Went to college here, moved away for a long time, missed it every other day, finally got back. DC, like any other city, it is what you make it. DC works for some people, doesn't work for others. Figure out what you want from a city, if DC provides it, and take it from there. Oh and its a big city so it has all the negatives of a big city: big rats, problematic public transit, sometimes crappy weather, expensive real estate, mean people, deadly incidents. It also has cherry blossoms along a river in the spring, eagles, herons, parks, many FREE museums with WORLD CLASS exhibits, fun and funny people, a great Metro, findable decent apts. I mean, people complain about Paris and somewhere there is site where people are doing exactly that...you ll have to come here, spend some time off the beaten track and see if it works for you.