One of the most-watched cities in the world this week in Washington DC, where the Presidential Inauguration occurs on the Capitol steps. On heightened alert, the influential Washington DC metro area can seem intimidating to an outsider.
And, especially coming from news about political hoopla, wherefrom the outside, DC seems like chaos and a stressful place to live and work.
Actually, DC is as safe as any city to live in and has cleaned up over the years. Nearby residents are moving back into the city to be closer to their work and a more exciting, city lifestyle that the downtown offers. The suburban areas are calm and easily accessible.
That makes the DC metro area a great place to live and work! …and with all the new companies like Amazon coming to town creating buzz.
So many flock and move to the DC area for great job opportunities and work-life balance. Maybe that’s you or a Future You?
If so, I have some insider tips below that are helpful for someone or anyone who has just relocated (or is thinking of moving) to the area.
From an inside view, I became aware of the transient-ness vibe of the metro city area early on when I kept seeing an influx of people move in and out for a career, personal, or lower cost of living reasons.
The local residents who have grown up in the area (or lived in the area for most of their lives) are mostly friendly, helpful, educated, and cultured. Many have traveled overseas, are savvy on any subject, and dress the part.
What to Expect At Work In The Washington DC Metro Area
If you’re a new transplant adapting to the DC metro area, work-life balance can be tricky and you may need to adapt, as most people may not be as relaxed as you may be accustomed to depending on where you moved from.
If you moved here for work, your employer can have high expectations in a competitive city, where managers and organizations can provide employees even higher than the already stressful demands of many corporate jobs.
Even if you didn’t specialize in learning how to teach or do digital marketing, unless you’re a scientist or removed from working with people, expect to use general administrative and presentation skills, as your companies will expect you to run meetings, train others, and use digital communication tools, at the very least.
Wearing many hats that may or may not fit you, and speeding up your learning pace can play on your overall health and emotions. It’s important to find ways to relax, handle stress, and find work-life balance, especially if you’re planning to stay long term.
You want to stay connected to your core values.
It’s easy to forget your own goals and get off-balance when most jobs require more than working 9-5, or 8 hours per day. But you can find sustainable jobs that do fall in this category that I’ll point out below.
Like most cities, there are plenty of convenient delivery options and services that can help make your life easier. There isn’t one good hairstylist, burger joint, or dry cleaner in town, there are a bunch to choose from.
The large DC metro area attracts many go-getters, with a larger pool of jobs and work opportunities that other cities may not have as much to offer.
These are just a few industries in the area worth checking out if you’re looking for a good work-life balance:
Associations – most people don’t know that the DC metro area is one of the largest association towns in the U.S. Old Town Alexandria and downtown DC houses many of the nation’s largest and well-known associations.
While the U.S. does have a reputation for a work-to-play lifestyle, many locals think to work hard now and relax at retirement age around 65.
Taking breaks and getting work freedom isn’t the path norm, but this is changing as people pivot and have second and third careers, or choose the side hustle lifestyle.
Many associations have more traditional office organization structures, and turnover is relatively lower. It’s not uncommon to see an employee at one association for most of their career.
Associations can be attractive because most offer a work-life balance with a reasonable 9-5 working hours and 5 weeks of vacation starting out your first year, as an industry practice.
In many associations and non-profits, most aren’t expected to work past 5 pm. Many other work industries expect you to burn the midnight oil as they want to get as much value out of you as they can.
Working for an association isn’t the overworked lifestyle that most people think of as the overworked American work lifestyle. But just like choosing to work for a federal government position, you have to decide if you can handle the political side that often makes the decisions.
Overall, associations offer good health benefits and lifestyle perks, as some offer yoga and other classes during the workday and hour-long lunches which is a longer lunch in America. So, any downsides to the job you have, you can make up with stress-relieving meditation or free time to clear your mind while on your break.
In general, for many industries, U.S. employees usually choose when they want to vacation giving enough vacation notice.
Compared to European countries, like say Italy where they have set vacation holidays, such as the annual Ferragosto in August that can last for over a month (and where the country and retail businesses shut down), and again in December during Advent Season.
Americans can choose time off dates with approval from employers. Often, a worker who is raising a family chooses vacation time based on their children’s school breaks that peak in the mid-summer (July/August) and winter holiday breaks in December/January.
Technology companies – the Washington DC metro area is a high-tech area. Next to Silicon Valley out on the west coast, DC on the east coast is probably the next largest tech hub. The technology worker lifestyle is a good one.
Starting pay for many DC metro tech job workers is higher than the highest-paid employee in some industries. Besides being compensated well, tech employees usually have flex-time schedules (good work-life balance).
They can choose to work certain days and times in a schedule that works for them and their employer. Unlike emergency and front-line worker jobs, there are few tech emergencies that can’t wait until the next day.
Tech workers often can do work remotely and is a common way to work. And many have customers and team members in other time zones around the country and world, so they can adjust their schedules further based on those needs.
Because the tech job’s daily wear-and-tear stress can be less than in other industries, the good work-life balance and higher pay outweigh the traditional standard job vacation time, which can be around 2 weeks per year for the starting employee.
As with many larger U.S. employers, tech and larger companies offer perks like gym benefits and discounts to favorite stores and services. The DC metro area offers many options for staying fit and enjoying convenient and healthy food choice options, that I’ll touch on more below.
Amazon – is coming to the area. The second headquarters to Amazon was announced as the Washington DC area, and they’ve broken ground. In 2021, the new tech and business office buildings will soon be under construction.
This is the newest, exciting business news in the area since the tech companies started cropping up post-Dot-com in the Dulles Corridor area closer to Washington Dulles Airport.
The DC metro system has near-future plans to build out further along where the Dulles Toll Road already exists, to expand commuting options eventually to Dulles Airport.
Federal/government – it’s obvious that many migrate from around the country to the DC area to work on The Hill. If you want to learn how lawmaking is done, DC is the city to be in.
Full of movers and shaker politicians, it’s also a popular legal town full of attorneys. You won’t see much dress-down attire as you will in the suburbs where you see casual or business casual dress.
Education – The area has plenty of higher-education opportunities. Besides working for some of the larger universities in the areas such as Georgetown, George Washington, George Mason, and American University, there are many opportunities for those in the area to add certifications and higher learning specialization skills to their resume.
The Washington DC metro area is different in that getting specialized certifications or earning higher education degrees is a common norm, as most do at some point.
Those who do, usually go to school at night or on weekends. Learning in a graduate master’s program is optimized because what is learned in school is applied in their current job place and work (and not as theory).
Life-Balance
The Washington DC metro area is so much more than the tourist attraction of Presidential monuments and history museums on the downtown mall that thousands from around the world annually come to tour and see.
The area is dynamic with new indoor and outdoor museums and interesting memorials and exhibitions, so it’s interesting for locals to take day-field trips to see what’s new.
When the colorful row of DC lunch food trucks grew near downtown L’Enfant Plaza, that caught some buzz and attracted nearby museums workers and tourists.
Weekends will be significantly less busy for a commute in and around the city. On weekdays, when commuting, you should be aware of rush-hour patterns as drivers can sit in traffic for hours if there’s an accident. In the suburbs when schools are busy in session, there are noticeable traffic pattern changes, and school buses have the right of way.
Washington DC is a multi-cultural metro area and a good representation of the “melting pot” that America is known for.
There are many opportunities to learn about other countries and cultures from the opportunities to attend Embassy events and visit the various districts downtown. There are many large and small entertaining festivities and parades that happen in and around the city.
In the backdrop of the famous historic monuments, the still Potomac River makes the area less city-like and year-round livable.
The GW Parkway and W&OD are scenic paths for bicycles, runners, and pedestrians that connect DC to parts of the suburbs.
Then there are amazing wonders, one that’s well known is the Great Falls waterfalls park. And the many parks and other well-groomed Meadowlark Gardens.
The best time of the year is year-round as Washingtonians rarely see snow or hot extremes in mild temperatures. You also get to see the gradual changing of the leaves in the fall, cherry trees in the spring, and pops of bright colors from flowers in the summer against many historic architectural styles and newer buildings.
And when you’ve had enough of nature, then you can appreciate all the retail opportunities, in indoor and outdoor shopping malls.
Tysons Corner Mall is the largest mall on the east coast and now has 3 built-in metro stops in that bustling heart center of Northern Virginia where NoVa actually began.
So, DC is easily accessible. Then on top of many area malls, there are 3 mega retail outlet malls in the area in National Harbor, Leesburg, and Woodbridge that you can get to with a car.
So no matter what end of the metro area you live in, you have access to local town centers and the best lifestyle shopping from Anthropologie to Zara.
You don’t have to go far to find places to hang out or do work.
Music – You can find free outdoor concerts in Tysons and in summer months when towns have their own celebrations near and around Independence Day, not to mention the Capitol Fireworks that you can see from miles away.
You can also listen to your favorite bands and music genres in indoor and outdoor large concert halls, at Wolftrap, Capitol One Center (formerly Verizon Center), Jiffy Lube Live, and newer and smaller venues like The Anthem on the DC Waterfront or the Theater at MGM Hotel and Casino at National Harbor.
The Kennedy Center is popular for all forms of entertainment plus the theatre district in DC that is near a busy and popular area called Gallery Place in Penn Quarter (where the Caps and large concerts come to play).
Food – There are many foodie fast food places like Shake Shack and healthy options to choose from. If you want to get healthy, you can find many choices from grocery stores, delivery services, restaurants, and cafes.
You can find a Starbucks just about everywhere and in Giant or Safeway grocery stores.
You can always take an Uber that’s a popular way to get around if you don’t have a car or metro access.
Many visit nearby Whole Foods and Harris Teeter grocery stores, where during normal times and hours, they have prepared foods sections that include many cold and warm selections from crab cakes and comfort foods, to salads and everything in between.
The Washington DC metro area is home to world-famous World Kitchen chef Jose Andres who’s always in the news. He became a household name earlier on when he started his Think Food Group, a group of foodie restaurants that include the longer-standing Jaleo, Zatinya, and Oyamel restaurants in the Penn Quarter district.
Besides many upscale casual, fine dining, famous chains, and ethnic family restaurant options, there are many convenient grocery store options including food delivery services. And many farmers’ markets in various neighborhoods including a large year-round Eastern Market.
Fitness/Classes – There are also many studios to choose from, sprinkled throughout the area with specialized classes for yoga, cardio, barre, kickboxing… you name it. You can join a mega gym like a Sport & Health or YMCA, a smaller gym, or anything in between.
The options are there, but with all the nuances of a larger metro city area, you can easily forget to take care of yourself. It’s easy to slide off-balance, from not getting enough sleep, eating well, or feeling inspired.
Temporary stress is a part of adjusting and working in a busy city but is not good long term. The Washington DC metro area can be a lonely place in the beginning as you get wrapped up in the more affluent culture. You can find making friends more challenging in a faster-moving, transient city.
If you’re in a transition or relocating, and want to restore your calm from anxiety, stress, overwhelm, or other undesirable body symptoms, one easy thing you can do is take my 2-minute quiz so you can get free body balancing tips of healthy and sustainable Ayurveda lifestyle suggestions to restore your dominant causes for internal imbalance.
Stay safe, happy adventures, and ALWAYS be well!