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My plan right now is to stay in DC at least through the spring, and then move. I'm not feeling quite "up" to moving just yet, and I'm also waiting on some more information to become available in March. In the interim, I'm taking advantage of the difference between the arts scene in DC versus the arts scene in the other, slightly more funky, places I'm considering moving. The arts scene in DC tends to be very official, prestigious, and top-down, so I could work in them and get some of that experience, but then move out to a place where those names still mean something and have a completely different experience with more community-based arts. I don't want to commit to staying here that long, so the jobs I'm seeking right now are all part-time and geared towards professional development, or else don't require a commitment of a year or more. Time spent on professional development can't be a bad thing at this point in my life, so long as it isn't too many years spent on professional development without drawing a good salary. It'll help me even if I end up staying in DC longer.
When I was younger, a former dancer mother of one of my friends was of the belief that every young person in the US should live in New York City for at least a year or two when they are young, just so they can experince it. I think that DC has been my "New York" experience. Now I can say that I've lived in a big, bustling city on the East Coast. But I don't have much intention of returning to the East Coast, except possibly for grad school. One of the reasons I am not, and would never (I think.. I mean, I can't predict with 100, or even 90%, accuracy where my head will be ten years from now) consider NYC is just how removed from the natural landscape it is. One of the things I ache about from being in DC is how removed from the natural landscape living in the middle of DC can be.
As for places to move to..
My first choice is Seattle:
-It’s similar to the Bay Area weather-wise (fog! rain! wOOt!).
-It's got many wonderful neighborhoods with independent stores and coffeeshops and, I would hope, bookstores, and a funky independent feeling and seems to have similar priorities/values as me.
-It's on the West Coast while still being prohibitively far from my mother.
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effani will very likely be moving there.
-glitterkiss42 will probably be staying there for law school (here's keeping my fingers crossed for you).
-Also, a few more contacts,burechain, zego_chavez_iii and possibly gardenprophet if she goes back there, and a vibrant Carleton community.
-It’s got loads of natural beauty, both within the geography of the city itself and the ever so familiar San Franciscan way that it slopes down towards the water and outside of the city when you go to Mount Rainer or up to Vancover (also one of my favorite cities). I once spent four-ish days kayaking around the islands outside of Vancover. Gorgeous. And can I mention lush, green, rainforest Discovery Park, whereglitterkiss42 and zego_chavez_iii were married?
-Great arts scene.
-Disadvantage of Seattle: It's not near many grad schools in the sorts of things that I want to be getting my master's or MBA in. On the other hand, if I want to live there permanently, it will have been good to go to the University of Washington and get those connections.
-Slightly less tangible or truly worrisome disadvantage of Seattle: The sheer number of Californians, and former Bay Area people in general, has apparently created some sort of prejudice or grudge against Californians
-Also semi-irrevelent: When I was talking with Cara while I was at Carleton, she said that she was surprised that I was from California and said that I felt like a Pacific Northwesterner to her. My step-mother, Linda, has also said that one of her idealist INFJ (my Myers-Briggs type) clients was also very strongly interested in the cities in the Northwest, Seattle and Portland, and felt those cities would work well with my Myers-Briggs type. However, Gudrun, my co-worker whose immediate family is from Minnesota, thinks I'm a Minneapolis, although not Minnesota, type. (In my experience, Minneapolis types do have some relation to Minnesota types. And Minnesotans tended to question my sanity in moving from California to MN, and in staying in MN after college.) That brings me to
Minneapolis, my second choice:
-Minneapolis has the advantage of being a known quantity. I semi-know my way around so I don’t have to go through that adjustment period where I don’t know where the local bookstores or libraries are or where the bus routes take me.
-I miss many (although not all) aspects of the Midwestern landscape and attitude.
-Given my newly discovered interest in arts administration, Minneapolis has a thriving arts scene, including the highest per capita number of theaters of any city in the US. I've already worked for the Gurthrie, and can say that I've researched at the Minnesota History Center. And the Minnesota History Center is neat.
-I have some contacts/acquaintances there.
-Near two good programs in arts administration, one at Madison and the other in Chicago at the Arts Instititute. If I wanted to get a Masters in Arts Administration at the U, I'd have to go through the Public Policy Program at Humphrey, where I do have an advocate in the form of my current boss, who got her Masters there.
-Distinct disadvantage of Minnesota: I contracted asthmatic bronchitis my first or second year of Carleton and so I’ve had almost constant colds in the winter. Either my lungs would have to adapt or else I'd have to move eventually.
Portland is my third, for the same reasons as Seattle minus the people reasons but with a slightly more temperate climate. See the bit above about asthmatic bronchitis.
The fourth choice would be staying in DC. I still do have a lot of contacts, a few friends, and a lot of acquaintances in the area. Plus the non-competative application status for federal jobs for a year from my VISTA term, and once you're in a federal job and doing a moderately competant job of it, promotion upwards to some well-paying jobs is more or less guaranteed. There are a lot of federal jobs available at the Smithsonian.
When I was younger, a former dancer mother of one of my friends was of the belief that every young person in the US should live in New York City for at least a year or two when they are young, just so they can experince it. I think that DC has been my "New York" experience. Now I can say that I've lived in a big, bustling city on the East Coast. But I don't have much intention of returning to the East Coast, except possibly for grad school. One of the reasons I am not, and would never (I think.. I mean, I can't predict with 100, or even 90%, accuracy where my head will be ten years from now) consider NYC is just how removed from the natural landscape it is. One of the things I ache about from being in DC is how removed from the natural landscape living in the middle of DC can be.
As for places to move to..
My first choice is Seattle:
-It’s similar to the Bay Area weather-wise (fog! rain! wOOt!).
-It's got many wonderful neighborhoods with independent stores and coffeeshops and, I would hope, bookstores, and a funky independent feeling and seems to have similar priorities/values as me.
-It's on the West Coast while still being prohibitively far from my mother.
-
effani will very likely be moving there.-
glitterkiss42 will probably be staying there for law school (here's keeping my fingers crossed for you).-Also, a few more contacts,
burechain, zego_chavez_iii and possibly gardenprophet if she goes back there, and a vibrant Carleton community.-It’s got loads of natural beauty, both within the geography of the city itself and the ever so familiar San Franciscan way that it slopes down towards the water and outside of the city when you go to Mount Rainer or up to Vancover (also one of my favorite cities). I once spent four-ish days kayaking around the islands outside of Vancover. Gorgeous. And can I mention lush, green, rainforest Discovery Park, where
glitterkiss42 and zego_chavez_iii were married?-Great arts scene.
-Disadvantage of Seattle: It's not near many grad schools in the sorts of things that I want to be getting my master's or MBA in. On the other hand, if I want to live there permanently, it will have been good to go to the University of Washington and get those connections.
-Slightly less tangible or truly worrisome disadvantage of Seattle: The sheer number of Californians, and former Bay Area people in general, has apparently created some sort of prejudice or grudge against Californians
-Also semi-irrevelent: When I was talking with Cara while I was at Carleton, she said that she was surprised that I was from California and said that I felt like a Pacific Northwesterner to her. My step-mother, Linda, has also said that one of her idealist INFJ (my Myers-Briggs type) clients was also very strongly interested in the cities in the Northwest, Seattle and Portland, and felt those cities would work well with my Myers-Briggs type. However, Gudrun, my co-worker whose immediate family is from Minnesota, thinks I'm a Minneapolis, although not Minnesota, type. (In my experience, Minneapolis types do have some relation to Minnesota types. And Minnesotans tended to question my sanity in moving from California to MN, and in staying in MN after college.) That brings me to
Minneapolis, my second choice:
-Minneapolis has the advantage of being a known quantity. I semi-know my way around so I don’t have to go through that adjustment period where I don’t know where the local bookstores or libraries are or where the bus routes take me.
-I miss many (although not all) aspects of the Midwestern landscape and attitude.
-Given my newly discovered interest in arts administration, Minneapolis has a thriving arts scene, including the highest per capita number of theaters of any city in the US. I've already worked for the Gurthrie, and can say that I've researched at the Minnesota History Center. And the Minnesota History Center is neat.
-I have some contacts/acquaintances there.
-Near two good programs in arts administration, one at Madison and the other in Chicago at the Arts Instititute. If I wanted to get a Masters in Arts Administration at the U, I'd have to go through the Public Policy Program at Humphrey, where I do have an advocate in the form of my current boss, who got her Masters there.
-Distinct disadvantage of Minnesota: I contracted asthmatic bronchitis my first or second year of Carleton and so I’ve had almost constant colds in the winter. Either my lungs would have to adapt or else I'd have to move eventually.
Portland is my third, for the same reasons as Seattle minus the people reasons but with a slightly more temperate climate. See the bit above about asthmatic bronchitis.
The fourth choice would be staying in DC. I still do have a lot of contacts, a few friends, and a lot of acquaintances in the area. Plus the non-competative application status for federal jobs for a year from my VISTA term, and once you're in a federal job and doing a moderately competant job of it, promotion upwards to some well-paying jobs is more or less guaranteed. There are a lot of federal jobs available at the Smithsonian.
