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Help Please! I'm Moving to D.C.? |
Travel Info I'm moving to Washington D.C. in a couple of months due to job related reasons. I'm excited about it, but I also don't know what to expect. My only experience with Washington has been about four school field trips between the ages of 9 and 18. Can anyone out there tell me the best places to live if you are on a budget? Or the best places in the area to live for someone in their mid-20s? Any additional info is also welcomed and appreciated. Thanks! Travel Tips Ok here it goes. I moved here 7 years ago and know DC pretty well. The first thing to expect is that DC is expensive! Northern Va and MD are a little cheaper. Also you have to think about where you work, do you take the Metro? or Drive? Living near the Metro is expensive but convenient; however if you live near the city you will have to pay for parking. Here is the break down on where to live and average rent for a 1bedroom: DC: Average 1 Bedroom Rent 1300-1500 Anything on: Connecticut Ave (Red Line) Adams Morgan (Red Line) Dupont/Shaw (Red/Green/Yellow) Penn Quarter (Red/Green/Yellow) Capitol Hill (Red/Blue/Orange) Georgetown about 15min from nearest station (Blue/Orange) Foggy Bottom (Blue Orange) VA: Arlington (urban but not as dense): $1200-1500 3-5 miles from Downtown: Roslyn, Courthouse, Claredon, Ballston (Blue Orange). Alexandria (more suburban but historical): $1100-1400 5-8 miles from downtown: Old Town (blue/yellow) Fairfax: (suburban): $1000-1500 8-15 miles from downtown, (Blue Yellow Orange) Falls Church Alexandria Kingstown Tyson鈥檚 Corner MD: (stay out of Prince Georges County) (Red Line), $1000-$1500. Bethesda Chevychase Silver Spring I can pretty much guarantee that you will not fine a 1 bedroom for under 1k. Studios are everywhere they are a few hundred less. I would suggest you look at Craiglist and homedatabase.com they are pretty much the go to. Also if you can avoid Charles E Smith Properties, they will jack your rate up after the first year! Major Entertainment/going out/resutrant centers: DC: Adams Morgan/Woodley Park Georgetown U St Chinatown/Gallary place Dupont cir Arlington: Calerdon/Courthouse Alexandria: Old Town/King St. Plus many many small areas Also I am sure you will hear about the crime in DC. In reality you are pretty safe, there are always tons of people out all night and unless you are looking for trouble, nothing will happen. However DC crime is mostly concentrated in the SE and NE sections of the city. Most of the VA and MD areas are safe. Here are some suggest websites to get a good taste of DC http://dcist.com/ http://metrodchomes.typepad.com//urbantr... http://dc.metblogs.com/ http://www.wmata.com/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/ http://blog.washingtonpost.com/goingoutg... Good luck and let me know if you need anything more Others The best place for a mid-20s person to live is North Arlington. However, prices can be very expensive there so try to find a roommate. www.roommates.com While I think DC can be a great place to live, the words "on a budget" don't really mesh with the housing market here. In general terms: housing is expensive in DC, and even in the close in suburbs. Not that there aren't exceptions, or parts of the city that are less expensive than others, but overall it ain't cheap. If you want to live inside the city, the "best" places to live are generally in the Northwest quadrant. And where you're commuting to is also a factor. Some well known NW neighborhoods that are nice to live in include Dupont Circle, Cleveland Park, Woodley Park, and Tenley....basically, all neighborhoods on the "red line" of our metro system. That's NOT to say there aren't neighborhoods in other parts of DC you might want to consider. Adams Morgan, also in NW DC, is not as close to a metro -- it's a great, vital, diverse neighborhood (but, again, not cheap.) Also, you may prefer to live on the Hill -- whether you work there or no -- and that's also a different story. The Hill is an area that I think you really need to know, however, in that the "neighborhoods" or good/safe areas v. lesser safe areas can change block to block -- personally, I'm not familiar enough with that area to give any advice about living quarters, other than to say that Eastern Market (which is in SW DC, on the Hill) is a good place to live. Inside the city, great areas for someone in their mid-20s to live would include Adams Morgan and probably the eastern part of Dupont Circle. Also, Tenley is actually a really "young" neighborhood because AU is right there. I lived in Dupont, and then Woodley, in my mid-20s and loved it. ALL that being said: if you're on a budget and want to live inside the city, group housing may be the way to go. There's plenty of it to be found. Good starting points may be the classifieds in The City Paper (http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/)... and Washington Post, and the local schools, actually (professional schools -- there's nothing but law students in DC (well, law students and lawyers!) and, assuming you don't mind living with one or two, there are plenty of them looking to share housing. Living outside of the city itself is also an option, and depending on where your job is located it may be a good option. However, the close in suburbs are not cheap either, and when you factor in commuting, etc. it may not really be a "better" option. If you would be driving to work, well, the traffic here is horrendous, so that wouldn't be palatable (on the other hand, if you have a car and want to live in the city, parking isn't fun, or cheap, either). Outside of the city, I think Northern Virginia is "hipper" than Bethesda, and a lot of people I know really like Clarendon. Sorry if I sound negative, that's not my intent. It's just not a cheap place to live -- especially if your frame of reference is someplace that's much less expensive (which most places would be). If you're coming from, say, NYC, San Francisco, or I suppose Boston, you won't be surprised, but if you're coming from, say, Topeka, you're in for some sticker shock. But once you get past that....settle in, and enjoy DC! |
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