Is D.C. A Cool/Fun Place to Be? All Input Welcome

plenty of shit to do in DC. it's a very transient, young professionals driven demographic - many people are in grad school or just starting their careers off in law or policy or nonprofit as you'd expect in DC. so not too hard to meet people and hook up assuming you have any game. that said, everyone talks politics and many areas are a bit pretentious since everybody is so educated and qualified - or so they think - and/or have well-connected families.

DC isn't that cool, but I heard AC is...

I believe NASA will be calling us soon.!

My first job placed me in DC. Didn't like it at all. I lived on the metro in Northern Virginia. I asked to be placed in NYC, but had to wait a year.

Some people love DC. There is something about it that glitters to others.

I'm not a huge fan at all getting ambushed by political discussion that I have no care at all about, like sitting at a house party and things get heated about 'this week in politics'.

But, some people just are situated there and happy. My brother was there for over a decade in Foxhall and I guess he liked it.

I have worked in the DC area for over 3 years. Ironically I don't run into any political chat, but that must be my crowed. The area is great, good stuff to do. It's not "a big city" in the NY sense, but that can be nice at times.

I did a summer internship there in IB. DC is very much a “company town” and I always felt that there were very few people who were really outside of that. Most consultants seem to be in the federal practice and a lot of private sector employers are heavily government related e.g. defense contractors and law firms. I imagine it’s gotten better in the half decade plus, but I always felt the city was set up for tourists and federal employees. Case in point the metro closed at midnight during the week and 2 on weekends. Some people love it, but with the high COL, crime and low quality of life I’d rank it poorly as either a Mid-Atlantic or Southeastern City.

Was there for bit over the summer. Nightlife was awful compared to NY - Was at one decent place called Heist Night Club, there was some pretty hot chicks there. Some girl had a table beside us, they had some life size bottle of Henessey, which i started chugging. Got with her and then passed out in a uber lol.

Born and raised in metro DC and rarely run into political discussions. In fact, I’m close friends with two inter-partisan couples. Not really sure I understand the fear of everything being political conversation here.

From what I can tell, DC is a quite distant to NYC in nightlife but I’ve lived throughout the US and I’d put the dc metro area up against almost any other city in America. There are endless things to do and endless opportunities to succeed in life.

I would advise living closer to Dupont/Logan Circle/14th Street and U Street in NW. SE area is flooded with government workers while NW feels a lot different. I miss living there

Moved over to DC last year from Australia. Would agree with the general consensus here that unless your in politics it's not really that exciting. It's mainly a town where a lot of small-town folk come to as it's the "most-intense city" they can handle. I've met a lot of people from various southern/mid-west towns I've never heard off.

Most of the consultants I've met our Federal. E.g. our firm only hired 4 commercial/private-sector consultants in my intake and I think it was like double digits federal.

Also DC nightlife is shit, Good thing is it's close to NY so I occasionally go up there on weekends. Also a very liberal/left-wing city so take from that what you may with some people generally being quite stuck up.

Great place to have a family/relax, as a young man GET OUT lol. It does have a lot of quality free museums, and several arts/cultural events each month which are actually pretty good if your into that.

I'm not a big fan of DC but I am a big fan of AC.....

i lived in dc my first year out of college like 7 years ago.

I am thinking about going back. Most of the industry I have seen is catered towards the federal government.

I did feel like an outsider as one who is not involved in Federal Government/Cap Hill activities but YMMV. I like that it feels like a big city and I live NoVA

DC is like a fake NYC.

Currently live in DC and born & raised in Northern Virginia. DC can be a fun city and specifically the Navy Yard area has a ton of new developments, but tbh there isn't AS much to do around there when it's not nice out since Nats Park and the waterfront brings out a lot of people to that area. In the winter it can be kinda dead. If I were you I'd look into Adams Morgan, Dupont, or 14th/U street areas. Never felt unsafe in these areas. Shaw is also a good spot to look but there are some areas there where you might feel unsafe at night but nothing too bad in my opinion. Some areas of Arlington (Courthouse, Clarendon, Rosslyn) are almost like neighborhoods of DC with the proximity to everything and you can get a little more bang for your buck there and those areas are extremely safe with some good bars/restaurants and outdoor space. Yeah a lot of the jobs are based around the govt and that can get kind of annoying but there's plenty of people who either don't have work related to the govt or do but don't want to talk about that crap outside of work.

If you have any specifics let me know.

I think people really miss out by living in D.C. proper because a lot of people will ultimately choose to not have a car when living there. If you care about anything other than getting drunk and being able to walk home, having a car and getting out into the D.C. metro area at large where there are countless things to do and see is key. Out in the suburbs (and even in D.C. proper off the main drags) are things as disparate as indoor parkour, rock climbing gyms, go-karting, vineyards, really good hiking, affordable comedy clubs, escape rooms, and even indoor skydiving.

I think people are comparing NYC nightclubs to D.C. nightclubs. Yeah, it's no contest--NYC has better nightclubs. But I think people need to get outside their "getting too drunk to breathe" mindset and enjoy what the D.C. region has to offer. If you can imagine it, the D.C. area probably has it.

How about the H-Street Corridor neighborhood? @Dances with Dachshunds" crosbysucks Gratisfaction @lreed" TrackBack PrestigeCaller

There is a strong "work hard, play hard" attitude in DC, plenty of fun. The night club is like crazy, and pubs are all awesome.

I had the most fun living in DC a few years back.

DC ppl definitely stay current with the news and politics but I wouldn't say its overbearing.

best thing about DC is hot Hill interns who are from SEC top tier sororities.

Georgetown is always fun. Not in Georgetown but around the DC area, check out Bangkok gardens, killer Thai restaurant

Since you said all input was welcome, I was only in downtown DC for a week (not for vacation but for an academic program), but the city seemed to be a great mix between the fast-paced culture of New York City and the relaxed culture of places in the South like Dallas.

Though I only spent one week in DC, I wouldn't mind going back again and possibly working there in the future.

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