Well, I have to qualify this.  We tied with my other favorite city and in the other Washington.

That's right, Washington, DC and Seattle, Washington are tied for first place for the honor of Youth-Magnet Cities in today's Wall Street Journal.

Seattle is probably cooler than we are in some ways.  I love the fresh oysters and salmon.  The street musicians are pretty great.  And all the lakes and sea planes and hills make it hard for me to come home whenever I go out to visit my brother, Jack.  The list goes on with the Washington State wine and, oh, the the architecture - can't forget that!  Did I mention Starbucks?  The guys who discovered coffee?

But DC is pretty cool, too!

It's not just all the government jobs here, but other jobs in the high tech industry (more than Silicon Valley), law firms, lobbying organizations, and tons of non-profits for young idealists who can afford to work for minimum wages and want to make a difference.  And at any age, it's also a great place to sell real estate.

If you are thinking about a move to this area, it has a lot of wonderful real estate choices.  In Washington, as well as the close-in Virginia and Maryland suburbs, there are condominiums and houses for a first time buyer's budget. 

Well, maybe not if you're going to work for a non-profit.  Then you'll have to find space in a group house with a bunch of roommates!  But when you sell out like I did, and get a real job, there will be many options to consider.

And we now have a Starbucks on every other corner, and they fly in salmon and Washington State wine to sell in our local Whole Foods.  We don't however, have the gigantic lakes, islands, and ferry boats, but we do have a ton of history and very cool architecture.

I can see how it could be a tie!