I’m absolutely loving Washington, DC, my friends. I probably like it even more than Chicago and Philadelphia, my favorite US cities.
For one, I love the nature in this region. The city is extraordinarily green and the nature is recognizable to me. (There are beautiful landscapes in California, for instance, but l don’t recognize them and that makes them difficult to enjoy).
I don’t even remember the last time I saw as many beautiful old trees. In the St Louis metro area where I live, there are no trees to speak of (unless you go to the Gardens or hiking trails). Shade is non-existent. Everywhere is the relentless, unmitigated sun. I haven’t been able to go for a walk during the day since April because of the sun and the heat. Does that sound normal to you?
The architecture in DC is beautiful. Private houses and apartment buildings look very attractive and very much unlike the ugly houses back in Connecticut. There are crowds of bikers and great bike trails downtown. I obviously don’t ride bikes but I like cities that accommodate bikers.
The downtown area is vibrant and exciting, unlike the perennially dead St Louis downtown. One thing I hate here in DC, though, is seeing the enormous number of indigent black people begging for money in the streets. Not even in St Louis is there anything like this. The last time I saw this kind of thing was back in New Haven, CT. And it just slaughters me.
The conclusion is that if a job opens up in my field and in my area somewhere around here, I will be applying in a flash.
Clarissa's Blog 
I also recommend you to visit Georgetown! It’s a beautiful place and the cradle of American machine translation: the first MT experiments were conducted at Georgetown University back in the 1950’s. They still keep the punched cards and computer listings there.
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I’ve only been in DC twice (both times in December) and really liked it as well.
Two things I’ve heard from people who lived there that you might want to consider.
They can’t deal with snow at all. I tiny amount brings the whole city to a standstill (and there are many transplants who have no idea how to drive in snowy conditions).
The city gives new meaning to the words ‘hot and muggy’ throughout much of the year, one friend said she always felt like she was melting in the summer there.
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The heat can’t possibly be worse than where we are. We have these 8 month long summers that are just so annoying to me.
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I have friends there and visit occasionally — actually spent 6 months in a long distance commute to a gig there. Positives: great food, lovely city, great cultural events. Negatives: horrible traffic; boorish and obnoxious people (this is home base for entitlement behavior); lack of municipal control (municipal budget is set by Congress); high cost of living. One of my favorites is Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which is on an island in the Potomac River and reachable only by footbridge.
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Yes, the traffic is horrible.
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I love it there, but two out of three times I’ve been there was in July, and Christ, I could barely breathe. I don’t know how men walk around in suit coats all day in that heat. It’s awful. AWFUL. But when I was there in January, it was lovely. I love that all the museums are free and so easy to access. I would live there in a heartbeat.
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Two of my brothers have lived in DC (one has recently moved back because of his job) and they both had positive things to say about the city. I’m visiting the city in a couple of weeks; the first time in years. Hopefully I’ll have time to visit the Air and Space Museum.
I have always liked DC whenever I visit–I may not like the politicians that are there, but the city itself is wonderful.
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Marc, the Air and Space building on the Mall is nice, but the really remarkable exhibits are at the Annex adjacent to Dulles Airport.
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As people who grew up in the USSR, we have very little enthusiasm with anything to do with the space stuff.
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