Ask A D.C. Native: Should I raise kids in D.C.?
If you can afford to raise children in the city, here are four reasons why I think you should.
While I only had one childhood and can’t exactly compare growing up in D.C. to anywhere else, I can confidently say I wouldn’t have wanted to spend my youth elsewhere. There’s something special about living in a city, and for it to be the nation’s capital is even more significant.
In a place that blends big-city energy with small-town intimacy, kids who grow up in D.C. can foster close community ties while accessing opportunities that broaden their worldviews. If you can actually afford to rent or buy a home in D.C., here are some reasons I think you should raise your kids here:
There are people from all walks of life
While certain parts of D.C. are still segregated by race, education level, and income, it’s still a diverse city. Now — more than ever — children can benefit from learning, listening, and growing alongside people with different backgrounds, traditions, and perspectives.
If your neighborhood is particularly homogeneous, you can take your kids to events that celebrate other cultures or to restaurants that serve food from across the globe. Intentionally enroll them in groups with multicultural participants — whether that’s a sports team, afterschool program, or enrichment class. Constant exposure to diverse groups of people can make them more thoughtful, open, and compassionate adults. And isn’t that what the world needs right now?
D.C. has some of the best museums and historical institutions in the country
One of the best ways for kids to explore different cultures is by visiting places with accurate, factual information and programs curated just for them. Fortunately for D.C. residents, the Smithsonian Institution has 17 free museums in the area, plus the National Zoo. Many of these museums are destination field trips for children who travel hours to get here. For D.C. youth, it’s a quick bus, train, or car ride. In addition to the Smithsonian, D.C. has a wealth of other (mostly free) museums that dive into everything from Gogo Music to Historically Black Colleges.
For many of my D.C. native friends, it wasn’t until they took a trip to another city and got hit with museum price tags that they realized how good they had it growing up.
D.C. has a wealth of academic and career opportunities for kids
If you live in the District, you know it’s more than a federal government town. There are a wealth of industries operating in the city, and many of them offer internships to students. By the time they graduate high school, your kid could have dabbled in multiple career fields, putting them at a competitive advantage when applying for college or entering the workforce.
And with about a dozen colleges and universities in the city, your kid could take college courses in high school, which I was able to do in 12th grade. Some students even earn associate's degrees alongside their high school diplomas. Specialized nonprofits also host summer camps, weekend programs, and certificate classes that help young people prepare for adulthood.
It’s easy to get around D.C.
Whether you’re transporting your kids to school, an extracurricular activity, or an event, it helps if you can get there relatively easily. The more accessible places are, the more likely you’ll expose your kids to them. Depending on where you live, D.C. is walkable from one neighborhood to the next. The city also has a well-connected — albeit frustrating — public transit system.
As your kids grow up, the options for them to walk or catch the Metro will not only free up your time by not having to chauffeur them around, but it will instill a sense of independence and responsibility that’s hard to cultivate when you don’t live in a metropolitan area. I started catching the Metro in middle school, and it gave me a boost of confidence, plus critical thinking skills to navigate not just my surroundings, but the many roads that life continues to lead me down.
