Any DC folks on here have advice? Not interested in ever getting a security clearance or working on anything in the defense industry, is there a tech presence outside of that industry? One mistake almost everybody in tech makes when they move to DC from somewhere else in the country is that they move to DC proper.
DC, despite being a fairly walkable city with a decent subway by US standards and a lot of diverse food choices, is not where action outside of government or government related is. Nearly all of the tech scene is outside of the city in two areas. There are pockets of non-gov, non-defense tech around. I don't know much about southern MD tbh, but I know there's some regular 'ol startups in Crystal City, Tysons, and Reston areas, or tech companies with solid East Coast offices at least but usually geared towards selling to the government.
Amazon HQ2 is not in the city for example. You'll find a fair number of fintech, electric car support companies, commtech, cybersec sort of firms.
There's a large class of nonprofit tech companies in the area too, they don't offer stock, but the pay is decent and the jobs are highly stable. Despite having the country's second largest subway, getting into and out of DC is an expensive chore. The DC-Baltimore metro area is one of the largest in the country, covers a huge area, and has almost as many people as NYC. Most people with the means end up moving with their jobs rather than commuting.
I lived in the Columbia Heights area for two years and I found it lovely. By contrast, I find the suburbs around DC painfully bland and car-centric. Crystal City and Silver Springs in particular are places I can barely stand.
