Newcomer's Handbook for Moving to and Living in Washington, DC Including Northern Virginia and Suburban Maryland

After spending 35 years in the Midwest and never relocated, I needed this book to help get me up to speed on a new city. I can't tell you how much this book helped me on my move, including rental truck services, apartment searches, car registration, neighborhood specs including population size, crime and safety. I've been here in Washington, DC for 4 months now, and I still use the book as a reference guide for learning and discovering new areas. Another great supplement to this book is the NFT Washington black book. These two together saved me lots of time, money and stress!

I moved to the DC area two years ago and found this book immensely helpful. It not only had information about fun things to do in the area but it also had answers to the most practical situations. I read one of the other reviews that said that it didn't tell him where to have his car inspected. It doesn't go into the minute detail but it will tell you what the requirements are and how to find out where you need to go. I now work in an HR office and we are giving this to new hires that we relocate to this area. All of them have really appreciated it and remarked on how helpful it has been. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone relocating here.

THE NEWCOMER'S HANDBOOK FOR MOVING TO AND LIVING IN WASHINGTON DC is a great book for people relocating to the area, but even people who are not moving there can enjoy it. It talks about where the best neighborhoods and schools are in the District itself, as well as in Maryland and Virginia, mentions where the shopping malls and other stores are, and it even goes into detail about the town of Columbia, Maryland, which other books about the Baltimore-Washington DC area fail to do. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is proud to say "I'm an American."

If you are relocating to DC, don't do it until you've read (or at least skimmed) this book. I haven't even moved yet and it's been helpful. First it explains different neighborhoods and why you may or may not want to move to that location. It also gives you helpful hints and good questions to ask regarding a place to rent or buying a home. Included are the daily life information such as where to buy a couch, find a veternarian, or the location of the closest park. All in all the book covers many issues that I would not have thought about before moving to a new place.