I have to compare my experience living in DC years ago, vs. Seattle which is where I live now. I found the city can be pretentious and materialistic, in a stuffy sort of way. It’s less obsessed with money like say in NY, but more with power, and to a lesser extent, celebrity. Like a previous poster said, it can get abit nauseating hearing constant talks about politics, networking, and power trips. Not every social circle is like that, but I remember a conversation about whom got invited to which Inaugural Ball that just about made me sick. It just has an air of pretentiousness about it, and a more down-to-earth person may not enjoy it as much.

However, everything others have said about the upside is true, it’s just a matter of personal wants. I do find that the art scene is less grass root but more about the art establishment.