IT in DC

I've lived here in the nation's capital for about 4 years now. The city has many great qualities and several not-so-great ones, so in the spirit of comraderie I'm putting together this little primer for my fellow nerds who may be considering a move to DC.

Employment

The availability of jobs is one of the primary reasons people come to this area. The federal government and military are huge employers, as are the numerous non-profits and NGOs who are located here due to the proximity to the political seat of power. Even more substantial to the IT set are the numerous contracting companies that cater to the afformentioned organizations.

If you have a college degree, pulse, and 3+ years of job experience you can find a job here in virtually no time. The hot languages are the typical J2EE and .Net as well as either Oracle or SQL Server, depending on the shop. Most of the places you will be working for (if you go the contractor route) are risk averse and very well funded; saving money isn't as important as using the same technology as everyone else. Open Source is starting to show up a little, and is undoubtably incorporated in many IT systems, but it is not a primary skill that most employers demand you have.

Entry level workers may have a hard time in DC due to how contracting works. Generally all candidates are presented (read: marketed) to the organization they will be working for/at, and these organizations love things that they can quantify. Like years of experience. As a result, contractors aren't likely to present inexperienced candidates since they only get so many shots to fill a particular slot. This is of course highly (over)simplified, but it is my experience.

As for the work that you will be doing at your new job, it will most likely be on an internal or intranet application. DC has a culture that is obsessed with the billable hour, and these types of projects eat them up. The teams implementing these projects often include employees of the organization (in management/leadership/design roles) and contractors (mostly coding). This type of arrangement doesn't usually produce the best software since the people doing the design and choosing the technologies aren't always the most technically competent, but the guy with the money writes the rulebook.

There is a lot of entrepreneurial activity in DC, but most of it is around making new contracting companies rather than new product companies. This is just due to practical reasons; with the billable hour culture there is a ton of work to go around, and those kind of companies are cheaper to start. It is also common for people to have side gigs, although most employers are sensitive to anything that competes with them in the billable hour field and will make you sign away your life to protect themselves. Use discretion, and do what you can to only sign agreements you can live with. I've personally turned down offers with $30k raises attached just due to disagreements on the paperwork; stupid, maybe, but you know that when push comes to shove they will use it. (My particular case involved them assigning personal liability on me for anything that happened on the job as an employee of theirs. Not worth it)

Housing

Housing in DC is expensive. If you can afford to buy it will save you a lot on a monthly basis, but the legend it that housing prices are facing a downturn. Due to the great Metro system, it is easy to live in the suburbs and get anywhere you need to. If you choose to live downtown you do not need a car; I've never had one and it has been fine.

Apartments, especially good ones, don't last long; this makes it difficult to line up housing ahead of time before moving here and not get fleeced. If you can find a temporary arrangement with friends or family that will let you stay with them while you looked you will have a better chance to find a good, cheap place. Popular venue for searches include the City Paper, Craigslist and Apartment Finder, and coworkers can also help you find openings.

People differ in what they look for in an area to live. Generally speaking, the Northwest quadrant of the city is the best crime-wise, with it getting better (and more suburban) the further north and west you go. There are great neighborhoods in all quadrants, however, so you really need to see them up close to determine what works for you. Dupont, Adams Morgan, and parts of Columbia Heights are good mixtures of city life and safety. Georgetown is nice, but yuppie and expensive. If you look outside the city, Alexandria and Arlington a popular alternatives, but also often yuppieish and pricy. Many good values can be found in Maryland, particularly my College Park, Greenbelt, and New Carrolton. These are all more suburban, however.

Culture/Nightlife

DC has a very unique character. Unlike most cities, it has no industrial district to speak of, and is not a financial or commercial hub. It essentially emerged fully formed as the seat of government, and the evolution since then has sprung from that. There aren't really highrises here due to an ordinance, so there isn't the canyon effect you see in Manhatten; just a bunch of office buildings, brownstones, and appartments arranged nicely. The original city plan and grid encompasses the Downtown area, consisting of the Capitol, White House, federal offices, Mall, monuments, and museums. As you move away from downtown the grid gets less consistant since it was more sprawl than the original plan.

Naturally the city has tons of cultural activities and is a great place to live if you are a history geek. I think it is one of the top places to go in the country if you enjoy walking around aimlessly, although there are lots of cities aiming for that title. :)

DC has significant immigrant communities, particularly Latin American and African, which is great for people who like food with a unique cultural twist. There are also great European, Indian, and Asian restaurants if those better suit your taste. The dcfoodies.com blog is a handy resource for finding the best places to eat.

As far as nightlife goes, where you hang out is often determined by proximity. Adams Morgan is the largest night district but there are good lounges, bar, and clubs everywhere. If you are a geek you should have no problem finding beer. Free beer is still rare though.

Conclusion

I would recommend DC to anyone looking for a fun, low pressure lifestyle. There is a lot to do in your spare time, and the copious jobs give lots of options for career advancement at a rapid pace. If you are looking for Silicon Valley and a fast-paced startup culture you may be disappointed, but there are plenty of opportunities available if you work hard enough. Plus you can hang out with senators at bars. That's got to worth something. :)

Til next time.