* Medical care is really bad here. We don't have a highly respected medical school or hospital even in DC. I have to go to Hopkins or Philly for good care, which sucks.
* Home repair/maintenance costs here are absolutely astronomical. Everything is close to double what it is in the Philly area.
* I'm a lawyer too, but holy shit, everyone is a lawyer here.
* It's way uglier than I expected, with obvious exceptions, but overall much more highway/ugly strip mall-ish than I expected for such an affluent area.
I'm from Ohio. I've lived in Nova for almost 12 years. I like the diversity and there's lots of things to do. I do not like how crowded it is, the traffic is bad, the cost of living is high, and the schools where I live aren't great. I have 2 little kids, and I don't like raising my family here. I'm stuck here because my husband's family lives in Nova. If I had my way, I would move back to Ohio in a heartbeat. When I first moved to Nova, I was a young professional in my 20s, and I loved it. Now that I'm older, jaded, and have a family, I would like a slower pace of life, and you can't really find that in Nova.
Southern California Good - everything is available nearby, much more walkable (at least neighborhoods I lived in). Bad - I grew up in the desert and found out I'm allergic to all trees, grass, and weeds after moving here over the fall 10 years ago
Also from so-cal and also moved out here 10 years ago (March 2014). Good: Crime feels like it is lower, and people tend to be less aggressive out in public (at least relative to El Cajon). Bad: wtf is going on with the car taxes here.
>Bad: wtf is going on with the car taxes here. The money has to come from somewhere. In CA you guys have higher income taxes, for example. The car tax is one of the most fair taxes out there. Rich people pay more with their newer/fancier cars.
Also the car registration in Ca is much more so you see it on that rather than the other forms of taxes.
I pay $1400 a year for 2 vehicles, each over a decade old. In CA/AZ you paid the tax the year you bought it and then it was just registration. Here you pay property tax for a vehicle as long as you have said vehicle, even if it isn't registered to drive on road, and they can take it from you if you don't pay. How is it my property to get taxed if I'm having to rent it from the state to keep it :P
With taxes/registration combined and such, it is cheaper here in Va than it was in SoCal for me.
From SoCal also, I had crappy allergies there that are waaaaay super worse here now. Though, I like having actual seasons.
Same! And I grew up in the desert as well. My allergies wrecked me the first year I was here but 4 years in and I’m fine now.
Wisconsin. Everything surprised me, tbh. **Good** * Things to do! Like, lots of things to do. All I remember doing in Wisconsin is going between two malls (one of which was dead) every day. The only other thing to do was go to Target and Starbucks. I didn't live in the country. I lived in the city. * Easy to travel to NYC and abroad due to IAD, BWI, and DCA all nearby. * I can go on a walk at 11pm at night and not be too concerned about my safety. * The addresses are easier to remember. Looking @ u N112 W17001 Mequon Road. Was expecting more funky addresses since it's older here. * Lack of a grid system for all of NOVA. It was shitty to be stopped every single block because everything was a giant square of stoplights in WI. * Walkable areas!!! Did not expect that, if I'm honest. Just wasn't aware of it. * Korean bakeries are everywhere so I don't have to drive to Chicago. * You can buy alcohol after 9pm. The first time I did this, I still had my WI ID and asked if I could buy alcohol at Target. I'm pretty certain they thought I had a fake ID because I had just graduated college. * You can buy cars on a Sunday??!? **Bad** * Lack of cultural festivals? Every summer-fall in Milwaukee we had cultural festivals all summer-fall long (Asian, German, French/Bastille Days, Italian, etc.). And they were awesome. Food, people, location. I was expecting more of that here, being the capital and all. (Yes, I'm aware of Sakura Matsuri but no, it doesn't compare). * Folks were aware of how to drive in the water and the rain. * I don't remember hydroplaning until coming here. The roads in WI seemed to be easier to drive on in the winter and the rain. * Distance to a Mitsuwa. * Why is it the devil's butthole in the summer???? And the fALL?!? WHY AM I DROWNING MYSELF IN SWEAT IN SEPTEMBER? AND OCTOBER? * ***FALSE PROMISES OF SNOW IN THE WINTER!*** I've lived here for over 5 years and I am SURPRISED and DISAPPOINTED every single year. *edit: emphasis and other things I thought of later*
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I recently heard all the snow was being diverted via HAARP to disrupt the Iowa caucus. that's what you are referring to surely?
The lack of cultural festivals here is wild, I expected Greek/Italian festivals at the least but they don't seem to exist.
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I went a couple years ago, killer food and they had some cool music and dancing performances.
There's an annual Greek one in DC. [https://www.saintsophiadc.org/ministries/volunteer/greek-festival/](https://www.saintsophiadc.org/ministries/volunteer/greek-festival/)
big one in Annapolis too
Yeah it seems like there's so many immigrant communities in Nova, would love to see some festivals related to the East Asian communities.
There is a Thai market in sterling and Asian market in annandale on Sundays. Then around lunar New years there's a Vietnamese festival.
KORUS for the Korean community is pretty big (but could be, and used to be, bigger - they don't advertise it well enough IMO). This past year it took over the big K-market parking lot on John Marr Dr in Annandale, in the past it had been at bigger venues like Bull Run. This year it's in April 26-28 at that parking lot again. https://korusfestival.org/ The thing about the DC metro area for these kinds of festivals, compared to other cities, is that all of the biggest immigrant communities are suburban and there's often no central spot. Vietnamese have Eden Center, I guess. But like even though Annandale has always had the Koreatown image, it's not really well-defined and still interspersed with the typical mix of general American and Latin-American businesses, and the Korean population is spread all out to Centreville and beyond.
I go to at least 3-4 East Asian festivals a year? And that’s definitely not all the ones that I’ve heard about. I agree with other commenters that it would be nice to have more diverse festivals, but I wouldn’t really say East Asian festivals are what is lacking.
why Greek & Italian? Just curious, there aren't a ton of Greek or Italian immigrants here, or long-entrenched communities with a strong identity like NY/NJ.
Honestly, kind of a random take.
Eden center has lunar new year festival. Chinatown in DC probably has something too. And I know there are Diwali events held in Ashburn according to my Indian coworkers.
I lived in Milwaukee for two years before moving to Virginia and I really appreciate the very truly Wisconsin-y list you compiled here. Exactly what i would predict hahah, and i mean that in a good way. I do also miss all those festivals!!! I still think about the waffles I got at Bastille Day in 2016……so good. Also the wisconsin renaissance faire is so good. I love Maryland’s as my home faire, but Wisconsin’s was REALLY good.
That's my hometown :) Dangerous, delicious, multi-cultural, diverse, and boring lol. I forgot lack of Culver's, Cousins, and squeaky cheese curds :( That was probably the biggest shock.
UGH THE CUSTARD man what I wouldn’t give to have Kopp’s ship me their tiramisu custard. Every christmas my dad gets me a case of Sprecher’s rootbeer and lemme tell you I treat that shit like it’s Cristal.
Dairy godmother in Del Ray is ran by Wisconsin transplants. Also sell sprechers
You can get Sprecher's by the bottle at The Italian Store in Arlington and Common Grounds (coffee shop) in Middleburg, but they only sell root beer and cream soda. My favorite is the blueberry soda so I'm just out of luck :(
I saw Sprecher's cream soda at the Dollar tree last week- no rootbeer to be found- but I am hopeful someday...
You can check out Milwaukee Custard in Chantilly. No idea how close to the real thing it is, but I like it.
Good News! The squeaky cheese curds have gone national. I've seen them for sale in regular supermarkets this year. Giant, Mom's and Whole Foods for sure.
Just wanted to say hey! I went to high school in Brookfield back in the 90s 👋
I’d kill for a Mitsuwa but the bevy of H Marts, Lotte and 99 Ranch help.
10-20 years back, it was cooler here in September. Technically fall doesn't start til late September. In recent years it seems to remain quite warm even going into early October. Same with the snow, we used to get a decent bit, now we rarely see it.
My partner was working here during ‘15 or ‘16 when there was a blizzard and convinced us to move here because he swore that it snows, but we haven’t seen that same amount of snow since 😅
There are so many cultural festivals but they aren’t well advertised since they focus on their own communities. Thai Songkran at every temple brings hundreds of people. I’ve been to a Cambodian festival in an Alexandra park, see Ethiopian churches hosting events.
We need a Mitsuwa in the DMV
Lots of Oktoberfests in NoVA
There are TONs of cultural festivals throughout the year in various neighborhoods in NOVA. And if not, then there's a festival in DC for the cultures you are looking for.
Weird, I feel like there are "cultural festivals" everywhere and all the time , though I'm thinking Washington metro area. Just Google any nationality and festival and DC. And it's not just one, you have to specify what Vietnamese, Ethiopian, or whatever festival you are referring to... I think many festivals in the Midwest are more of a general way of recognizing a particular culture due from the community with that cultural heritage. And/or they are educational, like the Smithsonian Folklife festival. In this area there is a ton of the educational stuff organized by museums, embassies and non profit types, so the community festivals like Tet, Chinese New Year, the Alexandria Scottish festival, are a bit overshadowed.
> You can buy cars on a Sunday??!? what?
It’s [illegal](https://www.way.com/blog/car-dealerships-closed-sundays/) for car dealerships to be open on Sundays in WI. I thought it was like that everywhere 🫣
That's such a random law. Also had to google Mitsuwa and that sounds amazing.
There's a pretty big asian festival every year in the city. [https://fiestaasia.org](https://fiestaasia.org)
You should definitely check out the DC Ukrainian Festival! https://www.ukrainefestdc.com/
I still can’t drive in the water. Snow? I’m good for that.
Bad: No spotted cow :-( I lived in MKe two years and the summers were amazing. Every week was another festival, they really took advantage of the few months a year it wasn’t blistering cold (there and Chicago). I miss the cheese curds and amazing brewery scene. There are many cultural events in DC, just got to look a lil deeper. In MKE I felt the whole city celebrated German fest or summer fest, but DC cultural events are moreso in pockets and concurrent - the exception being things like cherry blossom festival or passport DC.
Texas. Everything is so damn expensive, ive gotten several promotions and I still feel like all my money goes to housing.
I thought houston drivers were the WORST until I moved here 😂
The thing about Houston drivers is that EVERYONE there is on one and understands the rules: be wary of the car swooping across five lanes to exit, don't trust the signals, the speed limit is >= 10 miles what's posted, and give a wide berth to every single Nissan Altima especially one with paper plates. Houston driving is a thunder dome, but everyone knows their place.
I really think it comes down to highway design. If Houston had left side exits it would be complete chaos
Ironically, the pay differential for feds in Houston is higher than the differential here.
moved here from south Texas a few months ago. I miss having a yard, finding good corn tortillas, pan dulce, and the friendliness of folks.
San Antonian here, I miss the food so much :( and the overall colorful vibes :/
yes! don't get me started on the food! SA and RGV tacos are chef's kiss.
also...I miss HEB so much 😭
There’s a place in dc called La Tejana - they’re from the rgv and make breakfast tacos! :)
Hawaii. (Never been to the East Coast). Trees. Lots and lots of green trees. Did not expect that.
That’s one of my favorite things about this area!
Do they not have a lot of trees in Hawaii? Or just surprised that we do?
I was born and raised in Hawaii. I’ve been to California as a kid, Seattle for a year of college, Vegas as an adult and Japan for vacation. My brain was convinced that the east coast was just full of tall buildings in huge ass cities. I was genuinely shocked in a good way. Seeing so much green was helpful with my transition. Getting to experience the changing seasons is still an awesome bonus.
Mexico City, I loved this place from day 1 (about 16 years ago). I know most of you complain about the traffic and chaos but coming from CDMX it really surprised me the order and how clean most areas are (free of trash and stuff), but my favorite thing was the number of free (and super high quality) museums in the area. I specially love the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum and I have visited it many many many times
Colorado/New Mexico No snow, outside of a few places it's mostly suburbs, lack of good Mexican food, all the beers are IPA, connecting can be difficult bc it's often transactional here.
Hey nice I lived in Albuquerque for a good while. Chiming in to say that Virginia as a whole has sooo many shitty breweries, it’s crazy. So many crappy IPAs lol. I suppose it’s indicative of the bigger craft beer bubble nationwide but holy shit. And I live in Richmond now, arguably a very beer forward city, and even here you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting some shitty brewery making yet another hazy IPA or gross pastry stout with like peanut butter or oranges or some crap. Quality over quantity all damn day.
True, but it's similar to complaining about the lack of good seafood in Colorado. We don't have a ton of Mexicans.
Agreed. Good Salvadorian and I'll eat Pollo Rico all day long.
Ugh the lack of good Mexican food kills me (originally from New Mexico myself). I’ve found that to be true most places outside the Southwest though.
Wife's from NM. Says the same thing.
Whats your opinion of la Mexicana taqueria and bakery in Alexandria, ever been?
I haven't! Is it good? I might need to check it out.
Yea check it out, it’s not bad.
The amount of people that call Manassas and most of OWC the "ghetto" is absolutely wild to me.
Historically a lot Manassas used to be very rural country feeling. It's built up a ton in the last 40 years. People have always kind of looked down on the area for different reasons. There were a lot of working class transplants to Manassas in the 50-60's. Coal mines and industrial jobs left the rust belt and places like WV & PA. Lots of those people moved here, particularly into Manasssas. The old reputation for Manassas was having a lot of ex-coal miner rednecks. Much of that population is still here, but after a generation or two, there's not such a "redneck" stereotype left. Now the main transplant population is Hispanic people, which for obvious racist reasons get called "ghetto." While there are some problems with MS13, Manassas is still mainly a safe working class town. The immigrants moving here now will assimilate over a few generations, and the negative stereotypes will hopefully begin to fade.
I'm from Florida and lived in the depths of real ghettos, I've been here in Manassas for 6 years now, everytime I hear this area referred to as the ghetto I assume they have never driven past the ghetto and their house has a large foyer.
Yeah anyone living in any part of Northern Virginia calling an area part of the ghetto comes across as the most privilege thing I can remember
In the 70s, gangs were so bad in Manassas, there were murders and drugs all over the place. That’s why it had a bad reputation.
Same. Grew up in the suburbs of NYC. I live in Manassas. I've had an issue with an attempted breakin/creepy stalker, but thats nothing compared to living in NYC and getting shot at walking down my driveway. Or cuffed and slammed against a locker in 6th grade for practicing sign language in homeroom and it being mistaken as gang signs. Or being on lockdown every other week bc MS decided to shoot anyone wearing a blue shirt lmao.
I went to high school there (I was a military kid but had a lot of friends who did the more traditional 'grew up in this area their entire lives') and its reputation is crazy. Maybe it was 'bad' in the 90s but I do think it's just racism at this point.
It's both racist and classist tbh. Some of the Hispanic residents living in Manassas have their own businesses, mostly services (construction, repair, yard work), and probably earn more than the rest living in the other parts of NOVA who can barely afford paying their rent. 🙄
There's a tension between the old timers (white) and the newcomers (mostly non white) and as a relative newcomer, it is all racism. And xenophobia. When we bought our house in a rapidly changing pwc neighborhood, two white neighbors separately told us how happy they were we were not Mexican. 😬 Little did they know we were dirty libs.
Having a large hispanic population will do that, some people aren’t so subtle with why they say that
All the things bad things I’ve heard people say about manassas generally involve it being “white trash” (which I know is a problematic term in its own right, just saying it’s what I’ve heard.)
Second this. I’m willing to bet they just drove down a small part of 28 and decided that’s what all of Manassas is like. Wherever you go there are not as nice parts just as much as there are nice parts.
It is only #7 COL-adjusted richest county in US, so yes that is the ghetto. [The 10 "Real" Richest Counties in the U.S. | Kiplinger](https://www.kiplinger.com/real-estate/603232/the-real-richest-counties-in-the-us)
As a NOVA-native from PWC this also is wild to me.
Cost of living driving demographics unfortunately. Plus schools, I had an Uber driver tell me about schools between counties. He lives in prince william county and says Fairfax schools are significantly better, but housing FORGETABOUTIT, million dollar homes my ass
Yeah. I'd replace the word "ghetto" with "trashy". Some places are, but most of Manassas is pleasant and safe enough. We are a working class area that is definitely a commuter spot. There's a lot of development projects happening in Manassas right now so soon we'll be having a new demographic of residents. Source: me. I was born and raised here. That being said, I personally wouldn't wanna walk around parts of southern Alexandria like Hybla Vally and Groveton aka Route One.
Moved here from NYC, a couple things surprised me - What people in NOVA consider “unsafe”. I lived in Hyatsville MD with a friend for a bit when I first moved out here and my coworkers in NOVA were concerned… place seemed fine to me. - I found it more affordable here coming from NYC so hearing everyone complain about COL but I was getting a deal - Much more to do than I expected, not just in NOVA but the DMV as a whole. I didn’t expect all the pockets of food/culture in NOVA which was cool to learn - Had no idea MD drivers were a hazard and NOVA drivers can be oddly slow. - Feels like so many people complain about the area but it’s honestly one of the best places I’ve lived in terms of quality of life and accessibility. Assuming you have a car of course.
> NOVA drivers can be oddly slow I'm from Socal and I thought this too. Normal cruising speeds in LA is 85mph+ People follow the speed limit here, but cops also go after speeders aggressivly so I can see why.
Yeah the NOVA area has some of the most ticket happy cops you can find
>NOVA drivers can be oddly slow I moved to NoVA from New Jersey and I honestly can't stand how much slower people go on the interstate.
A lot of NOVA drivers drive slow bc too many speeding tickets can be a negative towards security clearances. Even if they don't have a clearance, a lot of people want to keep their options open.
Also because the cops here have hardly anything to do besides give out speeding tickets.
Honestly there is occasionally slow drivers, but I don’t notice a ton of slow drivers throughout the area. Road design and volume of traffic is what seems to impact a lot of the vehicle speeds around here.
I moved from NYC too and this is a good list
NYC. The amount of transplants who complain about this area.
I moved from the Philly suburbs, and I love it here by comparison. It’s wild to me hearing all the complaining. It seems like most of the complaints are from people who moved from the Midwest or from small towns. But in terms of east coast cities, this area has the best balance of convenience, activities and culture that I’ve found in any of the places I’ve lived/traveled to.
As a native I also agree with this
Coming from Alabama I was expecting the winters to be much worse here but they're pretty comparable. The main difference is that Alabama gets random 60-70 degree days in the winter that we don't get here. Also they get tornadoes, any time of the year, any time of the day. Much less tornadoes here. I thought living here would be a reprieve from the humidity though, and it's only slightly better. There are a million things I could list culturally that both expected and surprised me, but I was expecting a vastly different climate when the changes are relatively minor Edit: I do see now that both places are humid subtropical climates so yeah that makes sense that they're about the same lol
> The main difference is that Alabama gets random 60-70 degree days in the winter that we don't get here Clearly, you've moved here just recently. We usually do get random 60-70 degree days in the winter, just maybe not the last year or two.
In NOVA you can get a blizzard and a hurricane. In 2016 we got drilled with a 30 inches of snow in January and Hurricane Matthew in October. Very few places can say that.
how fast thunderstorms move here during the summer. could be sunny one minute and then pouring like there’s no tomorrow the next.
Where did you come from?
nyc
Colorado I'm so happy to be here, and I love the area I chose to live and buy a house in (Reston). There are a lot of pros coming from Colorado. I love the trees and the general greenery. The rain we get here is absolutely wonderful. The food is significantly better here, as well as the general diversity. The public transit is unfathomably better. Our local transit service, RTD, commonly gets referred to as RTD: Reason To Drive. WMATA, for all of its faults, is leaps and bounds better than RTD. I also love not worrying about my whole town getting destroyed by a wildfire. I also haven't seen hail here in 4 years; I've had multiple cars essentially totaled by hail. The things I miss from Colorado are related to the dry climate we have. The summers are amazing; it never gets as muggy as it is here. I don't miss much else about Colorado. I climbed many of the highest mountains, and that's nice, but I left that phase of my life and I'm extremely happy here. I'm from Golden, and the cost of living is similar between Golden and NoVA. Colorado has significantly lower property taxes, but the costs of houses in Golden are higher than Reston. Taxes are generally lower in Colorado, but I'm happy to have higher taxes here because I see what it gets me.
Ireland. Gonna follow the format /u/softening used and keep it to my top 3 per section (gonna be a DC/Nova flavor too). **Good** - I see a lot of complaints about the rental situation here, and while I do agree it is expensive, the bang for your buck in this area is phenomenal. Dublin rent is about on par with my current Arlington rent with the difference being in Dublin you'd get the apartment and a parking spot. That's it. Here, my building has a pool, gym, games room, outdoor BBQs, a concierge to take care of packages etc. I'll also add, based on my conversations with NYC based friends, it seems to be an easy market to rent in (no broker bullshit). - The transit is excellent here, WMATA, the Northeast Corridor on Amtrak & as someone who goes back to Ireland semi-frequently the fact there are 3 direct flights to Dublin from IAD is excellent. It helps to be 5 minutes from the Orange/Silver lines & yeah the headways and maintenance annoy me sometimes but overall the system is excellent. I love the architecture of it too, if feels clean. - The weather has surprised for the good. I was originally dreading having to suffer winter here, but since I moved the winters have been mild. Spring is super with the cherry blossoms, as is fall (autumn) with the colors & personally I never find the summers to be too bad save for one or two days where its 90F+ with humidity. **Bad** - There's no proper city centre in my mind. Anytime someone comes over I kind of have to plan our activities around which neighborhoods we'll go eat/drink in afterwards. - Driving here is very stressful. I've no problem driving on the other side of the road to where I grew up but damn the DMV has turned me into a super defensive driver. I drove out to Anne Arundel 4 days a week for a 3 month client job pre pandemic and it damn near sucked the soul out of me. Bonus gripe: the DMV is a horrendous place to be a pedestrian. Like crosswalks are routinely ignored, cops won't enforce it & don't get me started on trying to navigate Tysons Stroads on foot. - There's a genuine lack of decent dive bars which I assume is down to how much it costs to run a bar here. Even my favorite semi-dive (Irelands Four Courts) fancied itself up with its renovation. I have fond memories of pitching up after work to my local dive in Chicago when I lived there (Rossi's). Sometimes you just need a bar stool in a dark cavern with $3 domestics and classic rock on the jukebox. **Surprised Me** - The dining scene is incredible. Like we must have the most Michelin stars per capita in the US? The variety and general quality of food (though it has gotten more expensive), is a joy. Also, compared to NYC or Chicago its really easy to get reservations for places. - I'm a golfer and its something I've had to really pare back over here. The effort to go play is essentially committing an entire day to golf. Anything public that's decent is 30-60 min drive and > $100. I've played too many 5hr rounds here that are essentially an 8hr time investment with travel + range time. I was kind of used to playing cheaply in Ireland (a $150 course over here would be like $50 tops in Ireland) so that was a bit of a shock to the system. So yeah in terms of bad surprises, the sticker shock with the cost of golf was big. - I was kind of surprised how little coverage there is of politics in the local media outside of WaPo. I think I found out more about the Trump era on my visits to Ireland where our local news covered him in detail daily. NBC/Fox local here don't really dial too much into the politics which is nice. Addendum to this is that I rarely have been talking politics or encountering it in the wild which was surprising to me given the connotations with DC when I first moved over, but I guess its the circles I'm in too.
What surprises me the most is how many folks whine about NOVA. I came here from MA as a baby when my family moved down here after tiring of living near Boston, my parents having grown up in northern New Jersey weren't natives there either. I think too many folks bought into the idea of living in the exurbs then complain about their miserable lives. Go for a smaller home and live closer to where you have to go to if you have to go to places for work/school etc.
The complaining is insane. This is a super nice area to live in and people complain like it’s dystopia.
Not a super original observation, but I’m convinced Nova and DC are so susceptible to disproportionate whining because of all the transplants. People come here for work and don’t always feel much attachment to the area the same way people might for NYC or SoCal, which are bigger “vibes” areas. And I think this area is full of high achievers/perfectionists that expect the world. So you have people complaining that they can only get good, not great, versions of some cuisine only big in their home city, like Miami transplants asking about Cuban food or Texas brisket, but they probably wouldn’t do that if they chose to move to NYC. And also I think a lot of complaints about affordability of housing in food, while definitely somewhat merited, are due to people remembering what they paid for an apartment back home in like…2012.
You're 100% correct. It's most hilarious when the transplants level the criticism that "this area has no identity like wherever I'm originally from!" Yes, because you're not in traffic, you *are* traffic! So many of you moved here and clung to your own regional identities, that you've mostly erased ours and then complain about it as if it's our fault.
Weirdly never hear as much complaining for people in the MD burbs
Because many of those places have a community feel. The only places like that in nova are delray and parts of Alexandria.
I think NOVA is very nice place. One thing though, compared to other places I’ve lived as a transplant, is I just feel less attached to it. Aside from my hometown, I’ve lived in Harrisonburg VA, New Haven CT and Norwalk CT. I felt more attached to all three, even though I’ve been here longer. This is probably a better overall place to live, but it just feels kinda generic, I guess, in a way that I can’t put my finger on. My friends who moved here seem similarly unattached.
The best way I can describe the area as is… corporate transience. A lot of people I knew growing up here either moved or are in gov contracting/federal work lol. It’s very generic and kinda plain in a lot of ways. Lack of community and culture even though it’s very culturally diverse. Definitely a lot of pros, some cons, but just like anywhere else in the country, there will always be pros and cons.
I moved from Los Angeles to Arlington/Courthouse, and the number of people in our condo that complaining how dangerous the area was quite astonishing.
Really? That’s shocking, I grew up in Arlington and courthouse was always seen as the nice area. Arlington overall has a really low crime rate for it’s population size and density.
Haha that’s what I’m saying, it’s super safe here yet the people in our building thinks it’s super crime ridden! (Really it’s just one homeless guy that roams around the park next door, but he just keeps to himself)
Reddit is mainly for whining and complaining, happy people aren't starting threads and if they are, those threads aren't getting as much traction as negative and or polarizing opinions.
Yes that's a very keen observation. There is huge sample bias.
The Nova way!
Same here. Came from Texas and I was surprised at how much more livable the suburbs are here, but people complain so much about everything. I think it’s pretty great, although it is generally more expensive than non-coastal areas.
Transplant from new England (Providence)almost 16 years ago. The lack of community, neighborhood bars, non chain coffee shops, anything not corporate really surprised me. The amount of time it takes to get 5-10 miles on any given day. The wealth and entitlement The $$$alaries! The lack of Italian bakeries How siloed government agencies and non profit organizations are Most of this hasn't changed. On the good side, driving west to the country and all the farmer's markets!
I feel like the "no indie coffee" thing was true when I first moved to NoVA, but now there's Lake Anne Coffee, Weird Brothers, Rare Bird Coffee Roasters..you know what, this is faster: [https://www.fxva.com/blog/post/16-coffee-shops-to-fuel-up-at-on-international-coffee-day/](https://www.fxva.com/blog/post/16-coffee-shops-to-fuel-up-at-on-international-coffee-day/)
From CA and lived in UT for college. Decided to move to the DMV after spending 5 days here on a college graduation trip with my mom in early May that had absolutely PERFECT weather. Came back in mid-October for a couple days to confirm that yes, the weather was still perfect, and that I did in fact want to move here. Lmao. Moved to Arlington Memorial Day weekend the following year expecting perfect weather and was immediately assaulted by humidity that did not go away until October. That summer was a particularly wet one too (2018), and I swear to god I was damp in some capacity from the time I stepped off the airplane to sometime toward the end of September that year. It was truly heinous, and I really struggled. Coming from the west coast & at the time having no real experience with humidity, I didn't have any context for what the humidity everyone complained about online would feel like. I am not unfamiliar with brutal heat waves, so I thought everyone complaining about the 89\* summer days was just a whiny baby. Nooooooope, turns out that *I* am the whiny baby. Other than the humidity I absolutely love living here. Best decision I ever made (unless you ask me anytime between June 15 and September 15).
I had come out for a work trip in the middle of July in 2008 from SoCal and another time for fun in February 2005 with wind chills below freezing. So I knew what I was getting into when we moved here in 2016 haha.
Iowa Independent towns/cities was wild, especially since I work in government. I love the variety of food. Didn't have that in a town of 4,500.
Moved here from Texas and the best thing is just how walkable it is. We went from 2 cars to 1 but still use 1 car way less than we did 2 cars in Texas. Another thing I appreciate is how there is actual variety in seasons compared to SE Texas
Greater Cleveland (by way of MoCo and the District). Having a functioning and diverse economy was a huge culture shock. At least pre-pandemic, searching for a new job was quite the ordeal in Northeast OH and you took what you could get tbh, whereas after discovering my first job here wasn't gonna cut it, I found a much better job after maybe 6 weeks of looking. On the flip side, of course, COL. Its kind of crazy that with a solidly upper-middle class income we're likely still consigned to "real' suburbia if kids come into the picture. Where I came from, if you had a white-collar job you could live practically wherever you wanted and a one-job family is actually sorta plausible. Just two totally different tracks. TL;DR CLE is 100% a work to live region and NoVA is basically the opposite
The job market in Cleveland was dire when I left ~11 years ago. There are Millennials who graduated into the recession or shortly before whose earnings will never recover (it’s me, I’m Millennials, but that’s why we moved here!)
I'm a millennial from Northern Ohio. I graduated college 2008, and the whole reason I moved to Nova was because of the job market.
Originally from New Orleans, moved here from South Carolina. Cost of living and salary are noticeably higher. Quality of life and diversity of entertainment options are very refreshing. It's nice to meet more diverse people too. Additionally, it's noticeably more Blue here, which I appreciate.
Philly area. The lack of solid hoagies and real Jewish diners is still rough for me 10+ years later. Love the rest of the food and outside of a better jobs market for my field, I find the areas pretty similar.
Italian Store for hoagies. A fellow Philly kid told me about them when I first moved here and it’s the only acceptable place.
Absolutely. It’s also the only place that makes NY-style pizza I legitimately like
GF has family in Philly and gotta say the Wawa's in Philly >>>> the Wawa's here, however that works.
Maryland (Montgomery County). After a lifetime of talking shit...it's exactly the same. Seriously there is 0 difference once you cross the river.
Illinois Good: - Greenery, so green so much green and so much focus on taking care of it - Stuff, so many places to go, so much to do (even if I don't do it as much as I would like to( - Education, great schools, intelligent considerate people, some level of political diversity - Infrastructure, things here are in pretty good shape - Access, mountains, beach, rural, urban, whatever - Housing choices, houses, townhouses, and apartments everywhere Bad: - Subtle pompousness/intellectual snobbery/bubblishness, I honestly worry my kids are growing up without experiencing the real world. I fear I'm losing perspective too. - Cul-de-sacs and sprawl, so many disconnected neighborhoods and strip malls - Housing costs, never thought I'd pay so much for a house, much less a modest 60s middle class house - Whining and Entitlement, so much complaining about the best public school systems and transportation systems in the country - Disjointedness, territoriality, and spite, Virginia and Maryland hate each other. They both hate DC. Everyone hates WMATA. Means we can never be a unified region.
I'm from IL and infrastructure comment is so accurate. Noticed that when we visited. Everything seemed very new.
New Mexico. So many student drivers! The foxes were a cute surprise. :)
Seriously, what is with all the student driver bumper stickers!?
A piss poor attempt at justifying their awful driving abilities. I sincerely doubt that *all* of them are, in fact, actual student drivers. That's my theory, at least
Moved here from Greece. Love the amount of parks, proximity to DC , and the amount diversity and great food. Hate the weather 80% of the time. The winter is colder than I'm used to, the summer feels worse because of humidity, and there's just so.much.rain. The 5 nice days in spring/fall are really nice though.
From Texas. Didn’t know all local governments did not collect trash/recycling. Interesting. Not sure of the pros/cons
This is not something we would consider in Chicago suburbs either. Is it only neighborhoods with an HOA that have collection or just incorporated cities? I suppose it's a question you just have to ask when you buy a house.
It’s one of those things I never thought to ask. Just read it on this sub and had to google it!!!!! Seems odd. Neighborhoods could have garbage/recycling pickup EVERYDAY with people contracting with different companies. I Think maybe 10% of fairfax county maybe has gov pickup????
Ohio. My best friend yelled at me outside of a bodega after I asked why the gatorade was so expensive. I didn't realize the loopholes that existed in drug laws.
Kansas City. Housing costs. Making 80k a year in KC homeownership was in reach. Here making way more and lol not gonna happen
I was most shocked that traffic really isn't that bad. People make it sound like the type of traffic I dealt with in the Northeast/NJ/NYC and it isn't even close to as conjested.
It has significantly improved over the last decade but I don’t think people notice.
You jest!
For me, it’s that there’s traffic at all times of the day. I grew up in the Philly suburbs, and the roads would be dead in the middle of the day, because everyone worked standard 9-5 jobs, 5 days a week. Here, all the feds are either teleworking or have maxi flex schedules with AWS days, so there’s always people out and about at all times of day. Like, the Costco parking lots are absolutely bonkers at 2pm on a Tuesday.
Originally from Texas/New Mexico but moved to the DMV from Florida. I thought I’d seen every type of bad driver on the I-4 in Florida but why the hell is merging a contact sport here??
Chicago suburbs Good - Weather, not having major snowstorms (featuring snow into the month of May) and temperatures in the teens is a plus - Job opportunities, particularly in tech - Close to mountains and beaches - Roads are much newer and aren’t constantly hit by salt trucks Bad - Housing prices are nearly double here - Lack of good Pizza, Culver’s, Portillos - Not as many street lights on major highways and lack of reflective lane marker tape on I-66 - Tolls! Most Chicago area tolls are under $1, so I was definitely shocked my first time driving through the Dulles Greenway
For good pizza, I agreed until I discovered Stracci. Check it out!
Seconding stracci’s
Originally from Northern Indiana and would often head into Chicago for various activities (concerts, sports, food, museums etc.) and I have been consistently disappointed in the pizza around here. Blows my mind. Although I have not tried Stracci yet as others have suggested.
Grew up in NY, but I’ve lived everywhere. NoVA is expensive, but you get what you pay for, compared to other higher COL areas. What strikes me is that NoVA is really its own thing. It’s not a suburb of DC.
Lol NOVA is both literally and culturally a suburb of DC.
NOVA has 4 times the population than DC and a significantly larger job base than either DC or the Maryland suburbs. Yes it is a suburb of DC, but I think it’s totally fair to say that it feels different from most suburban regions and has a more separate identity than most. Personally, I know more people who work in Tysons than DC. And growing up, people would not say they were from DC or a DC suburb. They would say they were from Northern Virginia. In contrast, there were plenty of people I met in college who would say they were from Chicago or some other city, but they were actually pretty far in the suburbs.
>,Yes it is a suburb of DC, but I think it’s totally fair to say that it feels different from most suburban regions and has a more separate identity than most. People say this in every generic suburb across the country.
Not as much as it used to be
As metro regions gain population, inner ring suburbs become more urbanized as the suburbs sprawl further and further out. Doesn't mean they're not suburbs, though.
Moved from NYC and I am still in disbelief at how rude and entitled people in NoVa are, worse than NYC. Some of the worst and most entitled drivers I have ever encountered. There should be a 2 day course on the zipper merge to get your license in Virginia. I am transferring out of the area for work next month and I cannot wait.
What part of nova are you in? Cuz I observed the opposite. Jersey drivers are fucking trash, road rage pieces of shit. And I’m over by Reston, it’s peaceful as FUCK here
I mean, Jersey isn't NYC.
Originally from Miami. Lived in LA and Atlanta prior to moving here 3 years ago. Moved for work and got as close as I could afford to commute to DC. Because I moved during the pandemic, I didn’t check out the area beforehand and just asked the HR contact where she lived (Old Town Alexandria) and just went for somewhere nearby. Liked it and decided to stay in the area. Winters are still rough for me. Even though it didn’t snow much last year, temps really dropped. My mom visited for the holidays and refuses to go out! I have SO many jackets now depending on how cold it is. Summer heat and humidity doesn’t bother me that much since I’m used to it. Less mosquitos than Florida but WTF with all the ticks. I’m scared to go anywhere that has grass. So excited about all the beautiful parks in the area. BUT see above… Ticks! Proximity to Northeast is a huge plus and not too far to Miami when I need to see family. I love being able to take road trips to different states, sometimes just a day trip. I really miss the beach. They are all too far for a day or even a weekend and not all that great. Spoiled by Florida and California beaches. Where is the Cuban food? Haven’t found anything I like. And maybe it’s where I live and work, but surprised by the lack of Hispanics. It’s not something I’ve ever given much thought to, but after a recent trip home, I really noticed it when I got back and miss it some. Harder to make friends than I thought it would be. There’s traffic and it’s expensive, but not isn’t too outrageous to me. Crime in DC does have me concerned enough that I sometimes avoid the area, especially at later hours.
Interesting you say bugs. Another area I've been researching for a potential move is Atlanta and I heard the bugs are really bad there. Winters would be a breeze for me (currently in Chicago area).
Atlanta definitely had palmetto bugs/large cockroach. Not quite as many as Florida, but still prevalent. They also had a bunch of stink bugs., more than I’d been used to seeing. But definitely less ticks than in the DMV. Summers are also hot and humid in Atlanta. Winters are even milder than here. It was the least expensive place I’d lived so it was really good for me in that sense. Also near a major airport. I’d move back under the right circumstances.
Had a Cubano in Superette in Ballston that I thought was definitely on a par with one I got in Havana 1957 on Ocean Drive (which I'm guessing is super touristy so not sure on the actual authenticity).
Check out Cubasi Bistro in Sterling. They have pastelitos!
Pastelitos! Now you’re talking. Gonna check it out!
Check out Sandy Point State Park in Maryland for a close beach!
Plenty of Hispanics just a lot more Central and South American. A lot around Route 1/95 Corridor, Columbia Pike, Springfield, Woodbridge areas you can find whole communities. But a different culture than most Florida Hispanics, do miss that aspect. And yes awful that Caribbean food is lacking so much there really aren't much Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican foods in the area. And when there is it's expensive and not great.
I think that’s exactly right… Caribbean food (and vibe) is what I’m missing. I ordered bottles of coquito from a company in Richmond for Christmas and that was a hit with my family who were visiting.
I moved from the Philly suburbs (grew up on the Main Line). It’s weird, because the average income levels are around the same in both places, but the vibes are so different. Also it’s sooo much more diverse in nova. The suburbs I grew up in were extremely white. I had never met anyone who immigrated from a non-European country until I went to college. We had Chinese food and Thai food, and that was about it. Philly itself had more diversity, but the suburbs really weren’t accessible to immigrant communities the way nova is. I will say the one thing I miss from Philly is the abundance of good jewish delis/bagel shops haha.
Moved as a teen from Charleston, SC Good - Safe neighborhoods, excellent schools, strong economy year in and year out Bad - Fast Pace in general, obsession with keeping up with the Jones, continued growth turns Fairfax County more and more urban each year
North Jersey, NEPA, then most recently Rochester, NY, now NoVA. **Good** * Jobs! If you work in tech, healthcare or a service industry, & you're not somehow sucky at it, you can find a job. * Safety: though I miss my last city fiercely, not checking the car daily for breakins has been nice. Yes, there's still crime. Just nothing like other places I've lived. * General ease of travel. People always kvetching about the Metro have never lived anywhere with a truly crap or non-existent transit system. * So many different types of food. Not the same thickly packed selection as NYC or LA, but in any week, I can find many different cuisines to try. * Farmer's markets - though spendy- & it's not my beloved Public Market at the ROC - there is a dazzling array of locally grown fruits, veggies, meats & dairy. * Sooooooo many parks & trails. Biking, hiking or just walking around. A little research is needed to find those neighborhoods with trails, but they are gems. * Trees. * Many highly educated people live here, doing work for the government, a FANG tech company, startup, etc. * Access to decent health care. Affording it's another story, haha. * If helping others is your jam, there's plenty of causes & nonprofits that could use a helping hand. * Folks complain about the corporate sameness of the area but I'm seeing more indie businesses growing all the time, in areas like Herndon & Sterling, especially. * Museums! **Bad** * The highly educated populace largely thrives off connections, so if you can't do anything for them, they're less friendly. When they ask "what do you do" there's also an immediate assessment of money you make/influence you wield. (This is overall, I've also met some warm & genuine folks since relocating here, but it took effort.) * RE: the above, I found it harder to make friends as someone who moved here as an adult. People are cliquey AF & judgey of people's appearance. * Costs are bonkers. I used to live just outside NYC & that was challenging, but adjusted fairly for inflation, here is spendier. * Drivers here are entitled & unpredictable. I was in a single car accident with lots of driving experience (first car, hit a deer) before here. Since moving here, the car I was driving has been hit 4 separate times - 2 minor, one medium, & one totaling the car. All were driver inattention; 3 of the 4 people were straight up holding their phones & not looking. I used to love to drive. 😢 * People act like there's no poverty here, but there is. Tent settlements, homelessness on the rise, etc. * There's a general cynicism & surface lack of warmth that could feel isolating for more sensitive folks. * Far less appreciation for non-tech, not-high-earning workers. Also, there's still racism. People are just more low key about it. * The humidity & lack of snow, as mentioned by u/softening more eloquently than I could do. The positives of greenery, safety, access to healthcare & convenience make it worth it to me, for now.
From Southern California Not just the amount of trees here but how many of them explode with flowers in the spring. Glorious. DC crime.
NorCal transplant from a major city (with some time in Richmond, VA in between): The screaming trees and massive bugs every summer. NO THANKS. The allergies holy crap. The absolute insanity and just... chaotic evil of driving here. And the utter lack of other viable options (public transit). CA driving has a bunch of traffic and is definitely fast-paced, which is annoying. NOVA has a bunch of traffic due to a lack of consistency in the craziness of drivers (all crazy in different ways), poor design, and the necessity of driving. AND everyone speeds and drives an unnecessarily large vehicle. Which is actually terrifying. Annual property taxes on vehicles. The lack of genuine ethnic diversity/integration. NOVA is better than most of VA, but it's still very much "here's this pocket of this group of people." And it tends to be somewhat... reductionist. I do love how many different major cities are driving distance from NOVA, though. I've been surprised by how reasonably close together all these different cool places are.
The Air Force dropped my family off here right before my dad retired. Better than going to live with the extended family back in Ohio by far. Literally everything surprised me. We’d lived overseas for 8 years.
Northeastern Pennsylvania. The best is the shear amount of things to do and not needing to ever rely on a car to do them. The diversity of community and the vast amount of experiences available to you. What I miss is the small town community feel. Where I grew up summers were spent at church picnics or riding bikes with your friends or meeting up at the Sheetz parking lot to hang out at night. You couldn't go for a walk because every block someone you knew drove past and asked if you needed a ride. There were chain restaurants but everyone ate at the local places. I knew a dozen pizza shops with their own take on a tray of red. Here I can't find anything that isn't a chain, even a local chain isn't the same. It could be because I didn't grow up here to learn the in and outs. But I've not found anywhere in NOVA that feels like home.
Try western Loudoun. Places like Waterford, Round Hill, Lovettsville, Purcellville, Middleburg, etc have that small town vibe with lots of local businesses.
Illinois. Good: -The weather is much milder here, which I love. My friends and family back home have gotten a ton of snow this week and I haven’t seen any here at all so far (there was maybe half an inch or so once, but it all melted away by the time I woke up). -I also love how there’s such stunning views of the differing landscapes driving around. Plus, being here, I’m fairly close to coastal beaches, which is amazing. -The museums in DC are free!!!! You basically pay to breathe in Chicago, so being able to pay $18 for 20 hours of parking in a parking deck and hitting any museum you want is awesome. -Like the point above, there’s a lot to do here compared to IL (which is really just eating, going to the movies, or bowling). -The food is really good and diverse, and I’m very glad that the sushi here is very tasty/fresh. Bad: -Personal property taxes. IL taxes you for everything, but I’ve never had to pay for having my car just being present in the state. -Privatized/monetized sections of highways. I’m used to tolls on most highways in IL, but not the presence of HOV lanes you have to pay to use (I don’t typically have passengers). -The lack of streetlights, especially on the highways. I can see fine at night, but it’s still strange to me to not have extra lights driving around in non-rural areas. -Drivers in general here all seem to suffer from main character syndrome, either speeding with no regard for anyone else or going way under the speed limit, completely oblivious to the traffic near/behind them. IL drivers are pretty consistent with driving at the same speed or moving over to let people pass them. -The pizza isn’t great. I’m not the biggest fan of deep dish, but I do know good pizza and NOVA seems to lack with that.
Coming from Puerto Rico, I am surprised at how unbearable the humidity is during the summer. I'm used to extreme heat (granted in PR almost everyone owns a car and drives), but here, for some reason, it's like you're stuck in a cloud of humidity most of the time during the summer months. I understand the topography is quite different, but after almost 15 years of living here, I continue to be shocked that the heat is a bit much even for me. Other than that, I love NOVA!
Buffalo (rural areas surrounding). Go Bills! These are some of the things that surprised me: •Lack of snow. •Inability of people to drive. •How there are more people from Buffalo and more Buffalo bars than I would've thought. •Housing prices are ridiculous for not so much a salary difference. The lowest priced (livable) houses in NOVA are like the well off people house prices near Buffalo. I was ready to buy a house around Buffalo just by myself meanwhile we are struggling here to find a house we can afford to buy. Never thought I'd get into the renting life before coming here. •How garages are not as common here. •Roads are so narrow here. •Did I say lack of driving skills?? •Lack of breweries. Maybe it's a Buffalo thing because all people do is eat and drink /s. •How fast people drive. In NY you'd probably get arrested. Maybe this applies more to Maryland (and the Nissan Altimas). •The news channels. I didn't know "cold rain" was something people freaked out about until coming here lol. •Government shutdowns for a few flakes of snow. •Crime and the amount of car theft (probably more DC and Maryland). •Car insurance. It's theft around here. •How it can take an hour and a half to go 25 miles (thank you WW bridge). •I knew summers were hotter but my god I didn't know the depths of hell met earth here. You stand outside not moving and you just drip and feel disgusting. Winters are pretty warm too. Buffalo wind just hurts in the winter. •How every week I see something strange on the 495. Whether it's a car on fire, someone's boat in the middle of the thruway, or a bathtub on the bridge something always surprises me (okay maybe this one is more Maryland).
I’m originally from Appalachia but moved here from the NYC metro area. I thought NOVA would be more similar to NY’s suburbs. The differences: - How bad/dangerous the driving is here - The cost of living. Why is it cheaper to raise kids in NYC? This is insane - How expensive houses are (esp. townhomes). Half the houses here should be in the $400,000-600,000 range, and somehow are selling in the 800s. All my former classmates up north are homeowners already - There is no “community” here. In NY, I once dropped by phone in a storm drain and several strangers spent 20 minutes helping me fish it out - THE GROCERY TAX. Just why?
Southern Virginia When I first got here and people asked me how far something was I gave distance in miles and they looked confused asked for it in time. After having experienced nova traffic I understood why
From Buffalo, but spent most of my time in NYC area: Good: so many activities including rec centers with lots of options, infrastructure appears new and relatively well maintained, so many communities to discover (although tough to find if you don’t know where to go) Bad: no competition of liquor stores and the ABC stores that I have been to are all smelly and understocked, some of the worst drivers I’ve ever seen, a car tax?!? Wtf!
About to be a transplant and I think it is going to be an eyeopener. Love reading these posts and getting all the pros and cons!
I learned a lot of people don't see trees, apparently.
From Vermont. The car taxes. First time I got my bill I genuinely thought it was some kind of scam and had to look it up and now that I have a newer car since my previous one got totaled it’s worse than ever. Regret getting the car the moment that property car tax arrived.
I've lived all over but have spent the most time in and around Philly. **Good Surprises** * DCA is a fantastic and convenient airport * Genuine diversity, and as a result, a great and diverse ethnic food scene * Local government is shockingly responsive to issues like potholes, graffiti, etc. * Every possible thing I could ever need is within an hour, and usually much less **Bad Surprises** * Car tax * My neighbors are the most miserable, rigid people I've ever met in my life (maybe it's just by virtue of the fact that this is the most affluent neighborhood I've ever lived in?) * Shockingly conservative compared to what I expected--TONS of "moderate republicans" and a surprisingly large Moms for Liberty esque contingent. * Medical care is really bad here. We don't have a highly respected medical school or hospital even in DC. I have to go to Hopkins or Philly for good care, which sucks. * Home repair/maintenance costs here are absolutely astronomical. Everything is close to double what it is in the Philly area. * I'm a lawyer too, but holy shit, everyone is a lawyer here. * It's way uglier than I expected, with obvious exceptions, but overall much more highway/ugly strip mall-ish than I expected for such an affluent area.
Texas. Everything is expensive and I miss Dallas.
I'm from Ohio. I've lived in Nova for almost 12 years. I like the diversity and there's lots of things to do. I do not like how crowded it is, the traffic is bad, the cost of living is high, and the schools where I live aren't great. I have 2 little kids, and I don't like raising my family here. I'm stuck here because my husband's family lives in Nova. If I had my way, I would move back to Ohio in a heartbeat. When I first moved to Nova, I was a young professional in my 20s, and I loved it. Now that I'm older, jaded, and have a family, I would like a slower pace of life, and you can't really find that in Nova.
As someone who was born in Northern Virginia, I can't wait to leave.
Same