I moved to DC (Arlington actually) in 2010 to take a gov’t job. What I discovered was that a studio apartment ran $1050 a month (heat and electricity included). VA vehicle taxes are excessive....everyone wants you to pay for parking fees...and a simple steak dinner is $22. This summer, with furlough and the whole job as a joke, I finally ‘retired’. I probably wanted to work longer in life, but the cost of a DC job makes the goal ridiculous.
I would say that eighty percent of all jobs in DC could be relocated to cheaper locations. The gov’t is likely wasting over $5 billion a year on operations that it demands to exist and must be out of DC.