A journey to the nation's capitol: A College Graduate's Story

Washington D.C. The land of our forefathers, of freedom and democracy, of world power. The land of promise and of history and of... well, okay maybe not. It is the land of many suits, hot weather in the summer (or early June as the case may be), and lots of police guarding important looking buildings that ordinary tourists likely can't get in to. But is also a land of great opportunity and one that is highly frequented by recent college graduates.

Getting to Washington D.C.

Getting off the airport at Reagan International Airport in D.C. is much like getting off the airport anywhere. There is no great big banner welcoming tourists or new residents to the capitol of the United States. Instead, there is just a disappointingly regular-sized sign that says "Welcome to D.C." So much for pomp and circumstance. But at least there is practicality since right next to the dinky "Welcome to D.C." sign is a metro sign.

There is a metro stop right at Reagan Airport. Both the Yellow and the Blue lines go to Reagan and a quick hop on the Yellow line to L'Enfant Plaza will not only put you in the center of D.C., but it will also get you to a metro station where you can buy one of those handy plastic "SmartTrip" cards--and important first step in becoming a local. From L'Enfant Plaza it is easy to get to just about anywhere in D.C. or the suburbs on the Orange, Green, Blue, or Yellow lines or by walking to the mall.

Knowing the Know about Neighborhoods

Like any big city, Neighborhoods in D.C. take some time to get to know. There are rich ones and poor ones, safe ones and not-so-safe-to-walk-around-at-night-as-a-white-guy ones, tall ones and short ones, young ones and old ones, blue ones and green ones, nightlife ones and business suite ones. So maybe there aren't any technicolored ones (sorry, no red light district in the nation's capitol), but there certainly is a diversity of neighborhoods.

Georgetown and Adam’s Morgan are both the big bar/club scene neighborhoods. Adam’s Morgan is right of the red line, while Georgetown requires a bit of a walk. (The common local story is that when the city planners were plotting out the metro, Georgetown fought to not get a metro because they thought it would make them more desirable. In some ways it did. It also made the Georgetown business mad because now it is the hardest neighborhood in D.C. to get to. Who knows if that is true, but it is a good story.) Capital Hill south is also a fairly hip neighborhood and there is a great outdoor weekend farmer’s market just north of the Capital South metro stop.

For a more upscale experience, the best choice is Foggy Bottom or a walk along the mall. Most of the nicest restaurants are close to the mall. All the runners are there too, even though it seems impossible to run in these 90+ degree days.

Finding an Apartment

As anyone moving to D.C. will quickly discover: there is good news and there is bad news about finding housing in D.C. Let’s start with the bad news: It’s expensive. There is no way around it. Sometimes people can find apartments in a close suburb right near a metro stop for an affordable price, but they are hard to find.

The good news, however, is that housing is in abundance. Also, short-term leases are easy to find, especially in the summer, as people want to sublet to interns and others who flock to the city for opportunity. Most housing is going to be in a larger house with roommates but usually it is in one of those old-fashioned, beautiful row houses. Bethesda, Silver Springs, and Arlington are often the best places to find cheaper, but close in apartments. Even still a standard commute is 30 or more minutes, which is really just 30 minutes to read or catch up on the day’s news (or last night’s sleep if you are confident you know your stops well enough).

D.C. is certainly an exciting place. There is lots of energy, lots of suits, lots of welcome, and lots of money passing hands. There is no place like it in the United States and if you think you might like it why not move there straight out of college? When else can you pick up your bags and move across the country just to see what life can bring you?